IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v3y2015i4p106-115.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who Is Willing to Pay for Online Journalistic Content?

Author

Listed:
  • Marju Himma-Kadakas

    (Institute of Social Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia)

  • Ragne Kõuts

    (Institute of Social Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Marju Himma-Kadakas & Ragne Kõuts, 2015. "Who Is Willing to Pay for Online Journalistic Content?," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(4), pages 106-115.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v:3:y:2015:i:4:p:106-115
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/345
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Drew P. Cingel & Alexis R. Lauricella & Ellen Wartella & Annie Conway, 2014. "Predicting Social Networking Site Use and Online Communication Practices among Adolescents: The Role of Access and Device Ownership," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 2(2), pages 1-30.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kwak, Kyu Tae & Oh, Chae Ju & Lee, Sang Woo, 2021. "Who uses paid over-the-top services and why? Cross-national comparisons of consumer demographics and values," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(7).
    2. Alona BEKH, 2021. "Pest Analysis Of Paid Digital Media Subscription Model In European Countries," Contemporary Economy Journal, Constantin Brancoveanu University, vol. 6(1), pages 35-44.
    3. Monsalve-Alamá, Antonio & Ortigosa-Blanch, Arturo & Sánchez-García, Javier, 2023. "The evolution of the media discourse on the implementation of media companies' new digital business models," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    4. Alfonso Vara-Miguel & Cristina Sánchez-Blanco & Charo Sádaba Chalezquer & Samuel Negredo, 2021. "Funding Sustainable Online News: Sources of Revenue in Digital-Native and Traditional Media in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-17, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v:3:y:2015:i:4:p:106-115. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/ .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.