Interview: There is no willingness to pay in journalism

Digital transformation has put the business models of news organizations under pressure. More than ever media outlets want and need to make their customers pay for journalism and other products. This is a unique chance to build closer connections to audiences and learn about their needs. But when are they willing to pay? For Medieninsider, I talked to Florian Bauer, a professor for behavioral pricing at TU Munich’s TUM School of Management and runs the pricing consultancy Vocatus, about opportunities, strategies, common assumptions and the mistakes publishers make. 

“We advise against proactively justifying price increases, even for subscription prices.”

Many people have not yet made this shift, don’t you think?

“Nothing is worse than giving people something they don’t want.”

Most media offer their content in different subscription packages.

“In subscription management, the first customer transaction is only the beginning, not the end of the sales process.”

Why has the industry been asleep for so long?

“A subscription should not be a prison.”

Customers often want to be able to buy individual articles. As we know, this is not profitable for the publishers.

Florian Bauer is professor for behavioral pricing at TUM School of Management and director at the German pricing consultancy Vocatus.