Events

Professor Elea Feit
Professor of Marketing
Associate Dean of Research
LeBow College of Business
Drexel University

ABSTRACT

In October 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced the final “click-to-cancel” rule, mandating that most U.S. online subscription businesses provide an accessible cancellation process. A Federal Appeals Court struck down the rule in July 2025, leaving a patchwork of state regulations. Consumer advocates have praised the policy for enhancing consumer rights, while some firms have opposed it over implementation costs and potential reductions in subscriber retention. We examine the impact of introducing an online cancellation option at a regional newspaper, analyzing a natural experiment that occurred when the newspaper complied with state-level regulations in some states. Our analysis shows that the lower-friction online cancellation option increased overall cancellation rates modestly, if at all. Further, using data on consumers’ access of free articles after cancellation, we find that using the click-to-cancel feature appears to mitigate the decline in user engagement that is typical following cancellation. Overall, these results suggest that firms adopting a lower-friction cancellation process may benefit from improved post-cancellation user engagement without negatively affecting cancellation rates.