PEST ANALYSIS OF PAID DIGITAL MEDIA SUBSCRIPTION MODEL IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Due to the growth of advertising business of search engines, aggregators, and social media, many publishers suffer the impact of declining advertising revenues, which most news media have historically relied on. Under such circumstances, the paid subscription model provides a worthy alternative to digital advertising. In the present research, the focus is made on the PEST analysis of paid digital media subscription model in European countries. A correlation and regression analysis are conducted to find out factors (independent variables) that have the most significant effect on the percentage paying for online news (dependent variable) in 23 European countries. As a result of research, the following most essential PEST factors are highlighted: mean broadband download speed, level of internet access in households, median household income, and control of corruption. As for recommendations, it is concluded that publishers should pay more attention to the indicated PEST factors in each European country to ensure their competitiveness. The further research on factors influencing the percentage paying for online news worldwide may boost the successful adoption of best revenue practices by digital media companies and ensure their competitiveness in terms of global digital leadership of top technology companies.