Book market research

The book market research is a direction of the empirical social research . It tries to capture current trends as well as longer-term tendencies in the book market . Survey institutions such as B. the Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach receive orders from publishers, book clubs and associations - usually only from larger ones, since such surveys are often very time-consuming.

In addition to large publishing houses, the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels plays an important role in German book market research, as the results of the studies it has commissioned can also be used by smaller companies and booksellers. Book market research is closely related to reader research .

History of book market research in Germany as part of the Börsenverein

Beginnings of book market research

The first approaches to book market research in Germany were of a statistical nature. Since the middle of the 19th century, the “systematic overviews of the literary new publications of the German book trade” have been published annually in the unofficial part of the paper in the Börsenblatt of the German Booksellers Association . The JC Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung in Leipzig had prepared these secondary analyzes and compilations of data material from already existing sources: Developments in title production, structured according to subject groups.

In 1913 Johann Goldfriedrich , archivist of the Börsenverein, presented a differentiated set of figures with the "Statistical overview of books and magazines published in the German book trade in 1908" on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Börsenverein der Deutschen Buchhandels in Leipzig ". The analysis of the title production was carried out according to aspects of the format, the features with or without inserts, the size and the price, as well as according to individual countries and cities. The “overview” can be seen as a snapshot of the production at that time, broken down into book and magazine market segments, which also provides information about the average equipment and price ratios. The study was not repeated, so that no time series could be formed.

From 1918 onwards, Ludwig Schönrock published annual title and company statistics in the Börsenblatt with a new focus on content. Ernst Umlauff took over this position of statistician of the Börsenverein in 1934 with his "Contributions to the statistics of the German book trade", an annotated compilation of the available data. It contained information on trade statistics and book production, calculations on the development of book prices and sales in the publishing house and product range as well as figures on the “consumer side of the book market”. The statistics, which differ in their meaningfulness, are still an important source for research into the history of bookselling today.

The independent publication “Buch und Buchhandel in Numbers” has been published annually since 1952 - the department for market analysis set up by Josef Knecht in the same year is responsible for the Börsenverein, later renamed the Market Analysis department.

The studies allow the user today a complete overview of the development of the German book trade in the 2nd half of the 20th century - i.e. over z. B. economic fluctuations, special developments in individual market segments or distribution channels for the book. In addition, new, current items have been added to the statistics, e.g. In 1999, for example, the topic of the Internet book trade, which reflects the change in the framework conditions in the industry structure.

The basis for the creation was and is the “weekly directories” of the “German Bibliography”, the directory of deliverable books (VLB), as well as the results of various surveys initiated by the Börsenverein. In addition to “Book and Book Trade in Figures”, statistical studies were published by Horst Machill in the “Archive for Sociology and Economic Issues of the Book Trade”, which has been published since 1967 as an organ of the Economics and Statistics Department in the form of a supplement to the Börsenblatt.

Book market research reached a new stage in the 1970s: comprehensive consumer-oriented primary research was added to the book trade statistics. It should provide new information about the market potential of the book market .

Empirical book market research

After the Second World War there were new approaches to empirically oriented book market research. First the Bertelsmann publishing house initiated a study carried out by the Emnid Institute; the results appeared in 1958 in “Das Buch der Gegenwart”, edited by Rolf Fröhner.

In 1961, Bertelsmann initiated the Institute for Book Market Research under the direction of Wolfgang Strauss. The aim was to promote relevant investigations through research contracts. Among other things, the institute published the series "Writings on book market research" and "Reports on book market research". Among other things, they included analyzes of individual market segments, bookselling sales channels and the book market conditions in other European countries. The institute also published the 1964 study of the DIVO Institute “Book and Readers in Germany”, which was disseminated a year later . Approaches from the Emnid study were carried out, but with the new focus on media competition between reading books and television. The study came to the conclusion that frequent television does not have a significant impact on reading behavior: this was viewed with skepticism by the book trade, as there were signs of stagnation in book consumption in society.

In 1966, a general meeting of the Börsenverein established a committee for book market research. A long-term research program was to be created under the chairmanship of Ludwig Muth (until 1989). The Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy was responsible for the data collection, the development of a questionnaire, the field work and the evaluation of the data . In the following two decades, the institute's director Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann and her colleagues Gerhard Schmidtchen, Rüdiger Schulz and Renate Köcher set new standards in book market research. Through the cooperation with the Börsenverein, survey instruments could be further developed and various trends on the book market could be identified as a result. Almost all of the time, a uniform approach was chosen to prepare a study. A group of around 2,000 people, whose composition was representative of the Federal Republic of Germany from the age of 16, was interviewed using a questionnaire. The evaluation of the surveys then appeared in the “Archives for Sociology and Economic Issues in the Book Trade”.

Research into the “book climate” was the basic idea of the first study “How can the book market grow?” (Schmidtchen) from 1967. The aim of the lead study was to analyze the reading behavior of individual groups of the population in order to provide information about the social values of books to get. The subsequent study "Reading culture in Germany" summarized the results and later served as the basis for further secondary analyzes such as "A policy for the book" and "Market reserves for the book trade" by Schmidtchen 1972.

A representative survey on "Reading Culture in Germany 1974" resulted in a second stage of investigation, which deepened the central question of 1967/68 while taking into account the current value system of G. Schmidtchen. Secondary analyzes followed again, which extracted a special aspect of the basic study. For example, “Reading for Work” dealt with the work-related reading requirements; “Booksellers and Book Buyers 1978”, on the other hand, examined new trends in buyer behavior. An important addition was the attached buyer's test by Noelle-Neumann in 1978, which examined the bookselling service more closely. In the 1980s, too, the studies of the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy sought to identify specific aspects. This is how the studies "Book market research 1981: On the trail of the reader" (Noelle-Neumann), "The book as a gift" (Schulz, 1983) and "On the psychology of book giving" (Noelle-Neumann / Schulz, 1984) were created.

