Young adult readers ‘ prefer printed to e- books’

SIXTEEN to 24- year- olds are known as the super- connected generation, obsessed with snapping selfies or downloading the latest mobile apps, so it comes as a surprise to learn that 62 per cent prefer print books to e- books.

Asked about preferences for physical products versus digital content, printed books jump out as the media most desired in material form, ahead of movies ( 48 per cent, newspapers and magazines ( 47 per ecnt), CDs ( 32 per cent, and video games ( 31per cent).

“It is surprising because we think of 16- 24s as being attached to their smart phones and digital devices, so it does shout out,” said Luke Mitchell of agency Voxburner, which researched questions about buying and using content with 1,420 young adults.

The two big reasons for preferring print are value for money and an emotional connection to physical books. On questions of e- book pricing, 28 per cent think that e- books should be half their current price, while just eight per cent say that e- book pricing is right.

The top- rated reasons for preferring physical to digital products were: “I like to hold the product” ( 51 per cent), “I am not restricted to a particular device” ( 20%), “I can easily share it” ( ten per cent), “I like the packaging” ( nine per cent), and “I can sell it when used” ( six per cent%).

Mitchell said that qualitative comments about preferring physical books included things like “I collect”, “I like the smell”, and “I want full bookshelves”. “Books are status symbols, you can’t really see what someone has read on their Kindle,” Mitchell said.

Voxburner questioned 16- 24 year olds online between September 25, and October 18. Half of the respondents were sourced through student moneysaving website Studentbeans. com, and half through a broader youth research panel.

Source:

theguardian. com