Purpose Based on consumers’ geographic real-time locations, firms can utilize mobile targeting promotion (MTP) to target consumers through some applications embedded in mobile device. This paper aims to focus on two competing firms about how to make MTP strategies under asymmetric mobile accessibilities, i.e. the proportions of consumers who can be targeted by firms through apps are different. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops a game model for two competing firms. Aiming to maximizing profit, firms should consider how to utilize MTP strategies to trade off the benefit (expand market share) and the cost (intensive price competition). Findings The optimal MTP strategies and equilibrium prices have been presented under different scenarios. This paper verifies that asymmetry can make the firm with high mobile accessibility obtain extra profits. Furthermore, when unit targeting cost is relatively low, profit of the firm with low mobile accessibility increases first and decreases later with respect to its mobile accessibility. Practical implications Competing firms’ optimal MTP strategies and equilibrium prices are determined not only by unit targeting cost but also by consumers’ mobile accessibilities to firms. Firms have strong incentive to enlarge the mobile accessibility to procure more profit in monopoly context, but, under competing context, a higher mobile accessibility may not mean better for firm. Originality/value This is one of the few papers which study mobile targeting based on game theory considering unit targeting cost and asymmetric mobile accessibility simultaneously.

中文翻译：

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如何在不对称情况下提供移动定位推广

目的根据消费者的实时地理位置，公司可以利用移动定位促销（MTP）通过嵌入在移动设备中的某些应用来定位消费者。本文旨在针对两家竞争公司，探讨如何在非对称移动可访问性下制定MTP策略，即，公司可以通过应用定位的消费者比例是不同的。设计/方法/方法本文为两个竞争的公司开发了一个博弈模型。为了使利润最大化，公司应考虑如何利用MTP策略来权衡收益（扩大市场份额）和成本（激烈的价格竞争）。结果在不同的情况下，提出了最佳的MTP策略和均衡价格。本文验证了不对称性可以使具有高移动可达性的公司获得额外的利润。此外，当单位目标成本相对较低时，移动可访问性较低的公司的利润相对于其移动可访问性首先增加，然后下降。实际意义竞争企业的最佳MTP策略和均衡价格不仅取决于单位定位成本，还取决于消费者对企业的移动能力。公司有强烈的动机扩大移动可访问性，以在垄断的情况下获得更多的利润，但是，在竞争的情况下，更高的移动可访问性可能并不意味着对公司更好。原创性/价值这是基于博弈论研究移动目标的少数论文之一，同时考虑了单位目标成本和非对称移动可访问性。