associationFOCUS | Volume 8, Issue 2

here are reasons why print is still around: it fulfills needs, the same way digital books fill needs. People like having both, the same way they like having access to television, theaters and radio. According to the Pew Research Center, which surveyed 1,520 people who were 18 or older during one year in March or April 2015 to March or April 2016, participants preferred print books to any other format. Approximately 73% read at least one book during that period. FedEx Office did a survey and found that 90% of customers would rather read content on paper than on a screen. Consider some additional statistics about the generation born 1997-2012: » Approximately 40% of all consumers are currently in this age bracket. » They are digital natives. Cellphones, Google and Wi-Fi have always been part of their lives. Print is a welcome novelty, somewhat like vinyl records. (In 2019, vinyl records outsold CDs. That hadn’t happened in 40 years.) » They spend an average of three hours per day using social media applications on their smartphones. » They spend about an hour per week reading magazines. » They like reading printed books more than digital ones, and think printed materials are better for learning because it is easier to focus when reading them. American College surveyed students in four countries and 300 colleges; 92% of those surveyed prefer printed course materials to tablets or computers. T Although baby boomers read the most magazines per month, at 9.2, Gen Xers and millennials are not far behind at 9.1 and 8.9, respectively. 10 | association FOCUS