People don’t want to pay for online access to news, study says

People who read the news online for free will migrate to other sites when they are asked to pay for content, finds a study by Paidcontent.co.uk.

Only five per cent of respondents indicates to be willing to pay to continue to use their favourite news site. Twelve per cent is not sure and a vast majority of 74% says it will look for alternative sites.

Paidcontent had commissioned the study to gain insights in the behaviour of people who use the Internet to remain informed of current events. The goal is to use these insights for developing new strategies and business models for traditional media.

When the Internet grew rapidly a decade ago, news media chose to allow online access to their content for free, while the price for accessing their printed media rose. Now that everyone has gotten used to free access, it will be increasingly difficult to persuade people of the attractions of a paid service. Senior researcher Andrew Freeman at Harris: “As long as free alternatives exist, consumers will turn to them for their daily news information, meaning heavy losses in terms of audience figures for those that charge. It remains to be seen whether the news industry will take the leap and begin charging for that which has been free for so long.”