Pricing Strategy for digital content of an Indian newspaper

Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3

INFORMATION GOODS..........................................................................................................................3

TWO-SIDED MARKETS...........................................................................................................................4

SELLING DIGITAL CONTENT...................................................................................................................5

Pricing strategies for tied digital content...........................................................................................5

Business model opportunities...........................................................................................................6

TRENDS IN MONETIZATION...............................................................................................................7

PRODUCT CONCEPT...............................................................................................................................8

METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................................................8

INSIGHTS................................................................................................................................................9

EXHIBITS................................................................................................................................................9

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION

The number of registered newspapers in India has grown exponentially over the last five

years, to 99,660 newspapers across the country. Of these, about a third are Hindi language

papers, while English language papers comprise about one-eighth of the total. The total

circulation of newspapers stands at about 35 crore, and has been growing at the rate of 6%

every year.

The internet user base in India stood at about 350 million in June 2015, and is expected to

touch 500 million by 2017, according to a report by KPMG. Of these, about 170 million are

mobile internet users, a number that is expected to grow to 315 million by 2017. Of the total

internet users in the country, about 50% are mobile-only internet users. Of these, about 65

million are from rural India and it is estimated that 4.4% of the total rural population use a

mobile device to access the Internet. The report also states that 2G internet usage is expected

to decline in favour of 3G. Currently, there are about 85 million 3G internet users, which is

projected to grow at a CAGR of 61% to reach 284 million by the end of 2017.

Globally, newspapers and magazines have struggled to design a coherent strategy for their

online offerings. While most publishers maintain a web presence, even large firms have

found it difficult to leverage this presence and monetize their digital offerings. There are a

number of models used for payment, including subscriptions and paywalls, but with limited

success.

INFORMATION GOODS

Information goods are defined as a type of commodity whose main market value is derived

from the information it contains. For information goods, the pattern in which the material is

arranged plays an important role in determining likelihood of consumption, as opposed to

material goods, whose market value depends on both the material of the good and the way in

which it is arranged.

Typically, information goods have high initial fixed costs and negligible marginal costs. This

means that the first copy of the information good is typically high cost to produce, and most

of the cost is sunk cost which cannot be recovered. However, subsequent copies can be

produced virtually at little or no cost.

According to classical strategy theory by Shapiro and Varian, there are two approaches for

firms producing information goods.

1. Differentiation: Firms must offer a resource that provides unique value to the

customer, and charge customers for the value derived. The rich information content of

information goods allows a differentiation strategy. Hence, it is possible to gather

content for all readers and customize content for individual readers

2. Price leadership: Due to the low cost of reproduction online, web-based transaction

brings about efficiency which reduces transaction costs, and enhances operational

efficiency.

The Internet is bringing about significant changes in the way information goods are packaged

and consumed. It reduces the time required for transaction and distribution. Delivery of goods

is almost instantaneous, and this speeds up subsequent processes of transaction, logistics and

settlement of payments. It also offers a number of ways of aggregating or disaggregating

information. A few strategies include bundling, tying, licensing, subscription and pay-per-

use.

Since information is freely available, the job of the platform providing the information would

be to add value by means of filtering with respect to location and content for the target

audience. In such cases, an aggregating or bundling strategy comes in use. An aggregation

strategy modifies the effect of the demand curve to one which sellers can use to their

advantage. These strategies are useful when marginal costs are low, such as in Internet-based

publishing. Firms can also exploit price discrimination opportunities by leveraging customer

constraints such as high opportunity costs, time constraints etc.

Information goods can also be perceived as experience goods i.e. goods which consumers

want to experience before paying for them. Information goods such as newspapers can be

converted into experience goods where the customer pays for the experience of reading the

newspaper, possibly through curation for individual preferences.

TWO-SIDED MARKETS

Two-sided markets cater to both consumers and service providers. They involve platforms,

which are products and services that bring together two groups of users. Examples of two-

sided networks include newspapers which join subscribers and advertisers, e-commerce

platforms which join merchants and buyers, etc.

There are a number of challenges involved in two-sided networks. The first is pricing the

platform. Platform providers have to choose a price for each side, which factors in the impact

on the opposite side’s growth and willingness to pay. Typically, two-sided networks have a

“subsidy” side, which are users, which, when attracted in volume, are attractive to the

“money” side. The large volumes of subsidy-side users are crucial for developing network

effects, and determine the platform provider’s ability to price the platform.

