Vimeo, Latitude study highlights online viewing habits

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The average viewer spends $32 a month on transactional or subscription VOD content, according to research conducted by Vimeo and consultancy group Latitude.

Vimeo infographic

The study, titled Online Video Viewing and Purchasing and published this week, investigated current viewing habits of online consumers compared to those from a year ago and unveiled nine insights.

The companies surveyed a national sample of 1,000 Americans using qualitative and quantitative analysis. Respondents were recruited through a national panel, equally split among gender and split evenly across the 18-34 and 35-54 age groups.

All recruits said they watched online video of five or more minutes in length a minimum of two or three times a week and at least 15% said they used Vimeo at least once a month.

The nine insights extracted from the study revealed:

People are spending more on online video: the average viewer says they spend $32 monthly on transactional video on demand (TVOD) content and subscription video on demand (SVOD);

Viewers will pay double or more for longer form content: as video length increases viewers expect, and are willing, to pay nearly double what they’d pay to buy a short-form video;

Pre-order alone isn’t enough: For the vast majority of viewers, the decision to rent or buy is made within 24 hours of when they plan to watch; so having pre-order set up in advance is not necessary unless there is a specific reward for viewers who purchase in advance, such as bonus features, or a lower introductory price;

Having options to buy and rent is optimal: the decision to buy or rent most often comes down to the number of times the video will be viewed. Millennial males say they prefer to buy rather than rent content;

Accessibility of content is key: while the majority of respondents still purchase online video content on their desktop, they are consuming the content everywhere and view it as important to have content accessible across all screens. And for owners of connected TV devices, these platforms are the preferred way to view online content;

Niche content is worth a premium: more than half of respondents are willing to pay for niche video content that is tailored to their specific interests, and existing Vimeo users segmented within the study are more likely to pay for action sports, fashion, gaming, travel and art than the typical online viewer;

Ad-free viewing is also worth a premium: three-quarters of consumers would be willing to pay for an ad-free viewing experience, though the price of that experience remains the core driver of that decision;

Viewers will pay more to support creators directly: nearly half of the respondents would rather pay for online video on a site that gives a larger share of the revenue to the creator, director or filmmaker, and this skews even higher (71%) for the average Vimeo user; and

Word of mouth is still important, but curation is increasingly important for content discovery: 65% of those surveyed discover new content through friends and family, but 42% are more willing to purchase content that’s been recommended by a platform. Seventy percent of Vimeo users surveyed were more likely to pay if something’s been recommended by the site.