International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Strategic Consolidation in India’s OTT Video Streaming Industry: Measuring Consumers’ Responses to the Reliance-Disney Merger: A PLS-SEM Approach

In a historic mega deal, two behemoths, Reliance and The Walt Disney, decided to combine their television and OTT streaming services and announced the biggest merger in the history of the media and entertainment industry in India, valued at US $8.5 billion. Grounded in the theory of planned behavior and uses and gratification theory, this study aims to analyze the consumers’ intention to continue using the merged OTT streaming platform of the merging entities. The data were collected from OTT users (n= 214) in India and were further analyzed using the PLS-SEM technique. The results revealed that brand trust, brand experience, and perceived price influence the continuance intention of the merged OTT streaming platform. The study also showed a significant mediation role of consumers’ expectations in influencing the continuance intention of the merged OTT platform. This research enriches the extant literature by laying the foundation for understanding consumers' responses to the merger by leading brands in India's OTT video streaming market.