Profile of the Digital Magazine Reader

Business and Consumer
Digital Magazine Reader Survey

 

May 2007

 

Texterity, Inc.

144 Turnpike Road

Southborough, MA 01772

(508) 804-3062

www.texterity.com


Survey Methodology

      Conducted March-April 2007 by Texterity

      BPA Worldwide certified results and provided audit and tabulation support

      Largest survey of digital magazine readers

   11,642 responses from readers of digital magazines

      Large cross-section of magazines

   110 publications representing 33 publishers

   Trade/professional and consumer magazines

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


Key Findings & Results

             High Overall Satisfaction. 88% 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, with over 65% visiting the advertiser’s website

             Digital Readers are Engaged. 89% of respondents read their issue within a week, 42% read immediately or the same day


Key Findings & Results

             The “Big 3” Reasons for Reading Digital. Subscribers like digital for the ability to search issues, ease of saving, and digital magazine’s environmental friendliness.

             Decreasing use of Print Media. 44% of digital readers have decreased their use of print magazines and are relying more on digital.

             Not Just for “Generation X”. Digital readers are primarily business professionals with a median age of 45 years old and over 17½ years of industry experience.


High Overall Satisfaction
Over 88% of digital magazine readers showed high overall satisfaction with their publication

 

Please rate your overall satisfaction with this digital publication.

Response Percent

Very satisfied

28.7%

Satisfied

59.7%

Neutral

9.8%

Dissatisfied

1.2%

Very dissatisfied

0.6%

 


Action Oriented with Products or Services
90% of digital magazine readers take one or more actions with regards to a product or service

 

What actions have you taken as a result of reading an ad in this digital publication? (Check all that apply)?

Response Percent

Recommended product or service 

26.5%

Contacted advertiser for more information

31.4%

Sent information about advertiser to friend or colleague

30.1%

Purchased a product or service

18.4%

Looked at the advertiser's web site

64.9%

None of the above

18.7%

Other (please specify)

1.0%

 


Digital Magazine Readers are Engaged
Over 89% read the issue within the week and over 42% the same day

How soon do you read your digital issue after you receive the email notification?

Response Percent

Immediately

8.6%

Same day

33.7%

Sometime that week

46.9%

I wait for a reminder email

1.0%

Sometime during the month

7.9%

Other

1.9%

 


The “Big 3” Reasons for Reading Digital…
Subscribers like digital magazines for the ability to search, ease of saving, and environmental friendliness

 

Why do you subscribe to this digital publication? (Check all that apply)

Response Percent

Easy to save

57.0%

More convenient than print

48.7%

Ability to search issues

59.3%

Environmentally friendly

52.4%

Easy to forward (send to friends or colleagues)

47.1%

More timely than print

43.8%

Prefer reading on my computer

35.3%

Other (please specify)

8.3%

 

 


Other (Verbatim) Reasons…
 “Why do you subscribe to this digital publication”

       “I travel a lot–it keeps up with me”

       “Easy to search–VERY important”

       “Additional articles and forums that aren’t available offline”

       “Avoids 6-week international delivery delay”

       “Better view of pictures/detail”

       “Can show to clients from my laptop”

       “Can’t lose or misplace it”

       “A lot cheaper (overseas)”

       “It’s free for digital”

       “Save a tree”

       “The magazine is not degraded by time/environment”

       “My company discourages print magazines to reduce mailroom load”

       “Easier to read while traveling”

       “I like being able to click on a advertiser’s web site when reading an ad of interest”

       “I tend to read them more frequently instead of letting the print pile up”

       “It has back issues I don’t have in print”

       “Love sending articles to potential clients”

       “Trying to go paperless”

       “Quick access – anytime, anywhere”

 


Decreased Use of Print Media
Digital readers have increased website use (up 61%) and reduced use of print media (down 44%) in the last year

How has your use of the following media changed in the last year?

