Netflix

What College Students Tell Us Regarding Their Attitudes Towards : A Focus Group Report

Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism University of Southern California

Methods and Introduction

Netflix is an online instant streaming service that also provides a mail DVD service.

Founded in 1997 by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings, the company has grown as one of the largest global entertainment distribution services. Netflix now partners with many consumer electronics companies to offer streaming services on various Internet-connected devices, such as tablets and smartphones, and has recently introduced their own exclusive content. The objective of the Netflix focus group was to find Netflix’s overall reputation and performance from the perspective of college students.

The focus group method was chosen in order to better gauge how college-aged customers felt about Netflix. The open-ended exploration of focus group research allowed us to explore student’s thoughts about Netflix through both positive and negative perspectives. Students from the University of Southern California (USC) were invited to discuss their opinions, comments and suggestions regarding the service. The focus group offered an up-close look at the participants’ experiences, attitudes, behaviors and language in relation to Netflix. Convenience sampling was used to gain participants. This allowed us to conduct our focus group in a timely matter for our clients. The casual setting of the focus group helped urge the participants to be completely honest and forthcoming with their responses. The focus group method gave access to a large number of participants at one time.

One focus group with nine USC students was conducted. These students consisted of eight girls and one boy all ranging in age from 19-21. To get our participants we used the convenience sampling method. The focus group lasted 30 minutes, and it was held in a small classroom on the second floor of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism building on USC campus. The focus group participants sat facing one another around a large rectangular table, which encouraged engagement and conversation among them. Each participant signed a consent form and introduced him/herself to the other participants before the discussion began. The focus group was led by a single group member, while the others took notes and later transcribed the recorded discussion.

Qualitative data analysis methods were used to find emerging themes related to the research question. Coding of data for key terms related to original series, outdated movies, binge watching, shared accounts, variety and convenience allowed a thorough look of the topics that emerged naturally from the data. The coding encompassed anything related to Netflix content and customer satisfaction. Eventually, we identified broad “themes” around each of these instances. Finally, we synthesized each of the emergent themes into three main problems that customers encounter with the Netflix service.

Findings and Discussions

Theme 1: Lack of Movie Variety. Comments on Netflix’s lack of variety when it comes to current revealed a shared problem with Netflix’s service. Throughout the entire focus group, Netflix’s lack of content, specifically for movies, was mentioned most frequently.

Netflix’s movie selection was often described as minimal, and there was a firm consensus that

Netflix needs more variety. Undertones of frustration were present in the comments of many of the participants. For example, one student explained:

When I just want to have a movie night with a friend, we’ll go to Netflix first and usually

nothing’s on there, so we’ll usually just go to another site to watch movies. Netflix just

isn’t that great when it comes to movies. It’s better quality, but I’ll usually just go on

another website where I can find a current movie for free. Another student expressed similar frustration: “ I feel like their movie selection isn’t very current. There’s a lot of old stuff. It’s just not the best variety.” One student said, “To be honest,

I’m kind of disappointed in Netflix. Whenever I want to watch anything, like movies, they never have it.” A similar sentiment was echoed by this student: “I have to use iTunes and rent movies because Netflix isn’t current at all.”

Netflix’s lack of movie variety appears to be a common problem that Netflix users share.

Many participants felt like they could get better content on free websites, while others even admitted to buying movies off of a different service, such as iTunes, despite the fact that they already pay a monthly fee for Netflix. Therefore, Netflix should focus a greater amount of their efforts on acquiring new and current films. Our focus group revealed that many college-aged

Netflix users turn to Netflix for impromptu movie nights with little satisfaction. Netflix began as a service that predominantly offers movies, and Netflix users are still turning to Netflix for this reason (with unsatisfactory results).

Theme 2: Unwanted Emphasis on Original Content. Netflix’s newfound emphasis on original content was the second most frequently cited problem that users had with Netflix. While many of our participants have watched at least one episode of a Netflix original series, there was a shared sentiment that they prefer to watch current film and television shows that are already on television. For instance, one student said:

I feel like a lot of the reason why you pay a certain amount of money a month is not for

[Netflix] to produce a new show. It’s to get new content. It’s like Spotify. You pay for

Spotify because you want to stream multiple artists and listen to a variety of things.

