价格歧视视角下OTA平台定价策略分析

Analysis of OTA Platform Pricing Strategies from the Perspective of Price Discrimination

摘要: 本文基于价格歧视理论，结合在线旅游行业特点，系统分析了OTA平台如何通过动态定价、市场细分与产品差异化等策略实现利润最大化。文章首先阐述了价格歧视的经济学定义及其三种类型，辨析了其与收益管理概念的异同，并探讨了旅游服务产品在时效性、异质性和需求波动等方面的特殊属性，指出这些属性构成了在线旅游企业实施价格歧视的现实基础。其次，从市场势力、信息不对称和转售壁垒三个维度论证了实施价格歧视的必要条件，并以OTA平台为例说明其实际运作机制。接着，文章构建了三级价格歧视在OTA平台中的实践图谱，包括群体差异定价、产品线分层设计以及基于大数据的个性化定价，并讨论了“大数据杀熟”与消费者反制之间的博弈。最后，从经济效益、消费者福利和行业竞争三个层面评估了价格歧视策略的双重影响，指出其在提升资源配置效率的同时，也可能加剧市场不公平与消费者感知剥夺。研究认为，未来OTA平台应在数据技术赋能与社会责任履行之间寻求平衡，在《中华人民共和国反垄断法》《中华人民共和国消费者权益保护法》等法律框架下，探索合规的定价策略与差异化的产品设计路径，推动定价策略向精准化与透明化方向发展，以实现行业可持续发展。

Abstract: Based on the theory of price discrimination and considering the characteristics of the online tourism industry, this paper systematically analyzes how Online Travel Agency (OTA) platforms can maximize profits through strategies such as dynamic pricing, market segmentation, and product differentiation. The paper first explains the economic definition of price discrimination and its three types, clarifies the distinction between price discrimination and revenue management, and discusses the special attributes of tourism service products in terms of timeliness, heterogeneity, and demand fluctuations, indicating that these attributes constitute the practical basis for OTA platforms to implement price discrimination. Then, it argues the necessary conditions for implementing price discrimination from three dimensions: market power, information asymmetry, and resale barriers, and illustrates its actual operation mechanism with the example of OTA platforms. Next, it constructs a practical framework of third-degree price discrimination in OTA platforms, including group differential pricing, product line stratification design, and personalized pricing based on big data, and discusses the game between “big data price gouging” and consumer countermeasures. Finally, it assesses the dual impact of price discrimination strategies from three aspects: economic benefits, consumer welfare, and industry competition, pointing out that while it enhances the efficiency of resource allocation, it may also exacerbate market unfairness and consumers’ perception of deprivation. The research suggests that in the future, OTA platforms should seek a balance between data technology empowerment and social responsibility fulfillment. Within the legal framework such as the Anti-Monopoly Law and the Consumer Rights Protection Law, it is necessary to explore compliant pricing strategies and differentiated product design paths, promoting the development of pricing strategies towards precision and transparency to achieve sustainable industry development.