Content uploaded by Tom Evens
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Tom Evens on Aug 06, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=hijm20
Download by: [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] Date: 12 April 2016, At: 06:29
International Journal on Media Management
ISSN: 1424-1277 (Print) 1424-1250 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hijm20
Consumers’ Willingness to Share Personal Data:
Implications for Newspapers’ Business Models
Tom Evens & Kristin Van Damme
To cite this article: Tom Evens & Kristin Van Damme (2016): Consumers’ Willingness to Share
Personal Data: Implications for Newspapers’ Business Models, International Journal on Media
Management, DOI: 10.1080/14241277.2016.1166429
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14241277.2016.1166429
Published online: 06 Apr 2016.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 6
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Consumers’Willingness to Share Personal Data:
Implications for Newspapers’Business Models
Tom Evens and Kristin Van Damme
Ghent University, Belgium
ABSTRACT
As people’s willingness to pay for digital news remains low,
this article investigates whether people would be willing to
share personal data as a new currency for accessing news.
Increasingly, news organizations collect personal data and
track cross-media consumption to build detailed knowledge
about and (re)connect with digital news consumers. This article
presents the results of an industry-driven big data project that
allows news organizations to engage with their audience more
deeply by suggesting personalized content recommendations,
serving targeted advertising and/or improving the user experi-
ence. It presents the concept of the datawall, where the user
pays with their data, and delivers new insights into the chal-
lenges facing data-driven business models.
Big data represents one of the biggest opportunities in media and is expected
to become one of the cornerstones of media organizations’future business
models (Stone, 2014). Utilizing big data analytics, media organizations can
engage with their audience more deeply by suggesting personalized content
recommendations. The aim of these recommendations is often two-fold:
provide targeted advertising and improve the news consumers’user experi-
ence. The possibility of user-targeted services is of particular interest to news
organizations because technology is undermining business models that have
been successful for decades (Picard, 2010). As consumers view news as
having relatively low value, they are unwilling to pay for access to digital
content. As a result, news organizations are finding it more difficult to create
news and capture value. Furthermore, audiences are “inherently cross-media”
users who increasingly utilise alternative information sources, such as social
media and blogs (Schrøder, 2011). This evolution requires news organiza-
tions to follow their readers across different platforms, measure cross-media
news consumption, build customer relationships, and provide personalized
offerings based on extensive profiling of consumer data. As news organiza-
tions often have no detailed information about the consumption patterns and
identity of their consumers, data collection may help to improve the user
CONTACT Tom Evens tom.evens@ugent.be iMinds-MICT, Ghent University, Korte Meer 7-9-11, 9000
Ghent, Belgium.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14241277.2016.1166429
© 2016 Institute for Media and Communications Management
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
experience and reconnect with digital news consumers. In this context,
operational excellence in data analytics, with the aim of securing a profound,
real-time understanding of media consumers, is no longer a luxury but a core
competency for media organizations if they wish to win back competitive
advantage in the digital economy.
News organizations are finding it difficult to monetize digital news ser-
vices, and they are struggling with implementing new business models. Many
studies have looked at the introduction of paywalls and readers’willingness
to pay for news content. Some of these found that the people’s willingness to
pay was rather low and that a business model built on digital subscriptions
was not sustainable (Chyi, 2012; Kammer, Boeck, Hansen, & Hadberg, 2015).
Neither digital-only subscriptions, which represent roughly 10% of the total
circulation/publication revenues of news companies, nor metered paywalls
seem to be sustainable models for increasing revenue levels (Myllylahti,
2014). In contrast to hard paywalls, softer paywalls provide free access to
news content after readers have registered and agreed to share personal data
with the newspaper’s website (Dekavalla, 2015). As consumers’willingness to
pay for digital news is low, personal data is considered the main currency of
the digital economy. Large data-driven companies, such as Facebook,
Twitter, and Google, show how data drive the monetization of the digital
space: Their platforms track and sell consumer data, and the value of the
companies increase with every like, share, search, or post. Instead of charging
consumers, news organizations could start requiring readers to share perso-
nal data and pass a “datawall,”an analogy with paywalls, to secure access to a
selection of (free) personalized news. The datawall would enable media
organizations to collect personal data and track online behavior across online
platforms and services. As the willingness to pay for digital news remains
low, and advertising income has declined because of growing advertising
avoidance by users, newspapers could implement datawalls to extract value
from personalized offerings and benefit from the opportunities of big data
analytics.
However, the success of the datawall ultimately rests on consumers’will-
ingness to share personal information, and hence, pay with personal data.
Issues of data protection and privacy, for example, may undermine consumer
acceptance of datawalls and hinder the implementation of big data strategies.
The goal of this article is to provide a better understanding of consumer
acceptance of datawalls and people’s willingness to share personal data with
news organizations. It does so by presenting the results of the big data project
“Media ID,”supported by all the main newspaper publishers in Flanders
(home to the Dutch-speaking population of Belgium), that aims to regain
control of the media–customer relationship in today’s cross-media society.
Media ID is a federated identity management tool, which was developed by
news organizations to transform anonymous readers into registered readers.
