Voice of the Reader Survey Finds Rising Book Prices Are Driving Buyers to Delay Purchases, Buy Used Books, or Use Subscription Services

Targoz Strategic Marketing Announces Availability of
Reading Pulse Survey™

Big news from the Targoz team!  We have announced the immediate availability of the Reading Pulse Survey™. Based on six years of survey research, the syndicated study provides book publishers, agents, and sellers with an accurate picture of readers, and delivers actionable data on what readers want and how to influence them to buy.

 “At its heart, Reading Pulse is a voice of the reader survey,” said Randy Ellison, President of Targoz Strategic Marketing. “While everyone in the industry has focused on transactional sales data and analytics, we wanted to concentrate on the most important part of the industry: readers.”

Surprising Results

The survey asked readers about the genres they read, how much they’re willing to pay for a book, and where they buy their books. The study also includes Author Ranking Brand Scores™, which measure and rank the brand strength of bestselling fiction authors by genres, as well as extensive reader segmentation and demographic data.

“While the number of adults reading books has grown over the past five years and readers tell us they are finding more time to read, we are seeing declines in the number of books purchased by readers,” said Ellison. “Rising prices for print and e-book titles are driving book buyers to look for value. High prices are causing readers to delay purchases or to find lower price titles by buying used books, downloading free and discounted e-books from BookBub and other discount newsletters, or by using subscription services. Readers read, and those who consume the most books are looking for value to feed their reading habit. Amazon understands pricing, and our study proves they understand it far better than most publishers.”  

Reading Pulse Survey™ Availability

The Reading Pulse Survey™ report can be purchased at www.readingpulse.com for immediate download. The annual study is a broad-based consumer tracking study which compares readers’ attitudes, habits, and purchase patterns against the general population. This provides buyers with the most accurate and broad-based assessment of the U.S. market.