Quality of video streaming experience affects viewers’ loyalty to OTT services: Study

Lower quality of video resolution affects viewers’ engagement with the subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD) brands and also effects their loyalty to over-the-Top (OTT) video streaming service, according to a joint study by Akamai Technologies and Sensum.

The findings suggest that engagement decreases almost 20 percent due to poor quality of video streaming.

“Service providers cannot take risks with streaming experiences that are compromised by low resolution or buffering. They must provide consistent, high-quality experiences to help retain subscribers and reduce acquisition costs”, said Ian Munford, director of product marketing, media solutions, at Akamai.

The study shows that with lower quality streaming negative emotions rise, focus falls, brand preference falls, and happiness falls which in-turn leads to increase in turnover rates of subscribers.

76 percent of participants say that they would stop using the service if buffering persists.

Increased broadcast level quality and good streaming keeps viewers engaged. OTT service providers can tap onto this research to invest better in continuous innovation, scalable content delivery, powerful analytics and media acceleration to have better engagement with their viewers.