One of the most challenging circumstances that all the book value chain is experiencing is the fast pace of the transformation in consumers behaviour. The big players in the European industry have their own resources to monitoring some direct market trends, but this is more difficult for small or medium size companies. Nevertheless, even in the case of the big groups understanding the next trends or transformations in content consumer behaviour is very difficult because of the speed of the changes and for the scope of approaches that could be assume when analysing the issue: marketing, technology or sociology.
The acceleration of the changes in consumer behaviour
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated existing trends in content consumption, such as the shift towards digital channels, remote work, and online entertainment. These changes are very likely to have long-term effects on the consumer behaviour and the pattern during the last three years is a fast dissemination of those transformations.
One of the consolidated trends is that consumers increasingly prefer accessing content on mobile devices and platforms that offer on-demand content. This shift has accelerated for a strictly technological cause: the widespread availability of high-speed internet and mobile connectivity in the European countries.
There is another pattern that is developing during some years, but now perhaps with a faster spreading: the increase of traction of platforms that prioritise user-generated content, such as social media (Instagram, TikTok, etc.). Consumers are not just passive recipients but active creators and contributors to the content ecosystem.
Somehow, there is a growing expectation among consumers for personalized content experiences, which could be linked to the previous trend. Now this situation is becoming more important because of technologies like AI and machine learning. During the last months we are witnessing the rise of many systems focused on tailoring content recommendations and advertisements based on individual preferences and behaviours. Also, the emergence of a new generation or kind of platforms (e.g., Clubhouse, Discord) and technologies (e.g., augmented reality, virtual reality) have a potential influence how content is consumed.
Changes in consumer behaviour are prompting businesses to adapt their monetization strategies: subscription models, pay-per-view, freemium models, and ad-supported content are all evolving to cater to changing consumer preferences.
Other aspect that is changing very fast is that reading and buying books behaviour is increasingly influenced by global trends and cultural diversity. The growth of reading and buying books in English in European countries with other languages is massive among young readers. Therefore, the publishers, distributors and retailers need to navigate this new singularity to take the right decisions in terms of market share and strategies.
And from the perspective of reading behaviour, strictly speaking, the experts and the reports are detecting that the attention span of readers is decreasing. This situation is leading to changes in book formats and lengths.
All these trends show that the publishers need prospective data about the upcoming trends and information almost on real time about the behaviour of different profiles of readers.
Data-driven decision making for the publishing industry
An example of the effort to help the publishers to understand the fast-changing trends was the insertion of a session on data and trends analysis within the last PARIX Digital training event.
Tom Hedges is a Senior Trends Analyst at Global Web Index (GWI) and he was invited to deliver a presentation focused on digital media trends, social media usage and their implications across global and Spanish-speaking markets, during the last PARIX Digital conference (Madrid).
The main messages that the audience got from Hedges were to prioritise data-driven decision-making to understand and engage with the target audiences of the publishing companies, to tailor marketing strategies to align with evolving media consumption behaviour and to stay informed about emerging technologies like AI and their potential impacts on content creation and consumer trust.
The presentation highlighted the critical role of data in understanding consumer behaviours and shaping effective marketing strategies.
Hedges emphasized the pivotal role of data in navigating the digital landscape, comparing the absence of data to “wandering in the dark.” He stressed that data enables organizations to grasp audience behaviours, platform preferences, and evolving media consumption patterns over time.
GWI has collaborated during many years with Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez and IPDA during the past editions or Readmagine. They have a big platform covering 2.8 billion internet users across 53 markets, conducting detailed surveys with approximately one million participants annually. This extensive reach allows GWI to provide nuanced insights into consumer attitudes, preferences, and behaviours across diverse demographics and regions.
According to GWI reports the peak online usage during the COVID-19 pandemic has normalized, with mobile devices dominating in many regions, except for Spain where non-mobile devices retain significant usage. By other hand the device ownership trends reflect increasing adoption of smart TVs and smartwatches, influencing interconnected digital experiences.
AI technologies are gaining traction, particularly in enhancing efficiency and collecting data, though concerns about its impact on job security and trust remain prevalent. The interest in AI varies across demographics, with Hispanic consumers showing notable engagement and interest in educational applications of AI.
Online media consumption, including news, has continued to grow, with social media platforms increasingly influencing news reading habits.
Despite digital trends, interest in physical books remains high, particularly among younger demographics like Gen Z and audiobooks and podcasts are growing in popularity, offering new avenues for content consumption.
