E-Reader Owners in the USA: Increased Reading and Book Purchases Revealed
We can never get enough of all the studies on the eBook market. And surprise, we have another study ready! Unlike the last survey, which focused on Austrian publishers and painted a grim picture of the domestic eBook market, this time it’s about eReader usage in the USA.
The current study was conducted by Harris Interactive, an American market research company. The data was collected from 2,183 people in an online survey between July 11 and 18, 2011, with extremely interesting results.
The frequently mentioned fear in the aforementioned Austrian survey that eBooks are ruining the book market or that publishers’ revenue might suffer due to the rise of digital books, not only seems to be unfounded – it appears the opposite is true. eBook reader owners read more and buy books more often than people who don’t own an electronic reading device.
According to the survey, one in six Americans owns an eBook reader, with another one in six planning to buy an eReader in the next six months. Most eReader users (about one-fifth) are found on the East and West Coasts of the USA, while the Midwest shows sparser numbers (about one-tenth). The number of eBook reader owners has doubled from 8% in 2010 to 15% in 2011.
16% of Americans read between 11 and 20 books, and 20% of respondents read more than 20 books per year. However, eBook reader owners read significantly more: 32% read between 11 and 20 books, and 27% read more than 20 books annually.
Additionally, 32% of people reported not buying any books last year, whereas this percentage is only a mere 6% among eReader owners.
10% of respondents stated they bought between 11 and 20 books last year, while 9% purchased more than 20 books. Again, eBook reader users lead here: 17% bought between 11 and 20 books last year, and another 17% bought more than 20 books.
50% of eReader owners say they read the same amount as six months ago – almost on par with people who do not own an electronic reading device (51%). However, 24% of non-owners report reading less than six months ago, while this percentage is only 8% among eReader owners. 36% of eBook reader users are reading more, compared to 16% of non-users.
These results are certainly very interesting and show that publishers’ fears of the eBook market are really unfounded. In the showcase country of the USA, the eBook market seems to positively impact the overall revenue of the book market.
