Unravelling the Motivations and Patterns of Newsletter Readers in Metropolitan Europe

Sammanfattning: The rise of email newsletters as a popular means of engaging audiences has transformed the landscape of journalism and news dissemination. Marketers and news organisations alike have recognised the potential of newsletters as an effective way to reach and engage with their audiences. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of this growing phenomenon by exploring the motivations behind news consumers accessing news via newsletters and then identifying patterns of user behaviour.   Legacy media outlets, such as The New York Times and Axios, have also adopted newsletters to enhance audience engagement and generate revenues. Email newsletters, unlike traditional newspapers, often focus on specific topics or niches, demanding regular, high-quality content for success. Despite the significant growth of newsletter journalism, academic research on the phenomenon and users' behaviour remains limited. The study seeks to address this gap by applying the uses and gratification theory, which suggests that people consume media for various purposes, including entertainment, education, and information. By conducting a survey and interviews among European newsletter readers, the research aims to begin to understand the motivations driving news consumers to subscribe to newsletters and identify typical consumption patterns. The exploratory study found that personal and cognitive needs play significant roles in motivating newsletter readers, while social and affective needs may have less influence.   In conclusion, this thesis contributes to the understanding of changes in online news consumption by shedding light on the motivations behind news consumers' preference for newsletters and their behaviour in this evolving digital landscape. Understanding users' needs and expectations is essential for journalists and news organisations to adapt and thrive in today’s dynamic media environment.