3 Traits of Binge-Worthy Streaming Media Services

3 traits of binge-worthy streaming media services

The Streaming Media CX Index Report The streaming media industry is growing— and it’s growing fast. The economic numbers are staggering, and it’s predicted that the market will nearly triple between 2018 and 2024.

Consumers today are using an average of three streaming media subscriptions to meet their needs, and with a pool of more than 110 providers to choose from, competition is heating up. As competitive pressures expand, leading streaming media providers are scrambling to differentiate themselves while finding new ways to attract and retain their customers—an effort that’s increasingly reliant on customer experience (CX). $688.7B Projected global streaming video market by 2024, up from $245B in 2018.

| 02 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES Inspired by a recent poll by SurveyMonkey, UserTesting conducted a competitive benchmarking study to better understand consumers’ needs and desires, and what drives great CX. The study evaluated seven top on-demand streaming services: Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, HBO NOW*, and HBO MAX.

Participants evaluated these services based on ease of use, ease of navigation, discoverability of new content, information availability, aesthetics, and likelihood to return, which UserTesting identified as key customer attributes for this category of digital products.

89% Media and entertainment companies that expect to compete based on customer experience

* After the UserTesting study concluded, HBO announced it will rebrand HBO NOW as HBO.

| 03 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES 3 keys to binge-worthy Executive streaming media summary Offer a broad, diverse library of content

1 with a thorough, logical organization that enables customers to find what they’re looking for. Streaming services have seen usage rates increase, a fact supported Deliver highly personalized experiences by a survey conducted by SurveyMonkey, which found that nearly half of participants reported that they watched streaming content 2 with curated recommendations based on every day. Part of this increase may be attributable to a more focused customers’ past viewing histories and interests. approach to customer-centricity, as all services in our study scored Use customer empathy to dictate CX strategy relatively high marks for ease of use—something only achievable 3 through continuous evaluation of the customer experience. to cater to increasing viewership and increasing expectations.

To better understand what’s driving the best streaming media experiences, UserTesting conducted a competitive benchmarking study. The study asked test participants to complete a series of tasks using each streaming media service, then answer questions about their experience, which resulted in both quantitative data (a CX score on a scale of 0 “negative” to 100 “positive”) and full analysis of the study data, which uncovered three key recommendations for delivering world-class digital streaming experiences.

| 04 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES Overall experience scores Disney+ (a new industry player that launched its service in November 2019), Hulu, and Netflix topped the overall rankings with a tied score of 90. While Netflix and Hulu may come as no surprise, Disney+ represents a great example of a disruptive competitor in this 100 dynamic market. In light of these scores, it’s not surprising that 74% of people are subscribed to Netflix, with 31% subscribing to Disney+ 90 90 90 88 87 87 after only eight months on the market. 84 5 Apple TV+, on the other hand, received the lowest scores for the overall experience, closely followed by Amazon Prime and HBO NOW—which, time will tell, but may soon be resolved with the 50 recent launch of HBO Max, which ranked second in overall experience.

0 Disney+ Hulu Netflix HBO HBO Amazon Apple MAX NOW Prime TV+

| 05 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES 3 traits of binge-worthy streaming media services 1. Offer a broad, diverse library of content

The desire for an expansive array of content was a common theme among customers in the study, with platform-exclusive content being the primary draw to use any streaming service. Without access to a substantial and diverse content library, customers were found to lose interest in the platform after quickly burning through all desired streaming options. However, we found that simply having the content available was only half of the battle, as customers desired an easy and efficient way to locate the show or movie they were looking for, or even to have it recommended.

Customers were pleased when presented with a vast variety of content, praising platforms that provided creative and original options that were regularly updated and refreshed. Despite some customers claiming to be overwhelmed by too many content options, experiencing decision fatigue, a robust content library was an important and positive experience factor for customers. As previously mentioned, customers were frustrated when presented with limited options, causing them to abandon those platforms in favor of others. Amazon Prime is not the first streaming service I go to to find engaging content unless an Amazon-specific show has a new season I want to watch.”

- Amazon Prime customer

It’s not my preferred streaming service to go on...there isn’t enough content, and the content on there is not interesting enough for me compared to other streaming sites.”

- Apple TV+ customer

When customers were asked to locate a specific show, most were able to do this with relative ease and providing multiple, intuitive ways to locate content positively impacted the user experience. Customers enjoyed intuitive search features that automatically populated suggestions while typing characters into the search bar, and clean and logical content organization—including categorized carousels—was also valuable in helping customers to find what they were looking for.

| 08 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES The easiest part of finding the show on this site is simply the fact that it showed up so quickly. I didn’t have to wait while the page was loading with suggestions. Further, I didn’t have to type the whole show title in to retrieve my selection.”

