UK market research organization Voxburner, which claims to be “giving you the edge on young consumers,” continues to dribble out information snippets from its recent Buying Digital Content report, based on a survey of 1,420 respondents between the ages of 16 and 24, taken between September 25th and 18 October 18th, 2013. The latest bulletin reports that “the majority of those who bought ebooks preferred fiction novels over academic and non-fiction titles.”

“Young people are enjoying the affordability of ebooks, and have gravitated towards fictional novels as they tend to be a lot cheaper than non-fiction,” notes Voxburner. And it quotes one young respondent, Meera, as saying: “Books by popular authors tend to have higher prices, but I tend not to read popular fiction so the high prices don’t affect me. In the end I’m paying for the content – not the format – so I’ll pay for whatever’s cheapest.”

As previously cited in the same survey last month, though, and reported in The Bookseller, Voxburner found that the majority of digital publishers have priced their offerings above what 16-24 year olds consider reasonable price levels for ebooks. And this despite other data points from the same survey that suggest that around 45 percent of participants in it weren’t even able to afford an ereader to read those ebooks on. Meanwhile, yet another slice of the same report claims that: “16-24s are impulse spending on digital products.” Oh, and yet another slice reveals that the only reason most 16-24 year olds download digital goods illegally is because they can’t afford to pay for them.

For marketers and others who need these things, the “28 page report [which] reveals the full picture on UK 16-24s and the digital products they buy,” is available for purchase here. If, that is, you haven’t already gleaned most of its conclusions from the multiple citations and previous headlines in The Bookseller, The Guardian, and elsewhere. I’m not sure how many of those 28 pages can be left when they’ve already been distributed so widely. And personally, when I want to know what goes on among the young adults, I just go clubbing.

1 COMMENT

  1. Considering the price of a movie ticket, the cover charge to get into a club, and the illegal booze the under-aged buy, ebooks are a bargain, even the pricier ones.

    I’m sure if the same survey had asked about the prices of the above, the Brit kids would have made the same comments.

    Heck, I’ve seen the same comments about ebooks priced below $3. People whine about the price and look for an excuse to steal. That’s what some people do.

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