Unsubscribing From Over-the-Top: How Subscription Fatigue and Mental Coupling Affect Multi-Homing Users

Subscribing to multiple over-the-top (OTT) services, known as multi-homing, has become widespread as users seek to satisfy diverse media preferences in OTT consumption. However, platforms face a significant challenge in managing subscription fatigue, which often prompts users to discontinue their services. Based on the stimulus–organism–response model and mental accounting theory, this paper develops a conceptual framework that examines the roles of subscription fatigue and coupling, along with their antecedent factors, in the discontinuation of OTT multi-homing. We conducted an empirical analysis through a survey of multi-homers in South Korea. The results show that high search costs and subscription fees drive discontinuation, while content diversity and efficient recommendations mitigate it. Subscription fatigue and coupling, where users mentally associate the costs and perceived benefits of multiple subscriptions, emerge as significant drivers in discontinuation decisions, with coupling having a greater impact as users consider a wider range of costs and benefits. Age further moderates these effects: younger users prioritize efficient search processes, whereas older users prefer curated content experiences. These findings suggest that OTT platforms can enhance retention by refining content discovery systems, offering flexible pricing, and emphasizing service value, while tailoring strategies to age groups to compete effectively in the OTT marketplace.