Design of charging mechanisms according to the interaction between information technology type and diffusion lifecycle phase

The prescriptive literature on charging for information technologies considers two main objectives that are served by access charges and use charges: cost recovery and regulation of computing resource utilization. Recently, researchers in the field have suggested that designers of charging mechanisms must also pay attention to the type of information technology and to the phase of the diffusion lifecycle. Specifically, innovation-oriented organizations have been advised to design liberal low charges either for communication technologies or during the technology initiation phase.The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it organizes published recommendations under one conceptual framework, whereby charging is adapted according to both the technology type and the phase of the diffusion lifecycle. Second, where diffusion patterns are most sensitive to the charging policy, i.e., for communication technologies during the initiation and perhaps even the adaptation phase of the lifecycle, we go beyond existing recommendations and advocate negative charging. Mini-cases serve to illustrate the various recommended charging options.