关键词: 下沉市场, 纵向差异化, 流量定价, 电商平台

Abstract: Internet ecommerce platforms face market saturation in firsttier cities while emerging markets in smaller cities and rural areas present new growth opportunities Existing studies primarily explain the challenges of developing the developing market from the perspectives of logistics infrastructure and information infrastructure Beyond these established research angles，this paper attempts to introduce a new perspective，analyzing the issues from the angle of traffic data competition and product vertical differentiation，to offer a new explanation for platform strategy choices in different markets
Using a multistage game model，we analyze how platforms determine traffic types and pricing，merchants select traffic contracts，and engage in price competition with vertical quality differentiation Results show platforms tend to use developing markets for traffic revenue，while firsttier markets remain their primary profit source This leads to higher market prices，reduced merchant profits，increased highquality merchant market share，but lower qualitytoprice ratio for consumers
Furthermore，this paper examines situations where platforms act as both traffic provider and product supplier The research finds that platforms do not merely exploit market power to monopolize rents competition through traffic control，thereby capturing more consumer surplus as a product supplier Platforms may also create a favorable competitive environment for themselves through traffic management，enhancing their own product market profits This paper also examines the scenario of private domain traffic Private domain traffic can offset the influence of platform market power Merchants can convert public domain traffic into private domain traffic and obtain recurring income from it This makes goods accessible to consumers with lower quality preferences，thereby facilitating the development of lowertier markets
This paper demonstrates that platforms with a monopolistic advantage in traffic may transmit market power through various forms The study uncovers different mechanisms and their impacts on market equilibrium，thereby offering a new perspective for evaluating traffic monopolistic behaviors and assessing market performance

Key words: developing market, vertical differentiation, traffic data pricing, e-commerce platform