The majority of Internet users in the Asia Pacific Region say they would consider paying for some forms of online content, particularly books, music and games; and most are willing to accept more advertising on the Internet in the future to support the cost of online content, according to a newly released survey conducted by leading research company, Nielsen.
The paid-content business model is looking bright for Vietnam. Vietnamese consumers are relatively friendlier than some of their Asian counterparts when it comes to willingness to paying for online content. When asked if free content on the internet should remain free in the future – less than half strongly agreed (42%), lower compared to the Asia Pacific regional average (44%).
The survey which polled more than 27,000 consumers in 54 countries globally, including 6,604 in the Asia Pacific Region, examined attitudes to paying for online content. Vietnamese consumers are willing to pay for online content such as professionally produced video, including current television shows (51%), rated highest among all online content. When ask what online content they would consider paying for in the future, consumers said they are willing to pay for consumer-generated video (41%), music (50%), newspapers (38%), books (39%) and games (36%). The willingness to purchase content does not come as a surprise as Vietnamese consumers are already paying for certain online content, such as games (31%), music (28%), books (46%), and professionally produced video, including current television shows (31%).
When it came to news content online – perhaps the most hotly debated of any of the paid-for content model discussions, just seven % of Asia Pacific consumers said they had previously paid for Internet-only news, and 11 % had paid for newspaper content online in the past.
The paid-for newspaper content model could have a better opportunity with Vietnamese consumers relative to other Asian markets. Twenty-five % of Vietnamese consumers stated they have previously paid for internet-only news, and 27 % have paid for online newspaper content in the past. Asked whether they would consider paying for online newspapers or Internet-only news sources in the future, over half said they would not (35% and 29% respectively).
“Vietnamese consumers have a much higher propensity, relative to the Asia Pacific average, to pay for content which they know has been professionally produced such as music, movies and games, and an overwhelming majority (81%) say that paid-for content would have to be significantly better than what is currently available for free online before they would consider paying for it,” observed Mr. Darin Williams – Managing Director at The Nielsen Company Vietnam. “On the other hand, content which has been created by fellow consumers such as blogs or videos holds little value, in part due to the extent to which such content is readily available online for free and, as a result, we are seeing fewer instances where consumers are willing to pay.”
The Nielsen survey highlights a growing acceptance amongst consumers for the need for some form of paid-for content models – the majority of Asia Pacific markets concede quality of content on the Internet will decline unless companies can charge for it. On the flip side, the majority of Asian countries are willing to accept more online advertisements to support content costs with more than half (55%) in the region saying they would be willing to accept more ads.
Vietnamese consumers are quite open to the idea of advertisements online to support content costs as a majority are willing to accept more ads (65%). “Consumers’ attitudes towards paying for content are still quite fragmented and highlight just how fickle Internet audiences can be,” said Mr. Darin Williams.
P.V
Vietnamese
