News Content Quality & Reliability Drive Subscriptions: Google-Kantar Study

New Delhi, Aug 6 (PTI) Quality and reliability of news content is perceived highly with 67 per cent of subscribers in a study citing 'reliable content' as primary factor in their decision to subscribe, a new report by Google and Kantar showed.

According to the report 'The Indian News Consumer: Willingness to Pay and Key Drivers', the users, while recognising the value of quality journalism, are overwhelmingly driven by convenience and deterred by cost and a lack of clarity regarding the value proposition of paid subscriptions.

"Sixty seven per cent of current subscribers in the study cited 'reliable content' as a primary factor in their decision to subscribe," it said.

Among those who haven't subscribed, the top three barriers cited were about being 'overwhelmed by too many plans/prices' (39 per cent), 'limited budget' (35 per cent), and 'lack of flexible payment/cancellation options' (33 per cent).

"This contrast underscores the need for publishers to clearly articulate the value proposition behind each while addressing pricing and flexibility concerns," it said.

User preferences varied interestingly by language.

"The study consistently reveals that 'news in the preferred language' is a highly valued content element across various language groups, including Hindi (67 per cent), Bengali (75 per cent), Tamil (63 per cent), and Gujarati (79 per cent)," it said.

According to the report, while subscription and other revenue models have varying appeal, the overall willingness to pay for digital news content, whether through subscriptions or other models, is comparable between local language and English language news consumers in India.

"Both Kannada and Tamil speakers are relatively more receptive to subscriptions. They are also open to sharing first party data and micro-transactions in form of either pay per content or mini access pass," the study said.

The study incorporates data from over 2,000 respondents and nine languages.

"At a time when newsrooms are experimenting with different combinations of formats, revenue streams and content types, the study shines a light on the levers that drive online news subscription and how these vary across languages," it added.