Abstract

Abstract

With the help of the latest theoretical research results in economic field，especially game theory，together with the theory and practice in the field of mass media，this book tries to study the economic behavior of various bodies in media field，re－understand various media economic phenomenon，thus to solve the problems in the theory and practice in media economic field，to promote further research and fill in the blanks.We could draw different conclusions when study media economic phenomenon from different perspectives，namely media and economy.Media economic phenomenon is the explicit expression.Game theory，as an analytical tool of economic behavior，could offer a clearer perspective of the study of media economic phenomenon.

Game theory mainly study the decision making process during the direct interaction between behaviors of decision making bodies and the equilibrium problem in this process.The choice of a certain body，a individual，an enterprise，a media would be influenced by other individual，enterprise and media′s choice，and then it reacts on the decision making process and equilibrium problem in the later one′s choices.Game theory concludes cooperative game and noncooperative game，while economy study mainly focus on the later one.Non－cooperative game is our main study objective，which emphasize individual rationality and individual optimal decision.

From the economic prospective，human behavior is actually economic behavior.Media economic behavior could be considered as the behavior of various participants in the media operative process.The study of media economic behavior concludes the study on the rule of media functioning，media operation，media management，etc，all the individual behaviors related to media is concluded in media economic behavior.The most microcosmic level of media economic behavior is individual behavior，the aim of which is to participate in the media activities.Individual behavior constitutes higher level media behaviors，such as group behaviors，media organization behaviors and government behavior.It could be concluded that the whole media world is consisted of media economic behaviors.

The first chapter of this book gives explanations to the basic concepts related to media economic behavior games，including concepts of game theories mentioned in the book，introduces the study method of game theory and its application path in media field，meanwhile necessary literature review is made.

The basic concepts of game theory include players，actions，information，strategies，payoffs，outcome and equilibria.The study paradigm of game theory is that pay－off functions and strategy space is set up to players by modeler，and then observe the results when players make decisions to maximize the income.The core of game theory analytical method is to discover the simplest assumption which is absolutely necessary to draw conclusion，which is to build up the most obvious and direct model with presupposed conclusion.In the field of media，the study paradigm and analytical method of game theory would be quite helpful；the aim of this book is to study the practical problem in the field of media economy with the application of game theory.

In the research of media economy，game theory provides a good perspective to view specific strategic and tactical problems in the practical management process of media industry.Through the application of game theory，this book tries to do research on the tactical aspect of media economic behavior.

In recent years，the study on media management strategy appears to be a highlighted topic in domestic media economy study field on the level of industry economy.The existing research results mainly focus on the answers to problems such as what is current situation like，and what should be done to the tactical decision in Chinese media management practice，while with the help of the study paradigm and analytical method of game theory，this book explains why should decisions be made like this，to understand the basis behind certain tactical orientation in the perspective of game theory.

When analyzing other field of media economic behaviors，we simplify media phenomenon，build up reasonable instantiation model according to instantiation theory，then through analysis on the model，find every single key links in media games，thus to find the solution to the expected equilibrium outcome，then revert the solution to media practice.Through game theory，we could do exploring research，descriptive research and explanatory research on all kinds of problems in media field.

The second chapter of this book introduces complete information games，explains various problems in media field，such as price and content competition with the concept and analytical method of complete information games，such as price and content competition between media products.

Through complete information games analysis on prisoner′s dilemma in newspaper market，we can see the principle of media products′price keeping stable，and the mechanism in which price war becomes means of competition.Usually，keeping the price of products stable is in favor of media operator′s interest.While contest appears in market share，price war of media products always turn out to be another feasible choice.Through complete information games analysis on media content competition，we could find the basis upon which media make choice among identical strategy，diversified strategy and content innovation while setting products content.When the gap between players′market share is large，the player in inferior position would choose diversified strategy，it would bring more profit if he choose contents which is different from the superior side and attractive.While the gap between players′market share is small，the inferior side would choose identical strategy，choose contents identical with the superior side，and it is in accordance to his own interest.To achieve competition superiority，media could take monopolistic strategy and innovation strategy.Monopolistic strategy is to reduce the strategic room of the competitor，keep the competitor who has the ability to produce products in the favor of the mass from producing process，restricted by certain exterior factors.Innovation strategy is to increase own strategic room，produce products with more favored contents and develop own innovative superior strategy and gain more profit.What′s more，it should be noticed that，in the game process of practical media operation，media operator needs to identify the unbelievable threat of the competitor，and how to turn its own threat into believable treat through promise，thus wise strategic decision could be made.

The third chapter of this book introduces the incomplete information game.Concepts and analytical method of incomplete information are applied to explain problems in media field，such as bidding and public trust of media products.

The concept of Harsanyi transformation and Bayesian Nash equilibrium is necessary when dealing with incomplete information game.With the absence of competitor′s information，players need to estimate the probability distributing of competitor′s type，and modify the judgment according to the competitor′s tactical choice in the multi－round game.This chapter take bidding as example，introduces how to analyze practical problem in media field with incomplete information game.Advertisement bid is rather frequent in media field.From the perspective of an advertisement seller，the key to optimal profit is to design favorable bidding rules，including the design and bidding process of advertisement products.While the quantity of products and strong buyers are both small，sealed bid is more favorable towards seller；while the quantity of products and strong buyers are both large，public bid is more favorable.Whatever bid format chosen，it′s necessary for sellers to promote buyers into an incomplete information game process between participants and to avoid the cooperation between buyers.When several products which have little difference are bidding together，as soon as the buyers achieve in cooperation and gain each one′s profit according to their needs，the seller would have no chance to gain maximized profit.The construction process of media′s public trust is also an incomplete information game process between media and its audience.To raise public trust of media，first of all is to find the way to raise each factors relevant to the raising of media′s public trust，including media communication channel，information resource，organization structure，working staff，social image，reputation degree etc.；these factors should be discovered and persisted，with frequent investigation among audience，to see the latest development of common trust，and keep on with the improvement of overall performance according to the need of development and change of exterior environment.The dynamic game between media and its audience in the process of raising its public trust is endless.If only we divide this process into several phase dynamic game，could we find suitable strategy in different phase of media development，and find overall styles of expressions，thus to provide specific suggestion for corresponding media communication channel，information resource，organization structure，and working staff etc..

