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When someone reads a newspaper, she has measurable “experiences” with it. It may make her feel smarter, or want to share with a friend what she just read. She may feel that the newspaper is looking out for her civic interests, or that it makes her feel at home – it's for people like her. On the negative side, she may feel overwhelmed by the amount of news and information in the package, or get the impression that the newspaper stereotypes certain groups.
Those reactions and feelings are a major part of what makes people engage with a newspaper – the glue that makes them stick with it, or come unstuck. From a research standpoint, experiences are more predictive of readership than how satisfied consumers say they are with the paper.
The Readership Institute has identified and measured more than 30 newspaper-reading experiences. The positive ones, called motivators, are linked with higher readership while the negative ones, inhibitors, are associated with lower readership.
In the Institute's 2005 national readership study, benchmarks for seven experiences were established across 100 markets of all sizes. (Detailed information about experiences from earlier studies is at www.readership.org ) Readers rated how they felt about their local daily newspaper on a scale of 1-5, where 1 means they don't have a particular experience and 5 means they strongly feel it.
| 2005 Experience Factors |
Something to talk about |
Looks out for my interests |
Makes me smarter |
Touches & inspires me |
Ad usefulness |
Too much |
Discriminates & Stereotypes |
| Overall |
3.48 |
3.37 |
3.72 |
3.33 |
3.22 |
2.25 |
2.27 |
| Male |
3.46 |
3.34 |
3.67 |
3.23 |
3.08 |
2.26 |
2.25 |
| Female |
3.50 |
3.41 |
3.77 |
3.42 |
3.35 |
2.24 |
2.30 |
| |
| 18 to 24 |
3.61 |
3.42 |
3.82 |
3.44 |
3.36 |
2.29 |
2.25 |
| 25 to 34 |
3.45 |
3.16 |
3.69 |
3.26 |
3.35 |
2.28 |
2.28 |
| 35 to 44 |
3.44 |
3.32 |
3.69 |
3.30 |
3.26 |
2.21 |
2.29 |
| 45 to 54 |
3.53 |
3.40 |
3.73 |
3.33 |
3.20 |
2.22 |
2.33 |
| 55 to 64 |
3.51 |
3.42 |
3.75 |
3.35 |
3.17 |
2.24 |
2.23 |
| 65 or older |
3.45 |
3.55 |
3.74 |
3.38 |
3.09 |
2.29 |
2.24 |
| |
| BELOW $25,000 |
3.51 |
3.43 |
3.79 |
3.46 |
3.38 |
2.35 |
2.36 |
| $25,000 TO $49,999 |
3.52 |
3.39 |
3.74 |
3.40 |
3.31 |
2.30 |
2.27 |
| $50,000 TO $74,999 |
3.49 |
3.38 |
3.75 |
3.32 |
3.22 |
2.23 |
2.30 |
| $75,000 OR MORE |
3.47 |
3.36 |
3.68 |
3.25 |
3.08 |
2.16 |
2.21 |
| |
| Less than H.S. grad |
3.74 |
3.68 |
3.91 |
3.67 |
3.55 |
2.41 |
2.44 |
| Graduated H.S. |
3.49 |
3.38 |
3.76 |
3.42 |
3.31 |
2.33 |
2.26 |
| Some college |
3.45 |
3.31 |
3.71 |
3.30 |
3.31 |
2.23 |
2.26 |
| 4-year degree |
3.49 |
3.38 |
3.72 |
3.29 |
3.14 |
2.20 |
2.29 |
| Post grad |
3.46 |
3.40 |
3.65 |
3.21 |
2.94 |
2.19 |
2.26 |
| |
| White/Caucasian |
3.47 |
3.38 |
3.72 |
3.32 |
3.18 |
2.24 |
2.23 |
| African American |
3.59 |
3.26 |
3.78 |
3.40 |
3.64 |
2.29 |
2.66 |
| Hispanic |
3.61 |
3.43 |
3.79 |
3.41 |
3.41 |
2.14 |
2.14 |
| Asian |
3.50 |
3.35 |
3.52 |
3.30 |
3.33 |
2.54 |
2.58 |
| Other group |
3.40 |
3.19 |
3.54 |
3.26 |
3.24 |
2.26 |
2.41 |
| Mixed / multi-racial |
3.68 |
3.51 |
3.70 |
3.55 |
3.07 |
2.18 |
2.14 |
The following chart shows consumer experiences by circulation size. Significant differences are seen only for the inhibitors “Too much” and “Discriminates and stereotypes” in the 200K+ circulation group.
|
Something to talk about |
Looks out for my interests |
Makes me smarter |
Touches and inspires me |
Ad usefulness |
Too much |
Discriminates and stereotypes |
| 10-25K |
3.47 |
3.37 |
3.68 |
3.31 |
3.22 |
2.20 |
2.26 |
| 25-50K |
3.49 |
3.40 |
3.72 |
3.36 |
3.25 |
2.24 |
2.26 |
| 50-100K |
3.52 |
3.36 |
3.75 |
3.34 |
3.17 |
2.24 |
2.22 |
| 100-200K |
3.45 |
3.34 |
3.75 |
3.27 |
3.25 |
2.34 |
2.27 |
| 200K+ |
3.46 |
3.37 |
3.76 |
3.36 |
3.23 |
2.35 |
2.40 |
Source: 2005 Readership Behavior Scores, Readership Institute, Northwestern University
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