Some results from the Verso Digital survey of consumer purchasing behavior:
Avid readers--those who purchase 10 or more books a year--tend to be older,
female, wealthier and better educated--and represent 30.2% of the U.S. adult
population, about 70 million people. "They are the market that's a driver for
our industry," McKeown said. These avid readers buy books for a variety of
reasons, including entertainment/relaxation (32%), education and
self-improvement (22%) and for gifts (14%).
and
Readers find out about books mostly through personal recommendations (49.2%),
bookstore staff recommendations (30.8%), advertising (24.4%), search engine
searches (21.6%) and book reviews (18.9%). Much less important are online
algorithms (16%), blogs (12.1%) and social networks (11.8%). These results
"reaffirm the power and necessity of bricks-and-mortar stores and traditional
marketing efforts," McKeown commented.
Seventy million of us. I find that heartening. And while others may be bummed that blogs are even less influential than online algorithms, I'm not.
I'm quite amused.
A bang, not a whimper
Two months into L.'s retirement, and I'm finished with the stockpiling of books. No more book purchases! Or at least, no purcha...
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I wonder if blogs being at the bottom of effectiveness means my inbox will see a decline in review requests? I can only hope!
ReplyDeleteOh. So social networks are not personal? I suppose that's true in some cases, but the categories seem a little arbitrary. I tend to think of a positive review by a respected blogger as a personal recommendation, even if I do not know the writer in the flesh. If I've been reading your posts for a long time, you have established a reading personality, a reading personhood. Sometimes I buy a book because a person has recommended it . . on a blog. - Fay
ReplyDeleteI agree with the demographics with the exception of the "wealthier" part...seems that my addiction is a matter of priority. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with the demographics with the exception of the "wealthier" part...seems that my addiction is a matter of priority. :)
ReplyDeleteI was going to say what Tina said!
ReplyDeleteCould 'personal recommendations' have some overlaps with 'blogs'... I mean, personal recommendations from blog friends and other bloggers? I'm quite surprised at the large difference between 49.2% and 12.1%. Regardless, I'll still be reading and posting... Interesting study.
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