Ebooks vs.
Print Books: Readers’ Choices and
Preferences Across Contexts
Yin Zhang
School of Library and Information Science
Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242
yzhang4@kent.edu
ABSTRACT
With electronic book (ebook) sales and readership rising,
are ebooks positioned to replace print books? This study
examines the preference for ebooks and print books in the
contexts of reading purpose, reading situation, and
contextual variables such as age, gender, education level,
race/ethnicity, income, community type, and Internet use.
Additionally, this study aims to identify factors that
contribute to ebook adoption. The results of this study
support the notion that ebooks have firmly established a
place in people’s lives, but are not yet positioned to take
over all the roles of print books. Both print books and
ebooks have unique attributes and serve irreplaceable
functions in meeting people’s reading needs, which may
vary by individual demographic, contextual, and situational
factors.
Keywords
Readers, ebooks, ebook adoption.
INTRODUCTION
In 2011, Amazon reported that purchases of electronic
books (ebooks) had surpassed those of print books. For
information professionals, this signaled an important
change in the way people consume information (Gibson &
Gibb, 2011; Hamblen, 2011). A recent survey conducted by
the Pew Center for Internet Research in December 2011
showed that 43% of Americans aged 16 and older had read
some form of digital content (be it a book or an online
article on an eReader, tablet, computer, or cellular phone)
within the previous year. Additionally, 17% of all readers
reported reading at least one ebook in 2011, a figure that
increased to 23% in 2012 (Rainie, Zickuhr, Purcell,
Madden, & Brenner, 2012). At the same time, Rainie et al.
(2012) reported that there had been a corresponding
ASIST 2013, November 1-6, 2013, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Sonali Kudva
College of Communication and Information
Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242
skudva@kent.edu
decrease in the percentage of Americans reading print
books (from 78% in 2011 to 75% in 2012).
The increase in ebook sales and popularity, coupled with
the decline of print books, raises various points of concern.
Will ebooks replace print books? Have people abandoned
print for ebooks? Who is likely to adopt ebooks and why?
The aim of this study is to address these questions by
examining the readership and preferences for ebooks and
print books across contexts, which include reading
purposes, reading situations, and individual contextual
factors such as age, gender, education level, race/ethnicity,
income, community type, and Internet use. Additionally,
this study aims to identify factors that contribute to ebook
adoption. By yielding a better understanding of reader
choice and preference for ebooks and print books across
contexts, the results of this study will help libraries and
information institutions make important decisions on
collection acquisition and management. The results will
also help libraries, publishers, information system
developers, and information providers in general to adapt to
another generation of readers.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Media Displacement
One of the main questions about the future of print books
and ebooks is whether ebooks will replace print books. The
idea of media displacement or replacement, which has been
studied by media researchers for decades, is based on the
notion of equivalence. This equivalence can take many
forms, such as similarity in appearance, method of use, and
function. Since functional equivalence is based on the
assumption that a new medium provides the same
gratifications or benefits as the old, it is imperative that
studies using this framework specify the functions of the
media very carefully (Robinson & Martin, 2009).
Reasons/Preferences for Media Adoption
To understand why people prefer one medium over another,
it is necessary to investigate their motivations. Everett
Rogers, author of the well-known theory of Diffusion of
Innovations (DOI), suggests that users would choose one
medium over another based on the attributes of the new
medium, namely five factors: relative advantage,
compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability
(Rogers, 2003).
Other researchers like McCombs (1972) believe that media
adoption boils down to simple economics. However, merely
considering economics or the attributes of the medium is
insufficient to fully understand why anyone would pick an
ebook over a print book. It may therefore be necessary to
connect the ecological model of human information
behavior to Rogers’ theory of innovation diffusion in
examining the way ebooks are being adopted. The
ecological model for human information behavior states
that a person’s “context” influences every stage of the
information-interaction behavioral process. Lee (2011) has
defined this context as a set of factors and attributes that are
related to—and may influence—the information user, but
that are not part of the medium or the individual.
