Research on the Value Chain Reconstruction and Structural Contradictions of Micro-Short Drama Business Models in the Context of Platformization
In recent years, micro-short dramas have expanded rapidly within China's online audiovisual industry and, after the paid mini-program model, have accelerated their entry into a new stage characterized by platform-based integration. Platformization is not merely an improvement in traffic aggregation and distribution efficiency; more importantly, it signifies the reorganization of production, dissemination, and revenue-realization mechanisms within the micro-short drama industry. Taking the platformbased transformation of micro-short dramas as its research object, this article combines industrial value chain analysis with an analysis of platform organizational logic. It focuses on how platformization, by internalizing traffic entrances, distribution mechanisms, and revenue pathways, promotes the shift of micro-short drama business models from a single-drama payment logic to a platform-based composite monetization logic, thereby triggering a transfer of dominance within the value chain. The study argues that platformization has not eliminated the industry's original problems. Instead, under the new organizational structure, it has generated three structural contradictions: first, the mismatch between the logic of traffic-scale expansion and the logic of revenue realization; second, the conflict between algorithmic efficiency orientation and the demand for content innovation; and third, the tension between the concentration of platform power and the imbalance of value distribution. The key issue in the micro-short drama business model is therefore no longer merely "how to grow, " but how to rebuild a new balance among platform efficiency, content value, and industrial fairness.
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