Consumer attitudes to publishers’ digital subscription products are evolving as media companies place greater emphasis on generating revenue directly from their audiences.
With more content placed behind paywalls, many consumers are now thinking more carefully about how and why they’re paying to access it. Some are broadening their subscription portfolios while others are scaling back. And although overall satisfaction with publishers’ subscription offerings is growing, frustrations with cancellation processes and restricted content continue to mount.
To better understand consumer perceptions of publishers’ subscription products and approaches, Toolkits conducted a first-of-its-kind consumer study in partnership with research and insights firm National Research Group. Key findings from the survey of over 6,500 U.S. respondents included:
- Satisfaction with subscription products is increasing.
- Consumers’ subscription portfolios continue to grow and subscribers say they’re less likely to cancel.
- Easier cancellation mechanisms could help drive more subscriptions.
- Over half of consumers attempt to circumvent publishers’ paywalls.
- Introductory discounts continue to help drive subscription purchases.
- Paywalled content is deemed higher quality and more trustworthy by some consumers.
Satisfaction with subscription products is increasing
More consumers are satisfied with the value for money they get from publishers’ digital subscription products than in 2022. Eighty-five percent of subscribers to digital publications reported being “completely” or “mostly” satisfied with the value for money they received from their subscriptions, up from 75% in August 2022. Twelve percent reported being “somewhat satisfied”, while just 3% said they were “mostly unsatisfied” or “not at all satisfied”.
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