In addition, media are also chosen based on the function
they fulfill in a person’s life and how efficiently they fulfill
that function. Function can also be considered a contextual
variable, as individuals may use the same medium
differently. Thus, a thorough/comprehensive examination is
needed to understand the functions of each medium.
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Studies in Media Adoption
When comparing two types of media for the purpose of
determining whether one will either replace or complement
the other, they must be assumed to be equivalent in terms of
function (e.g., Hischier & Reichart, 2003). Kayany and
Yelsma (2000) observed that medium functions are defined
and influenced by contextual factors such as gender and
age. In a recent study, Vakkari (2012) examined how the
use of the Internet correlates to use of the public library in
different areas of everyday life like studying, work, and
business. The author also studies which factors in addition
to Internet activity predict the use of public libraries for
these purposes. The results of the study showed that the use
of the Internet was positively correlated with the use of
public libraries.
Individual Contextual Factors and Their Impact on
Media Adoption
This idea of a new medium complementing an old one has
been explored by some researchers. Nguyen and Western
(2006) took a user-centric approach to examining the
correlation between old and new media usage. They found
that abandoning the old medium depended on whether the
new medium fulfilled all the functions users needed. In a
study on user information needs, Flanagin and Metzger
(2001) observed that information needs have not changed;
rather, what has changed is the way that people satisfy these
needs. Additionally, the contextual nature of information
needs as noted by Savolainen (2012) also adds to the
complexity of individual contextual factors on media
adoption.
Ebook Reader Research
There has been some scattered research conducted about
ebooks, ebook reader devices (eReaders), and digital
content. Research on ebook adoption has shown that people
enjoy the ability to easily search for their reading material
and the convenience of carrying this material with them to
any place at any time. However, users also have
reservations about the restrictions they face while trying to
borrow the books, compatibility issues, and annotation
abilities (Foasberg, 2011; McKay, Hinze, Heese,
Vanderschantz, Timpany, & Cunningham, 2012).
Research Gaps
At this time, print books and ebooks are essentially the
same in terms of content, but may differ in function, or the
way people use them. While most existing reader studies
have speculated about the demise of print, what many have
failed to examine more closely are the readers who opt to
use both formats. These are the users who could offer
comparative insight into reader preference. A cross
comparison of different reader groups will be more likely to
give a complete picture regarding reasons for adoption
versus reasons for non-adoption and predictors of continued
use. Most previous studies are based on small research
samples, resulting in a deficit of research based on large-
scale and representative samples.
This study intends to address these research gaps by
investigating reader preference for ebooks and print books
across contexts to understand preference and adoption-
related factors, based on a large, national, representative
sample for more generalizable results. The study will also
examine the differences in functions fulfilled by ebooks and
print books based on readers’ individual contextual factors,
including age, gender, education level, race/ethnicity,
income, community type, and Internet use.
METHODS
Sample and Data
This study uses data from the national Reading Habits
Survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet &
American Life Project via phone interviews in December
2011 (Pew Internet, 2011). This dataset represents the latest
large-scale survey data of its kind currently available. It
includes a nationally representative sample of 2,986 people
ages 16 and older living in the United States.
In addition, the survey collected data covering a rich array
of variables concerning people’s reading habits in terms of
reading frequency and quantity for various purposes,
including (1) for work or school, (2) for pleasure, (3) to
keep up with current events, and (4) to research specific
topics of interest. For those who have read both ebooks and
print books, the survey asked them to indicate their
preferences of ebooks vs. print books in the following
situations:
 Sharing books with other people
 Reading with a child
  Reading books while traveling or commuting
 Reading books in bed
 Having a wide selection of books to choose from
 Being able to get a book quickly
Research Questions
The original Pew report (Rainie et al., 2012) based on the
national Reading Habits Survey provided a descriptive
summary of the survey data aimed at finding the current
status of the American people’s general reading habits,
readership of books in various formats, ownership of ebook
reading devices, availability of e-contents, and ways for
acquiring ebooks. The report did not examine ebook and
print book readership in terms of the contextual variables
that could influence readership preferences, nor did it
identify which variables are important factors for ebook
adoption, both of which are major research gaps in related
studies, as discussed in the literature review. Using the
survey data, this study addresses the following six research
questions to fill the research gaps:
RQ1: What is the distribution of ebook/print book reader
groups?