2T. EVENS AND K. VAN DAMME
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
The aim of Media ID is to obtain better insights into (cross-)media con-
sumption and target readers with personalized offerings. Media ID includes a
“single sign-in”identification tool. With this tool, users can register, free of
charge, on any Flemish newspaper website and use a unique identification for
the online and mobile services of over 37 media brands. Although this article
focuses on the case of Media ID, conclusions can be drawn for similar
strategies employed by news organizations in other countries.
The article is structured as follows. First, a literature review presents the
theoretical foundations of the datawall as a new business model for digital
news. It brings together recent insights on business model innovations in the
newspaper industry, elaborates on knowledge management that sees data as a
valuable company resource, and discusses the strategy of customer intimacy
that focuses on creating intimate customer relationships via, among others,
value-added, personalized offerings. Second, the research design is presented,
with a particular emphasis on the Product Specific Adoption Potential
(PSAP) segmentation technique used to structure the data analysis. Third,
the results of the empirical research, which consisted of an online survey
across a representative sample of 981 Flemish Internet users, are presented
and discussed. In the final section, the limitations of the study and future
work are discussed.
Literature review
Business model innovation in the newspaper industry
In recent years, much scholarly attention has been paid to the dynamics of
news media organizations, especially the challenges they face in managing the
transition to trustworthy providers of digital news, securing revenues for
journalism, and implementing effective distribution strategies (e.g., Doyle,
2015; Franklin, 2012; Küng, 2015; Picard, 2010). An important strand of the
literature has focused on new revenue models for digital news media and
how they can secure funding for high-quality journalism in the digital era.
Particular attention has been paid to revenue models, including paywalls
(e.g., Goyanes, 2015; Goyanes & Dürrenberg, 2014; Myllylahti, 2014; Yang,
Ha, Wang, & Abuljadail, 2015), micropayments (Graybeal & Hayes, 2011;
Sindik & Graybeal, 2011), crowdfunding (Carvajal, García-Avilés, &
González, 2012), and online advertising (Evans, 2009). Most of the literature
has focused on the importance of new revenue models and (multi-platform)
distribution strategies the newspaper industry rather than on the process of
business model innovation which, only recently, has attracted research atten-
tion. News organizations have moved online and integrated social media
features into their value proposition, but they have failed to restructure the
business model and develop new capabilities needed to be able to reap the
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT 3
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
full benefits of the interactions with their consumers (Wikström & Ellonen,
2012). With regard to business models, it is important to conclude that, in
order to be successful, the collection of personal data and implementation of
datawalls must be accompanied by a process of total business renewal and
organizational transformation.
A previous study found that although most news media organizations
continuously introduced innovations in particular elements of their business
models (e.g., mobile apps as new distribution channel), their various innova-
tion approaches often remained uncoordinated (Günzel & Holm, 2013). That
study concluded that news media organizations disregarded the multifaceted
nature of business models, concentrating on changing particular elements of
the business model instead of the entire business model logic. Focusing on
the provision of personalized offerings demands extra investment in support-
ing infrastructure and data-analytical competencies. However, an earlier
study asserted that newspapers implemented relatively unstructured strate-
gies to create digital revenue streams (Casero-Ripollés & Izquierdo-Castillo,
2013). The same study claimed that newspaper organizations developed new
business models in response to competitors’strategies and that they were
thus, conservative and defensive in nature. In contrast, business model
innovation should be driven by the search to expand business horizons as
part of a digital transformation process. As part of the innovation process,
not only technological opportunities, but also changing customer require-
ments regarding the value of news should be the main instigators of business
model change. As business model innovation is driven by evolving customer
needs, a profound insight into users’consumption habits, preferences, and
demographics is needed when experimenting with finding value-creating
business opportunities (Uliyanova, Holm, & Nielsen, 2013).
Knowledge management and customer intimacy
In strategic management literature, the knowledge-based view of the firm
(Grant, 1996; Teece, 1998) holds that organizations can create value by
converting data (observations) and information (data in context) into knowl-
edge. Therefore, knowledge management becomes of primary importance for
media organizations. Knowledge management, which refers to the process of
capturing, developing, sharing, and effectively using organizational knowl-
edge, allows organizations to be faster, more efficient, or more innovative
than their competitors (Greiner, Böhmann, & Krcmar, 2007). The rise of big
data has made knowledge management increasingly common in business
organizations, and it is an essential dimension in the learning ability of these
organizations. Knowledge management competencies were reported to be
positively associated with organizational performance, and a fit between
business and knowledge management strategies was reported to lead to
4T. EVENS AND K. VAN DAMME
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
improved financial performance (Zack, McKeen, & Singh, 2009). An earlier
analysis suggested that media organizations with analytics capabilities out-
performed less data-driven competitors on many levels (Colombani, James,
Kim, & Wegener, 2014). By tapping into data insights and integrating multi-
ple data flows into daily operations, media organizations can better under-
stand customers and respond to their changing needs and requirements.
Investing in big data may help news organizations to compete more effec-
tively with online aggregators, which are far ahead as regards advanced
technology and analytical expertise.
