Previously submitted to: JMIR Formative Research (no longer under consideration since Jan 09, 2026)
Date Submitted: Dec 28, 2024
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Analyzing the Interest in Digital Wellbeing Services: Are People More Willing to Pay for Them on Social Network Sites or Messaging Platforms?
ABSTRACT
The prevalence of social network sites (SNS) and messaging platforms (MSG) has transformed the way people communicate, interact, and share knowledge, leading to economic and social transformations. However, concerns about digital wellbeing have arisen due to issues such as disclosure of personal information, excessive usage, fake news, extremism, and mental health challenges. This study investigates interest in DWB services on SNS and MSG and explores differences in willingness to pay (WTP) for these services across different demographics. The analysis includes demographics of age, gender, financial wellness, and education. Data were collected from 262 participants through an online questionnaire focusing on ten DWB services. Overall, WTP was higher on SNS than MSG, with variations observed at the service level. Participants were more willing to pay on MSG for data protection and marketing purposes, while on SNS, they preferred services addressing fake news, radicalization, and excessive use. These preferences remained consistent across demographics, offering insights into societal preferences and values, and the potential for social media platforms to monetize DWB features, reducing reliance on advertising revenue. The results provide market players and policymakers with valuable guidance in developing user-centric strategies that enhance digital wellbeing and, in turn, improve quality of life.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.