A Non-Book Smuggler Survey: The Results

Hello, everyone! Book Smuggler Thea, here.

A few months ago, I posted a survey and asked for your help in completing the market research portion of my graduate thesis. Thanks to you – 919 of you, to be precise – I had amazing data to work with and was able to back my proposal with significant statistical results. I don’t think I can express enough how thankful I am to everyone that responded. From the bottom of my sleep-deprived heart, thank you.

Since you have helped me so much, and since many of you have asked for the findings (and since I am officially done with the writing, presenting, and defending of my paper), I am very humbly honored to present you with the final survey results. Please note that these results have been abridged from my thesis (you don’t want to read ALL of that anyways, right?).

Without further ado, I give you the survey results!

THE RESULTS

In order to determine the size of my proposal’s potential market, customer needs, and preferences with regard to digital and print products, a comprehensive research plan was enacted targeting three major audience groups, assigned different weighting in research findings, based on three bucket groups:

1. Bloggers
2. Readers/Non-Bloggers
3. Authors

All statistical sampling was conducted through The Book Smugglers as a base for outreach.

As of April 2012, the survey had 919 respondents, comprising 182 bloggers (core audience), 675 readers/non-bloggers (including librarians, booksellers, and “other”), and 62 authors. Because a separate survey was conducted with authors, and due to the sensitive issues discussed, the findings presented below comprise only Blogger and Reader results.

BLOGGER DATA (N=182)

Highlights
• Predominantly female audience (95%)
• Young (31 years old), international, educated, and with disposable income
• Overwhelmingly read ebooks (81%); purchase at least 4 books per month
• Ideal price for ebooks is $4.00-$6.99
• Do not care (and will not pay a higher price) for enhanced ebooks/enhanced content
• Highly likely to purchase limited edition/collectible hardcover editions

Demographics
Demographically, the blogger sample is predominantly female (94%), and based in the United States (63%), though there is a strong international sampling overall (38%) with largest international representation from the United Kingdom (13%) and Europe overall (11%). This audience is relatively young with an average age of 33.22 (median age of 31 years), educated (83% have a bachelor’s degree or higher), and purchasing power (48% have a household income of over $50,000).

Non-ebook Readers
Of the bloggers surveyed, the majority reported that they do read ebooks (81%). For those respondents that reported that they did not read or buy ebooks (19%), the predominant reason for not reading digitally was a preference of physical experience (63%), though other factors from high cost to already having a number of print books to finish reading also played a factor. When asked what the likelihood would be that these non-ebook readers would start reading ebooks in the future if the primary reason they don’t read digitally now changes, the trend in respondents was largely positive: 14 respondents (40%) said they were likely to highly likely to start reading ebooks in the future, compared to 8 respondents (23%) reporting that they were unlikely to convert to digital reading in the future. The number of ambivalent responses (37%) indicates that there could be an even larger potential audience for ebook adaption of in the future.

Book Purchasing Habits
168 of the blogger respondents, or 92.31%, said that they read and/or review over 4 books per month, and over half of the blogger respondents (55%) said that they purchased at least 4 books per month, despite receiving free review copies of books. Blogger respondents also reported that they overwhelmingly read ebooks (81%).

With regard to the print and digital makeup of these purchases, the majority of all blogger respondents (4%) reported that at least 26% of their book purchases were digital/ebooks, and a significant 19 respondents (13%) reported that virtually all of their book purchases are digital.

Ebook Reading Habits
Respondents reported that the single place they go to for digital purchases came from the Amazon Kindle store (52%), with the B&N nook store (8%) in a distant second place. Interestingly, 4% of respondents reported that the one primary place they go to for ebook purchases is a publisher/author website, indicating that there is a direct to consumer opportunity for publishers.

The majority of respondents reported that they do their ebook reading on Kindle devices (55%), followed by the nook family of devices (14%), the iPad and Sony Reader (10% each). Other tablets and e-ink readers (5%), iPhone/iPods (3%), and computers (3%) make up the difference. Though Amazon is the dominant purchasing location and the Kindle is the dominant device on which this target audience reads, the range of respondents confirms that publishers must sell ebooks through all available digital accounts and ebooks must be formatted for all platforms.

Ebook Price Perception
Because bloggers are such an engaged audience and because they do buy a high volume of books each month, a significant percentage of which are ebooks, this group’s sensitivity and perception of ebook pricing is paramount to the success of a title and publisher. When asked what range of prices they felt was ideal for a 300+ page speculative fiction novel, the overwhelming majority of responses fell into a bell curve around the $4.00 to $6.99 range (49%). Skewing towards the cheaper end of the spectrum, 18% selected the range of free to $3.99 as the ideal price range, while 21% selected $7.00 to $9.99, with only 6% selecting $10.00 to $12.99 as the ideal price. No respondents selected $13.00 or higher.

