News: Why pay when you can do it for free?
A study from the Netherlands shows why people are reluctant to spend money on news. While price isn't the deciding factor, it is a factor.
It's the hundred-point question that private media companies ask themselves time and again - indeed have to ask if they want to survive: How do we get people to pay for news? There is no simple answer, but there are sobering figures: Less than one in five people in Western countries - from the USA to Poland - pay for online news. Switzerland and the Netherlands are in the middle. In both countries, 17% of the 2000 people surveyed stated that they had spent money on online news in 2020. This figure has increased steadily in recent years. But at the same time, publishers are continuing to lose print subscriptions. The bottom line is that for many, the calculation does not (yet) add up. The frequently cited examples of success that can be found everywhere cannot hide the fact that the subscription market is fundamentally tough.
But why does even an interested audience find it so difficult to pay for journalism? Tim Groot Kormelink provides some revealing answers. For his qualitative study "Why people don't pay for news", the assistant professor of journalism at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam provided 68 people with a trial subscription, print and online. They were able to choose from the subscription offers of four Dutch daily newspapers. After three weeks, the researcher interviewed them in detail about their experiences.
No additional budget for news
The author's findings were as sobering as they were surprising: of the 68 people between the ages of 20 and 75, 36 women and 32 men, all with a "relatively high level of education", none stated that they wanted to buy a paid subscription to the tested title after the trial period had expired.
The "subscription saturation" also speaks against a subscription, as you already pay for so many services on the net.
No additional budget for newsThe author's findings are as sobering as they are surprising: of the 68 people between the ages of 20 and 75, 36 women and 32 men, all with a "relatively high level of education", none stated that they wanted to buy a paid subscription to the tested title at the end of the trial period.
Reference is a shared Netflix subscription
An obvious and frequently heard reason for not wanting to spend money on online news is that the subscription price is perceived as too high. "In view of the fact that price is the biggest barrier to subscribing, participants argued that a more attractive price could convince them to subscribe to news," writes Groot Kormelink. Younger media users in particular had a very concrete idea of pricing. For them, 3 to 5 euros per month would be reasonable. The price of a shared Netflix or Spotify account serves as a reference.
For younger people, the limited budget is a hurdle: Additional expenditure means doing without elsewhere.
Another argument against subscribing is "subscription saturation"; people already pay for so many streaming services, digital platforms and other media offerings. This is also directly related to the fear of not using the news from the newspaper you subscribe to enough and therefore spending money for nothing. After all, there is still an abundance of free news available online, which is the second most important reason after price for not buying an online subscription. In the Netherlands, where the study was conducted, there are two major free providers: the public broadcaster NOS and the commercial news portal "NU.nl". However, podcasts are also a popular free service.
Attachment anxiety when choosing media
Younger people in particular also show fear of commitment when choosing media. They obviously see paying for a subscription as a commitment they are not prepared to make. The decision to subscribe to a particular title always means deciding against many other equally valid offers. And behind this hurdle is another one: anyone who decides to subscribe at some point should then also read what he or she has paid for. Anyone who finds this (self-)obligation too onerous will decide against a subscription and snack here and there on the large free offer.
