Who Is Willing to Pay for Online Journalistic Content?

Abstract

While the overall readership of newspapers is growing as a result of the multiplatform reach, many online media consumers are not offered the surplus value they expect of journalistic content. Since a great deal of journalistic content published on the internet has been free of charge for years, attempting to monetarise this content is now proving complicated. This article considers the motivating factors behind attitudes towards paying for online journalistic content in different population groups. We follow two directions: attitudes towards paying for online news, and obstacles that compromise willingness to pay in different groups. The survey results and trends noticed by media organisations indicate that the public's readiness to pay for journalistic online content is growing, albeit slowly. Based on the outcomes of various interviews we can conclude that the expectation of exclusive quality and web distinctive content are the two main reasons behind willingness to pay for online journalistic content, however, it is difficult to outline particular preference groups based on cultural, demographic, or socio-economic characteristics. This seems to be the result of audience fragmentation-the reasons behind willingness to pay for online journalistic content are hidden in the interests and preferences of small audience groups.

Funding Sustainable Online News: Sources of Revenue in Digital-Native and Traditional Media in Spain

“…These data allow us to suggest that specialized media have chosen to expand their funding models towards alternative sources without renouncing traditional sources. Regarding the question of successful monetization, the data confirm the idea highlighted by previous research that the paywall is not a practical model, unless the media offer exclusive and differentiated niche products, with high relevance for relatively small but motivated audiences [3,58]. In this sense, some doubts arise about limiting the public's access to exclusive quality news and a plurality of opinions, and the emergence of a digital knowledge gap between those who can afford to pay for this exclusive information and those who cannot.…”

“…This new environment multiplies the supply of editorial content from news publishers to readers and users. First, the market evolves from a scarcity situation into a market of abundance, where most news stories become low-value commodities, in economic terms [2], and most consumers are satisfied with the free news available online from broadcast and cable brands or other digital sources [3]. Secondly, although most of the audience is using several devices to get digital news [4,5], mobile devices are becoming the main platform for news consumption [5], and they are creating additional readership among those who do not use legacy brands [6,7].…”

Cross-National Similarities and Differences between Legacy and Digital-Born News Media Audiences

“…An increasing amount of literature has addressed this issue from several perspectives: the effect of paywalls on the spread of quality news in society (Collins, 2011;Pickard & Williams, 2014); the potential predictors of willingness to pay for digital news, like sociodemographic variables (Chiou & Tucker, 2013;Chyi & Lee, 2013;Cook & Attari, 2012;Goyanes, 2014;Kammer, Boeck, Hansen, & Hadberg, 2015;Wang, 2011); interest in news and frequency of readership of digital news (Goyanes & Vara-Miguel, 2017;Oh, Animesh, & Pinsonneault, 2016) or previous payment for print news (Chyi, 2005(Chyi, , 2012. Notwithstanding that, the factors related to likeliness to pay for digital news are still unclear and multifold (Himma-Kadakas & Kõuts, 2015).…”

Selling their souls to the advertisers? How native advertising degrades the quality of prestige media outlets

“…Studies from media research show that recipients are willing to pay for online journalism behind a paywall if the content is exclusive and of high quality (e.g. Himma-Kadakas & Kõuts, 2015;Lischka, Hutter, & Rademacher, 2012;Vara-Miguel, Sanjurjo, & Diaz-Espina, 2014). Further research could investigate the notion that news media companies should invest in high-quality media, creating content that recipients will pay for rather than economising and resorting to native advertising.…”