The Pew Research Center concluded a project looking at American reading habits and released their findings 4 April.
In typical Pew fashion the report digs way down into the weeds but the primary take-away is the rising number of American readers and the jump in the average number of books per reader. Even more interesting are the statistics on how e-books have contributed to this growing trend.
Traditional books sales are also on the rise and seems to be linked to e-book trends because while many readers are interested in a good story, some situations are better suited for the bound-paper variety. For younger and more mobile readers, the e-book is preferred.
The holidays saw the biggest boost in American readers picking up e-books with a 3% increase to 21% after the gift-giving season. Socioeconomic factors seem to be driving much of the traffic as more affluent and middle class Americans are purchasing iPads, Kindle Fires, and Nooks. According to the Pew survey, 61% of those who own a e-reading device will also purchase an e-book they want to read compared to 48% for all other readers. Falling prices for basic e-readers will only narrow the economic gap and continue boosting growth.
While Pew doesn’t get into specific dollars and cents, they do a magnificent job breaking down how and why e-books have reignited consumers’ passion for a good story. For the entire report Click Here.
