Research Reveals Young Adults Read More Magazines, Not Less

by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, May 18, 2007

At a time when many assume that younger, tech-savvy people are turning their backs on print media, a highly regarded researcher has come up with evidence that young adults actually read more consumer magazines than older folks.

The discovery is the result of new methodological research developed by McPheters & Co. to identify better ways of collecting information on the household incomes of magazine readers. "While analyzing data from the new test, it became apparent that younger readers reported reading more magazines than older readers," the company said.

Thinking the results might have been due to the vagaries of a low sample size, McPheters then compared them to the results of a similar, but bigger study conducted last summer to develop its readership.com service. Readership.com has since been suspended, but the data from 8,400 respondents participating in the beta project confirmed the higher reading trends among young adults.

It "showed that adults in the 19-24 and 25-34 age groups reported that they read a larger number of both different magazine titles and specific magazine issues than their older counterparts," said John McPheters, a partner in the company, adding, "This evidence speaks directly to the growing concern that younger audiences are abandoning the hard-copy magazines for the internet and other forms of media. It simply has not happened."

advertisement advertisement Readership of Consumer Magazines
Total Adults	Total	19-24	25-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65 or over
# Titles Read in Last 6 Months	17.0	18.3	18.9	17.2	16.7	17.0	14.0
Index	100	108	112	101	98	100	82
# of Specific Issues Read	29.3	30.9	33.3	29.2	28.3	29.7	25.0
Index	100	105	113	99	96	101	85
Issues/Title	1.7	1.7	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.8	1.8
Index	100	98	102	98	98	101	104

Total Men
# Titles Read in Last 6 Months	15.5	16.5	17.2	15.8	14.8	15.7	13.0
Index	100	106	111	102	95	102	84
# of Specific Issues Read	26.7	29.3	30.5	26.6	24.5	27.2	22.7
Index	100	110	114	99	92	102	85
Issues/Title	1.7	1.8	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
Index	100	103	103	97	96	100	101

Total Women
# Titles Read in Last 6 Months	18.3	20.2	20.6	18.4	18.4	18.2	14.8
Index	100	110	113	100	101	99	81
# of Specific Issues Read	31.8	32.6	35.9	31.5	31.8	32.2	27.0
Index	100	103	113	99	100	101	85
Issues/Title	1.7	1.6	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.8	1.8
Index	100	93	100	99	99	102	105

Source: McPheters & Co. from readership.com summer 2006 beta study.

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