Is online news an inferior good?
Empirically examining the economic nature of online news. To be presented to 8th World Media Economics and Management Conference, Lisbon, May 18-22, 2008. Authors: H. Iris Chyi & Meng-Chieh Yang Abstract : The U.S. newspaper industry is transitioning from print to online, but the public’s response to online news raised questions about the economic nature of online news products. Previous research has identified the absence of the cannibalization effect of free online news offerings, the lack of paying intent for fee-based online news services, and user’ overwhelming preference for traditional news products over online news. In search for an explanation for these findings, this study examines the postulation that online news is an inferior good (as opposed to a normal good) by analyzing large-scale random-sample survey data collected by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Ordinal logistic regression analysis shows that as income increases, consumption of online news de
