Side Effect of Paid Membership
I discovered this phenomenon the other day. I went to check out the FUNimation video site to see if it was working yet. It’s not. Then I swung by Hulu to see if they’ve added anything new. They had. I suddenly realized how long it had been since I had watched anything at Hulu. I began to wonder why it’d been so long as I settled in to watch an episode of Negima!?.
Then the commercial started.
I became a bit impatient. After all, I went to watch anime, not ads. Wham! I had an epiphany. I knew why it’d been so long. I’d been spoiled by my Crunchyroll membership.
I haven’t been to Hulu and other ad sponsored streaming sites because I’d been spending my time at Crunchyroll. The reason I’d spent my time at Crunchyroll is because I pay.

I watch more Chrunchyroll because I pay.
I hadn’t even realized that Crunchyroll had become my main source of anime. In fact, the only places I watched video online anymore was Crunchyroll and Netflix. What do they have in common?
1. No Commercials.
2. I Pay.
I don’t mind watching commercials. Well, not much. Not if it supports something I enjoy. So if it isn’t the commercials, then its the money right? Hmmmm…
I’m beginning to think there’s some psychology involved. Six bucks a month isn’t enough to make me avoid other video sites. Not ones I like as much as Hulu anyway. I think some dark corner of my psyche guided me to Crunchyroll in an attempt to get my money’s worth.
If that turns out to be a common behavior, then charging a small fee for membership perks could be a way to surreptitiously encourage people to spend more time on your site and less time on the site belonging to your competition.
Oh yeah… and it’s a good way to make money too.













