Teenagers largely bought their books at the national bookstore chains in 2007, while their grandparents shopped for books from a variety of outlets. That was one of the findings drawn from PubTrack Consumer, the R.R. Bowker service that uses a national online survey to track various aspects of consumer book-buying behavior and patterns.

According to the data, the three major chains accounted for 46.3% of all units bought by teens in 2007, while readers 60 and older divided their purchases among chain stores (16.9%), the Internet (14.2%) and book clubs (13.5%).

Readers between 18 and 28 (Generation Y) showed the most different characteristics among the five groups measured. Generation Y was the only group where the Internet was the top source of book purchases, and they were the most comfortable buying nonprint products—digital downloads of audiobooks, e-books and other nonprint items accounted for 4% of purchases. The group also spent the least amount of dollars on fiction, spreading their purchases among an array of nonfiction areas. For readers over 60, fiction accounted for more than half of the books they purchased in 2007, with the mystery/detective category the most popular, accounting for 23.4% of book purchases.

For the most part, consumers purchase a book because it falls into an area they're interested in. The leading reason cited for buying a book is the catch-all area of “adding to a collection.” Other reasons are closely related, such as buying a book because of the author, topic or main character. Price was a factor primarily for seniors and Gen Y groups. Such factors as cover art, author readings, and book reviews were well down the list.

Less than 1% of book buyers said they toss a book after they're done reading it. While most readers said they keep their books, the older readers are, the more likely they are to give away a book. The Gen Y age group is the most aggressive in selling their books.

* Based on Units
Source PubTrack™ Consumer, a service of RR Bowker, LLC
Number of teens 22.2 million
Number of teen book buyers 13.4 million
Books purchased 57.3 million
Dollars spent $654.6 million
Favorite categories*
Fiction 35.6%
Led by Mystery/Detective 9.2%
Romance 6.5%
Children's 23.8%
Top reasons for purchase
Adding to collection 22.8%
Topic/subject 14.4
For class/study group 14.0
Character/series 10.1
Recommendation 7.8
Where book was acquired*
Online 16.3%
Chain bookstore 46.3
Independent bookstore 5.8
Religious bookstore 0.9
Book club 3.6
Book fair 1.7
Mass merchandisers 8.3
Drug stores 0.7
Supermarkets 1.2
Warehouse clubs 2.3
Discount/closeout 0.7
Other direct-to-consumer 1.3
Total other outlets 10.8
Disposition after reading
Keep 64.6%
Lend 17.9
Give away 3.4
Sell 4.4
Donate 1.7
Throw away 0.2
Don't know 7.4
Other 0.2

* Based on Units
Source PubTrack™ Consumer, a service of RR Bowker, LLC
Number 42.2 million
Number of book buyers 27.8 million
Books purchased 180.1 million
Dollars spent $2.73 billion
Favorite categories*
Fiction 26.1%
Led by Mystery/Detective 6.8%
Romance 4.8%
Children's 17.5%
Notable Education 3.6%
Cooking 3.3%
Top reasons for purchase
Adding to collection 20.5%
Topic/subject 15.2
For class/study group 12.4
Character/series 8.4
Price 7.3
Where book was acquired*
Online 32.7%
Chain bookstore 27.2
Independent bookstore 6.2
Religious bookstore 1.9
Book club 6.2
Book fair 0.8
Mass merchandisers 5.1
Drug stores 0.3
Supermarkets 1.1
Warehouse clubs 1.1
Discount/closeout 0.3
Other direct-to-consumer 1.6
Total other outlets 15.5
Disposition after reading
Keep 70.9%
Lend 7.8
Give away 3.4
Sell 9.1
Donate 0.7
Throw away 0.5
Don't know 7.3
Other 0.3

* Based on Units
Source PubTrack™ Consumer, a service of RR Bowker, LLC
Number 53.2 million
Number of book buyers 34.8 million
Books purchased 284.6 million
Dollars spent $3.41 billion
Favorite categories*
Fiction 30.2%
Led by Romance 8.4%
Mystery/Detective 7.5%
Children's 16.2%
Notable Religion 3.2%
Top reasons for purchase
Adding to collection 24.5%
Topic/subject 17.4
Character/series 8.9
Type of book 5.8
Price 6.2
Where book was acquired*
Online 25.7%
Chain bookstore 29.9
Independent bookstore 6.4
Religious bookstore 1.5
Book club 6.8
Book fair 1.4
Mass merchandisers 6.1
Drug stores 0.3
Supermarkets 2.1
Warehouse clubs 1.7
Discount/closeout 0.8
Other direct-to-consumer 1.6
Total other outlets: 15.7
Disposition after reading
Keep 74.0%
Lend 8.6
Give away 4.8
Sell 4.8
Donate 1.5
Throw away 0.5
Don't know 5.1
Other 0.5

* Based on Units
Source PubTrack™ Consumer, a service of RR Bowker, LLC
Number 85.0 million
Number of book buyers 52.3 million
Books purchased 426.5 million
Dollars spent $4.26 billion
Favorite categories*
Fiction 40.2%
Led by Mystery/Detective 14.2%
Romance 8.2%
Children's 11.0%
Notable Religion 4.0%
Biography/autobiography 3.5%
Top reasons for purchase
Adding to collection 20.7%
Topic/subject 22.6
Character/series 8.2
Type of book 9.3
Price 6.8
Where book was acquired*
Online 21.9%
Chain bookstore 23.3
Independent bookstore 6.5
Religious bookstore 1.0
Book club 10.9
Book fair 0.9
Mass merchandisers 6.6
Drug stores 0.6
Supermarkets 2.1
Warehouse clubs 3.4
Discount/closeout 1.7
Other direct-to-consumer 2.5
Total other outlets 18.9
Disposition after reading
Keep 58.9%
Lend 14.2
Give away 12.0
Sell 5.1
Donate 3.2
Throw away 0.6
Don't know 5.1
Other 0.8

* Based on Units
Source PubTrack™ Consumer, a service of RR Bowker, LLC
Number 54.1 million
Number of book buyers 35.1 million
Books purchased 370.7 million
Dollars spent $3.2 billion
Favorite categories*
Fiction 56.3%
Led by Mystery/Detective 23.4%
Romance 14.7%
Children's 4.6%
Notable Espionage 4.4%
General Fiction 4.0%
Top reasons for purchase
Adding to collection 17.5%
Topic/subject 24.4
Type of book 12.9
Price 8.2
Recommendation 6.6
Where book was acquired*
Online 14.2%
Chain bookstore 16.9
Independent bookstore 8.2
Religious bookstore 1.0
Book club 13.5
Book fair 0.4
Mass merchandisers 7.5
Drug stores 1.2
Supermarkets 3.5
Warehouse clubs 6.0
Discount/closeout 1.0
Other direct to consumer 2.8
Total other outlets 23.3
Disposition after reading
Keep 39.5%
Lend 14.9
Give away 22.7
Sell 5.4
Donate 7.4
Throw away 0.6
Don't know 7.8
Other 1.6