Decreased

Same

Increased

N/A

Print

43.9%

44.7%

9.9%

1.5%

Magazine web sites

3.5%

37.8%

55.7%

3.1%

Other web sites

1.8%

34.1%

61.1%

3.1%

Video sites

6.2%

36.4%

32.5%

25.0%

E-Newsletters

5.7%

39.9%

47.7%

6.6%

Webcasts

5.8%

34.4%

28.4%

31.4%

Podcasts

5.1%

22.8%

17.6%

54.4%

Wikis

3.4%

20.2%

27.1%

49.4%

Digital white papers

4.0%

36.5%

30.6%

28.9%

Blogs

5.0%

24.0%

25.1%

45.9%

RSS Feeds

4.1%

21.5%

17.6%

56.7%

 


Over two-thirds of digital magazine readers want the ability to read magazines online

 

How do you prefer to view your digital issue?

Response Percent

Online

37.3%

Downloaded to computer

30.1%

Both

32.6%

 


When reading or searching past issues, over 85% of readers are looking for specific articles

 

When reading or searching past issues, what information do you look at? (Check all that apply)

Response Percent

Specific articles

85.3%

Specific advertisements

19.7%

Contact information

23.3%

Industry links

25.5%

Specific byline or column

11.8%

I don't read past issues

10.3%

Other (please specify)

0.7%

 

 


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

 

How do you read your digital issue? (Check all that apply)

Response Percent

Read table of contents and articles of interest

55.3%

Read articles of interest and look through remaining pages

51.2%

Read cover-to-cover

16.4%

Skim or look through quickly

26.6%

Other (please specify)

1.2%

 


80% of digital readers get information to do their jobs better making digital editions critical for professionals

 

How do you use your digital issue? (Check all that apply)

Response Percent

Identify potential products or services

57.0%

Get information to do my job better

79.7%

Obtain essential product information

50.6%

Get information that helps me make purchasing decisions

32.4%

Other (please specify)

4.5%

 


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

 

What is your preferred method of requesting information from advertisers? (Check all that apply)

Response Percent

Visit company website

80.5%

Email company

57.2%

Telephone company

16.0%

Mail letter to company

4.4%

Other (please specify)

1.1%

 


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

 

What other ways do you get information? (Check all that apply)

Response Percent

E-newsletters

57.7%

Webcasts

23.4%

Industy events or shows

52.0%

Buyer's guides

34.1%

Online product information

68.7%

Magazine website

54.0%

Whitepapers

37.8%

Blogs

17.4%

Podcasts

10.1%

RSS feeds

12.3%

Other (please specify)

2.6%

 

 


Traditional computer delivery of digital magazines is widely preferred by most readers

 

Would you like to have your digital magazine delivered via any of these methods? (Check all that apply)

Response Percent

Desktop computer

75.0%

Laptop computer

61.7%

Cell phone

5.5%

iPod

7.0%

Blackberry

5.2%

Tablet PC

4.2%

PDA

12.3%

Other

3.1%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


46% of digital magazine readers spent at least 30 minutes reading each issue, with 20% spending more than 45 minutes per issue

Over 61% of digital readers value video content as a useful “rich media” add-on to digital magazines

 

Do you value "rich media" enhancements to the digital magazine content?

Yes

No

Audio clips

41.9%

58.1%

Video clips

61.1%

36.8%

Animation

44.2%

51.0%

Interactive surveys

37.4%

57.7%

 


Online is the preferred medium of obtaining information for most job-related activities

 

What is your preferred medium for:

Print

Online

Both

Industry and job information

9.9%

46.9%

43.2%

Industry news

8.0%

55.9%

36.1%

Business news

9.3%

57.4%

33.3%

Product news

9.5%

50.8%

39.6%

Supplier news

8.7%

58.8%

32.5%

In-depth technical features

22.3%

27.7%

50.0%

 


High-Speed (DSL, broadband, T1/T3) Internet is available to 89% of work and 86% of home users

 

What type of Internet connection do you have at work?

Response Percent

Dial Up

1.4%

DSL

18.1%

Broadband

33.4%

T1/T3

37.1%

None

1.7%

Unknown

8.3%

 

What type of Internet connection do you have at home?