There is also the challenge of winner-takes-all. A number of conditions apply in two-sided

markets. Multi-homing costs, comprising all the expenses network users incur- including

adoption, operation and opportunity cost of time- are high for at least one user side. However,

network effects are strong and positive for the users on the side of the network with high

multi-homing costs.

There is also the threat of envelopment. Platforms frequently have overlapping user bases.

Leveraging these shared relationships offers attractive merger opportunities, but the threat is

that of a new platform offering your platform’s features as part of a multi-platform bundle.

Networked markets are rich with bundling opportunities which can blur market boundaries, a

phenomenon known as convergence.

Magazines and newspapers can be considered a two-sided market. Kaiser and Wright’s paper

examines price structure in two-sided markets using magazines as an example. Advertisers

value the number of readers of any magazine far more than readers value any ads in the

magazine. Hence, magazines subsidize cover prices and make a profit by charging premium

prices from advertisers. Cross-price effects also are a challenge, as magazines compete for

readers and not advertisers, but the demand for advertising in each magazine is found to be

susceptible to the rival magazine’s ad rates.

SELLING DIGITAL CONTENT

Pricing strategies for tied digital content

Content publishing companies have devised a number of strategies to sell digital content. The

most common form involves offering the content for free, while earning revenues from

advertising positioned along with the content. Other modes include charging a fixed fee for

each use of content, or offering paid subscriptions for unlimited use of the content.

While valuing tied products such as digital content, which they are likely to buy repeatedly,

customers look at the total expected consumption of the content, along with frequency of

consumption. These factors influence their willingness to pay for any tied content. Also, the

consumer’s net surplus of consuming digital content is variable and a convex function of the

price that they have to pay for the digital content.

A number of factors affect the customers’ willingness to pay for the content. Most customers

are price-sensitive, but the price sensitivity arises out of the perceived utility of the content to

the customer. This is also influenced by the presence of substitutes and complements to the

content available, as well as other factors such as time and location.

Typically, overall firm profit increases with reduction in price of digital content. However, if

content is bundled along with devices, as Amazon with Kindle, then the firm can make profit

from the device or the content, and can afford to give away the content for “free” or reduced

price if margins on devices are higher.

Business model opportunities

Traditional models:

1. Online advertising: Placing third-party ads, either via Google Adsense or banner ads,

on the publication’s website, is the most common form of monetization of digital

content. While these ads net revenue for the publisher, they do not leverage the

content published

2. Syndication/revenue sharing with online services: Newspapers or magazines can

enter into syndication relationships with online news agencies, such as aggregators,

for revenue-sharing arrangements for their online content, similar to the relationships

they have for their print articles

3. Affiliate programs: Instead of general advertising, content providers such as

newspapers and magazines can leverage their offline advertiser relationships and enter

into affiliate programs with them to put targeted ads on their websites

Upcoming models:

The traditional models depend on advertising for revenue generation, and did not leverage on

the content produced by the publications, which is their core strength. Upcoming models

attempt to increase the willingness to pay of users for content.

1. Pay wall: Publishers can create a paywall where access to content is generally

available to paying customers. However, they can offer certain articles for free, to

allow users to sample and experience the content and develop willingness to pay.

2. Tiered access offerings: A multi-tiered access model can be employed, where

publishers offer a certain number of articles for free on registration or free trial

subscription, and unrestricted access, including timely content and additional features,

on payment. Different slabs can be created, with different offerings for different

payment levels.

3. Subscriptions and micropayments: Subscriptions are usually a steady source of

revenue, since they require a long term commitment from subscribers. Some

publishers have also experimented with micropayments for individual articles.

Subscription helps build loyalty, but micropayments may be attractive to customers

looking for specific content in the short term

4. Premium content: Occasionally, publishers may offer exclusive content to premium

subscribers to retain loyalty and build traction for premium subscriptions.

5. Archive access: Certain publishers offer complete access to back issues and archived

content to subscribers. This is particularly useful for long-established newspapers

which have significant archives which would be of interest to researchers

TRENDS IN MONETIZATION

Newspaper publishing:

Different newspapers have tried out different models to monetize their digital content. New

York Times has a paywall with a metered access approach, where it allows a certain number

of articles to be read for free every month. As of 2015, New York Times had over 1 million

digital subscribers, with 250,000 paid digital subscribers.

