Research Finds Digital Goods Area a Tougher Sell Than Entrepreneurs Think

Nobody wants to hear that a startup is doomed from the start. After all, entrepreneurs have to be beacons of hope and positivity to keep going when the going gets tough.

Sometimes, however, the odds are simply stacked too high. Recent research from Boston University and Switzerland has brought the hammer down on one marketplace in particular — digital goods.

Part of being a successful entrepreneur is balancing optimism with realism. Let this reality check be just what you need to steer your startup in what may be a safer direction.

The Real State of the Digital Goods Industry

Digital goods describe any type of product or service that does not have a physical form. Digital goods include music and movie files, ebooks and digital photographs.

Despite the modern world buzzing about the strength and success of the “Digital Era,” research is showing quite the opposite effect in consumer purchasing behavior. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research in October 2017 came to a surprising conclusion — more consumers are willing to pay for physical goods than digital ones.

It seems everywhere we look there are new technologies and digital devices. Yet perhaps the novelty of the Digital Era exaggerated or distorted its actual effects on consumers, wrongly overshadowing physical good marketplaces. At least, this seems to be the case according to the study.

Despite the widespread digitization of favorite pastimes such as reading and watching TV, the dominant format of entertainment remains print books, DVDs, Blu-ray disks and physical prints of digital photographs, according to the…