Following trends in entertainment streaming services, online educational platforms are increasingly offering users flexible “on-demand” content options. It is important to understand how the timing of content release affects learning behaviors and firm revenue drivers. The current research studies over 67,000 users taking a marketing course before vs. after a natural experiment where the platform switched the course from a scheduled weekly-release format to an on-demand format with all content immediately available. The switch to on-demand positively impacted short-term firm revenue by increasing the number and proportion of certificate-paying users, suggesting that on-demand content can attract a broader set of consumers who value flexibility. On the downside, the switch resulted in users exhibiting lower lecture completion rates and quiz performance, and taking fewer additional business courses on the platform, representing a long-term cost. The results were robust to propensity score matching and stratification. The analyses also revealed that on-demand content enabled learning patterns that deviated from a standard evenly-paced schedule, including “strategic” binge learning and stretching out engagement past the recommended course period. Thus, while on-demand formats can boost revenues by bringing in more paying users, managers must consider new strategies for maintaining performance and engagement levels within these environments.

中文翻译：

---

EXPRESS：付费的可能性更大，但参与度更低：在线课程从预定发布切换为按需发布对用户行为的影响

随着娱乐流媒体服务的趋势，在线教育平台越来越多地为用户提供灵活的“点播”内容选项。了解内容发布的时间如何影响学习行为和公司收入驱动因素非常重要。目前的研究对超过 67,000 名用户在自然实验之前和之后参加营销课程进行了研究，其中平台将课程从预定的每周发布格式转变为所有内容立即可用的点播格式。转向点播通过增加证书付费用户的数量和比例，对公司的短期收入产生了积极影响，这表明点播内容可以吸引更广泛的重视灵活性的消费者。不利的一面是，这种转变导致用户的讲座完成率和测验表现较低，并且在平台上参加的额外商业课程较少，这意味着长期成本。结果对于倾向评分匹配和分层来说是稳健的。分析还显示，点播内容使得学习模式偏离了标准的均匀节奏的时间表，包括“战略性”狂欢学习和超出推荐课程时间的参与。因此，虽然点播格式可以通过引入更多付费用户来增加收入，但管理者必须考虑新的策略来在这些环境中保持绩效和参与水平。