When surveyed about their general perception of ebook pricing in the current market, over two-thirds of respondents said they felt ebook prices are too high (71%). Just 1 respondent felt that ebook prices are too low, while 12% felt that ebook prices are just right.

Further supporting the hypothesis that the market perceives of ebooks as too expensive, when asked to rank on a Likert Scale the likelihood that respondents would start reading or buy more ebooks if prices were lower, survey responses overwhelmingly were positive. 131 responses (72%) indicated that they were likely or highly likely to start or buy more ebooks if prices were lower, contrasted to just 14 (8%) that indicated they were unlikely to buy or convert to ebooks with lower prices.

Bloggers also provided a number of comments supporting this perception of ebook prices being too high, especially when weighed against their print counterparts. For example, one blogger writes that “Ebooks should be cheaper then the equivalent print book. As purchaser I have fewer rights, no resell value, very difficult to lend/borrow, very difficult to move between devices, not everything is available.” Another blogger commented that “Ebooks should definitely be priced lower than print. On the supply side, they cost less to produce (the cost of DRM should not be part of the cost of the book, it gives absolutely no value to the reader or to the author or publisher, but that’s a different issue), on the demand side, you can’t do things with them that you can do with print (resell, lend to a friend).”

In all blogger comments, the dominant recurring theme was that ebooks should inherently be cheaper than print books because there are no fixed or inventory costs involved (though many bloggers did write that they understood that the intellectual and staff cost of creating the book as a product remain), and because there is less functionality with ebooks than with their print counterparts (limited or no ability to gift, lend or share). Bloggers also challenged the notion of “ownership” in the digital space, with many commenters keenly pointing out that their digital leases of books are not the same as ownership, and thus should be cheaper. As one blogger commented, “I am conflicted because while I do believe ebooks should be cheaper, I understand that many of the costs of publishing still remain. I wouldn’t expect them to be free or cost $1 normally, that’s just ridiculous. But it is also something that I don’t technically own, so for that alone it should be a bit cheaper. This obviously depends on the price of the book, but I’d want it to be about $3-5 cheaper for a hardcover or trade paperback.”

Digital Rights Management
As with price, blogger attitudes towards Digital Rights Management (DRM) also proved to be a significant sticking point. When asked if DRM mattered to bloggers in this sample, 47% responded affirmatively, with 18% saying that DRM did not matter, and 35% claiming no opinion. To the proposition of the likeliness of starting to read or buying more ebooks if they were DRM-free, respondents also responded in a positive trend: 48% replied that they were likely to purchase DRM-free ebooks, with 46% stating that they were neutral.

In blogger comments, however, DRM again played a dominant role in responses, eliciting much ire from respondents. Many bloggers wrote passionately about their dislike of DRM – and how they strip their ebooks of encryption after purchases, if they choose to purchase DRM-wrapped books in the first place (many bloggers stated outright, “I refuse to pay for DRM-protected books”).

Enhanced Content
Overall response to enhanced content from bloggers remains skeptical. When asked if enhanced/extra ebook content matters, 65% replied that they were not interested in enhanced/extras, with 20% replying in the affirmative, and 15% of neurtral/no opinion. On a Likert Scale, respondents were split over the desirability of enhanced/extra content, leaning more towards the negative/unlikely end of the spectrum. 35% of respondents stated that they were unlikely to start reading or purchase more ebooks if each ebook included enhanced/extra content, compared to 24% who were likely to make enhanced/extra ebook purchases. The majority of those polled (42%) had no opinion regarding extra/enhanced ebook content.

When asked what particular types of enhanced content sounded most appealing, bloggers chose short stories/previously unpublished content (26%), followed by photos/illustrations (17%), and author interviews (16%). It is interesting to note that while respondents selected that they were not interested in enhanced content in the prior question, though they had the ability to select the answer “no enhanced/extra content appeals to me”, many of them abstained from that response and selected checkboxes to show favor for different types of enhanced content.

