A Study on the Business Model Optimization Strategy of Knowledge Payment Platform: The Example of Zhihu
Authors: Wei Mingqi 
Published: August 2023

The rapid development of the Internet has contributed to the continued advancement of the knowledge payment industry. Currently, knowledge payment platforms, as the core force of the knowledge payment market, guide the continuous changes in the direction of content production, enterprise operation and consumer demand in the knowledge payment industry. However, research on knowledge payment platforms in academia is still in its infancy, and in particular, there is a paucity of research that systematically examines the characteristics of successful knowledge payment platforms and strategies to address the problems of business models from the perspective of business models as a whole. Therefore, a systematic and thorough understanding of the essence and richness of the business models of knowledge payment platforms is crucial to an in-depth understanding and grasp of the development rules of the knowledge payment industry.This article focuses on the business models of Internet knowledge payment platforms and their optimisation strategies. Take Zhihu as an example using a case study approach and the perspective of value networks, this paper constructs a business model based on value networks and conducts specific research and analysis on the eight elements of the business model to explore the essence of the business model of knowledge payment platforms and its optimisation strategies under the collaborative competition model, which is equally important in the Internet era. Evidence from this case study finds that value network is the main form of operation of the business model of platform-based enterprises, and the platform achieves the business closure of value acquisition and value maintenance through the engine driven by value proposition and value co-creation.The study reveals that competition and cooperation are equally important business concepts and the whole process of cross-enterprise value co-creation in the Internet era, which complements the research perspective of business model optimization strategy research focusing on competition and provides certain reference significance for the business model optimization of platform-based enterprises.The contribution of this paper is to provide a new perspective for the study of business model optimization strategies. This article is sorting out business model optimization strategies. On the basis of relevant literature, the original theoretical research perspective of enterprise management focusing on competition rather than cooperation is supplemented，From the perspective of “value network”, combined with the theoretical basis of Yuanlei’s business model, a business model based on value network is proposed Model. On this basis, take the knowledge payment industry as the exploration field, and take the typical knowledge payment platform Zhihu platform. In order to study the case, by revealing the key factors for the success of the business model of Zhihu platform, verify the new business model theory Explanations of enterprise practice. Through research, it is found that the theoretical model of the new business model better explains the Internet knowledge. The essence of the business model of the payment platform is a complete value co-creation closed-loop structure, which also reveals the Internet knowledge.