Not all contact is the same

At the beginning of every successfully conveyed advertising message is the purely physical contact between the advertising medium and the target group. Once contact has been made, it can be of varying quality, depending on how a magazine reader interacts with the magazine of his choice: Does he read intensively or fleetingly? Are they reading in a rational or emotional mode? Are they interested in advertising or not? The Magazine Qualities pilot study provides precisely this qualitative information on the contact between reader and magazine. The study was conducted by WEMFAd- hoc Research at the end of 2013 on behalf of Axel Springer, NZZ and Ringier. Designed as a benchmark study, it provides the participating publishers with numerous facts on the specific strengths and weaknesses as well as the positioning of their individual titles in the relevant market environment. The database of a total of 6,000 cases on 26 major German-language consumer magazines also allows general statements to be made on what characterizes magazine contacts and how different these contacts can be.

More than a fleeting encounter

Regular readers pick up a magazine issue more than once, on average 3.5 times for the magazines surveyed. TV magazines and special interest/cooking titles generate the most contacts with up to 6 pick-ups. Regular readers also read intensively: 67 percent usually read 75 to 100 percent of all pages of an issue. Readers of the special interest titles surveyed are the most avid (79% of them read 75% to 100% of an issue), while business titles are read most selectively (50%). All in all, readers engage quite intensively and frequently with the magazine of their choice.

With head and heart

The mood of a magazine reader, whether they are in rational or emotional mode, for example, depends largely on the goal they are pursuing with their reading and the motives for picking up a magazine. Most magazine types fulfill both cognitive and emotional needs for their readers. Special interest/cooking and general interest titles in particular, but also news and themed magazines, are real all-rounders that offer everything from learning to reading fun (see illustration). Accordingly, advertising material placed in magazines generally reaches readers whose minds and hearts are in active mode. Only two title groups have more focused reading motives: the business press focuses on rational aspects, while the women's/people's press focuses on relaxation.

Interested in advertising

Across all magazine groups, almost 90 percent of regular readers pay attention to the advertising (very often, often, occasionally, rarely). Almost as many, namely 84%, are also interested in the advertised products and offers. And finally, 75 percent are inspired by a magazine advertisement to find out more about a product or try it out. With regard to individual title groups, regular readers of special interest/cooking titles and the women's/people's press show the comparatively highest affinity for advertising. 

Magazines have a multidimensional effect

The results of the study show that magazine contacts are multidimensional and that the encounters between readers, content and advertising can be of varying quality. This does not mean a qualitative assessment, but rather the type of contact. In the case of general interest magazines and special interest/cooking titles, for example, regular readers are reached in both emotional and cognitive mode and with a mostly advertising-open mind. Those who advertise in business titles encounter rather selective readers with a rational focus, whose affinity for advertising is nevertheless similarly high to that of general interest titles. Readers of the women's/people's press are somewhat less concentrated and focused when reading, but are in a relaxed mood and open to the advertising placed there. These results can help publishers, editors and advertisers to better understand how regular magazine readers interact with content and advertising and how they can best be addressed. 

Jella Hoffmann*

*Head of Ad-hoc Research at WEMF.

In a nutshell

Pilot study Magazine Qualities 2013 - Facts:

Contents: Reading behavior, reading profile/motives, advertising perception, image profile
Methodology: Online interviews with logo support (October to November 2013)
Population: German-speaking 15- to 74-year-old Internet users who read the respective magazine regularly (at least 3 out of 6 issues)
Project management: WEMF, Ad hoc Research Division