Why subscribers cut the cord: A study of the migration from pay-TV to OTT services through the push-pull-mooring framework

Abstract

Understanding drivers of consumer switching from pay-TV to OTT is increasingly important. We empirically tested an integrated model incorporating specific push (service dissatisfaction, low system quality, low content quality, low price value), pull (attractiveness of alternatives, content diversity, ubiquity), and mooring (financial switching cost, procedural switching cost) constructs. Analysis via PLS-SEM, using survey data from 300 U.S. pay-TV households, reveals a complex interplay. Service dissatisfaction (influenced by perceived low system quality and low content quality) and the overall attractiveness of alternatives (enhanced by content diversity and ubiquity) significantly mediate indirect effects onto switching intention. Crucially, low price value emerged as the most impactful push determinant, exerting both direct influence on the switching decision and an indirect effect via increased service dissatisfaction. Conversely, while financial switching cost lacked significant impact, procedural switching cost represented a substantial deterrent, significantly dampening switching intentions. These results highlight the roles of price perception, switching barriers, and service quality in cord-cutting behavior. We extend PPM by specifying sequential paths (attributes → attitudes → intention) and boundary conditions via switching-cost moderation, and we quantify Johnson–Neyman regions.