Profile of the
Digital Magazine Reader

Third Annual

Business and Consumer
Digital Magazine Reader Survey

 

May 2008

 

Texterity, Inc.

144 Turnpike Road

Southborough, MA 01772

(508) 804-3062

www.texterity.com

Survey Methodology

      Conducted April-May 2008 by Texterity

      BPA Worldwide-certified results with Mediamark Research & Intelligence survey support

      Largest survey of digital magazine readers

   33,897 responses from readers of digital magazines

      Cross-section of magazines

   161 publications representing 51 publishers

   2/3 trade/professional and 1/3 consumer readers

   Targeted to readers who have “read at least one digital magazine” recently

Key Findings & Results

             High Overall Satisfaction. 89% of digital readers are “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their digital magazine

             Action Oriented with Products and Services. Digital edition readers take action regarding a product or service 90% of the time, and over 76% visit advertiser websites

             Digital Readers are Engaged. 90% of digital magazine readers read their issue within a week and over 39% read the same day.

Key Findings & Results

             Frequent Readers. 61% of digital readers have read 3 or 4 of the last four issues, similar to the rate for an “average” print reader.

             The “Big 3” Reasons for Reading Digital. Environmental friendliness, ease of saving, and convenience of searching

             Crosses Generations and Genders. Results across age group, gender and occupation show similar satisfaction and preferences.

 

High Overall Satisfaction
89% of digital magazine readers showed high overall satisfaction with their publication

The “Big 3” Reasons for Reading Digital…
Subscribers like digital magazines for environmental reasons, easy to save and ability to search

Environmentally friendly

Easy to save

Ability to search

More convenient than print

Easy to forward

More timely than print

Prefer to read on computer

Other

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digital Magazine Readers are Engaged
90% read the issue within the week and
over 39% the same day

High Interest from Issue to Issue
61% of respondents have read at least 3 out of the last 4 issues of their publication – similar to print readers

Action Oriented with Products or Services
Over 90% of all digital magazine readers take one or more actions when reading the digital edition

Discussed with others

Clicked an ad to go to a company's website

Emailed to friend/colleague

Incorporated new technique/medium/product

Recommended purchase of product or service 

 

 

 

 

Environmental Concern is Growing
Two-thirds of digital magazine readers cited environmental  friendliness (“green”) as being important

Continued Increase in Website and E-Newsletter Use
Digital readers have increased use of magazine websites, other web sites and E-Newsletters

Magazine web sites

E-Newsletters

Other web sites

Video sites

Blogs

Webcasts

Wikis

Digital White papers

Podcasts

RSS Feeds

Print

 

71% of digital magazine readers want the ability to read magazines online (or online with option to download)

Reading multiple articles per issue is the norm for digital magazine readers, similar to a print magazine

Read articles of interest and look through remaining pages

Read table of contents and articles of interest

Skim or look through quickly

 

Read cover-to-cover
 

Other

78% of “business-to-business” readers cite “get information to do their jobs better” as the most important reason to use digital editions

Get information to do my job better

Identify potential products or services

Obtain essential product information

Get information that helps me make purchasing decisions

Other

Digital magazine readers overwhelmingly prefer electronic communications (e.g., website, email) when contacting advertisers

Visit company website

Email company

Telephone company

Mail letter to company

Other (please specify)

Other than digital magazines, electronic sources (online information, e-newsletters, and magazine websites) are the top three methods of getting information

Online product information

E-newsletters

Magazine websites

Industry events or shows

Buyer’s Guides

White papers

Blogs

Webcasts

RSS feeds

Podcasts

Other (please specify)

 

 

Traditional desktop or laptop computer delivery of digital magazines continues to be preferred by most readers; but desire for handheld devices is growing

Desktop computer

Laptop computer

iPhone or iPod

Blackberry

Other PDA

Tablet PC

Cell Phone

Amazon Kindle

Sony Reader

Other

 

 

 

 

 

47% of digital magazine readers spent at least 30 minutes reading each issue, with 21% spending more than 45 minutes per issue

Over 63% of digital readers value video content positively as a useful “rich media” add-on to digital magazines

Video clips

Audio clips

Animation

Interactive surveys

Online continues to be the preferred medium of obtaining information for most job-related activities

Industry and job information

Industry news

Business news

Product news

Supplier news

In-depth technical features

High-Speed (DSL, broadband, T1/T3) Internet is available to 96% of work* and 90% of home users

Trade magazine digital readers* receive an average of 5.7 different digital and print versions

Consumer digital readers* receive an average of 5.2 different digital and print versions of magazines

56% of respondents were USA readers, with English speaking countries topping the international list

Digital reader adoption encompasses all age groups, with a median age of 46 years old

Digital reader experience is extensive: with a median of over 17 years of industry experience

Because of the mix of consumer (1/3) and business (2/3) readership, the gender gap has closed on digital magazine readership for this survey

Digital readers are predominately in professional, managerial, or technical positions

Survey Methodology Details

      Conducted April 21st – May 13th, 2008, by Texterity, Inc.

      Methodology and results certified by BPA Worldwide

      Support from Mediamark Research & Intelligence

      Internet-based questionnaire delivered via email

    Questionnaire with 36 questions; average time 9.3 minutes

    Texterity* delivered survey message to 289,316 current digital subscribers of 159 publications

    Completed survey* message responses totaled 32,861 (11.4% response rate) out of 33,897 total

    The sampling error was < ± 0.5% at a 95% confidence level

 

*   Separate notifications were sent by 2 titles with an embedded “survey option” in a non-Texterity mailing. The responses accounted for less than 3% of total, and did not significantly statistically impact overall results.

 

Participating Publishers

        Access Intelligence

        ALM Media, Inc.

        Aspiring Retail

        Awards & Recognition

        Bonnier

        BNP Media

        Canadian House & Home Media

        Canon LLC

        Chronicle of Higher Education

        CK Media LLC

        Commonwealth Business Media

        Creative Living Media

        Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications

        Dominion Enterprises

        EH Publishing

        Entrepreneur Media

        Equities Global Communications

        Event Publishing

        Farm Journal Media

        FMA Communications, Inc.

        Generations, Inc.

        GIE Media Inc.

        Grand View Media Group

        Great Golf Resorts of the World

        Hartle Media

        Hispanic American Central

        Horizon House Publications, Inc.

        ISA

        International Scientific Communications

        JuneWarren Publishing Ltd.

        Latitude 3 Media

        Meredith

        MLS, Inc.

        Next Steps

        Nextscreen

        Northstar Travel Media, LLC.

        Oracle Corporation

        PennWell Corporation

        Penton Media

        PMQ, Inc.

        Randall-Reilly Publishing Company

        Rodman Publishing

        Soundings Publications

        Source Media

        T & L Publications

        The Target Group

        Think Services, a division of United Business Media

        Vibe Media

        Vicon Publishing, Inc.

        Watt Publishing Company

        Ziff Davis Enterprise

 

For More Information Contact

Cimarron Buser

Texterity, Inc.

144 Turnpike Road

Southborough, MA 01772

Tel: (508) 804-3062

http://www.texterity.com