A recent survey by the Association of Magazine Publishers has turned up some interesting results. It surveyed 1,009 adult readers of e-magazines on their use habits and features they would like to see.
Of those surveyed, 90% said they read as much or more magazine content as before they had a tablet. 76% of them said they preferred newsstand-style subscription centers, like Zinio or Apple’s Newsstand, and 55% said they like to be able to read back issues.
But the intriguing part has to do with in-app purchase features. 70% of those surveyed wanted to be able to buy products directly from editorial features, and 59% wanted to be able to buy directly from ads. Ars Technica suspects that more magazines don’t already have this feature because they’re still mainly copying their print issue into digital rather than creating fully-interactive digital content from scratch.
"While various research has long proved that print magazines drive purchase behavior, digital magazines hold the promise of creating a direct link between purchase intent and actual transaction," MPA EVP of Digital Christopher Kevorkian said in a statement. Indeed, it seems that if the publishing industry is looking to tablets to help keep them afloat, they would do well to take advantage of consumer interest in buying products directly.
Perhaps this might also be why so many people claim to like Amazon’s “Special Offers” for its Kindles—it gives them the ad and the ability to respond to the ad combined in one.
Ars (and All Things D) also points out that the fact the MPA found a thousand readers to survey means that digital magazines are starting to take off with consumers. Perhaps the launch of services like Apple’s Newsstand, and equivalents for Kindle and Nook, will help that adoption along.