Customer intimacy, one of Treacy and Wiersema’s(1993) value strategies,
is based on a detailed understanding of individual customers in order to
build a long-term personal relationship with the customer. By leveraging big
data analytics, organizations may gain a better understanding of their custo-
mers, making them able to anticipate and fulfill stated and latent customer
needs, so as to provide tailored solutions for individual customers. Using
datawalls and retrieving user profiles, both personal data and cross-media
tracking behavior, news organizations may want to become intimate with the
evolving needs of their readers and create more personalized offerings, such
as recommended news articles, profiled subscription formulas, targeted
advertising, and personalized Web store offerings. Hence, customer intimacy
enables news organizations to build a loyalty-based relationship with their
readers. This is of crucial importance because the business literature suggests
that strategic control of the customer relationship is one of the keys to a
successful business model (Ballon, 2007). Datawalls are built on the value
strategy of customer intimacy: Newspapers can provide more personalized
value propositions tailored to consumers’interests and reading behavior.
However, the introduction of business models based on customer intimacy
as a competitive strategy may not appeal to consumers who are concerned
about the impact of the collection of personal data and provision of hyper-
personalized news services. Therefore, the successful implementation of data-
walls as a new business model crucially depends on consumers’acceptance of
sharing personal data with the news organizations.
Consumer acceptance and privacy concerns
As previously suggested, business model innovation rests on a profound
insight into changing consumer needs and requirements in order to deliver
the optimal value proposition (Uliyanova et al., 2013). To succeed in the
market, consumer acceptance of new product/service strategies and business
models is of utmost importance. Consumers that oppose the value proposi-
tion, revenue model, or customer relationship type will abandon the product/
service, thereby ultimately leading to business model failure. With regard to
datawalls, the collection of personal data and tracking of (cross-)media
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT 5
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
consumption behavior triggers major concerns about data protection and
privacy. The desire to better serve consumers and build intimate relation-
ships with them can have adverse consequences when companies fail to
adopt a privacy-led approach to customer data collection. Following changes
in Facebook’s privacy policy and practices, which raised serious concerns
about the collection and use of personal information, data protection is high
on the agenda of national and European policymakers and privacy autho-
rities. Notwithstanding these concerns, the number of Facebook users has
grown to over 1.5 billion because the social media platform has successfully
transformed its massive database into personalized commercial offerings and
content recommendations. This contradictory interplay between reason and
action is referred to as the “privacy paradox”(coined by Barnes, 2006):
Although users are concerned about their privacy, they will freely give up
personal information to access services (of which social networks are the
most obvious example).
The take-home message from existing studies on personal information
collection and privacy is that consumers are willing to share personal infor-
mation, as long as the perceived benefits (personalized offerings) exceed the
perceived costs (privacy). Hence, consumers make a trade-off between the
value of personalization and concern for privacy. Chellappa and Sin (2005)
found that the perceived trustworthiness of the platform positively influenced
people’s willingness to share personal data. Consumers are more loyal to, and
willing to share data with, brands they trust. As trust is considered a
cornerstone in a long-term, intimate relationship between the consumer
and brand, news organizations need to invest in their reputation as trust-
worthy providers of high-quality news and information. Trust was reported
to be greatest in the strongest, most visible media brands because they served
as a well-known beacon that users could rely on in a fragmented digital
(news) environment (Starkey, 2013). Long-standing news organizations were
also reported to be the dominant and most trustworthy brands (Gans, 2010).
Therefore, based on the literature, the introduction of a datawall as a news
business model may likely be successful for news media organizations with a
long legacy.
Another study suggested that people’s willingness to share personal data
was related to the extent to which they had control of their own data (The
Boston Consulting Group, 2012). Consumers that were able to manage and
protect their privacy were up to 52% more willing to share personal informa-
tion than those who were not able to do so. Hence, news organizations need
to consider user data controls and authorisation frameworks that allow
consumers to adapt their data sharing to their individual preferences in a
transparent, yet convenient way. Such controls and frameworks are particu-
larly important for personally identifiable information, which people are less
willing to share because personal data are often sold to third parties. Thus,
6T. EVENS AND K. VAN DAMME
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
the literature highlights the tremendous challenge faced by datawalls:
Providing value-added personalized services to authenticated users while
maximizing data protection and privacy.
The present research was conducted in the context of the industry-driven
research project Media ID, which aims to help news organizations implement
a datawall. The objective of the project is to develop a secure and easy-to-use
personal login and payment tool that allows access to all websites, apps and
services of Flemish media brands. This article focuses on the results of an
analysis of user requirements and reports the results of a quantitative online
questionnaire (N= 981). The results will provide a better understanding of
consumer acceptance of single sign-in applications, in terms of the size,
profiles, and preferences of the different adopter segments.
