Paying for Online News as Political Consumption in Hong Kong

This article examines the relationship between political partisanship and willingness to pay for online news. Given the prominence of partisan media in the high-choice digital media environment, paying for online news can take on the characteristics of political consumption - that is, acts of consumption driven by political and moral values - and be linked to partisanship and partisan media trust. Depending on the political context, supporters of one side of a political divide may be particularly likely to develop a general concern with the news media's financial situation and a willingness to support online news media financially. Empirically, an analysis of survey data from Hong Kong shows that in the aftermath of the vast pro-democracy movement in 2019-2020, political partisanship and partisan media trust were related to willingness to pay for online news positively and both directly and indirectly through concern with the media's financial situation. The general implications of these findings are discussed.