Factors of consumer choice of music streaming services in Russia and China

Abstract

The streaming music service is one of the most important elements of digital ecosystems. Subscriptions, pre-orders, and in-app track purchases are extremely valuable for developers of streaming services, who are interested in promoting them among users. Previous studies do not contain comparative analyses of consumer behaviour of music streaming services for users in different countries. The purpose of the study is to compare the factors of choice of Russian users and users from China. The study consists of in-depth interviews with Russian service employees, followed by a quantitative survey that helps to identify the main factors of choosing a music streaming service. We discovered differences in the significance of factors for Russian and Chinese users. Logistic regression analysis allowed us to identify a variety of choice factors with different significance for customers who use the service; in order to succeed, ecosystems including music streaming services should immerse themselves in the particularities of consumer behaviour in a certain country, taking into account the uniqueness of the music market.