Alex Dalland
With industry experts long predicting the death of print media in all forms, new research from Roy Morgan suggests otherwise.
A survey conducted by Roy Morgan earlier this month shows that readers of magazines are tending to opt for print titles over websites, with 70% of magazine-reading Australians choosing to read paper copies rather than go online. In fact, nine of the top 20 magazines increased their readership – including both the most-read free magazine Coles Magazine, with a readership increase of 28.6 per cent, and Better Homes and Gardens in the paid category with an increase of 2.3 per cent.
“Magazines now reach almost 12.5 million Australians aged 14+ in print form alone,” Michael Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan Research says.
“Unlike for newspapers, print remains the dominant channel through which Australians interact with magazine titles. Among the 27 titles measured across both print and online, an average 70% of audiences read the print issues.
“Accumulation shows how a [print] magazine’s total audience ‘accumulates’ or grows week by week as people read their copy and pass it on to others to read.”
According to a survey conducted last year in the UK by paper advocacy group Two Sides, 84 per cent of respondents thought they understood, retained or used information better when read in print form. 79 per cent also found print media more relaxing to read, and overall nearly 80 per cent of people surveyed preferred to read print on paper if given the choice.
“As the world of communication becomes increasing digital, books, magazines and other forms of communication are increasingly consumed on screen,” Martyn Eustace, Director of Two Sides says.
“Our latest survey specifically explores how consumers feel about this development and reveals that print and paper is still preferred by many who also have concerns for learning and literacy in an increasingly digital world.
“This indicates there is still a more fundamental and human way in which we react to the physicality of paper-based print.”
