The publisher of The Times and The News of the World, has spent the last year erecting online paywalls.

It has revealed to Media Week the results of research conducted between October 2010 and January 2011 by research company Promise.

The research explored reactions to three types of online environments – paid-for (The Times), a free-to-access quality news site, and an online portal.

Consumers in a paid-for environment were found to be more engaged with the content, have higher expectations of the quality of the content, and have a more positive response to brands.