ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7126-7587
Abstract
The information industry has been exploring business models for digital information products, but it was not until recent years that the new access model, especially subscription-based services, became popular. Thanks to the advancement of streaming technology, online advertisement, and DRM technology, information providers were able to design various pricing schemes and provide various services for users with different needs. Consumers seem to favor these services increasingly, but some questions remain: Is there a significant shift in users’ general preferences for all media content? Do they prefer any particular models under specific circumstances? What factors are related to users’ preferences? This paper reports and compares the results of two surveys on consumers’ preferences for obtaining books, music, and movies. One survey focused on general users, using a sample of 304 participants aged between 22 and 75, and the other focused on “Generation Z,” using a sample of 323 college students, mostly between 18 and 21 years old. This study found that consumers’ preferred ways of obtaining information products vary by age, type of content, and purpose of use; users’ preferences for obtaining movie content is quite stabilized; the college students tend to prefer access more than the older group did but not in the case of books. In addition, the “older users” are at least as adapted to the digital format as Generation Z, but the younger groups are less likely to borrow information content from the library.
Buy, Subscribe, or Borrow? Consumers’ Use Preferences for Information Products
The information industry has been exploring business models for digital information products, but it was not until recent years that the new access model, especially subscription-based services, became popular. Thanks to the advancement of streaming technology, online advertisement, and DRM technology, information providers were able to design various pricing schemes and provide various services for users with different needs. Consumers seem to favor these services increasingly, but some questions remain: Is there a significant shift in users’ general preferences for all media content? Do they prefer any particular models under specific circumstances? What factors are related to users’ preferences? This paper reports and compares the results of two surveys on consumers’ preferences for obtaining books, music, and movies. One survey focused on general users, using a sample of 304 participants aged between 22 and 75, and the other focused on “Generation Z,” using a sample of 323 college students, mostly between 18 and 21 years old. This study found that consumers’ preferred ways of obtaining information products vary by age, type of content, and purpose of use; users’ preferences for obtaining movie content is quite stabilized; the college students tend to prefer access more than the older group did but not in the case of books. In addition, the “older users” are at least as adapted to the digital format as Generation Z, but the younger groups are less likely to borrow information content from the library.