The fourth chapter of this book introduces various game relations in media field，and tries to apply and construct game model in particular parts.

This chapter firstly gives a whole picture of the game relations in each field of media practice，to offer direct understanding of the field where media economic game occurs.Media economic behavior game occurs in several field of media practice，while the overall background of all games is specific media environment.If we try to divide media economic behaviors into three games circle:outer circle，inner circle and micro circle，we could find that in the outer circle，the main game relations concentrate on government，which has great influence on game rules of media economic behavior game.In the inner game circle，the core is media organization.In this game circle，games with the particularity of media industry occur.Through the effort to build the model，this book concluded the game model of two－way choice between media and its audience，the equilibrium outcome of this model shows that，media products could either be of no preference to achieve maximum audience，or be extreme in specific orientation to achieve the maximum concentration of audience preference.Both choice could maximize the economic interest of media，there is no middle way to get equilibrium outcome.Game in micro game circle is actually game inside media organization，between media operator and employees，the aim of which is to achieve working efficiency and maximum personal income，game in this field could be analyzed directly with game model in information economics.

The fifth chapter of this book is case study on media economic behavior game.

In this chapter，game analytical method is applied into four representative media field，to understand specific problem in these four fields from the perspective of game theory.The four fields are media system reform，media price competition，media content competition and the competition between former and latest media formation.In the field of media system reform，trade newspaper is taken as example to introduce the rules of media system reform from the perspective of game theory.The system planning should be effective and achieve equilibrium，or it could not stand.The outcome of reform should firstly be beneficial to most people，thus it would be admitted by various social power.Reform benefits parts of people more than others，and then these parts would be more active in participating and promoting the reform.In the reform in different field，the government and researchers need to closely analyze the interest situation of each participants and their optimal strategy，find the powers with enthusiasm in promoting the reform，thus reform could be promoted and problems in reform process could be studies on.In the field of media price competition，newspaper price war is taken as example.Through game analysis on price war process in Nanjing newspaper marketing，the cause of price war and correct corresponding measures which should be adopted by participants are concluded.Price war does more harm than good to the market growth as a whole and most media operators，vicious competition results in the decrease of the overall profit of media.Media operators should have the idea of price competition strategy，once price war is truly inevitable，optimal strategy should be adopted to actively face up the challenge and to achieve new market equilibrium.In the field of media content competition，TV program is taken as example，and the innovation strategy of TV show“Super Girl”by Hunan TV station is analyzed.If the media operator wants to win in content competition，it should always be sensitive to the audiences′preference change towards media contents.To copy successful program pattern could guarantee profit in certain degree，but could not have the same innovation effect.Content innovation itself could not be copied，but the thinking of content innovation could be learnt.In the field of competition between former and latest media formation，the competition game between newly－developed media and traditional media in analyzed，and the competition between internet media and newspaper alliance is taken as example.If newspaper wants to urge internet media to sign price agreement when quoting news products，firstly，wide range of alliance should be build up，to increase the internet media′s cost of quit from cooperation；secondly，the agreement inside the newspaper alliance should be achieved to avoid disintegration and refuse respective negotiation；one single newspaper has little chance to win in price negotiation with internet media.Internet media has already got advantages in this game；the aim of newspaper to reoccupy its lost land has more round of game to fight.

The six chapter of this book studies the influence of different media environment on media market game.

All media economic behaviors occur in specific media environment.Generally，media environment has little influence on media economic game analysis，and the most important factors of game rules are economy rules or commercial rules.However，different media environment in different countries would have different influence on media game，especially when facing specific problem，the factors in media environment would have greater influence on game rules，such as players′strategy space and payoffs.The difference in value orientation of players in different media environment would result in different game objectives.Since the difference of political economic system and historical development，difference in media environment in different states exists，especially in China，factors on macro－level such as state policy have great influence on media operation.Most media in Chinese media industry have extremely close connection with the government，and are strictly restricted in all aspects range from entering qualification to content orientation，what′s more，the property rights of most traditional media belong to the state.The development of media industry in China is always going through breakthroughs in ideology and policy area such as the definition of industry property.In games in Chinese media market，the objectives of players are diversified，which includes not only the optimization of economic profit but also political interest.While in other countries such as western countries with development market economy，the influence of state government is limited，except policy relevant to media，there is no regulation on propaganda or direct interference into specific media operation，however，different countries have their own particular restricts on media policy.Comparatively speaking，governmental policy restricts on newspapers and internet media are limited，while wireless radio and television is more restricted by policy.Considering the protection of diversity of press and to avoid monopolization，countries with developed market economy always have certain restrict on the crossmedia operation between radio，television and newspaper.For game objective，most media orient to economic profit，while government，civil organization，trade organization and public media orient to public good.The optimal media strategy defers from different media environment，the specialty of different media environment and the change of media environment should always be taken into consideration during media decision making process.The game hotspot and focus of future Chinese media market would exist in three aspects.Firstly，with the media system reform，game of redistribution of political and economic resource between media and government，and within media.Secondly，with the development and application of new communication technology，the competition and cooperation game between newly developed media and traditional media.Last but not the least，with the development of economic globalization，transnational media groups′game with Chinese government and local media，during its entering process into Chinese media market.