In terms of the monetary value of those enhancements, however, response was less favorable. When asked if they would be willing to pay a higher title price for an ebook that includes extra/enhanced content, 136 (75%) bloggers responded negatively. 59 of these respondents (32%) stated that they felt enhanced/extra content should be included at the same non-enhanced ebook price, while 77 (42%) bloggers replied that enhanced/extra content did not appeal to them at all. Just over a quarter of all respondents (25%) stated that they would pay more money for enhanced/extras in ebook form. When polled as to the dollar amount on top of the standard ebook price bloggers would be willing to pay for enhanced content, the overwhelming majority (59%) responded that they would not pay any money for enhanced/extras, with 32% saying they’d pay just $1-$2 more than the non-enhanced cover price. Just 12 respondents (7%) said they would pay $3-$5 more than the non-enhanced cover price.

These findings suggest that enhancements do not particularly appeal to the target demographic for genre fiction readers, and steers publisher editorial decision to focus on cultivating and gathering short stories and related content to be released in one-off shorts or incorporated in the back of a regular ebook as opposed to sinking investment into the creation of enhanced video, audio, or other extra content.

The Collectible Print Component
Bloggers showed a strong positive response when presented with the question as to the likelihood of their purchase of a collectible, high-quality, limited edition, autographed version of a print book, 53% said they were likely to highly likely to purchase a collectible high-end trophy book, with 18% neutral/undecided, and 29% unlikely to purchase the high quality print version. This finding supports the hypothesis that bloggers and avid readers – even if they consume a significant portion of their content in digital format – are collectors and interested in paying money for a high-end print version of a title.

When asked what dollar value bloggers would be willing to pay for one of these limited edition print books, 53% said they would be willing to pay at least $31 and up to $150+. 21% stated that they would be content paying $10-$30 for these titles (the same price as a normal hardcover book), with 26% identifying themselves as not interested in paying any money for this type of print edition. This data does again support the “collector” demographic hypothesis; while high-priced, high-quality print books will not appeal to everyone, those that it does appeal to inspires a higher price.

Regarding which single factor mattered the most in the consideration of purchasing a high-quality print book, the highest factor was the quality of the print book (25%), followed author autographs/personalization (18%), and extra content (10%).

READER DATA (N=675)

READER DATA HIGHLIGHTS
• Mimics general trends in blogger data sample
• Predominantly female audience (95%)
• Young (33 years old), international, educated, and with disposable income
• Overwhelmingly read ebooks (82%); purchase at least 4 books per month
• Feel ideal price for ebooks is $4.00-$6.99
• Do not care (and will not pay a higher price) for enhanced ebooks/enhanced content
• Likely to purchase limited edition/collectible hardcover editions

Demographics
Mimicking the blogger data, demographically the reader sample is predominantly female (641 respondents, 95%), and based largely in the United States (469, 69%). Also similar to the blogger data, readers have strong representation in Europe (14%), though there is also a significant representation from Canada (7%) and Australia and New Zealand (5%). This audience is comparatively young with an average age of 33.28 (median age of 30 years) and educated (503 or 75% have a bachelor’s degree or higher). 240 respondents, or a staggering 36% have a post-graduate degree. Of those respondents that chose to disclose their household income, 291 or 54% had HHI exceeding $50,0000.

Also similar to the blogger population, the majority of non-blogging readers also reported that they read ebooks – 82% reported that they read and purchase ebooks, versus 18% that reported they do not consume books digitally.

Non-ebook Readers
For those readers that reported that they did not read or buy ebooks, the single largest reason for not reading was a preference of physical experience (68%). When polled as to the likelihood of reading ebook sin the future should the reason for current non-readership changes, readers responded more negatively than the blogger sample overall, as 34% said they were likely to highly likely to start reading ebooks in the future, compared to 43% reporting that they were unlikely to convert to digital reading in the future. Similar to the blogger data, however, the number of ambivalent responses (23%) also indicates that there could be an untapped, later-adopting potential audience for ebook consumption in the future.

Book Purchasing Habits
The larger book purchasing habits of this reader sample is lower than blogger counterparts, though still significantly higher than the general populace. Of the 675 respondents, nearly half (47%) purchase at least 4 and up to 16+ books per month.

With regard to percentage of purchases spent on ebooks, of the 555 respondents that read and actively purchase digital books, 24% report that virtually all of their purchases are ebooks. Nearly half of the respondents 46% reported that over 51% of their purchases are ebooks.

Ebook Reading Habits
As with the blogger data, readers overwhelmingly report that the primary destination for digital purchases is the Amazon Kindle Store (50%). The next runner up is B&N’s Nook Store (1%), followed by the “Other” response, which includes publisher websites and small retailers such as baen.com, All Romance Ebooks, and Books on Board (25%).

As to the devices on which readers consume their ebooks, the majority of readers cited the Kindle family of devices as their primary preferred location (43%), followed by the iPad/iPhone/iTouch (16%), and B&N nook in its various iterations (15%). Other tablets, e-ink readers, and mobile & desktop devices comprise the remaining locations for consumption of ebook content.

