Use of and satisfaction with newspaper sites in the local market. exploring differences between hybrid and online-only users

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

Volumn 87, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 62-83

  Chyi, Hsiang Iris ^a   Yang, Mengchieh Jacie ^a,b   Lewis, Seth C ^a,c   Zheng, Nan ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

^b TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 77954493138     PISSN: 10776990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/107769901008700104     Document Type: Article

References (82)

1. Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, "Key News Audiences Now Blend Online and Traditional Sources: Audience Segments in a Changing News Environment," August 17, 2008, http: / / pewresearch.org/ pubs/928/key-news-audiences-now-blendonline-and-traditional-sources (accessed November 19, 2008).
2. Stephen Lacy, "Fuzzy Market Structure and Differentiation: One Size Does Not Fit All," in Strategic Responses to Media Market Changes, ed. Robert G. Picard (Jönköping, Sweden: Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University, 2004), 83-95;
3. Stephen Lacy, "Understanding and Serving Readers: The Problem of Fuzzy Market Structure," Newspaper Research Journal 14 (spring 1993): 55-67.
4. Lacy, "Understanding and Serving Readers," 56.
5. Lacy, "Understanding and Serving Readers."
6. Philip Meyer, The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 2004).
7. Benjamin J. Bates, "Concentration in Local Television Markets," The Journal of Media Economics 6 (September 1993): 3-21.
8. Lacy, "Understanding and Serving Readers."
9. Audit Bureau of Circulations, "ABC, Scarborough Research and NAA Unveil Details of New Audience-Fax Initiative Integrating Circulation, Readership and Online Measurements," July 17, 2007, http://www.accessabc. com/press/press071707.htm (accessed October 18, 2008);
10. Project for Excellence in Journalism, "Papers Hope to Sell Print + Online Readers to Advertisers," October 12, 2006, http:/ /www. journalism.org/node/2370 (accessed October 30, 2008).
11. Thomas E. Patterson, "Creative Destruction: An Exploratory Look at News on the Internet," Carnegie/Knight Task Force Report on the Future of Journalism Education, Shorenstein Center, Kennedy School of Government, 2007.
12. Stephen Brook, "One Newspaper Reader Worth up to 100 Online Users in Ad Revenue," The Guardian, February 27, 2006.
13. Charles Layton, "Bridging the Abyss," American Journalism Review 30 (June-July 2008): 34-39.
14. Arun Vishwanath, "The 360° News Experience: Audience Connections with the Ubiquitous News Organization," Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 85 (spring 2008): 7-22.
15. Hsiang Iris Chyi and Hao-Chieh Chang, "Examining the Use of and Preference for Online News in the Context of Intermedia Competition," in Embedding into Our Lives: New Opportunities and Challenges of the Internet, ed. Louis Leung, Anthony Fung, and Paul S.N. Lee (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2009), 101-23;
16. Hsiang Iris Chyi and Dominic L. Lasorsa, "An Explorative Study on the Market Relation between Online and Print Newspapers," Journal of Media Economics 15 (April 2002): 91-106;
17. Online Publishers Association, "Multi-Channel Media Brands: Attitudinal and Usage Study," February 12,2004, http://www.online- publishers.org/media/140-W-opa-multichannel-media-brand-study-nov03.pdf (accessed November 30,2008).
18. Hsiang Iris Chyi and George Sylvie, "Competing with Whom? Where? And How? A Structural Analysis of the Electronic Newspaper Market," Journal of Media Economics 11 (April 1998): 1-18;
19. George Sylvie and Hsiang Iris Chyi, "One Product, Two Markets: How Geography Differentiates Online Newspaper Audiences," Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 84 (autumn 2007): 562-81.
20. Bates, "Concentration in Local Television Markets," 4.
21. Vishwanath, "The 360° News Experience," 19.
22. Colin Hoskins, Stuart McFadyen, and Adam Finn, Media Economics: Applying Economics to New and Traditional Media (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004).
23. Cross-price elasticity of demand is measured by the percentage change in quantity demanded for one good divided by the percentage change in the price of a related good, other things being equal. See Hoskins, McFadyen, and Finn, Media Economics, 44-45.
24. Robert G. Picard, Media Economics: Concepts and Issues (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1989).
25. Hoskins, McFadyen, and Finn, Media Economics, 44.
26. Half of adult Americans get their news from more than one source on a typical day. Of the 23% who went online for news in a given day, nearly all of them also used another medium for news. See Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, "Online Papers Modestly Boost Newspaper Readership: Maturing Internet News Audience Broader Than Deep," July 30, 2006, http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3? PageID=1065 (accessed July 4, 2007);
27. Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, "Key News Audiences Now Blend."
28. Hsiang Iris Chyi and Dominic L. Lasorsa, "Access, Use and Preference for Online Newspapers," Newspaper Research Journal 20 (fall 1999): 213;
