Isabelle Krebs

20 Years of Research on Media Brands and Media Branding

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the research output on media brands and media branding over the past 20 years. A meta-analysis was conducted to detect publications and investigate the structure, the theoretical approaches, as well as utilized methods and analyses of research output published in German and English. Thus, a broad overview on the developing area of media branding within the field of media economics and management is provided. Overall the meta-analysis revealed a prevalence of empirical studies and on TV as the dominant medium investigated. Furthermore, management and strategy is shown to be the primary theoretical research focus.

The Relationship of Competition and Financial Commitment Revisited: A Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis in European Newspaper Markets

Research generally supported a positive effect of competition intensity on financial commitment into news production within U.S. markets. The authors test this assumption across European newspaper markets by applying fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. Although oligopolistic too, European newspaper markets reveal a somewhat different pattern. The market condition “high number of competitors” in combination with “high competition intensity” is a sufficient condition for financial commitment across the different markets in this study.

Is audience engagement worth the buzz? The value of audience engagement, comment reading, and content for online news brands:

Online audience engagement, such as rating or sharing news, commenting or creating content, can enhance users’ loyalty toward online news brands. Yet recently, uncertainties have been discussed within journalism research and practice concerning the handling of online comment sections and potential negative influences – caused through comment reading – on news brands. From a brand management perspective, audience engagement and comment reading can affect a brand’s equity. This study investigates the value of audience engagement and comment reading for the customer-based brand equity of online news outlets. An online survey with n = 313 users of the digital native cohort revealed that comment reading is neither directly beneficial nor harmful for online news brands. However, for brands providing hard news comment reading seems more likely to have negative than positive relations with CBBE than for brands with other content. Sharing and liking news are associated with a stronger perceived brand quality, loyalty, and associations. User-generated content creation including commenting does not enhance customer-based brand equity. Overall, serious content proved to be a stronger driver of news brand value than any form of audience engagement.

Research Note: News Media Branding and Journalistic Quality: Contradiction or Compatibility?

Facing increased competition and changing user behavior news media outlets increasingly have to pursue branding strategies to stay successful in the market. But the role of traditional news media as democratic institutions and the associated expectations impede branding measures as well as reservations against branding on the journalist’s side. This contribution is an attempt to further investigate news media branding. Referring to existing models it suggests the integration of societal functions as well as journalistic quality in the brand identity of news media brands. The production of contents should reflect these values in order to achieve successful branding to create a strong news brand. Expert interviews, audience survey and content analysis have been conducted to investigate the performance of news media brands regarding the fulfillment of societal functions and the journalistic quality.

Identifying paths to audience success of media products: the media decision-makers’ perspective

ABSTRACT Research on media success factors is a fragmented field. Definitions, measures, and methods vary, and findings are often inconsistent. In an attempt to fill this perceived research gap, we distilled generic success factors of media products from the literature. Guided by theory and empirical findings, these factors were aggregated to complex concepts, building blocks of success that we further investigated in an exploratory qualitative study. We found that the building blocks are applicable to all types of media, independent of seriality and content types of media products. Subsequently the research question of this article is: Which building blocks of success are most important for media products? To answer this question, we conducted an online survey of 255 media professionals in print, audio-visual, and online media in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. To analyze our data, we deployed qualitative comparative analysis, a method based on set theory that is suitable to investigate complex causality. We conclude that four building blocks are necessary for success: “good” distribution, environmental orientation, form/design, and human resources are preconditions for achieving success in terms of audience market share. In addition, three patterns emerge in the sufficient paths (combinations of building blocks) to success. Which route to success a media product shows can be related to the width of its topical scope and the corresponding projected audience size.

Patterns of successful media production

While it has been acknowledged that convergence is a multidimensional phenomenon, the convergence of media production processes has received little attention from researchers so far. In this article, we address this research gap with a qualitative study of production processes in different types of media. Our starting point is that independent of the media type, common product characteristics can be identified, that promote success in the audience market. We ask whether the same is true for process characteristics; whether there are converged processes that promote audience success independent of the media type. The study is based on n = 39 interviews in the German-speaking markets. Our findings provide a differentiated result: We do find similarities in the processes along the lines of product characteristics; however, the project phase is an important influencer. While processes in the development phase are more converged, production and distribution still demand distinct processes for different media types. In general, we can confirm studies that find a reluctance of media practitioners towards convergence, which often remains an underfunded and cost-oriented brain child of the top management.

Does the brand affect the quality perception of news articles? – An experimental study on news media brands in Switzerland

ABSTRACT Branding has become of increasing importance to news media companies as strategy to face fierce competition. But branding measures within news media are perceived controversially – because brands could disguise a possible loss of journalistic quality. This study investigates if recipients evaluate the quality of the news articles based on the content or the brand, and to what extend the brand and its constructs affect the quality perception of news articles. By doing so, the study aims at underlining the necessity of sustaining journalistic quality and the need for quality news brands to pursue a quality orientation. Results of the online experiment indicate that the quality evaluation is rather based on the actual content than the brand, although the brand also showed to be influential.

Market orientation in news media: How learning about and responding to readers and competitors impact success

Because of technological developments, it has become easier for media outlets and their actors to collect data, which facilitates the gaining of knowledge regarding customers and competitors. We apply market orientation theory and investigate through standardized interviews with high-level media representatives whether market-oriented news outlets are more successful in terms of circulation change. The results of this exploratory study show that dailies, which emphasize reader orientation and a swift reaction to competitors’ initiatives, are rewarded with success. For weeklies, the opposite is true. Rating means of researching the readership and responsiveness to the competition low is associated with an increase in circulation. These findings call for different media management strategies depending on the type of news outlet.