UK Consumers Give Thumbs Down To Paid Online Content
KPMG has released a report which shows that the British public are less accepting of paid digital content than the rest of the world.
The Consumers & Convergence IV report, which is an annual global survey of consumers' use of mobile and PC technology carried out by KPMG, found that 81% of people in the UK will stop visiting previously free sites if they begin charging for content. This contrasts with global figures where 43% of users will pay for content, rising to 59% for Asia-Pacific consumers.
Head of Technology at KPMG Europe, Tudor Aw, commented, "UK consumers still haven't come around to the idea of paying for digital content and are clear they'll move to other sites if paywalls are put up."
The Times has reportedly lost approximately two-thirds of its online readers since introducing its paywall earlier this month. KPMG said that while this UK trend is bad news for newspaper paywalls, consumers are more willing to pay for music, video and games.
The report also shows that the UK public are more willing to accept targeted online advertising and to share personal data. Almost three-quarters of Brits are happy to receive online ads if it results in content costing less.