Willingness to Pay for Online News: An Empirical Study on the Viability of the Subscription Model

Abstract

As no business models seem to generate reliable revenue streams for online news services, many publishers see the subscription model as a last resort for survival although little evidence suggests users are ready to pay for online news at this moment. A random-sample telephone survey of 853 Hong Kong residents found very few users actually responded to paid content and most had no intent to pay in the future. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that age and newspaper use are related to paying intent, whereas income is not. Online publishers may consider the economic implications before adopting the subscription model.