Purpose This study aims to explore consumers’ motivations in the adoption of either print or digital forms of media, given the fluctuation of trends and attitudes in magazine consumption in the USA. This paper utilizes cognitive lock-in and the power law of practice to further the understanding of digital adoption through an interdisciplinary lens. Design/methodology/approach In this study, initially, five focus group sessions, including 53 qualifying non-student participants randomly placed into groups of 10 or 11, were held. Next, a 2 × 2 between-subjects quasi-experiment, using 163 undergraduate students at a large public university, was conducted. Findings The findings show that although the digital medium is considered less expensive, more convenient and more environmentally friendly, the print medium is regarded as more familiar, personal and visual. Further, whether the media type is a book or a magazine, consumers report higher perceived value, hedonic value and attitude toward print versus digital media. Practical implications The potential to digitally attract and lock-in consumers in the media industry has immense implications. Individuals consume media because of fashion marketing, personal space and advertisements, among other reasons. Originality/value This paper contributes to existing research by uncovering qualitative and quantitative insights into media consumption through a multilayered analysis of focus group participants and a quantitative experiment. The findings indicate that both the power law of practice theory and cognitive lock-in are plausible explanations for the choice of print over digital media format.

Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is an omnipresent global threat to ecological, social, and economic systems. Marketing expertise can aid in the mitigation and reduction of crime against wildlife using a variety of mechanisms. This paper focuses on how social media usage relates to the framing of conservation appeals. By studying the content of existing blogs, articles, white papers, and other online postings, we extract relevant themes and concepts. Conducting an unguided semantic analysis of our data, we analyzed messaging appeal strategies and the underlying social or informational frameworks they employ. Using literature on advertising appeal types and contrasting social/emotional with knowledge‐based/informational messaging strategies, we identified how wildlife crime prevention content employs these rhetorical framing mechanisms. Through the lens of social learning theory, our study proposes messaging strategies as a framework for understanding online content. Crimes against wildlife are creating increasingly severe ecological, economic, and social damage within international political and social communities; individuals learn from and engage with online content, therefore appropriate framing mechanisms can aid marketers in designing effective prevention appeals.

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