Now a new survey by the World Economic Forum tells us what we had suspected but perhaps did not wish to accept: Millennials will pay for top notch digital entertainment, but won’t so quick to get their credit card out of the wallet for things like news.
The study reveals that:
“Top-notch digital entertainment was the most attractive type of paid content for millennials. Significantly fewer—about a third—said they would pay for educational content like online learning courses and and professional services like paid job postings. We already know that millennials will pay for things like organic food, eco-friendly products and fresh produce, so perhaps the idea of them ponying up for that Netflix or Spotify subscription isn’t so surprising.”
However, just under a quarter of the millennials tested plugged-in millennials say they would open their wallets to get over a paywall to read the news. Respondents considered brands and search-engines bigger factors on their media consumptions.
The results are a dose of reality for many publishers and even leaders of start ups counting on the millennials, specifically. I have just had a good conversation with one such person this week and he hopes that his organization, with a creative approach to presenting curated information, will win the hearts and the wallets of those intrepid millennials.
“Good, essential Content,” I said when asked what the three more important things are to make people pay for news/information. The problem is that there is a lot of good content that is given out for free. How long will that be for? We don’t know. We always wonder about fantastic newspapers like The Guardian, for example, with quite good content all there for the taking. Is it a matter of time?
I believe so. We won’t see content offered gratis forever. When the paywalls are erected will differ from publication to publication, but we are moving in that direction.
Now we know that getting those millennials to pay up is going to be a challenge. But not impossible.
I believe that even the most frugal millennial will pay something for content that he/she feels is as good and essential for them as organic kale.
