It is precisely because of this, that concrete data regarding the demographics of surfers is hard to come by.
The common perception is that consumers of porn are typically solo men who are not in a sexual relationship. Whilst this group undoubtedly represents a healthy proportion, we will probably never know the true profile of our customers.
It stands to reason therefore that anonymity is highly important to all prospective clients.
Think about it, let's just say your tour has done its job and the prospect is hot-to-trot and clicks on your join button.
He is now invited to join your site by entering his credit card details, the very act of which will leave a paper trail (in more ways than one!) and threaten to undermine said anonymity.
Other doubts he may encounter before clicking the confirm button might include –
- Are these porn merchants trustworthy?
- Will it be easy to cancel my subscription?
- Will the website URL appear on my credit card statement?
- How do I know that my credit card details will not be resold to crooks?
This is why phone billing is so popular with surfers. No awkward forms to fill in. No parting with personal information. No "evidence" leading back to the customer. A simple phone call is all it takes to start enjoying the forbidden fruits of your member's area, for a period of time determined by you.
When his phone bill drops on the mat at the end of the month, his online purchase via a premium number will be buried amongst dozens of regular calls to friends, family and colleagues – with not a hint of the underlying purchase in sight. And since phone bills tend to get paid in full, chargebacks are practically unheard of.
If he purchased the cherished password using a pre-paid cell phone, which are very popular across large parts of Europe and Asia, the purchase price is simply deducted from his account. Simple.
I am not suggesting for one moment that you should drop credit card billing in favor of phone. Don't. The credit card is and remains the best billing mechanism to process monthly recurring memberships.
But by not including phone billing, you are depriving yourself of a secondary income-stream from surfers worldwide who like what they see, but would prefer not to commit to a purchase for fear of being found out.
Phone billing is not recurring by default, but if you have compelling content, the chances are good he will come back for more later – not least since you respected his privacy and gave him a chance to pay you this way in the first place.
