As we have heard so often in this program, people are almost never willing to pay for online content. Here again, David Coursey recommends providing content for free.
I think there are several reasons for readers’ unwillingness to pay for content. One is that people can probably find similar information for free somewhere else if they find they have to pay for it on one site. Another is that people aren’t used to paying for something intangible. Magazines and newsletters that people are willing to pay for in their hard-copy forms can be saved and flipped through at a later time and at any place. It’s easier to forget about digital content and it doesn’t feel like you’ll have the content forever if you want to go back and refer to it. While there are several ways to save digital content, I very rarely go back to anything that is more than a month old, even though it is something I might find interesting.
I thought Coursey made an interesting point about Web users not taking the time to upgrade software they are currently using, like Acrobat. I often see messages that tell me a new version of a program is available for me to upgrade, but I rarely take the time to get the updates. If something seems to already be working for me OK why would I want to take the time to learn something different? However, if I had a chance to use the upgrade without taking the time to install the update right away, I might be more willing to upgrade if I liked what I saw.
I’m going to use another Answers.com example. I learned about the one-click application because of a Web site that used the application with a little note that told me to double-click any word. I tried it, I loved it, I downloaded the application to use in all my programs.
Discussion questions:
- Why are people willing to pay for tangible content, but not digital content that is not as tangible?
- When should sites require registration?
- Will content providers ever be able to charge for content? If not, what are some other ways they can make money?
mgm5 said
Funny, I don’t think of online stuff being intangible, maybe that’s true. I just see it as a different medium that takes up less storage. My mindset used to be if you grew up getting stuff online for free, you may feel you are entitled to free stuff. I know that this is not true but I do think that the gen. growing up with computers is far more cynical about paying for anything that which seems to be added bloat. Buying an entire album when they really only want one song. They have convinced me. And they obviously have convinced multitudes of others.
The wickedly complex conundrum is figuring out a way to put a market value on content that is fair, that people are interested in and is economically sustainable. This is difficult in the commercial world and even more so in my field, academic publishing.
How about for the Journal you edit?
trinx said
Agree with you (and Coursey) regarding upgrades–I rarely do it unless I hit a wall and can’t download/view something unless I get the new version.