Financing online project: willingness-to-pay for an ad-free Wikipedia

Myriam Le Goff-Pronost (), Nicolas Jullien and Godefroy Dang Nguyen ()
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Myriam Le Goff-Pronost: IMT Atlantique - LUSSI - Département Logique des Usages, Sciences sociales et Sciences de l'Information - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], MARSOUIN - Môle Armoricain de Recherche sur la SOciété de l'information et des usages d'INternet - UR - Université de Rennes - UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - UBO - Université de Brest - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - UR2 - Université de Rennes 2 - UBL - Université Bretagne Loire - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], LaTIM - Laboratoire de Traitement de l'Information Medicale - UBO - Université de Brest - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - CHRU Brest - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Brest - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IBSAM - Institut Brestois Santé Agro Matière - UBO - Université de Brest
Godefroy Dang Nguyen: IMT Atlantique - LUSSI - Département Logique des Usages, Sciences sociales et Sciences de l'Information - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], MARSOUIN - Môle Armoricain de Recherche sur la SOciété de l'information et des usages d'INternet - UR - Université de Rennes - UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - UBO - Université de Brest - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - UR2 - Université de Rennes 2 - UBL - Université Bretagne Loire - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], LEGO - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion de l'Ouest - UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud - UBO - Université de Brest - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IBSHS - Institut Brestois des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société - UBO - Université de Brest - UBL - Université Bretagne Loire - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris]

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Abstract: Background: the economic model of Wikipedia is based on donations. What would happen if these donations were to decrease and no longer covered all the costs borne by the Wikimedia Foundation? Objectives: we propose to measure, through a contingent valuation model, the willingness to pay Wikipedia users for free access without advertising (traditional economic model of online projects). What is the amount they are willing to pay and what is the profile and motivation of the donors? Method: the study is based on a survey of 16432 french-language people and a Heckman-type econometric model. Results: the results estimate that the average amount that people are willing to pay per year for Wikipedia without advertising is € 5.64 (€ 7.73, considering only those who agree to pay). The profile of those willing to pay is identical to that of other public goods, and the value of the amount paid is highly dependent on the level of income. The amount envisaged is higher than the donation campaigns proposed by Wikipedia (€ 2) but lower than the average donation received by the Wikimedia Foundation (€ 10), but these are often nonrecurring donations.

Keywords: Wikipedia; online projects; willingness-to-pay; contingent valuation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm, nep-isf and nep-pay
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03338895v1
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Published in Journal of Business and Social Science Review, 2021, 2 (8), pp.12-26. ⟨10.48150/jbssr.v2no8.2021.a2⟩

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Related works:
Working Paper: Financing online project: willingness-to-pay for an ad-free Wikipedia (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03338895

DOI: 10.48150/jbssr.v2no8.2021.a2

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