Why do people pay for information goods : a study of the online pornography industry

• Main Authors: Ang, Xinyi, Kwan, Wai Yee, Teo, Chin Puay
• Other Authors: Chua, Cecil Eng Huang
• Format: Final Year Project
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Business::Marketing::Consumer behavior
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/10288
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This research looks at how and why consumers are willing to pay for pornography despite the vast availability of free pornographic content. We attempted to obtain both free and paid pornography via traditional means. We discovered that the reason users purchase paid pornography is that free pornography is costly to obtain, while paid pornography is fairly low cost. Specific costs to obtaining free pornography include long wait times (depending on the approach, up to 7.5 hours with no result), the risk of virus infection and the high possibility of obtaining low-quality content. In contrast, one can obtain access to large amounts of high-quality paid pornography for as little as US$14.95 a month.