Whereas, I think you would want the same from Netflix. Another student shared a similar sentiment: “I think that [current, second-run content] is the original reason that people signed up for Netflix, and if they change that, then they would lose a lot of customers.” Another participant commented that she did watch a Netflix original series; however, it is not her top show to watch on Netflix. “I watch Orange is the New Black.

It’s the only original series that I’ve seen…It’s not my favorite, but it’s decent and fun to watch.”

Several participants expressed that the reason they have Netflix is to gain access to current movies and television series, not necessarily to gain access to a slew of new Netflix original series. When asked if they would be disappointed if Netflix began focusing the majority of its efforts on producing original content a resounding “yes” came from every single participant.

While Netflix has had much critical success with their original content series, they must not put too much emphasis on producing this content. Participants in this study revealed that while some of them may like watching Netflix original series, such as House of Cards and

Orange is the New Black, they prefer to use Netflix to watch movies and TV shows that are currently on-air. Additionally, participants had never even heard of some of Netflix’s original series, such as Hemlock Grove. Netflix should, therefore, focus the majority of its efforts and finances on procuring content from movie studios and television networks, rather than producing a mass amount of original programs. We recommend that Netflix continue to produce one or two popular programs, while focusing the majority of its time procuring and promoting new and current content.

Theme 3: Too Expensive for the Quality of the Content. Netflix streaming service is only eight dollars a month. This price fits well-within a college student’s budget, which is a why

Netflix is trying to target this demographic in the first place; however, our participants revealed that many of them do not pay for their own Netflix account. In fact, only one out of the nine participants present paid for their own Netflix account. A common theme was, therefore, revealed that the quality of content that Netflix currently provides is not satisfactory enough for the current price, despite the already low price. One participant said:

I use my mom’s account. I definitely wouldn’t pay for it on my own if my mom didn’t

have it because I can watch the shows I want to watch on other sites. I guess I sort of like

[having it] but like I said, my mom’s paying for it.

Another student said: “I think for the price it’s okay, but yeah I use my friend’s account. I wouldn’t get my own.”

This sentiment that Netflix content is still too much for a college student was present for the majority of our participants. Many expressed that the content was simply not good enough for them to spend a small fee once a month. In other words, there is not enough material to find on Netflix that is worth eight dollars. We propose that Netflix should, therefore, update their current content, but also promote exclusive content for college students. Netflix could create a social media campaign that allows college students to vote on upcoming movies and television shows that will be added to Netflix. This will help to keep college students engaged in Netflix and will also motivate them to pay that eight dollars a month by ensuring them that Netflix will have shows and movies that they want to watch.

Overall, identifying these three main problems that customers have with Netflix will allow Netflix to better their services and better cater to their customers needs. Because college- aged students are one of Netflix’s main target audiences, Netflix will be able to use these suggestions to, hopefully, gain more subscribers in this target demographic. Finally, as a reflection, it should be noted that results could vary if coding was done by another researcher or in a different manner. Additionally, the determination of Netflix’s main problems for customers was judged by how often the theme was mentioned in the focus group, and how much importance participants said they put on these problems. This determination is qualitative, and would naturally vary if the participants in this study were of different age ranges or if they attended different universities and had different experiences using the Netflix service.

APPENDIX 1

List of Participants: Lexi Riopelle, Kayla Nadzam, Carlie Irvine, Annabelle Ostin, Patrick Elahmadie, Kimberley Okereke, Dimiana Saad, Vivian Chan, Chrissa Gaines

APPENDIX 2

Interview/Focus Group Guide: This is the Focus Group Guide that we had our moderator, Shannon Anderson, follow while conducting the focus group. We included key talking points and also made sure to allot natural breaks where people could talk and foster natural discussion.

Focus Group Guide Welcome: Greet the Participants Thank you for agreeing to be a part of our focus group. We appreciate your willingness to participate.

Offer Participants Food

Introductions Introduce the moderator and the assistants/observers

Purpose of Focus Group The reason we are having this focus group is to gain in-depth knowledge about your attitudes and satisfaction towards Netflix, their selection of movies and television shows and their growing library of original content.

