The impact of digital device edition on print circulation: cannibalization or complementarity for daily newspaper in Italy?

The effects of cannibalization and its importance has been addressed in the literature especially, in the recent years, concerning the hazards that companies face when they add an internet channel to their entrenched ones. Daily newspapers are paying a great attention to opportunities offered by new mobile devices. To examine whether offering a digital version has a cannibalistic or complementary effect on traditional editions, we analyse a panel dataset on daily newspapers in Italy. Results suggest that adding a new technological advanced version to traditional channels has a negative impact on printed copies and subscriptions, while it seems to be complementary to website version. These results also contribute to explain why in the recent years most editors introduced a multiplatform edition of newspaper.