Another survey of broadband internet users has found that whilst they want more compelling, premium content, very few are actually willing to pay for it.
Strategy Analytics questioned 525 US broadband households on which kinds of services they would be interested in and whether they would be willing to subscribe to them. The response was that a significant majority of people are still unwilling to pay for online content.
For example, 46% of broadband users said they would use a premium service that allowed legal music downloads, but just 16% said that they would be willing to pay a monthly fee of $5 to $15 for this service. For gamers, however, the ratio is much higher. Whilst just 20% of respondents would like to use video game consoles to connect to a broadband service, 17% of them would be willing to pay for it.
The general reluctance of users to part with money for online content and services leaves site owners in an awkward predicament. In order to bring in users, they need compelling content; but, in order to produce this content, they need some source of revenue, at least ultimately.
PaymentOne, an online payment services provider, has claimed that users would be more willing to purchase content if there were more secure transaction methods in place (see Online Content Providers Must Pioneer New Payment Methods, Says Report).
“For service providers considering which types of premium content to add to their broadband offerings, these results suggest the importance of addressing specific consumer segments,” say James Penhune, director of the Strategy Analytics Global Broadband Practice.
“While music services may appeal to the greatest number of potential users, other services may be equally likely to draw paying customers. And the video game business has always been driven by highly motivated users who are accustomed to paying significant prices for hardware and software.”
Other research A recent analysis by Forrester Research concluded that consumers are placing ever greater demands on media owners to produce cross-channel content, but that few are happy to pay for it. It says that fewer than one in five users has so far paid for online content (see Multichannel Consumers Demand More Content But Offer Little Revenue).
Other research has shown that businesses and consumers are gradually becoming more willing to pay for internet content. US consumers spent $1.3 billion in 2002, a rise of 95% on the previous year (see Online Content Sales Surge In 2002).
In Europe, almost one fifth of users are now willing to buy content, up from 16% in 2001. They are expected to spend â‚Ź2.5 billion on digital content by 2007, according forecasts from Jupiter Research (see Western Europeans More Willing To Pay For Online Content).
