In our model, market consists of two types of consumers who receive some common utility from the basic functionality of the information good but have heterogeneous valuation for other value enhancing functionalities. We show that in absence of piracy, versioning is optimal when the proportion of...

Brand nicknames (e.g., Big Blue for IBM, Chevy for Chevrolet, Rollie for Rolex) are a common marketplace phenomenon. Marketers, however, hold polarized views about whether a brand should adopt or restrict the use of brand nicknames, yet little academic research has shed light on this debate....