Is eBook Pricing Structured to Mirror Paper Book Prices? The cases of France and the U.S.A. in 2011
Résumé
This study seeks to assess the extent to which the digital book market is
structuring independently from the print edition market by comparing the pricing
of 559 digital and print French and American bestsellers during 2011. Two pricing
methods are distinguished: “homothetic pricing,” where the digital pricing is a
reflection of the print pricing, and “heterothetic pricing,” where the digital price is
set according to new rules. The French and American markets do not have the same
propensity to overcome the pricing practices in the print book market: While the
French market’s e-book structure is mirroring that of the print book industry, the
American market tends to be more independent. This can be explained by the significant
structural, legal, and institutional differences between the publishing industries
of both countries. In addition, some factors favor the “heterothetic” pricing method: the number of pages and the type of book influence the degree of differentiation
between print and digital prices of the same title.