FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Rebecca McPheters
President
McPheters & Company
212-331-7845
rmcpheters@mcpheters.com

Younger Adults Read More Magazines

May 16, 2007. New York, NY. McPheters & Company has found that younger adults read more magazines than those who are older. “Because many established titles have seen the median age of their readers increase, there has been a misperception that magazine readers are getting older. While younger adults tend to read different titles than those in older age groups, the fact that they read more magazines overall is very exciting,” said Rebecca McPheters, President of McPheters & Company.

The discovery comes as the result of recent methodological testing undertaken by the company to identify the best way to collect information on household income. While analyzing data from the new test, it became apparent that younger readers reported reading more magazines than older readers. Thinking that the finding was perhaps attributable to a relatively small sample size, they went back to look at the results from the readership.com Beta test released last summer. The Beta test, with a sample of about 8400 respondents, showed that adults in the 19-24 and 25-34 age groups reported that they read a larger number of both different magazine titles and specific magazine issues than their older counterparts. John McPheters, a partner in the company, noted that “This evidence speaks directly to the growing concern that younger audiences are abandoning the hard-copy magazines for the internet and other forms of media. It simply has not happened.”

readership.com: Readership of Consumer Magazines

 

Total

19-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65 or over
Total Adults
# of Titles Read in Last 6 Months
17.0
18.3
18.9
17.2
16.7
17.0
14.0
Index
100
108
112
101
98
100
82
# of Specific Issues Read
29.3
30.9
33.3
29.2
28.3
29.7
25.0
Index
100
105
113
99
96
101
85
Issues/Title
1.7
1.7
1.8
1.7
1.7
1.8
1.8
Index
100
98
102
98
98
101
104
Total Men
# of Titles Read in Last 6 Months
15.5
16.5
17.2
15.8
14.8
15.7
13.0
Index
100
106
111
102
95
102
84
# of Specific Issues Read
26.7
29.3
30.5
26.6
24.5
27.2
22.7
Index
100
110
114
99
92
102
85
Issues/Title
1.7
1.8
1.8
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.7
Index
100
103
103
97
96
100
101
Total Women
# of Titles Read in Last 6 Months
18.3
20.2
20.6
18.4
18.4
18.2
14.8
Index
100
110
113
100
101
99
81
# of Specific Issues Read
31.8
32.6
35.9
31.5
31.8
32.2
27.0
Index
100
103
113
99
100
101
85
Issues/Title
1.7
1.6
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.8
1.8
Index
100
93
100
99
99
102
105

Younger readers were disproportionately likely to read publications such as Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl, Maxim and Stuff, as well as bridal publications and magazines about gaming, music, and pregnancy. Nonetheless, People, Sports Illustrated & Time were the magazines with the largest number of readers under 35.

The analysis also showed that younger adults are about as likely to read national newspapers as those who are older.

readership.com: Readership of National Newspapers

 

Total

19-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55-64

65 or over
Total Adults
# Titles Read in Last 6 Months
0.7 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.6
Index
100 110 96 97 104 111 88
# of Specific Issues Read
0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.1 0.7
Index
100 97 102 98 108 120 81
Issues/Title
1.2 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2
Index
100 88 107 101 103 108 93


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About McPheters & Company
McPheters & Company is a New York-based consulting and research firm founded in 1997. The company specializes in serving the needs of the publishing and advertising communities in the areas of strategic planning, as well as metrics relating to audience, distribution, and advertising effectiveness.

readership.com was developed by McPheters & Company to provide continuous measurement of issue specific audiences for print publications. Because the method employed by readership.com places a minimal burden on survey participants, it garners the participation of groups frequently under-represented in survey research; i.e. young adults, the affluent, minorities, those in professional or managerial occupations – or with active lifestyles. A full-scale Beta test was undertaken in 2006, but the company has not been able to generate the funding necessary for roll-out.

 

 

 

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