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TIME WELL SPENT
By Huanhuan Xu SID: 30933463
The Magazine Publishing Industry’s Online Niche
Deena Ingham and Alexis Weedon
DEENA INGHAM
Senior Lecturer in Journalism at University of Bedfordshire, UK
In academic terms, her focus is on journalism teaching and also continuing the interest in developments within online magazines which she began examining when a Masters student.
Source: http://www.beds.ac.uk/departments/jc/staff/deenaingham
ALEXIS WEEDON
Director of the Research Institute for Media Art and Design and Professor of Publishing Studies at University of Bedfordshire
Speciality in quantitative analysis techniques and contemporary developments in publishing and the new media
Source: http://www.beds.ac.uk/research/rimad/people/alexisweedon
PUBLIC DOMAIN RESEARCH AOP (the UK Association of Online Publisher)
Scholarly journalism & online newspaper
Women’s print magazine
Few studies of online business magazine have been conducted for academic purpose
GROUP LEISURE
Number one magazine for group travel organisers in UK
Established in March 1995 and published by Yandell Media Group
Full colour A4 format
Subscriptions based monthly magazine
Annual subscription fee: £45 (£3.75/copy)
Main source of revenue: advertising
Printed magazine
GROUP LEISURE
Went live on 1 September 2003 News, longer version articles Updated daily, Picture gallery, reader contribution options, online shopping Fee registration (name & address) Reader Club (online & paper readers) Online shopping
“Prior to the launch of the online magazine Yandell Media Group relied on their own knowledge of the market and its needs rather than commissioning research”
http://www.groupleisure.com/home/
Online magazine
THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
http://twitter.com/GroupLeisureMag
THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
http://www.yandellmedia.com/online_magazines/gl_online.html
GROUP LEISURE
Monthly circulation: 12,000 (Apr. 2004)
Monthly circulation: 10,500 (Oct. 2004)
Monthly circulation: 20,000 (August. 2008)
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=25641§ioncode=1
http://www.premiertourismmarketing.com/press_room/LGT_Market_Coverage.html
Printed magazine Online magazine
Page impressions: 165,219 (Feb. 2004)
Page impressions:231,388 (Feb. 2005)
Page impressions:336,381 (Jun. 2006)
“The online magazine can clearly be seen to have developed a life of its own”
THE TARGET READERS Organizers: who subscribe to the magazine in order to secure
the necessary information to enable them to fulfil their roles as organizers of activity events
Suppliers: individuals responsible within commercial companies who operate events and packages for the organizers and their group
READERS’ CONTRIBUTION
Controlled by readers Reader contribution
options 24/7 Encourage participation
Printed magazine Online magazine
Controlled by editors email Monthly Cost involved
GROUP LEISURE
High running cost High production cost Extra distribution cost Geographical restriction High income High risk (investment)
Low running cost Low production Free Worldwide access Low income Low risk Access to a wider
readership in a niche market
Printed magazine Online magazine
CASE STUDY OF GROUP LEISURE To compare the readership between a niche business
magazine Group Leisure’s print version and online version, and analyse the usage based on age, gender and occupation.
The aim of this article is to study the online and print readers’ reading behaviour/browsing behaviour and their perceptions in terms of spending and saving time on the magazine.
METHOD
In-depth July 2005 To examine the readership habits
of 10 organizers and to study what, where and how they read Group Leisure magazine, online and in print
Only readers who chose to read the magazine rather than read it as part of their work were qualified
questionnaire
Survey 1 Survey 2
quantitative May 2005 A correlation between online and
printed readership and gender A correlation between online and
printed access and age To examine readers’ motivations
and preferences To find out how readers used the
magazines and responded to the signposting of articles and advertising in both formats
Respondents were from Group Leisure’s databases (randomly selected)
1,310 questionnaires (organizers & Suppliers)
The response rate: 12.5%
FINDINGS – SURVEY 1
1. Reading for different purposes Organizers read the magazine by choice in whatever format for ideas, factual content and
inspiration Suppliers read it as a work tool through which they can monitor competition, evaluate
campaigns and study trends
2. Suppliers prefer reading the online magazine at work 88% of suppliers read the online version at work while only 40% of organizers access the online
magazine at work
3. The printed magazine was read at home and the online version was most commonly read at work
4. The printed magazine is more preferred formato 79% of suppliers and 65% of organizers listed the printed magazine as their most visit format
respectively
5. Few suppliers (4%) preferred the online advertising format6. Women of all ages are more likely to access the online format
and almost all order organizers accessed the online version 100% of 65+ age groups were online user, which disproved Yandell’s hypothesis that the older
organizers were less web-orientated
FINDINGS – SURVEY 2
1. The speed and direct delivery of the required information are key to the online magazine’s popularity
o The online search facility was a reason to access the online magazine (50%), and the rapid access to information led them to long on to read the magazine (40%)
2. The online magazine did not save organizers time (50%) (physically)
“It actually physically takes longer to go in on-line and wait for every feature or page to appear than flicking through a paper magazine”
3. Readers were more likely to be sidetracked and they did not regard the online magazine as time saver (technically)
A search facility yields a series of articles on a given topic, each one of which could lead in a different direct and at the end of a session they found they has become distracted from their original path.
4. The printed magazine is more preferred format for ideaso 60% of respondents sought ideas in the printed magazineo Online pages and links provided diversions and distractions while providing potential
useful information.
CRITICAL POINTS Online content does not replicate the content of the printed version
The increased extent of the online magazine adds to the time spent reading online
Reference pages were perceived as an enhancement of the time spent online
The news sections and “The Diary” received the most visitors, and Reader Club online was shown to be a visiting point
Lack of access (10%) and a dislike of reading articles online (10%) were cited as the main reasons for not using the online format
CRITICAL POINTS (CONTINUED) The online magazine challenged pre-existing readership patterns and
habits. Readers had to invest time to master the new format
Online advertising is growing in both results and popularity, but it has not developed rapidly
Some companies might have difficulties to handle internet enquiries, so they are reluctant to implement the online advertising format
The response rate to online advertisements would increase if advertising were to increase online
CONCLUSION Reading the online magazine might not save time all the time,
as a wider, deeper, better search takes longer
Readers can choose whether to spend time and how much time they want to spend on reading online information, but spending time will lead to an improved and more highly valued selection when their decision is finally made
Accessing the online magazine increases the value of the time spent with the magazine
REFERENCENance. K., (2008) , ‘The Grim Reader ‘, Poets & Writers, 36 (2), 610
Premier Tourism Marketing, (2008), ‘About Leisure Group Travel’, retrieved 7 October, 2009, from http://www.premiertourismmarketing.com/press_room/LGT_Market_Coverage.html
University of Bedfordshire, (2009), Profile Deena Ingham, Retrieved: 7 October, 2009, from http://www.beds.ac.uk/departments/jc/staff/deenaingham
University of Bedfordshire, (2009), Profile profess Alexis Weedon, Retrieved: 7 October, 2009, from http://www.beds.ac.uk/research/rimad/people/alexisweedon
Scott, K., (1997), “Web of Confusion’, American Journalism Review, 19(6)
http://twitter.com/GroupLeisureMag
http://www.groupleisure.com/home/
http://www.yandellmedia.com/online_magazines/gl_online.html
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=25641§ioncode=1
