Bibliographic information provider Bowker, a business unit of ProQuest, and industry trade magazine Publishers Weekly have released the 2010-11 US Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behaviors Annual Review. The review is projected as the publishing industry's only complete consumer-based report integrating channel, motivation and category analysis of US book buyers.
A weakened economy, declining numbers of book buyers, fewer physical bookstores and the acceleration of e-books seemingly combined to make 2010 one of the most challenging ever for the US book industry. The challenges and the bright spots in this dynamic industry are presented and explored in the 2010-11 Annual Review, prepared by Bowker's PubTrackConsumer and Publishers Weekly.
The 2010-11 Annual Review identifies how the economy and shifting industry dynamics combined to significantly alter the way consumers bought books in 2010. It has noted that for the first time ever, online retailers accounted for more units purchased and spending on books than the national bookstore chains, making e-commerce the single largest book-buying channel.
The report also explores how books are competing with other forms of entertainment for the consumer dollar. While steady declines were seen in book buying in the first three quarters of 2010, purchases bounced back in the fourth quarter, with 51 percent of book buyers saying the economy had no impact on their book buying - the highest percentage in two years. Among book buyers, reading books continues to place in the top three forms of media entertainment (along with communicating online through e-mail or IM and surfing the web).
2010-11 US Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behaviors Annual Review includes more than 100 pages of data and analysis including a summary of insights. This is followed by demographic data on America's book buyers, what types of books they buy and where they buy them, along with insight into what motivates their purchases. The changing nature of format and the impact of e-books are explored by defining the demographics of the e-book buyer. The report also includes a detailed look at book production statistics.
Information was gathered through PubTrack Consumer's nationally representative annual panel of nearly 40,000 US book-buying men, women and teens. The 2010 panel was built by monthly recruiting of book buyers who completed surveys about their book purchasing behaviour during the previous month.
Search for more Industry study reports
To access our daily STM news feed through your iPhone, iPad, or other smartphones, please visit www.myscoope.com for a mobile friendly reading experience.
