Reading Habits: How People Choose and Consume Books

Qualitative interview research exercise

George MountErica Sackett

ORBH 560: Research MethodsWeatherhead School of Management

Case Western Reserve UniversitySeptember 2016

eBook versus e-reader choices: a wicked problem!

Closet IS research?

What am I buying this for?

Will I need to take notes on

this book?

What are my buying options?

Choose medium

Our pre-interview idea of how books are chosen and consumed

Case #1: Robert, 55, self-employed laborer• Chooses books mostly by referral• Tends toward non-fiction, no reason• Books either from small home library or local public library• Seasonality: reads more during winter when not working• Online/ebooks: Does not buy books online or read ebooks, feels

overwhelmed by the choices• Perceived ebook advantage: storage

“The outlier is your friend.”

-Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook.

Case #2: Lauren, 23, medical school student• Reads for stress relief from medical school• Tends toward fiction, more relaxing, likes the stories• Buys books from bookstore, does not like Amazon shopping

experience• Will re-read books very often (up to 12 times)• Perceived ebook advantage: storage• Wants hard copies to build a library

Conclusions

The Seasonality of Reading

Ebooks do not make a library

Book choice by referral

The preference to mark books changes the equation

Ebook: Storage Space

Data Reduction:

Who told me about this book?

Where can I find a hard copy?

Do I want to keep a copy for

re-reading?

Mediating variable:-Seasonality-Desire to have a library?

Spurious variable:-Fiction/non-fiction

Questions/Considerations/Takeaways• Data sample: next interview someone who prefers ebooks• Data sample: next interview someone who writes in books• Digitization of ebooks: not a selling point?• Choosing books through referrals, not algorithms