- Amazon Prime customer

- Disney+ customer

| 09 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES Notably, participants found that Apple TV+ has unusual navigation Find a specific show with no search functionality, resulting in the lowest number of participants who were able to locate a specific show. The inability to filter and sort by specific sub-genres was another hindrance to 100 overall positive customer experience. 96 93 93 91 It [my expectation of the website] fell 86 86 5 short because I have to manually look 76 for what I want to watch since there is no filtering option at this given moment.” 50

- Amazon Prime customer

0 HBO Disney+ Hulu HBO Netflix Amazon Apple MAX Now Prime TV+

- Apple TV+ customer | 010 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES 2. Deliver highly personalized experiences

In our 2018 report, we found that streaming media providers left a lot to be desired when it came to providing relevant content recommendations, and fortunately for consumers, it seems those frustrations were heard. In an ever-expanding sea of streaming content, personalized, intuitive access is a basic necessity— and expectation—for consumers seeking to uncover new and interesting content relevant to their interests and viewing histories.

With many consumers accustomed to suggested items based on shopping cart items or purchase histories, it’s not surprising that customers were especially pleased with “my list” features that included an array of personalized recommendations custom to their behaviors and viewing histories. Customers also enjoyed suggested lists based on the popularity of certain titles among others, including those for “trending titles”, or “what’s new”. - Hulu customer

Categories are very clear and tailored for my interests. Genres I like are very much available so content that I would enjoy is well presented to me.”

- Netflix customer

| 12 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES Discover new content On the flip side of things, lack of personalization was a clear point of friction for customers. Many were both surprised and frustrated when they were unable to view their recently watched shows or movies, noting this was a primary way they continued with their 100 content consumption. Customers also found that stagnant or 97 repeated content suggestions were detrimental to their experience 91 91 90 88 87 87 in discovering something new to watch.

0 - Apple TV+ customer HBO Disney+ Netflix Amazon Apple HBO Hulu MAX Primex TV+ NOW

| 13 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES 3. Use customer empathy to drive CX strategy

As viewership increases and consumers subscribe to more streaming media platforms to access more content, their expectations are also increasing. In such a competitive space, the devil’s in the details for providers who seek to remain competitive, provide a seamless customer experience, and keep their customers coming back.

In line with what we found in our prior report, instant gratification is a key draw for streaming media services, and as such, speed and loading times are critical to delivering a great experience. Customers were unhappy when results took too long to appear when using a search function, causing them to question if a title was unavailable or if the loading time was slow. Platforms that were quick to load and easy to navigate received overall higher scores. The hardest part was waiting for a selection to show up as I was typing. I felt that the service was taking too long to confirm that the show was on the service to begin with.”

- Hulu customer

Having access to readily available information on different shows or movies enhanced the platform experience, and most platforms scored well for their display of details including IMDB ratings, user reviews, and cast members.

The outlier was Apple TV+, which required the use of a separate Apple TV+ app to access content details—something that was unclear to customers who weren’t provided adequate information as to how the service works and thought that the website may have been broken.

HBO NOW met my I’m not getting the option to expectations because it is a click through to anything. very easy site to navigate, and I’m not sure what’s wrong.” nothing was confusing.” - Apple TV+ customer

- HBO NOW customer

| 15 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES Another factor impacting customers’ likeliness to return was aesthetics, as customers preferred services that used high-quality images that well-represented various content options. Platforms that delivered an “almost artistic” look and feel were desired over those that were cluttered or crowded. Interestingly, customers were displeased with Amazon Prime’s appearance saying it too closely resembled the Amazon Prime e-Commerce site—feedback that aligned with our 2018 report when Amazon Prime received the lowest marks for “aesthetics”.

Items are clearly stated, great use of images—It’s just extremely user-friendly and I love that it can be tailored for me.”

- Netflix customer

Likeliness to return

HBO MAX

Netflix*

Disney+

HBO NOW

Hulu

Amazon Prime

Apple TV+

0 25 50 5 100

Most likely Equally likely Less likely

* One participant reported subscribing only to Netflix; therefore, comparison with other services was not possible.

| 16 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES Just keeping up Netflix is king regarding content, so as long as isn’t an option they keep producing and creating their own content

Streaming media providers need to be constantly innovating through I will always have it.” the power of human insights if they want to not only survive but to - Netflix customer remain—or become—an industry leader.

In order for industry veterans to maintain market share—and for new entrants to make their mark—it’s critical for streaming media providers to understand and empathize with their customers. And through a combination of machine learning, analytical data, and real human insights, this can be achieved. Providers can then dig deeper to understand why these behaviors are occurring with first-hand customer feedback, empowering them with the information they need to make customer-centric decisions quickly and efficiently.

Netflix has widely been regarded as “customer-obsessed”, which has undoubtedly helped the provider maintain its industry leadership for the last decade.

Other platforms continue to take note as competition heats up, creating a sense of urgency for streaming media providers to prioritize, innovate, invest, and embrace CX to achieve brand differentiation and deliver world-class experiences. | 17 3 TRAITS OF BINGE-WORTHY STREAMING MEDIA SERVICES About UserTesting

UserTesting is an on-demand human insight platform that quickly gives companies a firstperson understanding of how their target audience behaves throughout any experience and why. To learn more, visit www.usertesting.com.

HEADQUARTERS 690 5th Street San Francisco, CA 94107

—

UserTesting.com 1-888-877-1882