(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
advertising. For revenues from classifieds the forecasts even predict a worst case scenario for
legacy news media of a complete loss of classifieds in the next five years (Project of
Excellence in Journalism, 2009a).
Advertising expenditure is expected to be still below its 2008 level in 2013. With the more
dominant manifestation of digital behaviours in consumption patterns, a new generation of
advertising funded models will emerge, seeking to reflect and capitalise on the evolving
consumption habits. This enhances the fragmentation of the advertising market and successful
revenue generation will depend on the ability to use relevance and personalisation to address
potential customers. A large part of advertising will also migrate from the traditional to the
new media (PwC, 2009), but not necessarily to the news media sites.
Moving advertising from traditional media to online and mobile media involves particular
challenges. On the one hand the current economic situation negatively affects advertising
expenditure in general. Therefore, it is difficult to finance news content solely through
advertising. However, even in the long run, when advertising expenditures recover, news
media will have lower revenues as the rates charged for online ads are considerably lower
than those for traditional channels (PwC, 2009; Russ-Mohl, 2009).
The economic downturn not only affects revenues but it increases the structural crisis already
challenging the news media. Possible credit shortages add additional pressure forcing news
media to address efficiency issues and identify potentials for cost reductions.
Changing Habits and Demands of the Customers
As the Project for Excellence in Journalism (2009a) states audiences are migrating to digital
platforms at an accelerating speed. Online news consumption grew by double-digit figures in
the past years while the traffic to news sites increased by almost a third in 2008.
Changes in consumer habits are driven by the demand for greater control over the content
they consume (van Weezel, 2009). The consumer is no longer a passive receiver of content
but an insistent participant in the selection process. Advances in digital technology such as
mobile internet, online communities, content-on-demand and uploading self-generated
content enable a new control. Growth in mobile access from any location through mobile
devices drives the market penetration of high-end devices such as smart phones, the iPad and
eBook-Readers which all combine access and mobility (The Media Consortium, 2009).
However, the changes do not only concern the way digital content is being consumed but
extend well into social interactions and relationships. Online communities and social
networks allow for an uncomplicated exchange of user-generated content across the internet.
Communication platforms such as Twitter or instant messaging services have become
components of everyday life. In the view of advertisers the huge collective buying power of
the users of these interactive platforms makes them very attractive targets of marketing
campaigns (PwC, 2009).
The assumption that media usage can be categorised based on age or education is increasingly
misleading. The well-known classification into digital aliens, digital immigrants and digital
natives (Perkins, 2001) conveys a notion of clearly distinguishable categories. The picture,
however, is more diverse with different generations influencing each other on different levels.
The continuously emerging Net Generation - youth that grew up digital - not only intuitively
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