Competing with Whom? Where? and Why (Not)? an Empirical Study of U.S. Online Newspapers’ Competition Dynamics

As a newspaper Web site theoretically may compete with anything and everything, online and offline, this study empirically examines the nature, degree, and locale of online newspaper competition. Based on online reader survey data collected from users of 27 local U.S. newspaper Web sites, this study seeks to capture the competitive relationship between the local newspaper site and other online/offline news sources among local and long-distance users. A competitive relationship between the newspaper site and its print counterpart in the local market was found among about one third of the cases, after controlling for demographics and Internet use. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.