Methodology
A survey of Internet users in Flanders aged 16 and older was conducted
between October 29 and November 28, 2013. Quota sampling was used to
collect representative sample data on 981 Internet users in the Flemish
market. In contrast to simple random sampling, quota sampling yields a
representative sample from a selection of individuals reproducing the dis-
tribution of specific variables identical to the distribution of the studied
universe. Age, gender, and economic status were selected as the relevant
and interlocked variables to the object of our study. The quota sample was
selected from census studies and official government information on the
Flemish Internet population. The iMinds-iLab.o panel, which consists of
over 21,000 dedicated respondents, collected the data. Given the technol-
ogy-minded profile of the panel, technology bias, in addition to self-selection
bias, cannot be avoided.
To avoid overestimating the potential of the Media ID tool, the PSAP scale
was applied to obtain a reliable segmentation forecast in terms of the size and
profiles of future adopter and non-adopter segments of the Media ID service.
PSAP is an intention-based survey method, where the respondents are
allocated to adopter segments based on answers to three intention-based
questions (for an overview of this classification algorithm, see De Marez &
Verleye, 2004)). First, a general intention question (To what extent are you
interested in registering with Media ID?) was asked. Second, the innovation
was presented, and the users were asked to list their requirements for that
innovation. Next, two respondent-specific questions gauged people’s optimal
(matched all the customer’s requirements in terms of price, features, and
content, etc.) and suboptimal offerings (e.g., costlier, less accessible services).
In contrast to established innovation scales, which traditionally use general
single-question scales to measure intention, PSAP includes three intention
questions, which are tailored to individual user requirements, based on the
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT 7
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
previous answers of each survey respondent. As previously argued, predic-
tions of purchase intentions based on more than a single intention question
provided the most accurate estimations (Armstrong, Morwitz, & Kumar,
2000). Thus, the addition of the two respondent-specific questions in PSAP
can be expected to increase the accuracy of the scale. However, PSAP cannot
correct for self-selection and technology-biases that are typical of (online)
panel surveys.
The PSAP method has been applied to a wide range of media innovations
and technologies, including digital TV, mobile TV, mobile Internet, and
smart home systems (De Marez, Evens, & Stragier, 2011), and it very useful
in the context of the research objective. The PSAP method is essentially a
segmentation technique, which relies heavily on the diffusion of innovation
theory (Rogers, 2003). According to this theory, the introduction of a new
innovation always follows a bell-shaped distribution pattern, and its adopters
can be categorized as innovators (2.5%), early adopters (13.5%), early major-
ity (34%), late majority (34%), and laggards (16%). Diffusion theory assumes
typical demographic and psychographic profiles for each adopter segment.
For example, the innovators and early adopters are typically male, young, and
highly educated, whereas the other segments are typically older and lower
educated. Innovators and early adopters are assumed to have a higher
perception of relative advantage and a lower complexity perception than
the other segments. Therefore, they adapt more readily to new technology.
However, innovators and early adopters differ in why they adopt new
technology: Innovators are more adventurous and often adopt technology
simply because it is new, whereas early adopters are more concerned about
exploiting the benefits of the technology. In contrast to diffusion theory,
which assumes that the size and profile of these adopter segments are fixed
for every technology, the PSAP method assumes that the segment sizes and
profiles differ for each innovative technology. Therefore, they are product
specific.
In the sample of Internet users aged 16+ in Flanders, men (n= 570, 58.7%)
were better represented than women (n= 401, 41.3%). People aged between
25 and 54 constituted 51.8% of the sample, and about 30% of the respondents
were older than 55. The age of the respondents ranged from 16 (minimum
age to complete the survey) to 90 (x
̅= 44.2, m = 45, SD = 16.8). The age
variable was recoded into groups, with 16.4% (n= 160) in the 16–24 cohort,
16.7% (n= 162) in the 25–34 cohort, 16.6% (n= 162) in the 35–44 cohort,
18.5% (n= 180) in the 45–54 cohort, 15.8% in the 55–64 cohort (n= 154),
and 15.9% (n= 155) in the 64+ cohort. In the sample population, 13.4% were
students, and 29.2% were unemployed or retired. In terms of household
status, about 38% of respondents in the sample population had children,
and they were either single (n= 35, 3.7%) or married/living together
(n= 327, 34.2%). In the study, 18.6% (n= 129) of the population had no
8T. EVENS AND K. VAN DAMME
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
partner and no children, and 12.8% (n= 123) lived with a parent. As the
sample data has been checked with official government information, it can be
considered representative on the 16+ Internet population in Flanders.
Results
Willingness to share personal data with news organizations
By applying the PSAP segmentation forecast method to the stated intentions
of 981 respondents, a consistent view on the size and profiles of the different
potential Media ID adopter segments was obtained. The results revealed that
a substantial number of the sample was eager to create a Media ID account,
with 38.3% of the 16+ population of Internet users in Flanders very inter-
ested in registering with media websites and very willing to create a Media ID
account in the near future (within 2–3 years). Figure 1 indicates that the
innovator (5.2%) and early adopter (33.1%) segments for Media ID use were
relatively large. However, the service did not appeal to the entire population
of Internet users, with the early majority (28%) segments relatively less
enthusiastic about Media ID. If Media ID is to become part of the business
model of the newspaper industry, attracting the early majority segments is
crucial, as the late majority and laggard segments, with a combined market
size of 33.6%, base their decisions about the service on the recommendations
of the early majority group, including friends and family. This finding
implies that news organizations need to consider the specific requirements
of the more reluctant segments and not focus only on the early adopter
segments when implementing single sign-in applications.
