Customer loyalty in the means of continued subscriptions is key to sustain within a limited market. Where an organisation cannot attract new customers, it must focus on it’s competitors and entice customers away. Getting this right depends among others on the retention of customers and therefore, understanding the reasons that make magazine readers cancel their subscriptions.
Based upon a review of related theories on customer loyalty and customer retention, and experience from practitioners, a contextual model for the German magazine publishing industry could be created. The magazine reader loyalty model incorporates the generic customer loyalty model (Dick and Basu, 1994) and reflects the typical customer life cycle of magazine subscribers.
Focusing on the effect of attitudinal changes, this study utilises related studies, real world databases and brainstorming sessions to create a list of presumed factors that lead to abating customer loyalty towards magazine subscriptions. Within a qualitative-quantitative survey, data on the importance of these factors was collected.
From a comparison of former and actual subscribers, the effectiveness of these attributes is investigated. An analysis method based upon probabilities is utilised to overcome the limitations that affected related studies. This novel analysis method enables substantiated statements on the commonness and effectiveness of attitudinal factors and thus, their relevance towards customer loyalty.
From this, the most significant factors that lead to a drop out of magazine subscribers could be identified to be i) the time that is available to a reader, ii) the actual reading behaviour, iii) the entertainment value of a magazine, iv) the perceived time savings and v) the availability of alternative magazines and other media.
Further, evidence was found that i) the compilation of a magazine, ii) overall satisfaction, iii) fast access to information, iv) delivery satisfaction and v) the discussion of articles with friends and colleagues are of limited use as measurements. Those factors are unlikely and when present, found among former subscribers as well as actual subscribers.
This study concludes that some factors are more important than others, especially those that deal with available time and perceived time savings. Decision-makers and marketers should focus on these factors in the first place. Additional, suggestions for further research are given.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Aims and Objectives
3. Literature Review
3.1 Customer Loyalty
3.2 Customer Retention
3.3 Consolidation of Theories
3.4 Previous Related Studies
4. Research Methodology
4.1 Research Philosophy
4.2 Research Strategy
4.3 Theoretical Framework
4.4 Operationalisation of Major Variables
4.5 Data Collection Techniques
4.6 Data Analysis
4.7 Research Implementation
5. Findings
5.1 Demographic Data and Buying Behaviour
5.2 Attitudinal Changes
5.3 The Factors that Affect Attitude
5.3.1 Time
5.3.2 Compilation
5.3.3 Interests
5.3.4 Substitute Goods
5.3.5 Pricing
5.3.6 Advantage
5.3.7 Convenience
5.3.8 Sharing
5.3.9 Other Findings
6. Discussion
7. Conclusion
Objectives and Core Themes
The primary objective of this thesis is to identify the critical factors that lead to abating customer loyalty in the context of magazine subscriptions, thereby providing industry decision-makers with substantiated data to adopt more effective retention strategies.
- Theoretical analysis of customer loyalty and retention models.
- Empirical identification of factors causing subscriber churn.
- Implementation of a novel probability-based analysis method to evaluate attribute effectiveness.
- Development of a contextual loyalty model specifically for the German magazine publishing market.
Extract from the book
1 Introduction
What makes magazine readers cancel their subscriptions? This is an interesting question that gains in importance for magazine publishers and their service providers. Within a fully developed market, retaining customers is seen as a key to market dominance and long-lasting profits (Rowley and Dawes, 1999). To achieve this, it is important to understand the factors that lead to abating customer loyalty counter these factors.
From the figures of the advertising market, one finds that the German market spans a volume of 12 billion Euros per year (Rüdell, 2007). It is dominated by traditional media, whereof television, newspapers, magazines and journals are the most important players. About 25 percent of this market is assigned to popular magazines and professional journals. Nearly 6000 different titles have been published in 2004 with a steady upward tendency during the preceding decade (ibid).
However, this trend might be finished soon. As the magazine market is believed to be fully developed, rivalry among competitors emerges (Gassmann, 2006). This proposition is confirmed by the figures for the German advertising market. Where the number of published magazines increased by 20 percent within the last decade, the net advertising income had a peak in 2000 and then, fell down by 25 percent (Rüdell, 2007).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Discusses the motivation for investigating subscription cancellations within the German magazine market, emphasizing emerging competition and market saturation.
2. Aims and Objectives: Defines the research goal to understand reader motivations and improve retention strategies based on empirical data.
3. Literature Review: Synthesizes existing theories on customer loyalty and retention, and reviews previous studies relevant to the media industry.
4. Research Methodology: Details the deductive research philosophy, the development of a theoretical framework, and the quantitative-qualitative survey method applied.
5. Findings: Presents the empirical results, including demographic data and the analysis of various factors affecting subscriber attitude using the developed probability-based model.
6. Discussion: Evaluates the research hypotheses against the gathered data, addressing conflicting results regarding satisfaction and individual factors.
7. Conclusion: Summarizes the key drivers of subscription termination and suggests strategic focuses for industry marketers.
Keywords
Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Magazine Subscriptions, Subscriber Churn, Attitudinal Changes, Market Strategy, Buying Behaviour, German Publishing Industry, Subscription Management, Service Quality, Probability-based Analysis, Consumer Motivation, Retention Tactics, Subscriber Lifecycle, Media Market
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this study?
This study examines the underlying factors and attitudinal changes that cause magazine readers to cancel their subscriptions within the German publishing market.
What are the primary themes discussed?
The study centers on customer loyalty, retention management, subscriber lifecycle models, and the quantitative analysis of specific factors like reading behavior, time availability, and pricing.
What is the central research goal?
The goal is to provide a data-driven understanding of why subscribers leave and to enable publishers to refine their retention strategies to sustain their customer base.
Which scientific method is utilized?
The research adopts a deductive approach using a quantitative survey coupled with qualitative elements, utilizing a novel probability-based analysis to measure the effectiveness of various attributes.
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main section covers an extensive literature review, the development of a specific "Magazine Reader Loyalty Model," detailed survey methodology, and an evaluation of factors like time availability, compilation, interests, and competition.
How would you characterize this work with keywords?
Key terms include Customer Loyalty, Subscriber Churn, Attitudinal Changes, and Retention Management within the specific context of the media and publishing sector.
How does available time impact subscription loyalty?
The study identifies that the amount of time available for reading is a major indicator; a major negative change in this factor correlates with a 79% probability of subscription cancellation.
Is general customer satisfaction a good predictor of loyalty in this study?
The research concludes that general satisfaction is often overrated and insufficient for predicting dropouts in the magazine industry; more specific factors like reading behavior are far more significant.
What role do substitute goods play in subscriber loss?
The availability of alternative media and competing magazines represents a significant threat; the research indicates that positive attitudes toward these alternatives are strongly linked to the termination of existing subscriptions.
- Quote paper
- Benjamin Schweizer (Author), 2007, An examination of factors leading to abating customer loyalty towards magazine subscriptions, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/88136
