Word-of-Mouth Top Book-Buying Decision
by Felicia Pride -- Publishers Weekly, 2/11/2008
Among African-American consumers, 33% buy five to 10 books a year and they generally decide what to buy through word-of-mouth, according to an online survey of 1,285 African-American consumers.
The African-American Culture Study was conducted by Global Market Insite Inc. (GMI), a market intelligence solutions firm based in Bellevue, Wash. It surveyed book-buying habits in 2007. According to Jensen Gadley, PR specialist for GMI, the questionnaire was sent via e-mail to The African-American Voice, the firm's African-American specialty panel.
The survey also asked respondents to select possible reasons why more African-American–authored books have not gained large mainstream readership. More than 60% indicated that African-American titles were narrowly marketed only “to an African-American audience,” and 35% indicated that “most African-American authored books don’t appeal to a mainstream audience.”
The majority of respondents, 52%, said that the last book they read was not written by an African-American author, while 40% said their last book had been by an African-American. And despite the continued popularity of street lit/urban fiction, more than 50% of respondents said that themes of sex and drugs do not appeal to them. “I was surprised by many of the findings,” said Gadley, who noted that pigeonholing seems to “play a role in why many African-American–authored books don’t hit it big.”
The study also looks at economics, social status and interracial dating in the black community. The full results are available at The African-American Voice website.
How Respondents Pick Books
| Bestsellers list | 34% |
| Essence bestellers list | 18% |
| Recommended by Oprah | 12% |
| Recommended by Oprah’s book club | 11% |
| Reviews from non–African-American critics | 12% |
| Reviews from African-American critics | 20% |
| Reviews from a non–African-American newspaper | 9% |
| Reviews from an African-American newspaper | 8% |
| Recommended by a friend or family member | 55% |
| Recommended by a book club | 17% |
| Other | 25% |
| SOURCE: GMI | |
Genre of Last Book Read
| Fiction | 29% |
| Literature | 2% |
| Biography | 6% |
| Nonfiction | 12% |
| Politics | 1% |
| Science | 2% |
| Self-help | 6% |
| Motivational | 5% |
| Inspirational | 9% |
| Motivational/African-American literature | 4% |
| Inspirational/African-American literature | 3% |
| Gospel | 9% |
| Chicklit | 1% |
| Street life (Ghetto lit) | 3% |
| Other | 7% |
| SOURCE: GMI | |
