Small (up to 23%) discounts on IAP do not have a significant impact on users and revenue. Unlike large discounts on bundles. This became known according to the results of a study conducted by economists at the University of Chicago.
In-game purchases in King titles were analyzed. It turned out several patterns.
Firstly, the sale of IAP with discounts has almost no effect on profit. Secondly, if the discounts are small, then they will not affect users either.
“The introduction of various discounts in the short term has almost no effect on profits. It was possible to influence with the help of price changes only on those who already made purchases. The radical reduction in cost has attracted almost no new users,” experts at the University of Chicago say.
However, it was found out that large discounts (up to 55%) on bundles can still attract players. Such offers make users buy more often.
“Compared to standard discounts, gradually increasing large discounts increased the number of purchases by 6.7%, 11.2% and 44.9%, respectively,” commented economists at the University of Chicago.
For the study, the behavior of the 14-million audience of Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga and other King projects was studied. In addition, economists at the University of Chicago conducted a three-month experiment during which players were offered a very wide range of discounts, from 9% to 73%. After that, the discounts were returned to their normal form and the behavior of users was monitored for 2 months.