Striking it Niche–Extending the Newspaper Brand by Capitalizing in New Media Niche Markets: Suggested Model for Achieving Consumer Brand Loyalty

This study attempts to develop a framework, the “Communicator-Based Hierarchy-of-Effects Model,” to provide a quantitative method for measuring the steps communicators need to accomplish to achieve consumer brand loyalty. This exploratory study presents the results of a nationwide survey of daily newspaper website managers and their marketing and management of newspaper niche sites. This baseline study's data support the inclusion of the first five steps in the model. The study found that the respondents are primarily concerned with short-term goals, such as generating revenue and increasing readership, but not long-term goals, such as brand loyalty. In addition, the study demonstrates that the circulation of the printed newspaper significantly impacts many aspects of the online newspaper business.