Mequoda ran its first ever digital magazine consumer study in 2014, polling US adults with Internet access. At the time, the biggest finding was that 20% of respondents reported currently reading or subscribing to digital magazines on their tablets. Back then, 20% was a huge number.
In 2015, we conducted another study with triple the sample size and an expanded set of questions and learned that 1/3 of US adults reported having read a digital magazine issue in the last 30 days, while more than 2/3 reported having read a print magazine issue in that same time period.
In 2016, we repeated the study and discovered a 16.54% increase in adults reading digital magazines, with a 2% drop in print magazines read.
Fast forward two years to 2018, and we released our latest bi-annual study. We discovered a drop in print magazine issues read from 2016 to 2018, which was nearly 12%, while digital magazine issues read was up over 11%. Another interesting observation was that digital magazine readership, as a percentage of all magazine readership, climbed from 32% in 2016 to 37% in 2018. At this pace, digital magazine readership as a percentage of all magazine readership will break 40% in 2020.
Our study is based on the responses of U.S. adults, so all data refers to the consumption habits of 18+, which makes it even more impressive, given the adoption rate. As we see more of the younger generation hit the adult age bracket, we expect these numbers to change dramatically.
As the industry evolves, so does our study. We set out to learn as much as we can about digital magazine consumers to discover how consumption, preferences and spending habits are growing and evolving. Next year we’ll conduct our study again and find out if our predictions came true.
To read the key findings of our study, and to learn more about the habits of magazine consumers, download our 2018 Mequoda Magazine Consumer Study.
And if you want to talk more about everything you’ve read, and how to apply it to your own business, schedule a call with a member of our executive team.
