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What really keeps women’s magazines alive

Admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:32:24 +0000

SA case study reveals that traditional paper magazines are beating their internet counterparts hands down

By Mlenga Jere and Susan Davis

Publishers are up in arms, print journalists are panicking and at least once every few months, one reads of another magazine shutting down because it just isn’t bringing in enough profits. The global recession, combined with a spike in online media consumption, has been blamed for the apparently terminal condition of magazines. And in a last desperate scramble to survive, many printed publications are opting for internet-only subscriptions or offering exclusive content via social networking sites.

But can print magazines be written off that easily? John Marr wrote in his 1999 article “Zines are Dead” that “The quirky spirit of zines hasn’t died. It’s just migrated to the web. If I were starting out today, no way would I mess with hard copy – I’d go straight to the net. It’s cheaper, easier, and faster…everyone knows this.” But, 13 years down the line, it seems Marr spoke too soon – and other scholars are also warning that print media won’t go down without a fight. Lisa McLean writes in the Guardian, for instance, that print media have been warned of their impending doom more times than they can count, from the turn of the 20th century – which brought the first motion pictures – to the advent of radio and network television and, most recently, the internet. And yet they survive. In fact, new research from the UCT Graduate School of Business which looked at consumption patterns in South Africa has revealed that, if anything, it seems more likely that online magazines are under threat. Despite the rapid growth of web consumers in South Africa (and the number is set to double within five years), even the most popular print magazines are battling to attract readers to their online counterparts. One of the most popular women’s magazines – Cosmopolitan – attracts 6 000 website visitors per month, but sales of printed copies are almost double that (bearing in mind that circulation figures are typically much higher than sales figures). So, in a nutshell, the real challenge facing South African magazines has not been migrating to the web in time, but rather getting consumers to migrate alongside. The logical question, then, is what print magazines are offering their readers that websites do not. But this also has to be weighed against what is most important to readers. Undoubtedly the web does have some advantages in terms of cost, the freshness of news, etc. But if this is not what readers care about most in a magazine, then it does not add up to a competitive advantage – so it’s essential to understand the readers’ motivations and what they are looking for. Traditionally, print magazines have followed a reasonably simple formula for making a profit: using journalistic content to segment and target consumers and, in turn, attracting advertising revenue. And it has worked for almost a century. Unfortunately for local magazines, however, South Africa doesn’t have a culture of loyal magazine subscription, and most sales can be put down to “impulse buys” at the till – which means magazines cannot rely on regular sales, but must compete afresh for consumers’ attention with each new edition. Many magazines have responded to this potential pitfall by positioning their brands as a specific personality which readers will want to engage in many areas of their lives on a regular basis – a perceived friendship, if you will. Relationships are not the be-all and end-all But forming relationships with readers is not the be-all and end-all. A relationship will still be terminated summarily if the consumer’s needs are not being met, and for this reason, the abovementioned research relied mostly on the uses and gratifications theory. For the non-communication theorists out there, this is essentially the idea that audiences are not passive receivers of messages, but active participants who decide what to consume and absorb based on what they get out of it – which in turn is informed by their social and psychological makeup and, of course, their individual needs. Put simply, it’s about looking at the use they have for the media they consume, and the gratification they get out of it – or, more crudely, what’s in it for them.

The survey questions

From this starting point, the study set out to answer three questions, namely:

• What are the motives of South African women for using the internet? • What are the motives of these same women for reading women’s magazines? • In what areas would the internet provide superior gratification to magazines and vice versa?

Questionnaires consisting of 30 statements measuring the motivations for magazine and internet use were given to participants who could agree or disagree with them on a sliding scale. Simple enough. The results, however, were surprising. The results The overwhelming majority of women said they used the internet primarily for chatting (perhaps less surprising) or banking (more surprising). Less than 70% used the internet for work and, in an uncomfortable reinforcement of stereotypes, far more used the internet for cooking and recipes than news or other information. The primary factors influencing satisfaction with their surfing time were, in order of importance: interpersonal utility (the internet as a means to connect with others and maintain relationships); information seeking (the actual process of finding information); surveillance (keeping up to date with current events); self-development (creativity, development and self-growth); exploration (their enjoyment of just surfing the web); diversion (relaxation and entertainment); and, lastly, career opportunities. Information-seeking tops the list of importance These results differed significantly when looking at the factors motivating women to read print magazines. In order of importance, these were: information seeking; status (which includes improving one’s social position, shopping and even finding romance); diversion; career opportunities; self-development (an inspiration to do something new or change their lives); and exploration (where it also came out that the respondents enjoyed discovering new print magazines). Interestingly, careers were a salient factor in print consumption, despite the relatively low amount of career content in most women’s magazines. However, this might have something to do with the level of depth women expect from articles: many respondents agreed strongly with statements describing the rich content of print magazines – i.e. in-depth, interesting stories – and perhaps expect even one article to pack a punch. The reality is that magazines still have a culture of their own. They are not only used to keep up with trends and lifestyle issues, but even function as important shopping tools (which one might at first have expected to come up more strongly in web magazines). Furthermore, magazines are seen as credible sources of information and, perhaps even more importantly, the strong responses on magazine reading as an entertaining diversion underlines what an important source of leisure our print magazines remain. With the large amount of women’s magazine content dedicated to transformation, self-improvement, trends and escape, it is perhaps not surprising that self-development and status featured high on the list as well. And perhaps unexpectedly, despite their use of the internet for social purposes, women nonetheless seem to associate a strong sense of community with their favourite print magazines. Ultimately, the study revealed that internet use provided superior gratification in fewer areas than magazines did. The internet lost by a wide margin, outperforming magazines in six areas, versus the triumph of print in 20. The internet only trumped print in terms of process, i.e. quick, easy access to information or affordable and free content. But considering that women are not motivated most strongly by these factors, it is perhaps unsurprising that the old adage still holds true – content is king. Print reigns supreme Print magazines are still the queens of the newsstands, reigning as the primary mechanisms for diversion and keeping up to date with the world’s happenings. So for publishers, it might be worth looking at what the web can learn from print, rather than vice versa – for instance, providing richer content in terms of life advice, expert answers and instructional content. With women’s reading habits being as firmly entrenched as they are, it may also be more logical for magazine publishers to invest in strategies that would protect their print business in the long term, and keep it lucrative. And if publishers really want to make a go of the internet as a viable medium, they need to remember which needs the internet meets best – and work with that. Mlenga Jere (PhD, University of Cape Town) is a senior lecturer in marketing at the UCT Graduate School of Business. Susan Davis (MBA, University of Cape Town) is a publishing manager at Media24. Source: UCT GSB Newsline (http://www.gsb.uct.ac.za/newsletter/v3/story.asp?intArticleID=1895)