As shown in Figure 1, the innovator and early majority segments for
Media ID (black bars) are considerably larger than the segment sizes (grey
bars) obtained using Rogers’theoretical model. It can be concluded that
5.2%
33.1%
28.0% 26.6%
7.0%
2.5%
13.5%
34% 34%
16%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Innovators Early Adopters Early Majority Late Majority Laggards
Media ID Ro
g
ers
Figure 1. Adoption potential segmentation forecast (N= 775).
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT 9
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
Media ID would operate successfully in the market and that the benefits
of having an account, especially the ease of signing into an account,
appeal to a substantial proportion of the population in Flanders.
Flemish newspaper websites are among the most popular websites in
Flanders: HLN.be attracts 884,141 unique visitors per day. On these news
websites, users are used to the presence of a log-in option. In the present
study, 49.8% of the respondents indicated that they had at least one account
with a Flemish newspaper website. Table 1 shows the most important reasons
why readers register with a newspaper’s website: access to more news con-
tent, access to competitions, and included in a regular subscription. The
results of a Chi-squared test revealed statistically significant differences
between the various adopter categories. For the innovators, and to a lesser
extent the early adopters, the incentives for signing up were access to digital
news sections, entry to competitions, and receiving newsletters. There were
no significant differences between the other adopter segments in incentives
to create a login, although the differences between the early and later adopter
segments remained substantial.
Emergence of the “datawall”business model
In search of an advertising-driven business model for digital news, Flemish
newspaper groups began providing most news free of charge many years ago.
Although there has been little decline in circulation and the popularity of
news websites has increased the reach of the brand, advertising revenues have
fallen dramatically, with leading publisher Mediahuis reporting a 19.1% drop
in advertising income between 2008 and 2014. The “free”strategy has
attracted large audiences, without cannibalizing newspaper sales. However,
the increase in online traffic has only been marginally monetized via digital
advertising.
Table 1. Reasons to create an account across Media ID adopter segments.
I EA EM LM L Total
Access to more digital news content 39% 35.4% 32.7% 20.9% 14.8% 29.5%
N= 775, χ
2
= 20,133, p< 0.000
Enter competitions, win prizes 45.4% 29.6% 29.5% 20.4% 14.5% 26.5%
N= 775, χ
2
= 17,074, p= 0.002
Included in subscription 25.1% 25.7% 21.7% 20.9% 7.4% 22%
N= 774, χ
2
= 9,117, p= 0.058
Access archival content 19.5% 23% 20.7% 14.6% 12.7% 19.2%
N= 776, χ
2
= 7,012, p = 0.135
Receive newsletters 31.7% 19.8% 18% 13.1% 3.7% 17%
N= 775, χ
2
= 16,85, p= 0.002
Comment on news articles 20% 12.8% 10.6% 7.8% 16.7% 11.5%
N= 774, χ
2
= 7,704, p< 0.103
I = innovators; EA = early adopters; EM = early majority; LM = late majority; L = laggards.
10 T. EVENS AND K. VAN DAMME
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
Media ID, jointly owned by all major news media organizations, forms an
important aspect of newspapers’new digital strategy and allows them to
build a sustainable online business model. The ability to collect personal data
and track (cross-)media behavior can help news organizations to regain
control of the customer relationship. As people are less willing to share
personalized logins, in contrast to computer-generated passwords, more
readers may be enticed to create an individual account using Media ID.
The more readers login with their Media ID account, the more newspapers
are able to follow cross-media news consumption patterns and the more data
they collect about their readers. Based on these data, news organizations can
then provide more personalized offerings and increase the user experience.
Newspaper organizations have allowed the public to freely access large
volumes of news in the past. The implementation of Media ID is likely to
affect the way digital news sections will be presented and to what degree
these sections will be freely accessible. Media ID provides an opportunity for
publishers to experiment with soft paywalls (i.e., a metered system). With
such a system, readers have to register their personal data using the Media ID
application to ensure further (free) access to a selection of (personalized)
digital news.
The survey respondents were presented with three possible scenarios for
access to the digital news sections of newspapers in the future and asked to
select the one they favored: (1) no registration required, access to limited
news sections; (2) free registration, access to larger news sections; and (3)
paid registration, full access to all news sections and archives.
Unsurprisingly perhaps, the respondents tended to prefer the scenario in
which registration gave them free access to a fair amount of digital news
(Table 2), providing further evidence of a strong demand for the Media ID
application. This means the Media ID application will function as a data-
wall (personal data as currency) and can be seen as the first step toward a
full-subscription model (paywall).
Personal data as the new currency
The datawall business model implies that all readers will need to share
personal data with news organizations to obtain free access to a particular
Table 2. Consumer preference for a business model of digital news (N= 972).