Financial Times, in contrast, has adopted a subscription-based approach, where content is

accessible only to registered users and subscribers. The paper has about 415,000 digital

subscribers as of 2014, and digital and services revenues account for about 55% of the

group’s revenues. Wall Street Journal uses micropayments for individual articles, on a pay-

as-you-read basis. It has 700,000 digital subscribers as of 2015.

Indian newspapers, in contrast, do not use any model to monetize digital content. Most

newspapers have advertising on their websites, but content is offered for free. Some

newspapers, such as Hindustan Times, have experimented with subscription for access to

online archives, but there is no tendency to monetize it.

The apprehension of Indian newspapers to put content behind paywalls may be due to

perception that Indian readers would not be willing to pay for content that is otherwise

available freely online. No newspaper wants to lost subscribers by being the first to move to a

payment system. Also, since, unlike the US, print newspaper subscriptions are growing in

India, newspapers do not feel the need to focus on monetizing their digital offerings.

Magazine publishing:

Major magazine publishers such as Atlantic Media, National Geographic and Conde Nast

offer combinations of their print content with online perks and services such as research or

special access to events or product sales. Hearst provides iPad editions of its popular

magazines. It is estimated that about 30% of the single copies sold on tablets are back issues.

Magzter is a platform for reading digital editions of magazines. It offers a revenue sharing

model with publishers who sign up for the platform, and gives the publishers freedom to add

or edit ads from print editions, and earn all the ad revenues. A number of Indian magazines

have signed up with Magzter.

Cannibalization of print:

Research by Simon and Kadiyali shows that, on average, a magazine’s print circulation

declines by 3-4% when it offers a website. Offering digital content with limited overlap with

current print magazine reduces sales by 2-4% while offering digital access to the entire

content of the current print edition reduces print sales by about 9%. This phenomenon is not

yet seen in the Indian scenario due to lack of penetration of the Internet and growing print

subscriptions, but the rise of mobile internet could lead to increase in this phenomenon, as is

seen in USA and Europe.

PRODUCT CONCEPT

METHODOLOGYQualitative research:

Stage 1: Secondary research

A literature survey was conducted to find out the prevailing trends in access and distribution

of digital content, including pricing strategies and trends in monetization adopted by various

content publishers, such as newspapers and magazines

Stage 2: Focus group discussions

Two focus group discussions were conducted among students of IIM Ahmedabad, to

understand trends of usage of news apps, preferred characteristics and willingness to pay.

Stage 3: In-depth interviews

After gleaning certain insights on usage and prevailing mindset towards news apps, a set of

in-depth interviews were conducted with people from different customer segments, to

crystallize the learnings and get insights for developing the questionnaire.

Quantitative research:

Stage 1: Questionnaire

Based on insights gained from the qualitative research, a questionnaire was developed, which

contains targeted questions which would help further understand users’ willingness to pay for

news apps.

Stage 2: Conjoint analysis

INSIGHTS

Qualitative research:

2 FGDs, and 2 in depth interviews were carried out in the age groups of 20-25, 30-40, and 40

and above. Some of the motivations behind using and App for the consumption of news

across age groups were similar. The structured format in which the news is presented was

appreciated. The convenience of access to news while on the move was also a major

advantage that was asserted. The regular updates that help consumers keep up-to-date with

recent news was another major reason for using apps for consumption of news. Aggregation

of news rather than having to flip through multiple newspapers was also a driver for the use

of apps. Such an aggregation gave the respondents glimpse of news in a short period of time.

While all of them used apps to read news, it was observed that they also subscribed to one or

more newspapers. Subscribing newspapers is more of a habit than a need for the customer.

For the age group above 40 it was observed that they seek variety in the information, as a

result of which the app they use and the hardcopy newspaper they subscribe are different.

Another rationale to support the subscription of hardcopy was the consumption of news by

the other members of family. Due to this, they preferred ordering The Times of India, for the

ease of language.

With respect to paying for an app there were different opinions observed. The general

perception was that news is free and therefore they would prefer switching to another app if

one of them starts charging for the information. The aforementioned attitude was more

pronounced in the age groups of 20-30 as the people in the age bracket of 40+ didn’t mind

paying for the app if they saw value in using the same. The major barrier for payment for

consumption of news apart from the perception that “news is free” were the issues faced with

connectivity. As per the respondents, apps take a lot of time to load and while the younger

generation didn’t face a problem in accessing news, the respondents from 40+ age bracket

felt that the apps were not intuitive enough to use. Hence, while they were not averse to pay

for an app, they wanted some additional features for example easier user interface. Additional

features were also sought by other respondents to cross over the barrier and go for a pay and

use app.

