Advertising and Content Differentiation

Evidence from YouTube

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9703728
AutoresAnna Kerkhof (University of Munich, ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich & CESifo , Germany, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen134
Número663
Páginas2912-2950
Fecha de publicación2024-09-17
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ej/ueae043
OpenAlexW3121988977
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas39

Many media outlets depend on advertising revenue to finance their operations, but the effect of advertising on media outlets’ content choices is largely unexplored. This paper exploits two institutional features from YouTube to show that an exogenous increase in the feasible amount of advertising induces YouTubers to differentiate their video content from their competitors. A plausible mechanism is that YouTubers avoid competition: viewers typically perceive advertising as a nuisance and therefore as an implicit price they have to pay; thus, they could switch to a competitor if a YouTuber increased her advertising quantity. This is less likely, however, if the YouTuber differentiates her content from the mainstream and moves to a niche

Advertising · Business · Content (measure theory · Multimedia · Computer Science · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Mathematics · Media Influence and Politics