No Registration, Limited
Free Access
Free Registration, Wider
Free Access
Paid Registration,
Full Access
First choice 17% 76.4% 6.6%
Second choice 60.3% 17.4% 22.2%
Third choice 22.7% 6.2% 71.1%
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT 11
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
selection of digital news. In today’s big data era, online platforms, such as
Facebook and Google, in return for free services, utilize consumers personal
data to optimize personalized offerings. However, in reality, the services are
not free because the data are sold to advertisers. As a result, personal data is
considered a new currency in many digital business models. As users become
more aware of the value of their data and possible threats to their privacy, the
question arises as to what sort of personal data consumers will be willing/
reluctant to share. Table 3 shows that the respondents had few problems with
sharing basic demographic data, such as gender, name, date of birth, inter-
ests, job status and even e-mail addresses (although the address was generally
not that of their primary e-mail account). They were more reluctant to share
contact details and financial details, such as net income, and credit card
details required to make one-click payments or impulse purchases in news-
papers’online stores. The results of the survey also highlighted concerns
about how media organizations would use personal data, with 77.7% of all
respondents expressing concern about personally identifiable (name, address)
data and 67.8% of all respondents expressing concern about non-identifiable
(gender, age) data. Hence, news organizations need to provide full transpar-
ency about the possible use of personal data.
To convince as many readers as possible to create a Media ID account,
news media organizations have to create “value for data,”as opposed to value
for money. When personal data are used as a new currency, consumers
obviously want something in return. News organizations need to ensure
that the perceived benefits of signing up are higher than the perceived
costs. The survey respondents were presented with four perceived benefits
of the Media ID service: (1) privacy (personal data will not be sold to third
parties); (2) ease of use (single sign-in for multiple websites, always logged
in); (3) transparency with regard to how personal data are deployed by media
organizations; and (4) access to a wider selection of news. As shown in
Figure 2, overall, the respondents valued privacy the most, and they appre-
ciated the ease of use of a single sign-in service. The results of Chi-squared
Table 3. Types of personal data to share (N= 929).
Will Never Share Prefer Not To Share No Problem With Sharing
Gender 6.2% 8.5% 85.3%
Name/surname 7.2% 20.4% 72.4%
E-mail address 6.1% 23.2% 70.6%
Date of birth 9.1% 23.4% 67.5%
Interests 9.2% 25.4% 65.3%
Job status 13.4% 29% 57.6%
Address 21% 50.1% 28.9%
Telephone number 28.4% 53.2% 18.4%
Name family members 45% 42.5% 14.5%
Net income 54.6% 38.2% 7.2%
Credit card details 55.9% 38.3% 5.8%
12 T. EVENS AND K. VAN DAMME
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
tests revealed statistical differences between the various adopter segments.
Innovators and early adopters were significantly less concerned about privacy
(N= 699, χ
2
= 24,908, p= 0.015) and data transparency (N= 698,
χ
2
= 38,419, p= 0.00.000) than the later adopter segments and placed more
importance on ease of use (N= 702, χ
2
= 29,875, p= 0.003) and access to
more digital news (N= 701, χ
2
= 31,999, p= 0.001) than did the other
adopter groups. These findings have some practical implications: Newspapers
have to emphasize (1) the ease of use and (2) additional access to digital
content to encourage take-up of the service by innovators and earlier adop-
ters. Once large numbers of innovators and early adopters are utilizing the
service, newspapers can shift the communication focus to the protection of
privacy and data control, so as to convince later adopters to join.
Discussion and conclusion
The newspaper business is in turmoil state of flux, with digital technology
and online gatekeepers eroding the established business model: revenue and
circulation are in decline, and younger readers are turning to social network-
ing sites to satisfy their appetite for news. News organizations are losing
crucial consumer touch points and, therefore, the control of the customer
relationship. Against the backdrop of increasing competition from online
platforms, news organizations need to enrich the services they offer to their
readers. Big data analytics can play a role in the provision of such services by
providing detailed knowledge of their consumers and serving them in a more
personalized, almost individual, manner. The media industry considers big
data as the new gold and believes that it can tap into an attractive pool of
43.9%
28.8%
12.2%
15.2%
21.6%
23.2%
31.3%
23.9%
21.1%
24.8%
26.3%
27.8%
13.4%
23.2%
30.2%
33.1%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Privacy Ease of use Transparency Broader news supply
First choice Second choice Third choice Fourth choice
Figure 2. Perceived benefits of Media ID (N= 864).
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT 13
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
value-enhancing business opportunities. However, to build intimate custo-
mer relationships, media organizations must start collecting personal data
and tracking the (cross-)media behavior of their readers. Therefore, the
willingness of their users to share personal data is critical.
Based on the particular case of Media ID, a single sign-in application that
aims to transform anonymous readers into registered readers, this paper
investigated whether and to what extent consumers were willing to share
personal data with news organizations. The results indicated that a substan-
tial proportion of the research population was willing to share personal data
with news organizations in order to access more news content, enter com-
petitions and win prizes. This is an important finding because authentication
is likely to become a fundamental component of newspapers’business mod-
els in the future. Instead of charging a fee to consumers, news organizations
may start requiring consumers to share personal data and demand that they
pass the datawall before accessing a selection of (personalized) news content.
