Reading And Buying Books Go Hand-In-Hand

by Jack Loechner, Mar 26, 2012, 6:15 AM

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According to the The Harris Poll of adults surveyed online in February, this past summer, 15% of Americans said they use an electronic reader device such as a Kindle, iPad or Nook to read books while 85% did not. Seven months later that number has almost doubled. Now 28% of U.S. adults are using one of these devices to read books.

There is not a great divide by age when it comes to eReader use, says the report. Among Echo Boomers and Gen Xers 30% currently use an eReader and that number just drops slightly to 28% among Matures and 24% of Baby Boomers.

Use eReader (Base: All adults; % of Group: rounded)
				Age Group
Use eReader	2010	2011	2012	Echo Boom (18-35)	Gen. X (36-47)	Baby Boom (48-66)	Matures (67+)
Yes	8%	15%	28%	30%	30%	24%	28%
No	92	85	72	70	70	76	72
Source: Harris Interactive, February 2012

Looking ahead, 13% of Americans say they are likely to purchase an eReader in the next six months, while 77% are unlikely to do so and 10% are not at all sure. In July, 15% of Americans said they were going to purchase an eReader in the next six months.

Likely To Get An eReader Within Next 6 Months (Base: Adults who do not use an e-reader; % of Group: rounded)
				Age Group
	2010	2011	2012	Echo Boom (18-35)	Gen. X (36-47)	Baby Boom (48-66)	Matures (67+)
Likely	12%	15%	13%	13%	16%	14%	8%
Very likely	3	4	3	3	2	4	5
Somewhat likely	9	11	10	10	15	10	4
Not likely	80	76	77	77	71	79	80
Not very likely	21	25	2	28	22	28	33
Not at all likely	59	50	50	49	49	51	47
Not at all sure	8	10	10	8	13	7	11
Source: Harris Interactive, February 2012

Among those who are currently using an eReader, three in ten say they typically read more than 20 books in an average year, while one in five say they read between 11 and 20 books. One-quarter read between 6 and 10 books. Almost three-quarters of eReader users are reading 6 or more books in an average year.

Among those who do not use an eReader, the numbers are reversed as one in five typically reads no books in an average year, one in five typically reads between 1 and 2 books and one in five typically reads between 3 and 5 books. Three in five non eReader users are reading 5 or fewer books on average in a year.

Total Books Read In A Year (Base: All adults; % of Group: rounded)
				eReader
Books	2010	2011	2012	Uses	Does not use
0	9%	15%	14%	2%	18%
1-2	14	14	15	7	19
3-5	20	20	19	16	21
6-10	16	15	19	24	16
11-20	21	16	14	21	11
21+	19	20	19	29	15
Source: Harris Interactive, February 2012

Over one-third of those who do not use an eReader say they do not purchase any books in a typical year while one in five eReader users purchase over 20, and between 11 and 20 books in a typical year.

Total Books Purchased In Past Year (Base: All adults; % of Group: rounded)
				eReader
Books	2010	2011	2012	Uses	Does not use
0	21%	32%	29%	10%	36%
1-2	17	17	15	11	17
3-5	22	17	19	21	18
6-10	17	15	14	18	13
11-20	11	10	12	21	9
21+	12	9	11	20	8
Source: Harris Interactive, February 2012

The report concludes by suggesting that it is becoming easier to imagine a world without as many printed books. Whether it is Apple, Barnes and Noble or Amazon driving this change, the change is coming and they are gladly adding new devices to make Americans look for the next and greatest one.

For more information from Harris Interactive, and access to the report in PDF format, please visit here.

 

 

 

 

 

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