The motivations to pay for an app ranged from eliminating banner advertisements and their

proliferation over time which the respondents found irritating. In the wake of poor

connectivity and lag in the network, the opening up of random ads was also a motivation to

pay for an app which does not have ads. While the younger respondents didn’t abhor the

presence of ads on the news app, but they were more critical about the proliferation of these

while surfing news items in an app.

When asked about the price the respondents were comfortable to pay for the app, t was seen

that the reference price was that of the hardcopy format. For a monthly subscription, they

were willing to pay around Rs.150-200. An interesting point raised by one of the respondents

was that the effective price for a newspaper was Rs.70 as there did exist a salvage value at the

end of consumption. While the younger respondents would wait for all the news apps to start

charging a fee for the service before going for a subscription, the respondents of 40+ age

bracket were ready to pay a premium of up-to Rs. 100 if they were found it a value for

money.

EXHIBITS

Exhibit 1: Transcript of interview with Kartika, student, PGPX 2015-16, IIM

Ahmedabad

QN 1. Do you follow news?

ANS Yes. I read ET

QN 2. What is your predominant mode of news consumption?

ANS Hard Copy and Mobile App

QN 3. Do you use mobile apps for consuming news?

ANS Yes

QN 4. Which mobile news app do you usually use? Why?

ANS ET. Because you get glimpse of all the news in an organised manner within few

seconds. Also when I don’t have time to read long news, it is good to get news at

a single place within a short time.

QN 5. Do you read ET in newspaper format? Why or why not?

ANS Yes. The news is very detailed and the content is very good. I have been reading

it for a long time. It has almost become a habit.

QN 6. How often do you switch between app and website versions? What makes you

choose one over the other?

ANS App. It is very structured, bucketed and easy to use

QN 7. Have you bought any paid app? Why?

ANS No. Because news is free and I have already subscribed to hard copy

QN 8. Are you aware of subscription-based news apps, like FT? Would you try them

out?

ANS No, I would not prefer subscription apps

QN 9. Suppose ET planned to charge you after a fixed number of articles. Would you

continue reading it?

ANS I might. But I am not sure

QN 10. Suppose all news apps in the world charged for access. What would you agree to

pay?

ANS I can but not for every month. Months when I am too occupied I will subscribe to

app. I can pay around 70Rs/month as I pay 100-105/month for a hard copy

newspaper which also has a recycling value

QN 11. What do you look for in a news app?

ANS Structure, continuous news updates and limited content. Not too much detailing

QN 12. What led you to install the ET app?

ANS Time utilization and structure. While commutation to office, this is the best

source of information. Also time availability was a concern. App provided all the

news at a place in a very organised manner.

QN 13. Suppose ET app is free, but before every article there is an advertisement, but

FE will charge you for news, but there will be no ads. Would you continue using

ET?

ANS I have to take a call then. I don’t like ads in between. If the ads are too annoying I

might switch to FE with some payment

QN 14. Suppose ET asked for a lot of user details before installing, would you use the

app?

ANS No. I am very sceptical about providing information. I will provide only relevant

information

QN 15. If ET says that app is free, but contact details will be shared with third party

which would send you newsletters/ads. Would you install?

ANS No

Exhibit 2: Transcript of interview with Ravi Kumar, student, PGPX 2015-16, IIM

Ahmedabad

QN 1. Do you follow news?

ANS Yes.

QN 2. What is your predominant mode of news consumption?

ANS I usually use digital means: apps and iPad. I mostly follow US news

QN 3. Do you use mobile apps for consuming news?

ANS Yes. I use CNN and Bloomberg

QN 4. Which mobile news app do you usually use? Why?

ANS CNN and Bloomberg. It’s very structured and I am from US, planning to go back there.

So, I prefer reading US news

QN 5. Do you read any newspaper in hard copy format? Why or why not?

ANS I follow only US news, and hence use only apps. Also, news is available

everywhere, and can be accessed for free. Hence I don’t see a need to buy a

newspaper.

QN 6. How often do you switch between app and website versions? What makes you

choose one over the other?

ANS App. It is very structured, crisp and user friendly

QN 7. Have you bought any paid app? Why?

ANS No. News is freely available. Why to pay for something when we already have

something for free

QN 8. Are you aware of subscription-based news apps, like FT? Would you try them

out?

ANS No, I would not prefer subscription apps

QN 9. Suppose CNN or Bloomberg planned to charge you after a fixed number of

articles. Would you continue reading it?