Ebook Price Perception
Mimicking the blogger data again, readers share the perception that full-length speculative fiction ebooks should command a lower cost in digital format than their print counterparts. When asked what range of prices they felt was ideal for a 300+ page speculative fiction novel, the overwhelming majority of respondents reported that the ideal range is between $4.00 to $6.99 (49%), followed by the $7.00 to $9.99 range (23%).

Regarding overall ebook pricing and consumer perception, readers largely responded that ebook prices are currently too high (68%). 19%, however, feel that ebook pricing is just right, while only 2% feel that current ebook prices are too low. This is further supported by data showing that 74% of readers would be likely to highly likely to purchase ebooks if they were cheaper.

Digital Rights Management
With regard to DRM, readers were less divisive than in the blogger sample: 313 respondents identified that DRM mattered to them (46%), with 235 respondents (35%) replying that they had no opinion. When posed with a Likert Scale regarding whether or not they would purchase more ebooks if they were DRM-free, readers also were largely neutral (46%), however 43% said that they were likely to highly likely to purchase more ebooks if they were DRM-free.

Enhanced Content
As with bloggers, reader response to enhanced content remains skeptical in terms of multimedia extras, but strong in the arenas of extra content. When asked if enhanced/ebook extra content matters to them, the overwhelming majority (65%) replied that these features did not matter.

124 respondents (18%) stated that they had no opinion concerning ebook extras, and 113 (17%) replied in the affirmative, stating that enhanced extras matter. When polled about the types of enhanced or extra content, as with bloggers, readers selected “Short stories/Previously Unpublished Content related to the book” as most appealing (29%), followed by Photos/Illustrations (18%), Author Interviews (14%), and then the selection “No extra/enhanced content appeals to me” (13%). As with the blogger data, it is interesting to note that while respondents selected that they were not interested in enhanced content and though they had the ability to select the answer “No enhanced/extra content appeals to me”, many of them abstained from that response and selected checkboxes to show favor for different types of enhanced content.

On a scale of 1 to 5 regarding the likelihood of purchasing more ebooks if they included enhanced/extra content, respondents were again more negative – 39% were neutral, 39% said they were unlikely to highly unlikely to purchase ebooks based on enhanced/extra content. 22% of respondents said they were likely to highly likely to purchase ebooks with enhanced content.

Regarding monetary value of enhanced ebooks, readers are unwilling to pay a higher title price for enhanced/extra content – 44% stated that enhancements do not matter to them, 36% stated that enhanced/extra content should be included in the ebook for the same cover price, and 20% stated that they would be willing to pay more for this extra content. As to the actual nominal dollar amount for these extras, the majority of readers responded that they would not pay any money for enhanced/extra content 65%.

Interestingly, 187 respondents (28%) reported that they would pay $1-$2 more for this content, however readers were largely unwilling to pay anything beyond the $2 mark – just 27 (4%) replied that they would pay $3-$5 more than the cover price, and only 2 (0%) said they would pay $6+ for this content. 17 respondents (3%) selected “Other” and commented that they would pay up to $10 more if the audiobook was bundled as an enhancement.

The Collectible Print Component
As with bloggers, readers were positive when asked if they would be likely to purchase a collectible, high-quality, limited edition, autographed version of a print book: 27% stated that they were likely to purchase this collectible edition hardcover. In total, 42% responded that they were likely to highly likely to purchase this type of product, as compared to the 40% that said they were unlikely to highly unlikely to make this purchase. While this data is less decisive than the blogger responses, these findings suggest that while not everyone is a collector of high-priced collectible books, there is a strong contingent that is interested in this type of luxury print product.

While the majority of readers (34%) said they were not interested in paying for this type of high quality hardcover product, those that did respond affirmatively showed a positive response to paying a higher dollar value for the physical, high quality hardcover: 43% said that they would pay a range from $31 to $150+ for this type of product. The majority of these affirmative respondents (31%) picked the $31 to $50 range as the ideal price for these hardcovers. As with the blogger findings, this data does support the “collector” hypothesis; while high-priced, high-quality print books will not appeal to everyone, those that it does appeal to inspires a higher price.

Regarding which single factor mattered the most in the consideration of purchasing a high-quality print book, the highest factor was the quality of the print book (24%), followed author autographs/personalization (16%), and extra content (10%).

So there you have it – an overview of survey results in a long, fairly dry results presentation. I hope this has been helpful (I certainly found the results enlightening!).

A huge, sincere thank you again to everyone that participated in this survey!