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Second , literature must defend its share of consumers ’ media consumption capacity as new types of media such as podcasts and audio books continue to attract consumers . Fueled by technological advancements ( and the renaissance of hiking and walking during COVID-19 ), the variety of leisure time activities is at an all-time high .
8 )
goetzpartners conducted a comprehensive consumer study in 2021 that provided further evidence of this difficulty :
>> 27.9 %, or about every fourth respondent , stated that he or she is reading slightly less or even much less than three years ago . The reasons for the decline are manifold . But less time for reading ranks first ( mentioned by 57.1 % of those who read less than three years before ), followed by changes in respondents ’ leisure time activities ( 38.1 %).
This is exactly where Netflix and others have increased their “ activities share ” and replaced reading as a leisure time activity . It is also worth noting that 20.6 % of those who read less find books too expensive nowadays and 17.5 % stated that publishers lack innovative subscription models ( comparable to Spotify or Netflix ).
About 10-15 % of respondents do not find their reading preferences reflected in publishers ’ offerings , either in terms of topics , genres or authors . This , in turn , is driving down reading activity as well ( figure 1 ).