To Split or to Merge? How Partitioning Affects Consumption and Engagement with Digital Content

Despite the rising popularity of serialized digital content on online platforms, authors and publishers currently lack a comprehensive understanding of the economic implications associated with content partitioning. This research investigated how content partitioning affects the consumption patterns, engagement activities, and subsequent economic behavior of consumers in the context of serialized e-books. Identical e-book titles were partitioned into two formats: small partitioning (SP), where extended narratives are split into numerous short episodes per installment, and large partitioning (LP), where stories are divided into a limited number of episodes, each delivered through more extensive storytelling. Drawing on the literature on resource partitioning and cognitive processing, we formulated hypotheses exploring how these partitioning structures influence consumption quantity (i.e., the total number of words read) and progression rate (i.e., how far a consumer progresses into an entire serialized book). We then assessed how content characteristics moderate the relationship between partitioning structures and those consumption patterns. Finally, attention was directed toward how partitioning structures influence engagement activities, such as consumption intensity (i.e., the use of textual annotations and highlights), review characteristics (i.e., submission, length, informativeness, and valence), and subsequent purchase behavior. For empirical validations, we collaborated with a partner company to develop a consumption-tracing scheme, which keeps track of individual users’ consumption of and engagement with serialized content. The findings revealed that SP structures more effectively increase consumption quantity (measured by the number of words read) compared with LP formats. However, LP outcompetes SP in elevating progression rate. Notably, LP is more effective than SP in inducing higher levels of engagement as well as a predisposition to submit high-quality book reviews and make subsequent purchases. Furthermore, the positive effects of LP over SP reinforce as book popularity and quality increase. This research offers both scholarly and practical implications for how the partitioning of serialized content influences consumption and engagement patterns. These insights are invaluable for stakeholders seeking to ensure the sustained growth and viability of digital content platforms.

History: Xiaoquan (Michael) Zhang, Senior Editor; Xitong Li, Associate Editor.

Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.0568.