Examining the Third-Person Perception on News Consumers’ Intention to Pay

Examining the psycho-economics of paying intent using the third-person effect framework, this study examines the extent to which self–other asymmetry factors into news consumers’ intentions to pay for multiplatform news products. Findings from a web-based panel survey of 767 U.S. internet users suggest people consistently perceive others as more likely to pay for news across three news platforms (print, web, and app) and that the perceived difference in how much more likely others would pay for news than oneself widens from print to web and to app editions. Such findings reveal the economic nature of news as multiplatform products in the eyes of news consumers from a novel perspective and offer a theoretical understanding of the psychology behind consumers’ paying intent for multiplatform news products in the contemporary media environment.