Many publishers are seeing their print runs fall. And that while reader income is so important for a sustainable future for newspapers and magazines. The key question for many publishers is: how do you get more people to subscribe? Tim Groot Kormelink of the Free University looked into it.
In fact, Groot Kormelink’s research question was the opposite. He gave 68 people a free subscription to a newspaper of their choice. After three weeks he asked if he liked it and if they would like to continue the subscription. The motivation for people to renew appeared to be low. In fact, none of the participants was willing to continue the subscription. Groot Kormelink, together with his research team at the VU, had an interview with all dropouts and reported on four reasons people aren’t willing to pay for news.
A subscription is too expensive
An important reason not to take out a subscription is the high price of a subscription. Participants in Groot Kormelink’s study found paying for news expensive, especially in view of the fact that news is also available online for free. “Some participants also had the idea that a newspaper subscription is expensive. It was estimated that the costs for a subscription are 25-30 euros per month,” explains Groot Kormelink. That is not true. Most newspapers offer a digital subscription or a digital subscription in combination with a paper edition during the weekend for between 10 and 15 euros per month. However, this appears to be too much of an investment, especially for young people. “Certainly if you compare the offer with other digital subscriptions, such as for Netflix and Spotify (around 3 to 5 euros per month on a shared subscription), the newspaper did not come out positively.”
Too many subscriptions
Participants in the study also indicated that they already have enough subscriptions. Netflix, spotify, the mobile service provider. Much of the household money is already spent on subscriptions every month and then a newspaper subscription is just one too many. Not only the costs or amounts of subscriptions played a role in this consideration, some participants also found the connection with one permanent newspaper against the chest. It is better to buy and exchange a single newspaper every now and then than to be stuck with a brand.
Free news is enough
A striking number of participants were satisfied with the free news provision online. Groot Kormelink: “They did think that the newspaper subscription provided readers with more depth, but that was not enough reason for all participants to remain a subscriber.”
Free news, via NOS or NU.nl, in combination with the free reading of articles on the newspaper sites (without the paywall being activated) gave readers enough satisfaction when it came to their news needs.
Afraid of getting stuck
Tim Groot Kromelink found another important reason why people do not want to take out a subscription. He registered a fear of being attached to something in participants. “And subscribing to one also means missing out on news from other media brands. Choice stress or FOMO also plays a role in this.”
The Dutch media landscape has many different quality newspapers that, in the eyes of the participants, are easily interchangeable. Because there is so much choice, news consumers prefer to ‘snack’ at different brands than at the same newspaper every morning. The fact that the newspaper is not read every day also plays a role here, which was regarded by many participants as a ‘waste of money’.
Delivery issues
As a final reason for not taking out a subscription, participants mentioned problems with the delivery of the newspaper. During the period in which participants received a free subscription of their choice for 3 weeks, the newspaper was not always delivered. “That caused a loss of confidence in the service,” says Groot Kormelink. Logging in behind the paywall of newspapers was not equally easy for all participants. Technical problems were cited as one of the arguments for not extending an extension. “Some participants had to log in every time they came to the news site. People gave up on that. Some participants received only one e-mail from the newspaper and then forgot that they could also read online.” Groot Kormelink tells that
The digital service of Dutch newspapers was experienced by some as poor or cumbersome.
Digital newspaper subscriptions in the Netherlands
According to the Digital News Report 2021 of The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 17% of the Dutch have a digital subscription to news. Compare that to an average of 28% in the Scandinavian countries and 21% in the United States. And while the amount of digital news subscriptions is increasing (17% in 2021 compared to 11% in 2016), they do not make up for the loss in the ever-decreasing print subscriptions. If Dutch news brands want more people to pay for their digital news provision, Tim Groot Kormelink has a number of recommendations:
“The most striking element of the interviews I made with my students was the discrepancy between what people think a subscription costs and the preference for their own choice: namely, digital or weekend subscription. It is therefore advisable for publishers to communicate better about the cheaper weekend or digital-only subscription.”
Added value of quality journalism
Tim Groot Kormelink also talks about the fact that participants do appreciate the quality of paid news and see its added value. “And that’s why they might consider a subscription in the future. Looking online for reliable news is not always easy and that makes a paid subscription attractive. Participants see a subscription as a one-stop-shop for reliable, up-to-date information. This is somewhat paradoxical, because the threshold for taking out a subscription turns out to be too high, especially for young people.”
Improving service and lowering barriers
Finally, Tim Groot Kormelink does have a tip for Dutch publishers. “Newspapers would do well to look at the digital service around subscriptions. Young news consumers in particular are used to the good digital service from Spotify and Netflix, among others, where subscriptions are easy to take out and the service is intuitive and silent. The fact that you can share a subscription with others and thus keep costs low is often mentioned as a positive. Dutch publishers can copy the art of these kinds of parties in that regard.”
Photo taken by Roman Kraft through Unsplash