ANS I would see if that content is of interest to me and is available for free somewhere else. If

it is available for free I won’t pay. If I have no other source and I am very much

interested then I will pay.

QN 10. Suppose all news apps in the world charged for access. What would you agree to

pay?

ANS Many other news sources are there. If every news sources becomes a paid one, I will pay

$1.99 a month

QN 11. What do you look for in a news app?

ANS Structure, light, crisp, user friendliness

QN 12. What led you to install your news apps?

ANS Convenience and structured way of presenting news

QN 13. Suppose your app is free, but before every article there is an advertisement, but

another app will charge you for news, but there will be no ads. Would you

continue using your app?

ANS Ads are annoying. Still I have to see the difference in content, and if from utility point of

view the other app seems good to me I will pay.

QN 14. Suppose your app asked for a lot of user details before installing, would you use

the app?

ANS No. I will read privacy clauses and then take a call

QN 15. If ET says that app is free, but contact details will be shared with third party

which would send you newsletters/ads. Would you install?

ANS Not at all

QN 16. What is the difference between US and Indian news apps?

ANS In India, most of the news is very commercialized. Many redundant things are given. In

the US, only relevant news items are provided.

Exhibit 3: Focus group discussion conducted with 12 students of PGP 2015-17, IIM

Ahmedabad

Participants:

Respondent

Number

Respondent Name

R1 G V Ajay

R2 S Dinesh Kumar

R3 Akash Gupta

R4 Hrishikesh Pardeshi

R5 Rishabh Prasad

R6 Abhishek Singh

R7 Animesh

R8 Anoop

R9 Siddak Singh Tuli

R10 Anshul Kumar Rai

R11 Suvansh Bansal

R12 Praful

1. Do you follow news?

All respondents: Yes

2. What is your predominant mode of news consumption?

All respondents: App based, then Website, then Print

3. Do you use mobile apps for consuming news?

All but one: Yes

4. Which mobile news app do you usually use? Do you subscribe to any newspaper?

If so, which?

Respondent News Website App Print

R1 LiveMint ET Hindu

R2 Firstpost - Hindu, TOI

R3 The Hindu The Hindu Hindu, IE

R4 Hindu, Economist,

Firstpost

Hindu, Economist,

Firstpost

-

R5 Hindu, Economist Hindu Hindu, Telegraph

R6 Firstpost Hindu, ET, Indian Express Hindu

R7 FT.com ET, TOI Hindu

R8 - Hindu, NDTV Hindu

R9 FT BBC, Hindu TOI

R10 - NewsHunt Hindu

5. Why do you use the app?

R1: I like the quality of the linked articles

R2: I find it convenient- can read news anywhere

R3: It gives a large variety of news

R4: I used it for preparation during CAT interviews

R5: The quality of articles is quite good

R6: For me the ability to customize is good, and also the fact that I get notifications for

important news

R8: All the news can be obtained at one place, so we don’t need to google or visit the website

6. How often do you switch between app and website versions? What makes you

choose one over the other?

R1: I mostly use the app, and rarely go to site for news

R4: If you have the app, you do not need to go to website. Everything is there

R6: The apps are more customized and easy to use than sites

7. Have you bought any paid app? Why?

Only one person has paid app for Economist.

R4: Paid 4000/ year for it. For preparation of CAT interview. Good reviews and news related

to economy

8. Are you aware of subscription-based news apps, like FT? Would you try them

out?

All are aware of subscription based app.

R1: Will not try, have good quality free apps

R2: Will try if there are some great features, like exclusive articles

R3: Will not try, free apps are good

R4: Already have Economist subscription

R8: no, news should be free, they can make money from ads

9. Suppose your preferred app planned to charge you after a fixed number of

articles. Would you continue reading it?

R1: I will read best articles within that limit, and then move to other sites

R2: NO, I will switch to another website

R6: Yes, I will continue if the fee is not high

10. Suppose all news apps in the world charged for access. What would you agree to

pay?

Almost all of them ready to pay, but fee should be reasonable

11. What do you look for in a news app?

R1: Quality of articles and authors

R3: Special features like notifications

R4: Explanatory Videos, which are fast to load

R5: App should be up-to-date, current news

R6: No full-screen ads

R8: Good font and placement of news articles

R9: Easy to use and good quality news

12. What led you to install the ET app?

R1: Good quality of articles

R6: Relevant to MBA, news about the economy

R7: Good quality articles and easy to use

13. What would be your source of recommendation if you were to install a news

app?

