Netflix hikes prices – but will it negatively affect the streaming giant’s public perceptions?

Netflix has announced that it will increase monthly charges for its basic service by £1 to £7.99, while costs for its premium tier will rise £2 to £17.99. Having introduced an ad-supported tier and instituted a crackdown on password-sharing, the streamer looks different from how it used to – but according to its own figures, it has added 8.8 million global subscribers between July and September 2023.

But have these dramatic changes had an impact on perceptions of Netflix – and is it the right time for the brand to hike prices?

Data from YouGov BrandIndex UK shows that, since announcing its new approach on password sharing on 23 May, the streamer’s overall brand health has changed from 35.7 to 35.3 (-0.4) as of 18 October – after a low point of 30.8 on 16 July.

Looking at the measures underpinning brand health, we can see that Netflix’s Value for Money scores have moved from 23.2 to 22.1.(-1.1) between 23 May and 18 October, with a nadir of 17.0 (20 July). Quality scores changed from 40.5 to 40.1 (-0.4) over the same period, hitting a rock-bottom of 36.8 on 16 July, while Customer Satisfaction scores fell from 40.1 to 38.1 (-2.0), with a low point of 33.3 (21 July).

Current Customer scores declined a little, from 54 to 53.6 (-0.4) between 23 May and 18 October. But Purchase Intent, which measures which services a consumer is most likely to watch, actually increased, rising from 28.3 to 29.4 (+1.1).

If Buzz scores, which measure whether consumers have heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the past two weeks, fell from 17.2 to 16.6 between 23 May and 18 October (hitting a low of 9.6 on 21 July) negative headlines around password-sharing haven’t necessarily done more than short-term damage to Netflix, or significantly affected likelihood to use it.

So Netflix’s password sharing has neither led to a customer exodus, nor significantly impacted its overall public perception – and the service may be betting that its price hikes will have the same (minimal) effect.

This article originally appeared in City A.M.