British Kids Read Their e-Books On a Bigger Screen, says New Study from Bowker

Those under the age of 35 remain slightly more likely to have purchased an e-book, but growth in e-book consumption is being driven by older readers, particularly those aged 45-54 (Figure 2). Just over a quarter of this group purchased an e-book in the six months to March 2012, up from 17 percent in November 2011. Looking at gender differences, while men are more likely than women to buy e-books, women make more voracious e-book consumers. They buy more and download more e-books for free, too.
The full report Understanding the Digital Consumer 2011/20122 is now available at £3,500+VAT; there is a separate Children’s E-book report at £1,500+VAT, and an Executive Summary at £750+VAT. For further details please contact Bowker Market Research (jo@bookmarketing.co.uk).

About Understanding the Digital Consumer Study

The Understanding the Digital Consumer Study monitors engagement in and attitudes toward the digital book market among British consumers. The first year of research (2010/2011) involved two online omnibus surveys with samples of about 4000 British adults aged 16+, weighted to match the British population by sex, age and broad region. The first year also included a series of six focus groups with current and potential future downloaders, undertaken by Bowker Market Research in November 2010. The second year of the study (2011/2012) involved two online surveys with samples of about 3000 British adults aged 16-84, weighted to match the British population by sex, age and social grade, and with quotas to match the population by broad region. Fieldwork was conducted by Lightspeed Research. The first survey took place in November 2011, and a second, more detailed survey was undertaken in March 2012.

The questions asked in this latest wave of research match, where appropriate, those asked in previous waves, in order to monitor trends. However, as the market develops, some questions have been altered slightly, new questions are added and not all questions are repeated at each stage.