Adoption theory analysis of the e-publishing industry indicates that consumer acceptance of current technology is the greatest barrier to attaining a critical consumer mass. New electronic paper technologies will soon offer a superior consumer alternative. Publishers will be faced with new opportunities and nagging issues related to new competition, content control, and protection of revenue streams requiring strategies that stress rationalization of distribution systems, cross-promotion, strategic pricing, and leveraging of new revenue sources-particularly advertising.
This article tracks the use and integration of pricing theory in studies of media competition and advertising rates over the past 25 years. I find that pricing theory has been cited as both the justification for and explanation of a wide variety of studies in media economics, and suggest an integrative approach to widen the study of pricing within the media.