However, the collection of personal data poses enormous challenges with
regard to data protection and privacy, and consumers may only agree to
share personal data and to be tracked if the perceived benefits exceed the
perceived costs.
The relevance of the present article, both practically and theoretically, is
that it considers the collection of personal data and tracking of (cross-)media
consumption behavior at the heart of the future of digital news provision. As
the literature suggests that people’s willingness to pay for digital news
remains at low levels, personal data is likely to become the currency that
makes the monetization of digital content possible and that underpins digital
business models. To convince consumers to entrust their personal data to
media organizations, the latter will need provide value for “data,”an analogy
with value for “money,”and a compelling user experience for authenticated
users. In addition to paywalls, which will remain at the top of the digital
business model pyramid, newspapers will need to use datawalls to unlock
access to value-added, personalized news services, so as to maximize the user
experience.
The ideas that personal data will become the main digital currency and
that transparent privacy policies will be a fundamental component of media
providers’business models might not be new (see Libert & Pickard, 2015),
but the implications for newspapers have hardly been addressed in the media
management literature so far. We believe that the application of big data in
media industries often remains vague, and that real-life cases help to illus-
trate the massive opportunities afforded by big data strategies, in this case for
news organizations. It is important to go beyond the overly techno-optimist
view described in business magazines and assess the critical role of the
consumer in the collection of personal data. Much media management
research has focused on traditional paywalls. This article has introduced a
14 T. EVENS AND K. VAN DAMME
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
new sort of paywall, the datawall (pay with personal data) and tried to deliver
new insights in the challenges for data-driven business models. The success-
ful implementation of datawalls may enhance user experiences and ultimately
seduce readers to take a full (digital) subscription. Hence, big data strategies
are instrumental in building digital business models.
However, much work is needed to determine the impact of big data in the
development of new business models for media organizations. The results of
the present article limited only to a particular case (single sign-in) and
industry (digital news). They are also overly descriptive and do not allow
for an extensive evaluation of the datawall as a future business model. As the
Media ID application will be effectively rolled out in 2016, future work can
address its sustainability and extend research on consumer behavior and
requirements. The way in which the application is marketed in the future
and the perceived benefits for authenticated users will ultimately dictate its
success. Furthermore, future research could address how datawalls can entice
consumers to consider a full subscription and spend money to buy access to
premium versions. It is important to view all revenue models as part of a
continuum, instead of considering them in isolation. With this in mind,
newspapers will need to consider multiple business models before selecting
the one that optimally responds to consumers’evolving tastes and require-
ments. Without doubt, big data analytics can provide a powerful tool in this
value-creating process.
Funding
This article is based on research conducted in the context of the ‘Media ID’project and was
funded by iMinds, IWT and Innoviris.
ORCID
Tom Evens http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7274-7432
References
Armstrong, J. S., Morwitz, V. G., & Kumar, V. (2000). Sales forecasts for existing consumer
products and services: Do purchase intentions contribute to accuracy? International
Journal of Forecasting,16(3), 383–397. doi:10.1016/S0169-2070(00)00058-3
Ballon, P. (2007). Business modelling revisited: The configuration of control and value. Info:
The Journal of Policy, Regulation and Strategy for Telecommunications, Information, and
Media,9(5), 6–19. doi:10.1108/14636690710816417
Barnes, S. B. (2006). A privacy paradox: Social networking in the United States. First Monday,
11(9). doi:10.5210/fm.v11i9.1394
The Boston Consulting Group. (2012). The value of our digital identity. Retrieved from http://
www.libertyglobal.com/PDF/public-policy/The-Value-of-Our-Digital-Identity.pdf
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT 15
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
Carvajal, M., García-Avilés, J. A., & González, J. L. (2012). Crowdfunding and non-profit
media. The emergence of new models for public interest journalism. Journalism Practice,6
(5–6), 638–647. doi:10.1080/17512786.2012.667267
Casero-Ripollés, A., & Izquierdo-Castillo, J. (2013). Between decline and a new online
business model: The case of the Spanish newspaper industry. Journal of Media Business
Studies,10(1), 63–78. doi:10.1080/16522354.2013.11073560
Chellappa, R. K., & Sin, G. R. (2005). Personalization versus privacy: An empirical examina-
tion of the online consumer’s dilemma. Information Technology and Management,6, 181–
202. doi:10.1007/s10799-005-5879-y
Chyi, H. I. (2012). Paying for what? How much? And why (Not)? Predictors of paying intent
for multiplatform newspapers. International Journal on Media Management,14(3), 227–
250. doi:10.1080/14241277.2012.657284
Colombani, L., James, A., Kim, C., & Wegener, R. (2014). Why everyone in media needs an
analytics upgrade. Retrieved from http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/why-every
one-in-media-needs-an-analytics-upgrade.aspx
Dekavalla, M. (2015). The Scottish newspaper industry in the digital era. Media, Culture, &
Society,37(1), 107–114. doi:10.1177/0163443714553565
De Marez, L., Evens, T., & Stragier, J. (2011). Diffusion theory vs. today’s ICT environment.
Observatorio (OBS*),5(3), 175–202.
