Adobe gives away the Acrobat Reader to build a market for the sale of software that creates Acrobat files. This is an example of:
A) one market attempting to conquer a new market by making it a subset, component, or feature of its primary offering.
B) firms giving away products for half of a two-sided market to seed the market.
C) markets, once considered distinctly separate, beginning to offer similar features and capabilities.
D) firms taking advantage of complementary products developed for a prior generation of technology.
E) firms spreading costs across increasing units of production or in serving multiple customers.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Adobe's strategy of giving away Acrobat Reader for free is aimed at seeding the market for their paid software that creates Acrobat files. This approach is typical for firms looking to build a user base for one side of a two-sided market (in this case, the readers of PDF files), which in turn increases the value of the other side of the market (the creators of PDF files who need to purchase Adobe's software).

Adobe Gives Away the Acrobat Reader to Build a Market