Changes in South Korea's reading demographics The expansion of 'hybrid readers' and the digital age
2017.9.11
The popularity of paper books is fading while more people are reading books and text on e-books and other digital means. It is a common change that has been observed throughout the world and not just in South Korea. It is also a natural one that has come in hand with the paradigm changes as mediums of recording text have evolved. When looking at the history of mankind's communication evolution, elements like readability, preservation and economical efficiency have been key in record-keeping. Digital mediums are tools for reading that fulfill all of these. According to South Korea's most extensive survey on reading by the Korean Publishing Research Institute and the culture ministry conducted every two years, we can see 90 percent of underage students read books. However, the annual reading rate for adults above the age of 19 has steadily fallen from 86.8 percent in 1994 to 65.3 percent to 2015. The rate lost an average 1 percentage point for every year from the mid-1990s. In comparison, the reading rate for e-books has been on the rise with the reading rate for adults standing at 10.2 percent in 2015, while for underage students, the rate measured at 27.2 percent. The survey showed the younger you were, the more e-books you read.
One thing to note here would be the increase in 'hybrid readers' who read both paper books and e-books. The survey showed 8.1 percent of adults fell into this category, while 26.2 percent of underage students did. Compared to readers of just paper books or e-books, these hybrid readers have shown they are more open to reading and frequent bookstores or libraries. Thanks to their large interest in books, they are rarely held back by the medium they encounter. The readership for just e-books is still very small at the moment (2.1 percent for adults in 2015 and 0.8 percent for students) but it is expected to rise.
Meanwhile in the United States, 28 percent of readers are hybrid readers and readers who read only e-books account for 6 percent of the United States' readers, according to the Pew Research Center. This signals there are three times more e-book readers in the United States compared to South Korea. It also shows the number of hybrid readers has the potential to grow if the country's digital content publishing market expands, like e-books and audio books. Until now, however, analysts see a cap in the increase of e-book readers unless there is a sudden spike in paper book costs or any other unexpected event. In the United States, the e-book reading rate has stagnated after spiking at 28 percent in 2014. In 2015 it stood at 27 percent and ticked up to 28 percent again in 2016. It shows there may be a limit in e-book popularity growth as people still overwhelmingly prefer paper books at the moment and that e-books are probably not a full replacement to paper books. Digital mediums are more used as supportive means to read while most readers find paper books the most convenient way to read.
This goes for South Korean readers. According to a survey for e-book readers carried out in 205 by KPIPA, respondents were asked to forecast what their reading preferences would be like in five years. More than half of the respondents answered they would mostly be reading paper books, although they expected to be reading more e-books than the present. Of those who responded 54.7 percent said they would prefer paper books, while 16.4 percent said they would rather look at e-books. Even children under age 10 showed higher preference for paper books over e-books.
When looking at various studies on reading mediums in South Korea, the only sectors where digital mediums dominate are webtoons and web novels. This is largely because this sort of content is usually preferred for killing time while they carry little value as paper books. Electronic form also dominates in these sectors because there is so much free content online provided by influential web portal operators. Another important fact to note is that this type of content aimed to entertain is usually not published on paper but rather on digital media.
The real problem is not how people read or what they prefer to read. It is how to persuade non-readers, people who do not prefer to read any kind of content, to read. South Korea has been making diverse efforts to increase the number of readers as creating new readers is also the key to ensuring the survival of the country's publishing environment.
Written by Won-keun Baek (President of the Book & Society Research Institute) Won-keun Baek (President of the Book & Society Research Institute) |
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