Book-Love Poll: Data and Methodology

What follows are a subset of the results of a survey commissioned by CaféScribe on why and how people prefer paper books to e-books. Additional results of the survey will be published in coming days.

Methodology

Zogby International (http://www.zogby.com) conducted interviews of 591 college students online. A sampling of Zogby International's online panel, which is representative of the adult population of the U.S., was invited to participate. The online poll ran from 8/15/07 through 8/21/07. The margin of error is +/- 4.1 percentage points. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups. Slight weights were added to age, race and gender to more accurately reflect the population.

Narrative Summary

Of the following physical qualities of books, which do you love the most?

Three in ten (30%) each say the feel of turning the page and the new book smell are the qualities of books that they love the most. About one in seven (13%) also love the old book-smell.

Of the following qualities of books, which do you hate the most?

Over half (54%) say the thing they hate most about books is the cost. About another one in six (16%) say they hate carrying them around.

Assuming that a used book is 75% of the cost of a new book, and an e-book 50% of the cost of a new book, which version would you prefer to purchase?

A majority of about two thirds (62%) would prefer to buy a used book. Nearly a quarter (22%) would rather have a new book, and one in eight (13%) would choose an e-Book.

Which of the following smells do you most associate with books you love?

One in three (33%) say mustiness is the smell they most associate with books that they love, while one in seven (14%) say it is freshly ground coffee. About one in nine (12%) associate books with an other smell, and three in ten (31%) are not sure.

---