How can online newspapers increase readers' willingness to pay?
We tested 4 different advertising messages—alone and in combination.
We found that an online subscription pitch was most effective when it contained 2 messages:
1 emphasizing a subscription supports independent, inclusive, & watchdog journalism.
Another, giving the difficult financial situation of the news industry as a reason for introducing online subscriptions.
Full study:
The reason I support The Guardian is to make sure that its high quality content keeps being fully open to everybody, also those who don't pay. I find that amazing. That's what convinced me to support it. I would be *less* willing to support it if my support only gave benefits to *me* and not to others who don't pay. I wonder if you had that reasoning as part of your testing.
And no, I didn't thoroughly read the paper, only skimmed it, sorry! 🙏
Neil Thurman
Jesper