Using Reader Preferences to Optimize News Content: A Method and a Case Study |
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| Authors: | Vamsi K Kanuri Murali K Mantrala |
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| Institution: | Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business, University of Missouri, USA |
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| Abstract: | This article introduces the use of choice-based conjoint analysis to measure the content preferences of newspaper readers. Its importance lies in its role as part of an economic theory of newspaper finance that connects various measures of news quality to circulation and to circulation revenue. In addition, choice-based conjoint provides another way to operationalize “quality” in terms of how much readers like various kinds of content and the relative amounts of that liking. Content preferences were obtained from a large sample of readers of a newspaper of about 100,000 in circulation from the Southeastern United States using the proposed methodology and subsequently, the results were used by the newspaper to modify its content accordingly. Four months after the content changes were made, the publisher of the newspaper reported a significant maintenance of circulation even as print price was increased by 75%. The findings are consistent with the economic model of newspaper demand, and suggests that preferences measured using choice-based conjoint provide impetus for making key management decisions. |
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