Hand out Informed Consent Form

Ground Rules 1. Everyone must participate in every question 2. There are no right or wrong answers • Everyone’s experiences are important • Speak up whether you agree or disagree • We want to hear a wide range of opinios 3. One person speaks at a time • Everyone will have a chance to speak • Be courteous to other participants 4. What is said in this room stays here 5. We will be audio recording the group • We want to remember everything you say • Everything will remain confidential

Participant Introductions/Ice Breaker Go around the room and have participants state their name, year in school and favorite television series

Start Asking Questions • Choose the most outgoing participant if no one volunteers • Ask follow up questions • Remember to summarize what was said after each question

Questions • What programs do you watch on Netflix? o More movies or TV shows? • How often do you watch Netflix? Binge- watching? • Has there been a time where you felt like you couldn’t find something to watch on Netflix or is a show you wanted to watch was removed? • Do you think Netflix is better than other online streaming services? If so, why? If not, what does Netflix need to improve on? • Have you ever watched a Netflix’s original series? What did you like about them? If you watched more than one original series, which one did you prefer and why? Would you like to see Netflix produce more original series for you to stream?

Final Question • Ask for additional suggestions or if theirs anything you missed

Closing • Thank participants for their time • Offer them drinks and food

APPENDIX 3

Focus Group Sample Transcription Wednesday, October 23 2013 6:00 PM

Moderator: What programs do you usually watch on Netflix? Is it more movie-based, TV-based or both?

Participant 1: I just started watching Orange is the New Black. It’s decent, but I usually don’t watch movies on Netflix because I don’t think they have very good movie choices, so I usually just watch TV shows.

Participant 2: I agree. I usually catch up on shows that I’ve missed or start watching old shows that started a long time ago.

Participant 3: I watch documentaries and things like Ted Cox.

Participant 4: I watch a lot of TV shows and the new cartoon things that they’ve added.

Moderator: What TV shows in particular?

Participant 4: Parks and Rec, Breaking Bad and just anything that’s new.

Participant 2: When I first had Netflix, I watched movies, but just last year I started watching TV shows, and then this past summer my brothers and I have been watching old Disney movies. That’s really the only movies I watch now.

Participant 1: I would say I use Netflix to watch TV shows that are no longer on the air. I just finished watching three seasons of NYPD and also I have been watching Orange is the New Black. I don’t use it for movie as much because I don’t think they have that many movies I don’t really watch Netflix that often, but I’ll watch a few shows I watched The Next Great Baker. I don’t normally watch movies.

Participant 5: Now I’m watching How I Met Your Mother, and I’ve watched a couple other shows, but I don’t really have time anymore.

Participant 7: I think that the two Netflix original series are pretty good – House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. And stand up comedy is pretty good.

Moderator: There’s actually another show called Hemlock Grove.

Participant 7: I don’t know.

Moderator: How often to do you watch Netflix? Is it everyday or do you wait for the season to come out and binge watch?

Participant 9: Well it depends what I’m watching. If it’s a show from the past, then I’ll binge watch.

Moderator: Yeah it’s a funny word.

Participant 3: I don’t really have cable so I’ll watch a decent amount of Netflix everyday, a couple hours at least because that’s my TV.

Participant 8: It depends how busy my schedule is. I haven’t been on in a couple of weeks because I’ve been so busy, but at the beginning of school, I would binge-watch Weeds and just watch documentaries for hours in my house. I just wouldn’t leave the house on the weekends and just watch Netflix.

Participant 9: Honestly, I’m kind of the same way. It’s like a sporadic binge watching where I will forget I even have Netflix and then one day I’ll just have time. I watched Orange is the New Black in one day, so.

Moderator: Yeah, it’s a good one.

Participant 2: I’m the same. It depends on my schedule, but probably a few times a week I’ll go on Netflix.

Participant 1: About every other day during school days.

Participant 4: I’ll say it depends on the show. If I’m really interested in the show or it’s highly recommended to me, then I’ll watch it, but I don’t really watch it daily or regularly.

Moderator: Has there ever been a time where you haven’t been able to find something to watch on Netflix at all? Or there was a show you wanted to watch that was removed or that wasn’t there? Because I know a lot of you said you’ve been kind of disappointed with the movie selections. If you could just expand on that.

Participant 5: I feel like their movie selection isn’t very current. There’s a lot old stuff. It’s just not the best variety.

Participant 6: I was really sad when they got rid of South Park.

Moderator: Yeah, I know a lot of people complain about the fact that when a season is over, it takes a while for the new season to come out on Netflix.

Participant 7: So long.