The post What really keeps women’s magazines alive first appeared on The Paper Story (PAMSA).

Can you live without paper?

Admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:24:19 +0000

By A PPI Special report NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2012 (RISI) – While publishers and media companies keep a laser-focus on e-readers and the Internet, teenagers and young adults seem reluctant to abandon their paper use completely. In a recent survey, younger Europeans replied that paper is still their preferred choice for everyday items such as coupons, tickets, newspapers and paychecks. In other areas, paper conveys an authority and trust that the digital has yet to achieve. Looking at the increasing presence of the Internet and digital communication in young people’s lives, the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) conducted a survey of young Europeans between the ages of 16 and 26 to see how they perceived and used paper. Was it still part of young people’s daily lives or quickly becoming a thing of the past? The objective was to gather enough information to see what future trends lay in store for the pulp and paper industry. The survey focused on three key areas: environmental perception of using paper; preference and reasons of paper vs. digital; and paper consumption. In addition, the survey asked several subjective questions on the emotional and personal feelings about paper use. All of the participants were enrolled as students or had recently graduated, and many of the interviews were conducted in person. Could they live without paper? Nine of out 10 young people surveyed are heavy users of social media networks. The most popular was Facebook, with each participant having an average of 408 ‘friends’, indicating a high comfort level and proficiency with digital communication. In the survey group, young women were generally more active on social networks than young men in all age groups. But more than 80% responded that they could not live without paper because they think:

paper is useful – 70%
paper is necessary – over 50%
paper needs to be around – 50%

When looking at paper consumption, 72% of the young adults surveyed used paper daily to write, with young women outpacing the men. And young women 16 – 18 used paper to draw on a regular basis, although none of the other groups reported drawing as a frequent activity. Some of the more frequent uses of paper included:

printing on a weekly basis
writing on a daily basis
photocopying on a monthly basis
sending envelopes and parcels on a monthly basis

When do they prefer paper? Paper still carries weight with young people on many issues that are linked to the emotional and private, when it involves official or documents that need to be trusted, and in organization issues. Young people preferred to use paper to:

send a love note – 92%
for an celebrity autograph – 87%
a birthday card – 87%
a letter – 67%
an invitation – 59%

When using official documentation, paper was most preferred for diplomas (92%) and contracts (71%). Magazines were also preferred in paper by 68% of those surveyed. When it comes to trusting paper, 83% believed that digital is easier to modify and paper is less likely to be falsified or “hacked.” Young adults still organized themselves on paper because paper continues to be more efficient and faster for:

shopping lists – 81%
note-taking in school – 72%
note-taking at work – 67%
to-do lists – 66%

There were many places were digital technology has supplanted paper use for young adults. But most of these preferences mirror the trends of the general population. Young people use digital technology most when:

capturing moments – digital photos are preferred by 75%
getting banking information – digital bank statements are preferred by 58%
applying for a job – digital CVs and resumes are preferred by 58%
keeping a calendar – digital appointments applications are preferred by 51%

What about the environmental impact? Young women appear to be more concerned about the environmental impact of paper than young men, and these concerns increase among the age groups. There may be a correlation to the NGO’s environmental campaigns directly addressed at the same target audience. Curiously, there was an absence of awareness for the environmental impact of the digital, where only 32% felt concerned. In general, the web is seen as more environmentally friendly than paper. The survey concludes this may be due to young people associating the ‘free’ or ‘no cost’ of the Internet with a ‘little’ to ‘no cost’ on the environment. In other words, there is a ‘gratuity element’ attached to the web that paper does not bear. Finally, most of the young people in the survey understand the recycling potential of paper. Many choose it over other non-easily recyclable products. These perceptions about recycling and environmental awareness appear to indicate that media campaigns are playing big roles in affecting and changing the way young adults view digital and paper. It also means that young people are making their own decisions about when and where they want paper in their lives. For more information on the survey and to watch a video about the participants, go to www.cepi.org.

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