It Is Not Just About Competition with Free: Differences Between Content Formats in Consumer Preferences and Willingness to Pay

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Berger, Benedikt; Matt, Christian; Steininger, Dennis M.; Hess, Thomas
• 署名单位: University of Munich; University of Mannheim; University of Augsburg
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0742-1222
• DOI: 10.1080/07421222.2015.1095038
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 105-128
• 关键词: online news consumption; CONJOINT-ANALYSIS; digital music; paid content; mobile; MODEL; PRODUCTS; media; experience; newspapers

摘要

While consumption of content in offline formats continues to decline, many providers are still struggling to monetize their content online, because consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for content in online formats is low. The availability of free content on the Internet is often considered the primary reason for this issue. However, we hold that the lower WTP is also related to a lower appraisal of online formats per se. Using a conjoint analysis and the example of newspaper subscriptions, we explore differences in consumer preferences and WTP between offline and online formats. Our results show that after price, format is the second-most important attribute of a newspaper subscription. While consumers still prefer the printed newspaper to any online format, WTP differs across online formats and is strongly associated with device ownership. Our study provides a novel understanding of the previously neglected factor content format and its importance for content providers.