This week’s The New Yorker (@NewYorker) cover bitingly captures how obsessed Americans are with being online all the time, no matter what we’re doing and who we’re with!
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Floatingsheep.org (@floating_sheep), a website that maps the geographies of user-generated online content, says the word “church” is most often found in tweets originating in the Southeast United States, while tweets about “beer” are most common in the Northeast. The depiction of this in the map above strongly aligns with the multi-state area known as the Bible Belt (NC, SC, GA, KY, TN, AL, MS, AR, LA, OK, TX).
The Bible Belt is an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average. The Bible Belt consists of much of the Southern United States extending west into Texas and Oklahoma.
In an earlier study, Floatingsheep investigated the relative number of mentions of the word “church” in placemarks uploaded to Google. The results are reflected in the above map.
Interestingly, while the “Bible belt” in the physical world is often talked about as being synonymous with the American South, the virtual “Bible belt” additionally incorporates large parts of the Midwest.
Also see our blogpost, “Mississippi Is Most Religious USA State.”
Where would you have the most success in distributing your content?
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Christian Retailing (@ChristianRetail) reports on CBA-commissioned research by the Barna Group (@barnagroup) that Christians are using computer tablets and e-readers at a faster pace than most consumers.
Barna President David Kinnaman (@davidkinnaman) summarized the findings of The Rise of E-Reading: What Digital Content Means for Customer Loyalty, Products, and Retailing study in a video presentation July 15 during the opening general session of the International Christian Retail Show (@ICRShow) (#ICRS) in Orlando, Fla.
The study shows that
· 44% of pastors
· 30% of Christian store shoppers
· 25% of practicing Catholics all report they own a mobile tablet device or e-reader, compared to 18% of shoppers who don't visit Christian stores.
Also, the most popular device is the iPad — 44% of tablet-owning Christian store shoppers.
And nearly 70% of Christian store shoppers said they would definitely or probably buy an ebook or digital download from a Christian store.
Also see our previous blogpost, “Family Christian Stores Now Selling Its Own Tablet,” and our other posts about tablets.
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market pbooks and ebooks.
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According to MediaPost’s (@MediaPost) Online Media Daily, the spread of connected PCs, smartphones, and tablets has altered how people consume media and make purchases. So says a new study by mobile ad network InMobi (@inmobi) and Mobext, the mobile marketing arm of Havas Digital (@HavasDigital). Among the highlights:
· Tablet use has risen quickly to 29.5 million US users, 11% of the total US population.
· Over 60% of US tablet owners spend at least 30 minutes each day accessing media content on their tablets and 52% use a tablet to fill what previously would have been “dead time.”
· After buying a tablet, 29% of tablet owners say they stopped surfing the Internet via their PC and/or laptop.
· Nearly half of tablet owners — 48% — agree that tablets’ appealing design and accessibility make it is easier to access media content than on a PC or laptop.
· When it comes to shopping, 22% of tablet users say they've shopped less in physical stores since purchasing a tablet and more than half (55%) make purchases on their device in an average month.
· Tablet use peaks at home in the evening between 6 pm and midnight for most owners.
· Regarding considered purchases, 55% of tablet owners say they first learn about the product on their tablet, 53% actively evaluate the product, and 58% follow through with purchasing those goods on their tablet.
Also see our previous blogpost, “Tablets Fuel New Habits.”
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you maximize your brand’s content for the digital landscape.
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According to the most extensive nationwide survey to look at black women’s lives in decades, conducted by The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) and the Kaiser Family Foundation (@KaiserFamFound), nearly 9 in 10 African American women rely on their spiritual faith.
As a group, black women are among the most religious people in the nation. Although black men are almost as religious as their female counterparts, there is a more stark divide along racial lines.
The survey finds that 74% of black women and 70% of black men say that “living a religious life” is very important. On that same question, the number falls to 57% of white women and 43% of white men.
But in times of turmoil, about 87% of black women — much more than any other group — say they turn to their faith to get through. Black women, across education and income levels, say living a religious life is a greater priority than being married or having children, and this call to faith either surpasses or pulls even with having a career as a life goal, the survey shows.
Also see “Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll of black women in America,” “Survey paints portrait of black women in America,”and “Shifting portraits of the American black woman.”
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you conduct market research and analyze current trends.
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Digital Book World (@DigiBookWorld) editorial director Jeremy Greenfield (@JDGsaid) says, “Publishers worried that readers who borrow ebooks from libraries don’t buy books can put those worries to rest."
According to a new study from the The Pew Research Center's (@PewResearch) Internet & American Life Project (@pewinternet), those who borrow ebooks from libraries also purchase ebooks. When ebook borrowers were asked by Pew how they acquired the last ebook they read, 41% said they bought it.
“Ebook borrowers are book lovers,” says Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet project. “They the heaviest book-reading cohort of the ones we measured. They are more into books than even ebook readers, the larger group they fall into.”
Findings from the study:
· 12% of readers of ebooks borrowed an ebook from the library in the past year.
· But 58% of all library card holders say they don’t know if their library provides ebook lending services.
· 55% of all those who say the library is “very important” to them say they don’t know if their library lends ebooks.
· 53% of all tablet computer owners say they don’t know if their library lends ebooks.
· 48% of all owners of ebook reading devices such as original Kindles and NOOKs say they don’t know if their library lends ebooks.
· 47% of all those who read an ebook in the past year say they don’t know if their library lends ebooks.
