Editing Network effect (section)

=== Critical mass ===
In the early phases of a network technology, incentives to adopt the new technology are low. After a certain number of people have adopted the technology, network effects become significant enough that adoption becomes a [[Strategic dominance|dominant strategy]]. This point is called critical mass. At the critical mass point, the value obtained from the good or service is greater than or equal to the price paid for the good or service.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Grajek|first1=Michał|last2=Kretschmer|first2=Tobias|date=2012-11-01|title=Identifying critical mass in the global cellular telephony market|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016771871200077X|journal=International Journal of Industrial Organization|language=en|volume=30|issue=6|pages=496–507|doi=10.1016/j.ijindorg.2012.06.003|issn=0167-7187}}</ref>

When a product reaches critical mass, network effects will drive subsequent growth until a stable balance is reached.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Evans|first1=David S.|last2=Schmalensee|first2=Richard|date=2010-01-03|title=Failure to Launch: Critical Mass in Platform Businesses|url=https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/rne.2010.9.issue-4/rne.2010.9.4.1256/rne.2010.9.4.1256.xml|journal=Review of Network Economics|volume=9|issue=4|doi=10.2202/1446-9022.1256|hdl=1721.1/76685|s2cid=201056684|issn=1446-9022|hdl-access=free|access-date=2020-10-31|archive-date=2023-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204153910/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.2202/1446-9022.1256/html|url-status=live}}</ref> Therefore, a key business concern must then be how to attract users prior to reaching critical mass. Critical quality is closely related to consumer expectations, which will be affected by price and quality of products or services, the company's reputation and the growth path of the network.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1029103812|title=The new Palgrave dictionary of economics |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Garett |isbn=978-1-349-95189-5|edition=Third|location=London|oclc=1029103812|access-date=2020-10-30|archive-date=2023-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204153922/https://www.worldcat.org/title/1029103812|url-status=live}}</ref> Thus, one way is to rely on extrinsic motivation, such as a payment, a fee waiver, or a request for friends to sign up.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sledgianowsk i|first1=Deb |last2=Kulviwat |first2=Songpol |date=2009-06-01 |title=Using Social Network Sites: The Effects of Playfulness, Critical Mass and Trust in a Hedonic Context |journal=The Journal of Computer Information Systems |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=74–83 |doi=10.1080/08874417.2009.11645342 |s2cid=67868560 |issn=0887-4417 |eissn=2380-2057}}</ref> A more natural strategy is to build a system that has enough value ''without'' network effects, at least to [[early adopters]]. Then, as the number of users increases, the system becomes even more valuable and is able to attract a wider user base.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Trustworthy computing and services : International Conference, ISCTCS 2014, Beijing, China, November 28-29, 2014, Revised selected papers |date=19 June 2015 |editor=Lu, Yueming |editor2=Wu, Xu |editor3=Zhang, Xi |isbn=978-3-662-47401-3 |location=Heidelberg |oclc=911938121}}</ref>