信息管理与商业智能系讲座（8月6日）

题目: From Free to Freemium: A Causal Analysis of the Impact of Paywall Adoption on Content Production and Engagement

报告人：Linli Xu（徐琳莉），Aassociate Professor, University of Minnesota

时间：2026年8月6日（周四）下午3:00-4:30

地点：线上：腾讯会议750 277 639/722722；线下：李达三楼105室

摘要：While creator monetization is central to the creator economy, the causal effects of paywalls on content creation and audience engagement remain understood. Analyzing 1,453,592 articles from 13,203 Substack creators (2017-2024) using stacked synthetic difference-in-differences, we find that paywall adoption significantly increases engagement on free content through two mechanisms: strategic content change and quality signaling. Free posts become longer, more analytical, insightful, tentative, and focused on money-related themes. Post-level semantic matching reveals that identical content receives more engagement when posted by creators who impose paywall, confirming quality signaling effects. Creators also differentiate paid content from free content by using simpler, more accessible language despite its longer length. These findings suggest that paywall adoption represents a professionalization shift that changes content strategy, with quality signaling effects beyond direct monetization.

报告人简介：Linli Xu joined Minnesota Carlson at the University of Minnesota in 2012 after receiving her PhD from the University of Southern California (USC). Her research interests focus on advertising and digital platforms, and specialize in the automotive markets. Her work has been published in Marketing Science, Management Science, MIS Quarterly, Quantitative Marketing and Economics, and Journal of Marketing. Xu was named as a Young Scholar by the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) in 2019, a biennial award given to the most promising scholars in marketing and closely related fields whose work suggests they are potential leaders of the next generation of marketing academics. Her research was funded by the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Grant and Carlson Dean's Small Research Grant. While at USC, she was awarded the 2010 James S. Ford/Commerce Associate Ph.D. Fellowship in recognition of her outstanding scholastic achievement and research. Linli Xu holds a BA in Economics from Jilin University (China) and a MA in Economics from the University of British Columbia (Canada).