ABSTRACT

Micropayments have experienced a significant growth in today’s everyday life. Surprisingly,

the idea of using small amounts for payment of news is not among the most frequently-used
payment modalities in the newspaper industry, particularly in innovative countries such as
Switzerland. Apparently, there is still a knowledge gap regarding the manner in which
consumers perceive online micropayments to pay for news. This affects the development of
micropayment strategies and profit models implemented by publishers, who have experienced
a rapid decline in circulation revenues due to other forms of perceived ‘free’ news, such as the
internet.
At the heart of this issue, one challenging area of research and business interest is to identify
factors that consumers consider when deciding to make small purchases. In order to address
this, this thesis adopts a primarily positivist philosophy utilising a mixed-methods approach to
address the research question: ‘What are the factors that influence consumers’ use of online
micropayments in the Swiss newspaper industry?’ Moreover, the study examines how various
attributes add to the perception of usefulness and ease of use of such acceptance factors, as
well as the degree to which they contribute to the purchasing intent of small payments for
online news.
A conceptual model based on the Technology Acceptance Model including a set of external
variables comprising system characteristics and individual differences was used to structure
these influences and analysed using Structural Equation Modelling. Nine industry experts
were used to identify additional influencing factors, a pilot study with business experts was
used to verify the basic model and methodology and the model was evaluated using Partial
Least Squares in the full-scale main study of 262 respondents. Finally, a validation study of
eight academic specialists and business professionals enriched the research findings and acted
as triangulation to strengthen the results.
The results indicate that micropayments indeed play an important role for digital news in
Switzerland, embedded in the application of system characteristics. Five concrete system
characteristics — compatibility, later payment, single payment platform, mobility and
convenience — are found to be positively and significantly linked to the perceived usefulness,
with the latter two also showing a strong significant effect on perceived ease of use.
Furthermore, it is found that attitude towards the use of micropayments has a strong positive
relationship with the intention to use micropayments.
The implication of the research outcomes provides strong potential for the practical
proposition of micropayment services in the news industry and identifies future directions for
creating appropriate strategies for users paying in small amounts.
No prior study is known to have been conducted to empirically test behavioural factors that
influence the consumer use of micropayments in the news industry, specifically in the Swiss
market. Hence, several noteworthy contributions to the literature and to theory were gained
from this study, particularly determinants that drive the use of micropayments for digital
news. One major contribution is the narrowing down of the gaps in former research
investigative factors between micropayments and mobile payment acceptance. Furthermore,
the topic of micropayments as an emerging business model for newspaper organisations
which can monetise digital news to sustain profitability has been addressed.