Will anybody buy? Logistic regression - Improving the User Experience through Practical Data Analytics - page 303

“Hmmm…was there an answer to my question in there?” Dangle says, staring
down at her iPad.
You plunge forward, ignoring the barb: “Consider this: We already know that
older folks in general are higher consumers of news than younger ones. The networks
igured that out a long time ago. Ever notice how many 'old folks' ads, like 'Cialis,'
appear during the CBS Evening News ?”
“Look,” Dangle interrupts, “Nobody gets their news from TV anymore.”You
remain cool: “Well, the ratings have deinitely dropped in the past 20years. But,
it doesn't erase the fact that older folks are usually more interested in news than
younger ones.” “ Globe demographics have always been older.”
“OK, OK,” Dangle says impatiently. “Keep going.”
It's time for you to start wrapping up: “OK. Older folks want news, and we know
from our printed subscription data that older folks are much more prone to have a
printed subscription. We also know that older folks are usually better educated on
the whole.”
Dangle is getting lustered: “Where are you going with this?”
It's time to cut to the chase. “The folks who are willing to pay for online news
content are news junkies. And news junkies are older, highly educated, and still get a
printed paper in the morning.”
The room is quiet. Finally Nick Bonovich breaks the silence.
“What about credibility?”
“Your hypothesis was right, Nick,” you smile. “The p -value for that independent
variable was 0.01 with a positive coeficient. If they're gonna pay for online news,
it's got to be highly credible.”
Stacy Souley, the affable business analyst, pipes up.
“But what about the actual content?”
“Good question,” you answer. “We asked about a wide range of news content:
national, international, business, sports, arts, and unique local stories.”
Dangle looks up from her iPad. “And?”
“In-depth analysis of business stories was the only variable that moved the
needle.”
Stacey nods in agreement: “Makes sense. Folks will actually pay for great busi-
ness analysis. Think of Bloomberg and Morningstar.”
Dangle is still skeptical. “What about international? The Globe has had foreign
bureaus since World War I and we've won at least 10 Pulitzers on international
coverage.”
“It's a real strength of the Globe ,” you acknowledge. “But this study doesn't offer
any evidence of people willing to pay extra for it.” You pause and offer an explana-
tion. “I think there are simply too many online international options available for
free. Same with sports, arts, national. To some extent, the jury is still out on local.”
“OK,” Dangle says with a smirk. “You're saying we create a business site with
strong credibility and leave it at that?”
“Well, no,” you reply. “Keep in mind that we had folks rate several variables'
impact on 'willingness to pay'; nothing was rated in isolation. You can't just pull out