Consumers still choose to read printed books

We live in an age where accessibility to entertaining content really isn’t a problem. The problem for advertisers lies in how consumers are accessing that content. Pew Research Center’s Internet Project shed some light on how people are specifically consuming the written word.

Recently, the research company conducted a survey asking respondents to report if he/she read a printed book within the last 12 months. According to eMarketer, Pew compared this data to information pulled in 2011 and 2012. Results showed that while printed books had a slight dip in 2012 it is still the dominant choice in reading format.

2011:  71% of consumers read a printed book within the past 12 months

            17% of consumers read an ebook within the past 12 months

2012:  65% of consumers read a printed book within the past 12 months

            23% of consumers read an ebook within the past 12 months

2014:  69% of consumers read a printed book within the past 12 months

            28% of consumers read an ebook within the past 12 months

The study also looked at the rate of adaptation and growth to ereaders and tablets for reading materials vs. other digital devices.

Computers: 42% of ebook readers used computers in December 2011 which has shown decline to 29% in January 2014.

Ereader: In 2011, 41% of ebook readers utilized ereaders. This number has increased to 57% in 2014.

Mobile phone: 28% of ebook readers used mobile phones in 2011 compared to 32% in 2014.

Tablet: The sharpest growth came from tablets with 23% usage in 2011 to 55% usage in 2014.

Overall, it appears that consumers are still interested in reading; it just may come from different formats. The printed word is still the most popular format with ereaders and tablets working to close the gap.