The hidden cost of ad tier streaming services
Streaming services got popular by partly due to being an ad-free alternative to cable tv, but now we have come almost full circle as the introduction of ad tiers in streaming services are more popular than ever, now making up almost half of subscriptions in the US.
I am not one of them as I go to great lengths to limit the amount of exposure to advertising in my life, and that includes gladly paying for services to get rid of ads. But even though it doesn’t affect me personally, I still think it is a cause of concern with how it indirectly causes further economic inequality.
We might think we are immune to influences from marketing and advertising, and while it is possible to develop good critical thinking to deter many marketing tricks and mechanisms, I don’t believe any of us are completely unaffected. Advertising wouldn’t be such a massive industry if it didn’t work.
This is probably a simplified analysis, but it means that people who can afford the higher priced subscription can limit their exposure to ads and thus will on average be less manipulated into buying stuff they don’t need. People who choose the cheaper ad-supported option will be influenced to buy more stuff they don’t need, thus further increasing the economic inequality.
This can of course be hard to quantify and measure, but I think it is worth considering if you actually save money by choosing to expose yourself to more ads. Not even counting the extra time wasted as well.