Verso Advertising has released the results from the third wave of its Survey of Book-Buying Behavior. The surveys were conducted in November and December 2009, and April 2010. Altogether 9,300 respondents were polled. Some interesting findings from the third wave include:
- E-reader sales are moving beyond early adopters. Since November, e-reader ownership has increased from 2.9% to 6.8%. However, the number of respondents who said that they are not at all likely to buy an e-reader increased slightly from 49% to 52.2% which suggests limits to e-book penetration.
- 41.9% of respondents said that they are at least somewhat likely to buy a deluxe edition of a hardcover if it includes a digital version for a modest surcharge.
- E-reader owners continue to buy print books in addition to e-books. 27.7% of respondents said that they plan to buy 10 or more print books this year and 17.2% are likely to buy five to nine print books. This shows that readers enjoy both formats and a hybrid market is developing.
- Contrary to popular belief, many young people prefer the bricks and mortar shopping experience. 37% of 18 to 34 year olds said that they prefer to buy books from independent bookstores. In addition, 40% of 18 to 24 years olds said that they visit independent bookstores five or more times a year which is more often than every other age group.
PowerPoint slides of the 2009 findings and 2010 findings are available on the Verso Advertising website.
