Print has a place in the world of new media, as most people still prefer to read offline, says a new KPMG survey. The auditor is running six monthly surveys on media in general, Media and Entertainment Barometer surveys, carried out by YouGov, this is the third such survey, says a PrintWeek report.
According to the latest survey, which spoke to 2,241 people, 86 per cent of consumers prefer to consume media offline, with the most popular reason a preference for reading physical copies.
The survey also showed that the web still has a way to go to achieve print's respectability, and more importantly its ability to make money from a cover price. Only 24 per cent of respondents that had read magazine said they hadn't paid for it and while 26 per cent of newspaper readers did not pay. In comparison, 80% of online magazine readers and 92% of online newspaper readers did not pay.
David Elms, head of media at KPMG, said: "Despite the increase in the use of digital media, certain activities such as outdoor events, watching television and reading books and magazines remain hugely popular. This highlights that old and new media will co-exist and evolve together over time."
However, the continuing move into the digital world was more than apparent as compared to the previous six month survey, there had been a small increase in the proportion reading digital books. The survey backed up claims that printers need to learn to work alongside new media, as 60 per cent claimed that they consumed more media than before.
This was the third survey from KPMG and printed media has remained steady throughout the three. Each time 68 per cent of respondents have claimed to have read a book in the previous month, while 72 per cent of the most recent survey read a magazine, compared to 70 per cent in the first two. Newspaper reading has purportedly decreased slightly, with 79 per cent having read a newspaper in the past month, compared to 80 per cent earlier this year and 81 per cent in the 2009 survey.