· E-book borrowers appreciate the selection of ebooks at their local library, but they often encounter wait lists, unavailable titles, or incompatible file formats.
· Many Americans would like to learn more about borrowing ebooks.
· 58% of Americans have a library card, and 69% say their local library is important to them and their family.
· Leading-edge librarians and patrons say the advent of ebooks has produced a major transformation in book searching and borrowing at libraries.
Read the study, Libraries, Patrons, and Ebooks, in full.
In his blogpost, “Does Pew study prove ebooks in libraries are safe for publishers?,” Mike Shatzkin (@MikeShatzkin) says, “The latest Pew ebook study seems to me to confirm that the publishers are doing the right thing for sales by constricting the availability of many of the most attractive books from library shelves.”
Also see PBS’ MediaShift (@PBSMediaShift), “What Is the Role of Libraries in the Age of Ebooks and Digital Information?” and FOX News’ (@FoxNews) article, “How to borrow Ebooks from the library.”
Also see our previous blogposts, “Ebooks Projected to Comprise 50% of US Trade Book Market By 2016” and “Extensive New Study: The Rise of E-reading.”
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market your brand’s content in pbooks and ebooks.
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More homeowners are designing libraries and reading rooms in their homes. See the above video by The Wall Street Journal (@WSJVideo) (although note: the Encyclopædia Britannica (@Britannica) has not gone out of business as the reporter says around 1:15 into the video; it has ceased print publication and is concentrating on digital editions — see our blogpost "Encyclopædia Britannica Stops the Presses").
If you’re a book lover like we (@smrsault) are, bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.
In a column for BBC Business (@BBCBusiness), Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) CEO Muhtar Kent cites 5 global mega-trends from a Consumer Goods Forum report on the "Future Value Chain," and stresses how fundamentally important they are to the future of retail and consumer goods.
2020 Future Value Chain Webcast Presentation
1. Mass Urbanization. The proportion of people living in cities has now surpassed 50% worldwide, and should reach 70% by 2050, necessitating new supply chain and logistical models.
2. We're Getting Older. By 2047, the number of individuals over 60 years of age will be higher than those under 15 years of age, a shift presenting substantial possibilities for suitably adaptive organizations.
3. The Middle Class Cometh. The world is experiencing the greatest economic shift in history as the global middle class grows by another billion people in the next 10 years. By 2030, over 90% of this audience are set to reside in emerging nations, compared with 50% today.
4. Consumers in the Driving Seat. Evolving technologies are transforming customers’ expectations and ability to influence companies. By 2013, for example, there will be 2 billion mobile users, while a third of purchases are due to be completed online by 2020. Among the requirements on companies will be finding the right channels through which to converse with shoppers, alongside leveraging big data and embracing collaboration.
5. What About the Planet? Sustainability will assume heightened importance. By 2030, the global population should hit 8.3 billion, while the demand for food and energy is anticipated to leap by 50%, an acceleration standing at 30% for fresh water.
Coca-Cola also shares it’s branding vision:
How do the above mega-trends impact your publishing plans? Write your comments below.
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MarketingVox (@marketingvox) reports, “The 74 million estimated tablet users in the USA are not just playing around online. Half are getting weather information, more than a third are getting national news, and just under a third read newspaper and magazine content.”
The Online Publishers Association (@OPA_PamHoran) collaborated with Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. to evaluate attitudes and behaviors of media and entertainment consumers. The OPA surveyed 2,540 Internet users between the ages of 8 and 64 for a one-week period (March 19 through March 26, 2012) and released the results in its report A Portrait of Today's Tablet User – Wave II.
· 94% of tablet users access content and information weekly (41% consume local news, 37% consume national news)
· 72% of tablet owners have paid for apps
· 67% go online
· 66% check email
· 54% watch video
· 53% access social networks
· 39% of readers have bought a single issue or digital subscription for their tablets
· 35% have bought an ebook
· 15% have bought a digital newspaper subscription
Read this in full at:
· Tablet Users Want Content & Information Over Fun & Games
· OPA: What Content Do Tablet Owners Buy?
· A Portrait of Today’s Tablet User, Part I of III: Introduction & Overall Tablet Audience
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you publish and market content for tablet users.
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Digital Book World’s (@DigiBookWorld) editorial director, Jeremy Greenfield (@JDGsaid) says, “For the first time ever, more than half of Americans 65 and older are on the Internet, according to a new report — and this could mean a whole new growing market for ebook publishers and retailers.”
According to the study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project (@pewinternet), 53% of American adults age 65 or older use the Internet or email, up from about 40% less than a year ago. By comparison, 82% of all adults say they use the Internet or email at least occasionally.
Readers in that age group are among the most prolific book buyers, according to the Codex Group, a New York-based book-focused research firm. Book buyers 65 and older buy more books a month than those in the 18-to-24, 25-to-34, and 35-to-44 age groups. Book-buying peaks in the 45-to-54 and 55-to-64 age groups and drops off at 65 and up, possibly due to less disposable income to spend on books.
...“Seniors that read ebooks like the ability to change the type size and appreciate that they can get them at home without having to leave,” says Pew research specialist and report co-author Kathryn Zickuhr (@kzickuhr), referring to an upcoming study from Pew that will discuss libraries and ebooks, and contains feedback from older adults on how they got started reading ebooks and what they like and don’t like about them.
Contact Somersault (@smrsault) to help you effectively communicate your brand’s content in this digital age.
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