The effect of a magazine’s free digital content on its print circulation: Cannibalization or complementarity? |
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Authors: | Daniel H Simon Vrinda Kadiyali |
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Institution: | aDepartment of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, 354 Warren Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States;bJohnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, 385 Sage Hall, Ithaca, NY 14843, United States |
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Abstract: | We examine how offering digital content affects demand for print magazines. Using a searchable website archive, we measure the digital content offered by a sample of US consumer magazines from 1996 to 2001. We find strong evidence that digital content cannibalizes print sales. On average, a magazine’s print circulation declines about 3–4% when it offers a website. However, the effect varies with the type of digital content offered. Offering digital access to the entire contents of the current print magazine reduces print sales by about 9%. We find no evidence that digital content complements print magazines. These results are robust to including controls for unobserved magazine, category, and time effects, as well as controls for the impact of contemporaneous price changes and other factors. |
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Keywords: | Cannibalization Digital content Magazines Website |
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