The question is - will they pay even in this struggling economy? My friend once told me, if economy starts getting worsened, she would cut down her premium expenses first. That includes branded products, luxurious lifestyle, premium subscriptions, etc.

Yes, people pay for premium content but in this economy, businesses which are dependent on premium features will be the first ones who get setbacks.

My $0.02s of course.

Cooks Illustrated will probably just get bigger--cooking at home is cheaper than not and is one of those things people start doing when they want to save money.

you can cook at home by using free recipe sites as well. my point is, should we come up with business models for "premium" customers?

I'm not saying it's not a good approach. Rather I'm researching such an idea which targets premium customers who prefer personalization/customization. And that's when my friend responded that she wouldn't pay for my premium service since there are free or cheaper options available, which also "get things done".

Yeah but the point here is that CI is charging for a quality service for which evidently there isn't an equally good free or cheaper option.

Food is an interesting topic. This is one of those times where I wish I had access to unlimited data; but I'm willing to bet that if there was a choice between buying more music on iTunes and cutting off a subscription to Cooks Illustrated, the iTunes goes first.

People are hard-wired to think about food; since its right up there with shelter and procreation in terms of "things I need for survival". I can easily see people making justifications to keep paying for this sort of access until the bitter end of home budget cuts.