De Marez, L., & Verleye, G. (2004). Innovation diffusion: The need for more accurate
consumer insight. Illustration of the PSAP-scale as a segmentation instrument. The
Journal of Targeting, Measurement, and Analysis for Marketing,13(1), 32–49.
doi:10.1057/palgrave.jt.5740130
Doyle, G. (2015). Multi-platform media and the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Journal of
Media Business Studies,12(1), 49–65. doi:10.1080/16522354.2015.1027113
Evans, D. S. (2009). The online advertising industry: Economics, evolution, and privacy.
Journal of Economic Perspectives,23(3), 37–60. doi:10.1257/jep.23.3.37
Franklin, B. (2012). The future of journalism. London, UK: Routledge.
Gans, H. J. (2010). News & the news media in the digital age: Implications for democracy.
Daedalus,139(2), 8–17. doi:10.1162/daed.2010.139.2.8
Goyanes, M. (2015). The value of proximity: Examining the willingness to pay for online local
news. International Journal of Communication,9, 1505–1522.
Goyanes, M., & Dürrenberg, C. (2014). A taxonomy of newspapers based on multi-platform
and paid content strategies: Evidences from Spain. International Journal on Media
Management,16(1), 27–45. doi:10.1080/14241277.2014.900498
Grant, R. M. (1996). Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management
Journal,17(2), 109–122. doi:10.1002/smj.4250171110
Graybeal, G. M., & Hayes, J. L. (2011). A modified news micropayment model for newspapers
on the social web. International Journal on Media Management,13(2), 129–148.
doi:10.1080/14241277.2011.568808
Greiner, M. E., Böhmann, T., & Krcmar, H. (2007). A strategy for knowledge management.
Journal of Knowledge Management,11(6), 3–15. doi:10.1108/13673270710832127
Günzel, F., & Holm, A. B. (2013). One size does not fit all—Understanding the front-end and
back-ends of business model innovation. International Journal of Innovation Management,
17(1). doi:10.1142/S1363919613400021
Kammer, A., Boeck, M., Hansen, J. V., & Hadberg, H. L. J. (2015). The free-to-fee transition:
Audiences’attitudes toward paying for online news. Journal of Media Business Studies,12
(2), 107–120. doi:10.1080/16522354.2015.1053345
Küng, L. (2015). Innovators in digital news. London, UK: I.B. Taurus.
16 T. EVENS AND K. VAN DAMME
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
Libert, T., & Pickard, V. (2015). Think you’re reading the news for free? New research shows
you’re likely paying with your privacy. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/think-
youre-reading-the-news-for-free-new-research-shows-youre-likely-paying-with-your-priv
acy-49694
Myllylahti, M. (2014). Newspaper paywalls—The hype and the reality. A study of how paid
news content impacts on media corporation revenues. Digital Journalism,2(2), 179–194.
doi:10.1080/21670811.2013.813214
Picard, R. (2010). Value creation and the future of news organisations: Why and how journal-
ism must change to remain relevant in the twenty-first century. Lisbon, Portugal:
Formalpress.
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York, NY: The Free Press.
Schrøder, K. C. (2011). Audiences are inherently cross-media. Communication Management
Quarterly,18(6), 5–28.
Sindik, A. R., & Graybeal, G. M. (2011). Newspaper micropayments and Millennial
Generation acceptance: A brand loyalty perspective. Journal of Media Business Studies,8
(1), 69–85. doi:10.1080/16522354.2011.11073519
Starkey, G. (2013). Trust in the diverging, convergent multi-platform media environment.
CM-Časopis Za Upravljanje Komuniciranjem,8(26), 73–97. doi:10.5937/comman1326073S
Stone, M. L. (2014). Big data for media. Oxford, UK: Reuters Institute for the Study of
Journalism.
Teece, D. J. (1998). Capturing value from knowledge assets: The new economy, markets for
know-how, and intangible assets. California Management Review,40(3), 55–79.
doi:10.2307/41165943
Treacy, M., & Wiersema, F. (1993). Customer intimacy and other value disciplines. Harvard
Business Review,71(1), 84–93.
Uliyanova, A., Holm, A. B., & Nielsen, A. E. (2013, January). Business model change in the
newspaper industry: The case of young news consumers in the age of postmodernity. Paper
presented at the 2013 European Media Management Association Conference,
Bournemouth, United Kingdom.
Wikström, P., & Ellonen, H.-K. (2012). The impact of social media features on print media
firms’online business models. Journal of Media Business Studies,9(3), 63–80. doi:10.1080/
16522354.2012.11073552
Yang, L., Ha, L., Wang, F., & Abuljadail, M. (2015). Who pays for online content? A media
dependency perspective comparing young and older people. International Journal on
Media Management,17(4), 277–294. doi:10.1080/14241277.2015.1107567
Zack, M., McKeen, J., & Singh, S. (2009). Knowledge management and organizational
performance: An exploratory analysis. Journal of Knowledge Management,13(6), 392–
409. doi:10.1108/13673270910997088
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT 17
Downloaded by [Ghent University], [Tom Evens] at 06:29 12 April 2016
