Consumer Behavior in Subscription to Media Content from Over-The-Top (OTT) Service
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Abstract
Over-the-top (OTT) services for content programming are growing rapidly in Thailand. Services are generally provided in both paid and free ad-supported formats. This research examines the behavior of paying for additional OTT services for content programming. The analysis is divided into two steps: the decision-making process between paid and free formats and an analysis of factors affecting the paid service format. Heckman’s two-step estimation is used to solve the problem of systematically selected data, combined with data from a survey of OTT service users in Thailand, which was conducted by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission in 2019. The results show that several factors lead to a higher likelihood of choosing the free format. Additionally, some factors increase the likelihood of users paying less for the service. The study highlights the importance of non-tariff factors in the decision-making process of users, which can be used as a competitive tool by free ad-supported OTT service providers against paid service providers. Regulatory agencies can use the study's findings to monitor the competition in the OTT service market for content programming in Thailand.
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