R1: Friends

R2: No. of downloads

R3: Friends

R4: Friends

R5: Was recommended from site, used to visit site

R6: No. of downloads and reviews

R7: Brand name

R8: If I’m already a user of its site or print version, then those can be source of

recommendation

R9: Friends

R10: Website and friends

14. Suppose your preferred app is free, but before every article there is an

advertisement, but another app will charge you for news, but there will be no

ads. Would you continue using your preferred app?

R1: No problem with ads, will use the free version

R2: No problem with ads if they are not video ads for more than 5-10 secs. And the images

are not full screen. Otherwise, will switch

R3: Will switch

R4: Depends on the kind of ads

R6: Will pay for the other app, if it’s a reasonable amount and if quality is good

R7: Will continue using it, will pay if amount is reasonable

15. Suppose your preferred app asked for a lot of user details before installing,

would you use the app? Or, if your preferred app is free, but contact details will

be shared with third party which would send you newsletters/ads. Would you

install?

R2: Will install, never see it

R3: Will install, never care about details

R5: Will install, the details should not be very private, no gallery or documents data

R8: Not much important now, but if I am a professional and there is sensitive data and

contact nos. in my phone, then it will matter to me

R9: Doesn’t matter, but details asked should be reasonable

Exhibit: Focus group discussion conducted with 5 students of FDP programme, IIM

Ahmedabad

1. Do you follow news?

R1, R2,R3, R4, R5: Yes

2. What is your predominant mode of news consumption?

R1, R2,R3, R4, R5: It depends. While we are at home we usually refer to hard copy, while on

the move we use mobile to see what is happening around the world.

3. Do you use mobile apps for consuming news?

R1, R2: TOI

R3, R4, R5: TOI and The Hindu & regional newspapers as well

4. Which mobile news app do you usually use? Why?

R1: Mostly TOI because it is easy to understand and family has been subscribing to it since

my childhood, so it has become a norm

R2, R3,R4: The Hindu is not biased towards any party and provides authentic news as

opposed to other news agencies who have some preconceived notions about politics and

parties.

5. Do you read the follow the same agency news in newspaper format also? Why

or why not?

R1: Yes

R2, R4: No, in case we read the Hindu from app then we order the regional newspaper for the

hardcopy format and TOI. TOI is specifically purchased because others in house can read it

as well. We try to bring variability.

R3, R5: No, regional newspapers only for consumption in the form of hard copy.

6. Have you visited the website of the newspaper you subscribe?

All: yes

7. How often do you switch between app and website versions? What makes you

choose one over the other?

R1: rarely turn to website for news. When at home, use hardcopy and when on the move, app.

R2, R3: When sitting on computer/ laptop, will use website because it is more clear, spacious

than app. You can get news highlight without much scrolling up and down. The app is a bit

random as links open up even when you do not want them

8. Have you bought any paid app? Why?

R1: yes, I am the experimenting kind. If after using an app I feel that its worth the money

then I would pay happily

R2: No

R3: Yes, I used an app on trial basis liked it and eventually bought its subscription.

9. Are you aware of subscription-based news apps, like FT? Would you try them

out?

All: Yes.

R1, R2, R3, R5: Yes we are willing to try if we see there is a value addition.

R4: Don’t know. May be I will ask around as I am not that good with technology.

10. Suppose the present app you are using planned to charge you after a fixed

number of articles. Would you continue reading it?

R1, R2, R3: No, the user interface of these apps are not seamless. They have a lot of glitches.

Lot of advertisements and the transition from one link to another is slow too.

11. Suppose all news apps in the world charged for access. What would you agree

to pay?

All: In that case there will be no other option than to pay

12. What do you look for in a news app?

Collated response: Non-biased, easy to understand, easy to operate, less of advertisements,

smooth transition from one link to other, should be fast.

13. Suppose the app you currently use is free, but before every article there is an

advertisement, but another reputed one will charge you for news, but there

will be no ads. Would you continue using the older one?

All: Will shift

14. Suppose your preferred app asked for a lot of user details before installing,

would you use the app?

R1: Yes, I don’t mind

R2, R3, R4: No

15. If your preferred app says that the app is free, but contact details will be

shared with third party which would send you newsletters/ads. Would you

install?

R1: Yes

R2, R3, R4: No

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/internet-users-in-india-to-reach-503-

million-by-2017-iamai/articleshow/48144802.cms