European Consumer Stance On Paid Content Shifts Ever So Slightly
from the yes,-but... dept
Studies like the following one come out every few weeks or so saying that people are either more or less inclined to pay for online content than before. It’s no surprise that people with broadband connections are slightly more interested in paying for online content. The real problem, though, is that a study like this is pretty useless. “Online content” is so broad as to be meaningless. If I have a Wall Street Journal online subscription, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m willing to pay for a Reuters’ feed or have anything to do with whether or not I’d pay for downloadable music. There are certain types of content in certain situations that people are willing to pay for – but certain conditions need to be met to make that happen. To ignore those conditions and just say that people are willing (or not) to pay for “online content” does little to help anyone. It just makes providers of online content which no one has any interest in paying for think (incorrectly) that they might be able to charge.
