Identifying Factors Affecting Competition between Print Media and Social Networks for Survival

Media and social networks have commanded many challenges for print media. Apparently, audiences' behaviors are changing by searching through the internet to find free news and information. Accordingly, the study was aimed at identifying factors affecting the competition between print media and social networks for survival, the case study of Khorasan Newspaper. 

A qualitative study conducted on grounded theory with interviews. Text mining and coding techniques were employed for data analysis. After studying the existing scientific documents and analytical interviews with scholars and experts in Khorasan Newspaper, marketing dimensions and indicators were determined to recommend a framework for competition between print media and social networks for survival.

Results indicated the main categories including: Causal conditions (dynamism, services - innovative, pace, multimedia nature and advertisements); the main category of competitiveness in survival (strategic, modern strategy, organizational knowledge, planning for survival, priority of survival, dynamic change-oriented, and specialized technologic innovation), strategy (customer orientation, networking and communicational skills in organization), context (change management, complexity of customers' conditions, and environment), external confounding conditions (infrastructural and organizational capabilities, knowledge management, and organizational learning), and implications (tangible, such as survival, organizational maturity and excellence, acquisition of competitive advantage, reduction of customer fall rate, increase in new customer attraction rate, keeping customers, and rise of income, as well as intangible implications such as enhancement of customer satisfaction, economic and cultural growth of society, organizational agility, increase on innovation potential, promotion of position in media market, improvement of organizational performance and productivity).

Print media must apply to:  Strategic, modern, organizational knowledge, strategic survival planning, priority of survival, dynamic change-oriented, and technologic innovation competitiveness.