[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #233: E-book gender issues

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4Cast #233: E-book gender issues
June 8th, 2011

<http://www.oplin.org/4cast/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/men_women.png>Guess 
what? Men and women are different. While that is obvious in many cases, 
it may be a little surprising to find that men and women seem to have 
different preferences and habits when it comes to e-books and e-book 
readers. Forrester Research has been keeping watch on the digital book 
market, and our first link below is an article about Forrester's 
predictions for that market from 18 months ago. Their most recently 
released report seems to indicate that they got at least one thing 
right: women are important to the future of the e-reader business. The 
fourth article linked below may provide some insight into a problem 
women may have with the current e-book business model.

    * E-reader growth hinges on women, $99 price tag, says Forrester
      <http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/EReader-Growth-Hinges-on-Women-99-Price-Tag-Says-Forrester-320027/>
      (eWeek/Michelle Maisto) "Finally, later adopters-the group with
      the biggest potential of all-are likely to be women who currently
      [Aug. 2009] buy or borrow approximately 2.7 books per month.
      They're less concerned with having the latest device, they'll wait
      for a $149 or $99 price point, and they buy their books from
      multiple sources. 'Whereas Amazon was perfectly positioned to sell
      to the first wave of e-reader adopters, this group may be more
      likely to buy from a retailer like Wal-mart or Target,' writes
      [Forrester Research author Sarah] Rotman."
    * Female magazine fans flock to Nook Color
      <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/business/media/23nook.html>
      (New York Times/Jeremy W. Peters) "On the surface, the reason for
      the strong performance of female-oriented publications on the Nook
      is relatively straightforward. Generically speaking, the iPad and
      other tablets are men's toys, while the Nook Color and other
      e-readers are more popular with women. According to data from
      Forrester Research, 56 percent of tablet owners are male, while 55
      percent of e-reader owners are female. Women also buy more books
      than men do-by a ratio of about 3 to 1, according to a survey last
      year by Bowker, a research firm for publishers-and are therefore
      more likely to buy devices that are made primarily for reading books."
    * Meredith takes an analytical approach to tablets and e-readers
      <http://emediavitals.com/content/meredith-takes-analytical-approach-tablets-and-e-readers>
      (eMedia Vitals/Rob O'Regan) "What has [women's publisher Meredith
      Corp.'s Liz] Schimel's team learned so far about the user
      experience? For one, there are distinct differences between users
      of tablets like the iPad and users of e-readers such as Barnes &
      Noble's Nook. Users of tablets, she said, are looking for
      interactivity in the form of videos or hotspots-basically, more
      sophistication from a technology point of view. E-reader users, on
      the other hand, seem happy just to have content that's portable.
      'The delight factor there is the fact they can get great magazine
      content on their e-reader device,' she said."
    * E-books drive older women to digital piracy
      <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8518755/E-books-drive-older-women-to-digital-piracy.html>
      (The Telegraph/Christopher Williams) "One in eight women over 35
      who own such devices admit to having downloaded an unlicensed
      e-book. That compares to just one in 20 women over 35 who admit to
      having engaged in digital music piracy. News that a group formerly
      unwilling to infringe copyright are changing their behaviour as
      e-books take off will worry publishing executives, who fear they
      could suffer a similar fate to the record labels that have
      struggled to replace lost physical sales."

*/Nook fact:/*

Barnes and Noble has specifically targeted women in their marketing of 
the Nook readers, and that strategy seems to have brought them one of 
their biggest successes. They now claim more than 25% of the digital 
book market.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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