29. Chyi and Lasorsa, "An Explorative Study on the Market Relation between Online and Print Newspapers."
30. The 1997 survey asked whether respondents (n=489) used the online or/and print editions of these newspapers at least once a week: the Austin American-Statesman, USA Today, the New York Times, and the Wall Street journal. The 1998 survey (n=818) added two more regional newspapers to the pool: the Dallas Morning News and Houston Chronicle.
31. Hsiang Iris Chyi, "Re-Examining the Market Relation between Online and Print Newspapers: The Case of Hong Kong," in Internet Newspapers, ed. Xigen Li (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2006), 193-205;
32. Chyi and Chang, "Examining the Use of and Preference for Online News." The percentage of hybrid users among local online users was 70% for the Oriental Daily, 62% for Apple Daily, 56% for Ming Poo, 53% for the Sun. Regarding the rationale behind the simultaneous use of online and print products, a follow-up question asked respondents who read both print and online editions of the same newspaper during the past week why they use both. The responses fell into these categories: "I read the online edition when I don't buy the print edition" (18%); "I read different editions in different places" (12%); "I read different editions for different purposes" (11%); "When I have time, I read both editions; when I'm busy, I read one edition only" (9%).
33. Matthew Gentzkow, "Valuing New Goods in a Model with Complementarities: Online Newspapers," American Economic Review 97 (June 2007): 713-14.
34. Hoskins, McFadyen, and Finn, Media Economics, 63.
35. Richard L. Oliver, "Measurement and Evaluation of Satisfaction Processes in Retail Settings," journal of Retailing 57 (fall 1981): 25-48;
36. Philip Palmgreen and J. D. Rayburn D, "A Comparison of Gratification Models of Media Satisfaction," Communication Monographs 52 (December 1985): 334-46;
37. Vishwanath, "The 360° News Experience," 19.
38. S. Shyam Sundar, "Exploring Receivers' Criteria for Perception of Print and Online News," journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 76 (summer 1999): 373-86.
39. S. Shyam Sundar, "Multimedia Effects on Processing and Perception of Online News: A Study of Picture, Audio, and Video Downloads," Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 77 (autumn 2000): 480-99.
40. Jonathan Howard Amsbary and Larry Powell, "Factors Influencing Evaluations of Web Site Information," Psychological Reports 93 (August 2003): 191-98.
41. Chyi and Chang, "Examining the Use of and Preference for Online News";
42. Jennifer Mueller and David Kamerer, "Reader Preference for Electronic Newspapers," Newspaper Research Journal 16 (summer 1995): 2-13;
43. Carl Schierhorn, Stanley T. Wearden, Ann B. Schierhorn, Pamela S. Tabar, and Scott C. Andrews, "What Digital Formats Do Consumers Prefer?" Newspaper Research Journal 20 (summer 1999): 2-19.
44. Ester De Waal, Klaus Schönbach, and Edmund Lauf, "Online Newspapers: A Substitute or Complement for Print Newspapers and Other Information Channels?" Communications 30 (March 2005): 55-72.
45. Online Publishers Association, "Multi-Channel Media Brands."
46. Carolyn A. Lin and Michael B. Salwen, "Utilities of Online and Offline News Use," in Internet Newspapers: The Making of a Mainstream Medium, ed. Xigen Li (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006), 209-25.
47. Deborah S. Chung, "Interactive Features of Online Newspapers: Identifying Patterns and Predicting Use of Engaged Readers," Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (April 2008): 658-79;
48. De Waal, Schönbach, and Lauf, "Online Newspapers";
49. Daniel Riffe, Stephen Lacy, and Miron Varouhakis, "Media System Dependency Theory and Using the Internet for In-depth, Specialized Information," Web journal of Mass Communication Research 11 (January 2008), http://www.scripps.ohiou. edu:16080/wjmcr/vol11/ (accessed August 28, 2008).
50. Deborah S. Chung and Seungahn Nah, "The Effects of Interactive News Presentation on Perceived User Satisfaction of Online Community Newspapers," Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14 (July 2009): 855-74.
51. Joo-Young Jung, Jack Linchuan Qiu, and Yong-Chan Kim, "Internet Connectedness and Inequality: Beyond the 'Divide'," Communication Research 28 (August 2001): 507-35.
52. Klaus Schoenbach, Edmund Lauf, Jack M. McLeod, and Dietram A. Scheufeie, "Distinction and Integration: Sociodemographic Determinants of Newspaper Reading in the USA and Germany, 1974-96," European Journal of Communication 14 (June 1999): 225-39;
53. Judee K. Burgoon and Michael Burgoon, "Predictors of Newspaper Readership," Journalism Quarterly 57 (winter 1980): 589-96;
54. Robert L. Stevenson, "The Frequency of Newspaper Readership," ANPA News Research Report 7 (1977): 1-8;
55. Bruce H. Westley and Werner J. Severin, "A Profile of the Daily Newspaper Non-Reader," Journalism Quarterly 41 (winter 1964): 45-50, 156.
56. Chung and Nah, "Effects of Interactive News Presentation."
57. The survey was made available on the twenty-eight sites for twenty-one to forty-one days.
58. See Appendix A for additional details on how average circulation was calculated.
