Setting an early-bird price is a promotional pricing strategy specifically designed to encourage demand and incentivize early adoption of a new service. This method creates initial momentum, helps build a customer base quickly, and can generate valuable early feedback. It directly addresses the goal of stimulating demand by offering a clear financial benefit to the first wave of consumers, which is a key marketing and sales activity in the service value chain as described in ITIL 4.

A. A freeze period is a change enablement or release management practice used to reduce risk by limiting changes before a deadline, not to encourage service demand.

B. Adding a cancellation fee acts as a deterrent or a penalty, which discourages potential customers from trying a new service rather than encouraging them.

D. Increasing the overall price is a strategy typically used to manage or reduce high demand, especially when capacity is constrained, not to encourage it.

1. ITIL® 4: Drive Stakeholder Value. AXELOS. (2020). Section 4.2.3

"Shaping demand and service offerings." This section explains that service providers can influence demand through various means

including differentiated charging models. An early-bird price is a specific charging tactic to shape demand during a service launch.

2. ITIL® 4: Drive Stakeholder Value. AXELOS. (2020). Section 2.3.3

"Marketing activities." This section details how marketing activities are used to communicate the value of services and encourage their consumption. Promotional pricing is a fundamental marketing technique to achieve this objective.