In the following years, questions about the attitudes towards reading of book consumers were to play a central role. “Typology of Buyers and Readers” by Noelle-Neumann from 1987 can be seen as an analysis of the value of the book in the media society.

A new aspect was added with the influence of parents on the reading behavior of their children; the study “Family and Reading” (Köcher, 1988) was then also the last investigation in this constellation.

The reader "The questioned reader" published by L. Muth in 1993 not only provides information about the most important results of the individual studies, but also explains the course of the research program. The entirety of the surveys from 1967 to 1988 offers a knowledge potential of lasting value; it shows factors that can influence reading culture and thus book consumption in our society.

In the 1990s, the book market research activities of the Börsenverein began to be reoriented, with the aim that such studies should deliver results that all members could use in practice. For this reason, book market research should be more clearly separated from reading (r) research; In the future, this should be carried out by the Reading Foundation with the support of the Börsenverein.

A uniform question could hardly be developed due to the constant developments within the individual market segments and product groups. Therefore, the focus should be placed particularly on those challenges that arose for the book trade as a result of the accelerating structural change in the industry, in order to be able to deliver concrete, sales-oriented marketing recommendations in the end result.

Book market research with a service character

Since the 1950s and 1960s, the Börsenverein has provided services with market research relevance. A company comparison has been carried out for the product range since 1956 and for the publishing industry since 1965 in cooperation with the Institute for Retail Research (IfH) at the University of Cologne . The aim was and is to enable member companies to monitor corporate development. The so-called Cologne company comparison for the retail book trade takes place annually in order to observe closely - also compared with the results of the specialist retail trade.

The institute also carries out an “economic survey” every six months, the data of which can be used to create an economic barometer. In addition to assessing the current situation, a (short-term) forecast can also be made.

The company comparison for the publishing book trade, however, was replaced in 1977 by the “quick survey” organized by the Börsenverein. The results have been included in the industry statistics "Book and book trade in figures" since 1981. With it, the possibility of comparing the business cycle and the general sector cycle is also given. Surveys on the licensing business and logistics are also held annually.

In addition to these surveys, initiatives were set up in the 1990s to help orientate the increasingly difficult market. The study “Success factor 'satisfied customers'” by the market research department of the Börsenverein deserves special mention. Booksellers were interviewed in 1,025 interviews and consumers in 1,975 interviews. In the comparison, weaknesses in the self-perception of the booksellers could be shown.

The study “Future Market: Electronic Publications” from 1995 was intended to support the book industry in reorienting itself towards the digital age. A representative survey on computer equipment and use in the general population as well as a survey of PC users about their relationship to the book trade should determine the size and structure of the target group for electronic products and thus explore the possibilities of the book trade in this market. In 1997 and 1998 a total of four brochures were published which were intended to convey the basic knowledge of selling software in retail bookshops. Another service: the Börsenblatt still provides information on the results of book market research.

Ongoing book market monitoring

Book market research has also recently been carried out on behalf of the Börsenverein. The Book Industry Monitor (BMB) has been available since February 2004: a free, monthly e-mail newsletter that is intended to provide an overview of current developments in the book market - created with the help of the market research company GfK Media Control . Langendorfs Dienst (LD) is particularly helpful for small and medium-sized retail bookshops. It can also be obtained (for a fee) as an email newsletter; The LD electronic platform contains a wide range of information on the economic issues of the book trade and the development of the economy. In addition , reports on the current situation on the book market, written by Boris Langendorf, appear in the Börsenblatt at regular intervals.

Client of studies on book market research

Market participants

Participants in the book market commission studies in order to mainly derive an economic benefit from them. Publishing houses such as B. Bertelsmann , Herder or Spiegel-Verlag , but also book clubs and bookstore chains conduct book market research in order to be able to create efficient marketing planning for their own company. For this purpose, sales partners, target groups, advertising measures and one's own image should be researched.

Institutions

In its initiatives, the Börsenverein tries to take into account the various interests of the approximately 6500 members. The questions in the studies are therefore geared towards industry policy goals. In addition to the Börsenverein, there are other institutions that conduct book market research without deriving any direct economic benefit from it. Above all, the Reading Foundation and the university research centers should be mentioned here :

Book and Reader Department at the Institute for Language in the Technical Age, TU Berlin
Research Center for Book Studies at the University Library, University of Bonn
Institute for Trade Research, University of Cologne (commissioned by the Börsenverein)
Institute for Youth Book Research at the University of Frankfurt
Seminar for Social Studies, University of Frankfurt

literature

Petra E. Dorsch, Konrad H. Teckentrup (ed.): Book and reading international. Reports and analyzes on the book market and book market research. Gütersloh 1981, ISBN 3-578-02769-3 .
Ernst Fischer: Book Market Research. In: Stephan Füssel, Georg Jäger, Hermann Staub (eds.): Der Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels 1825–2000. A historical outline. Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-7657-2297-9 , pp. 216-255.
Michael Kollmannsberger: Book market research and applied research. Shown using the example of book market research carried out by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels in collaboration with the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy from 1967 to 1988. Dissertation . Munich 2000, DNB 960697675 .
Ludwig Muth (Ed.): The interviewed reader. Book and opinion poll. Saur, Munich / London / New York / Paris 1993, ISBN 3-598-11131-2 .