59. In 2007, the average circulation for a U.S. daily newspaper was 35,683 and 56,501 for weekday and Sunday editions, respectively. See Editor & Publisher, "Circulation of U.S. Daily Newspapers by Circulation Groups," in Editor & Publisher International Yearbook (Editor & Publisher, 2008).
60. Participants who completed the questionnaire were entered in a drawing for a cash award.
61. In the newspaper industry, NDM refers to a geographic area specified by the newspaper that does not correspond to predetermined geographic boundaries such as MSA, city zone or county zone. The NDM must encompass at least 75% of the newspaper's paid circulation. See Audit Bureau of Circulations, Rules & Resources: Newspaper Support Center, August 10, 2009, http://www.accessabc.com/ resources/n-audiencefaq.hrm16 (accessed July 20, 2008).
62. Also see Robert G. Picard and Jeffrey H. Brody, The Newspaper Publishing Industry (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1997).
63. The response choices were (1) within the past week, (2) one week to a month, (3) a month to six months, (4) six months to a year, (5) one to three years, and (6) more than three years.
64. For the list, see Appendix B.
65. The seven types of site features were (1) local/regional breaking news, (2) entertainment information, (3) local sports information, (4) buy/sell, or personal goods information, (5) jobs or career information, (6) automotive information, and (7) real estate information/service.
66. CNN.com, NYTunes.com, FoxNews.com, and TV network sites.
67. E-mail, instant messaging, text messaging on cell phones, access online information like sports scores, headlines, use GPS locator, download and/or share video, access YouTube.com, access iTunes.com, subscribe to Netflix, access social network sites, use online photo services, download podcasts, use computer video camera for live telephone calls, own vehicle with OnStar, Lojack, or similar system, have pet with HomeAgain or similar lost pet tracker.
68. Specifically, the Times-Herald Record (Middletown, NY) sample was used because its weekly circulation (79,122) is closest to the mean of the twenty-eight papers' weekly circulation (73,415).
69. Both the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News are based in Denver, CO.
70. In our sample, 44.8% were male and 55.2% were female. More than half (52.1%) of the respondents were between 35 and 54 years old, 25.5% were 34 and younger, and 22.4% were 55 and older. In terms of education, 12.2% had a high school degree or less, 40% had special/technical training or some college/associate degree, and 47.4% had at least a bachelor's degree. As for income, 32.2% of the respondents had a household income of $49,999 or less, 42.6% were between $50,000 and $99,999, and 25.2% had a household income of $100,000 or higher. According to the 2006 NAA survey, 50% of newspaper Web site users were male. In terms of education, 15% did not go beyond high school, and 52% had at least a four-year college degree. In terms of income, 22% of newspaper Web site users had a household income of $100,000 or more. As for age, the percentages presented in the NAA report don't add up to 100%. See Brent Stahl, "Power Users 2006: An Engaging Audience for Advertising and News," Digital Edge Report, June 2006, http: / / www.naa.org / TrendsandNumbers / ~ / media / PDFs / Power- users-2006% 20pdf.ashx (accessed December 2, 2008).
71. Three tests (RockyMountainNews.com in Denver, CO; SILive. com in Staten Island, NY; PressTelegram.com in Long Beach, CA) found that hybrid users went online less frequently than online-only users.
72. Thirteen tests found no significant difference; one test (MassLive. com in Springfield, MA) found that hybrid users accessed their local newspaper site more frequently than online-only users.
73. Three tests (DailyNews.com in Los Angeles; SanduskyRegister. com in Sandusky, OH; HeraldandNews.com in Klamath Falls, OR) found that hybrid users were more interested in news content than online-only users.
74. Ten tests found no significant difference.
75. Hsiang Iris Chyi and Mengchieh Jacie Yang, "Is Online News an Inferior Good? Examining the Economic Nature of Online News among Users," Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 86 (autumn 2009): 594-612.
76. Burgoon and Burgoon, "Predictors of Newspaper Readership";
77. Stevenson, "The Frequency of Newspaper Readership."
78. Newspaper Association of America, "Newspapers' Online Operations: Performance Report 2006," October 2007, http://www. naa.org/docs/Digital- Media/200710-NP-Online-Per-Present.pdf (accessed December 2, 2008).
79. Newspaper Association of America, "Newspapers' Online Operations."
80. The 2006 NAA survey provides some parameters (such as income and education), but some key information was problematic (e.g., percentages of age groups don't add up to 100%). See Stahl, "Power Users 2006."
81. For example, the overall satisfaction level was more than 4 on a 5-point scale.
82. At the time data was collected for this study, Denver Newspaper Agency's joint-operating agreement organized weekend distribution of the print newspaper as follows: the Rocky Mountain News was published only on Saturday and the Denver Post only on Sunday. Thus, to calculate a Sunday average circulation for all twenty-eight papers under study here, the Rocky Mountain News were dropped.