Survey: Better Content Might Ignite Online Micropayments

A survey released today at a conference on micropayments reveals the extent to which Americans are willing to buy content from Web sites at prices measured in the pennies. Extrapolations from the survey show that 4 million Americans made micropayments for digital content costing $2 and under in the past year, and that 30 million are at least somewhat likely to do so in the next 12 months, say those who conducted the study. The survey, which canvased a random sample of 1,100 people aged 12 and up, was conducted by market-research group Ipsos-Insight and Peppercoin, a Waltham, Mass.-based startup company recently formed to process micropayments for digital goods, starting with music. Other results showed that more than 44% bought something online in the past year; that teenagers are the group most likely to buy content online using micropayments; and that 65% of current users of micropayments are male and that 28% are aged 25 or under. Interestingly, payment security online is not a big concern, with fewer than 1% of respondents saying transaction security prevented them from buying items. Another result of the poll is that one of the biggest factors holding back micropayments online is lack of compelling content. More than half of those who had made an online payment said they had not made a micropayment because it wasn't worth the effort or because they couldn't find anything that interested them. Currently, the most popular forms of content are ring tones, music, games, and articles. Apparently, say the survey takers, more robust content, and more consumer awareness of such content, is needed to make online micropayments a mainstream payment mechanism. The survey was released today at the Micropayments Conference, held in New York and sponsored by Peppercoin.