Zogby Poll Plumbs U.S. Reading Demographic

A recent poll conducted for Random House by Zogby International provides an intriguing snapshot of the country's reading demographic.

Against a backdrop of growing industry speculation regarding whether e-books have reached a tipping point, the survey reported that 82 percent of readers said that they would prefer to "curl up with a printed book" rather than reading books online via an e-book reader or on a personal digital assistant, such as a smart phone. In contrast, 11 percent said they were comfortable reading books in alternative formats.

To put that figure into a bit more context, three percent of those surveyed currently own an e-book reader, and four percent said they plan to purchase one. In contrast, 80 percent reported that they have no plans to purchase an e-book reader, and 13 percent say they are "not sure."

Technology is having one clear effect, according to the survey. The amount of time spent online over the past year increased for 65 percent of those surveyed, and 18 percent reported having spent more time playing computer or video games, with 37 percent noting that they had spent more time watching TV or movies. Perhaps not surprisingly, almost one-third (30 percent) of the readers surveyed said that they had spent less time reading books over the past year, with 23 percent reporting that they had spent more time. (Interestingly, 53 percent of the readers surveyed noted that of the books they purchase in a year between one and five go unread.)

The survey found that the top three retail choices for book buyers were online (77 percent), chain bookstore (76 percent), and independent bookstores (49 percent). In a second tier came big box retailers (29 percent), warehouse clubs (27 percent), supermarkets (25 percent), and drugstores (16 percent). When asked if they "regularly" shop at an indie bookseller, 33 percent answered yes and 64 percent said no.

Drilling down into those numbers, Zogby noted that Democrats (40 percent) and independents (33 percent) are more likely than are Republicans (26 percent) to say they regularly shop at independent booksellers. Respondents ages 18 to 24 are more likely than older shoppers to report that they purchase books online and at the chains, but they are also more likely to buy books at indies (54 percent), as opposed to those 65 or over (41 percent).

When asked if "the trend toward bookstores with a 'community center' feel make you want to visit and linger at bookstores," 41 percent said that was the case and 43 percent said they were not apt to browse extensively. The poll revealed that Democrats (50 percent) are much more likely than are Republicans (34 percent) or independents (38 percent) to want to visit and linger.

Most readers arrive at a bookstore with a title in mind -- 43 percent reported this is the case "somewhat often" and 38 percent say this is the case "very often." However, these shoppers are not infrequently influenced to buy more titles -- 77 percent said they sometimes make additional, unplanned purchases. Nearly half (48 percent) noted that when browsing they are first drawn to a book because of its subject matter, followed by the author (24 percent) and the title (11 percent). For their most recent purchase, readers again cited subject and author as the two most important factors in the purchase, but then noted "good recommendation/word of mouth" (11 percent) as the next most important influence.

Heading into the U.S. presidential race, Democrats (58 percent) and independents (49 percent) are more likely than are Republicans (41 percent) to say that book reviews make them want to buy books. In contrast, Republicans (32 percent) are more likely than are independents (23 percent) or Democrats to agree that hearing about a book on talk radio makes them want to buy it.

The online survey included 8,218 results and had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percent. The polls' results were released during BookExpo America, where Random House was promoting the upcoming title The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream, scheduled for an August 12 publication. (Read on the survey.) --Dan Cullen