Internet experience and time displacement of traditional news media use: An application of the theory of the niche

The purpose of this study is to better understand the impact of online news use on traditional news media use by analyzing how Internet experience affects the time on traditional news media consumption. Based on the theory of the niche and the uses and gratifications theory, this study investigates the displacement effect of the Internet on consumer time spent on traditional media. Data were collected in a mail survey with 688 respondents in Northwest Ohio and college students in a Northwest Ohio state university from October to December, 2009. The results indicate that the Internet indeed has a displacement effect on traditional media in the daily news domain and the effect takes place most prominently after 5 years of experience. Consumers’ time spent on traditional media decreases as the years of Internet experience increases with diminishing returns. Among experienced Internet users, there was an increasing overlap between the Internet and traditional media, and they perceived the Internet as superior to traditional media.

► Used Internet experience as proxy variable to study longitudinal/cumulated effect of time on traditional media displacement. ► Survey of college students and residents in Northwest Ohio. ► Compared news media use of Internet. ► Provided evidence of displacement by measuring niche breadth, overlap, competitive superiority and change in perceived exclusive attributes. ► Identified 5 years or more as the threshold for displacement effect to occur.