ECONOMIC RESISTANCE AND THE FREE-CONTENT ECOLOGY: WHY UZBEKISTAN CONSUMERS RESIST PAYING FOR ONLINE SUBSCRIPTIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55439/EIT/vol14_iss2/807Keywords:
subscription services; economic resistance; price value; free-content ecology; non-adoption; digital piracy; UTAUT2; Uzbekistan; emerging markets.Abstract
This article examines economic resistance as a barrier to online subscription service adoption in Uzbekistan. Drawing on reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) of 206 open-ended survey responses from non-adopters, three analytically distinct sub-themes are identified: hard budget constraints driven by low disposable income, the perceived sufficiency of free and informal content alternatives, and low perceived value for money. Together, these sub-themes constitute what this article terms the "free-content ecology" — a competitive landscape in which informal digital content channels exert gravitational pull away from paid subscription models. The findings extend UTAUT2 (Venkatesh, Thong and Xu, 2012) by situating the price value construct within a specific competitive ecology shaped by income constraints, piracy norms, and the structural availability of free alternatives. Practical implications for subscription providers, policymakers, and the Digital Uzbekistan 2030 agenda are discussed.
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