RQ2: Are there any differences in individual contextual
variables among ebook/print book reader groups?
RQ3: Do ebook/print book reader groups differ in reading
frequency for different purposes/in various contexts?
RQ4: Do ebook/print book reader groups differ in reading
quantity?
RQ5: What are the situational factors for preferences of
ebooks or print books?
RQ6: Who are likely to read ebooks?
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Results of RQ1 show that there is no imminent concern for
ebook takeover. According to Rogers’ diffusion theory
(2003) as laid out in the theoretical framework earlier, the
adoption process goes slowly at first, speeds up, and slows
again to form an s-shaped curve. Results of RQ1 suggest
that while ebooks are becoming popular—read by 16.4% of
all respondents and 22.2% of respondents who read print
books and/or ebooks—the process of diffusion or adoption
of ebooks is still on the rise and has not yet peaked. The
largest percentage of Americans continues to read print
books only—57.3% of all respondents and 77.7% of
respondents who read print books and/or ebooks. This is
further evidenced by the percentage of those who only read
ebooks (1.9% in the total sample, 2.6% for print/ebook
readers), which is also a preliminary indication that ebooks
have not replaced print books just yet, and are still in the
nascent stages of adoption.
Results of RQ2 show that Internet use, community type,
gender, age, education, race/ethnicity, and income level
have a significant impact on print/ebook readership. People
who read ebooks at this time may be typified based on a
collection of individual contextual factors. Ebook readers
are more likely to be Internet users, young, and highly
educated.
As stated previously, the idea of functional equivalence is
based on the premise that the two media being contrasted
are comparable and fulfill the same functions. Rainie et al.
(2012) reported that there had been a decrease in the
number of people reading print books between 2011 and
2012. It would be fallacious to assume that this decrease in
print books has been caused by people reading ebooks;
rather, the results of RQ3 and RQ4 suggest that this
decrease may be linked to lower demand in reading overall,
in terms of reading frequency and quantity.
Most participants in the study reported that they read
mainly for pleasure (over 80%), and about half the
participants said they read every day. Interestingly, the
results showed that infrequent readers were more prevalent
among all kinds of book readers, indicating again the
possibility that book reading as a whole may be decreasing,
even while ebooks are increasing in popularity. The most
frequent readers are those who read both print books and
ebooks, signifying that individuals who like to read would
read books in any medium. This is further confirmed by the
results of RQ4, which showed that those who read print and
ebooks read more than their peers. Another important
finding is that people indicated reading ebooks more for
work or school, suggesting that there is a functional element
to the choice of medium. This confirms to some extent the
notion of functional equivalence (Robinson, Kestnbaum,
Neustadtl, & Alvarez, 2002; Wilson, 1997), stressing the
key role that situational context plays in determining the
use and adoption of a new medium.
The results of this study indicate that demographic and
lifestyle factors contribute significantly to the choice
between ebooks and print books. Additionally, situational
context also plays a very important role in making this
choice, as indicated by the results of RQ5. This study chose
the group who read both print books and ebooks to analyze
whether situational context was as important as function in
the choice between the two media. It was confirmed that
people overwhelmingly prefer print books over ebooks in
certain situations, such as reading to a child (85.9%) and
sharing books with other people (70.3%). At the same time,
ebooks are preferred in other situations, such as needing to
get a book quickly (85.2%) and reading books while on the
move (76.6%). Ease of access and the increasing selection
of ebooks are other reasons why many people tend to prefer
the newer media (54.4%), indicating that support for
medium attributes is somewhat important. Clearly, at this
point, ebooks and print books provide unique functions in
different reading situations. This could change depending
on how ebooks evolve, or rather how eReaders advance.
Results from RQ6 show that currently, the leading
significant predictors of ebook adoption are the number of
books read, the individual’s income, the occurrence and
frequency of reading for research topics of interest, and the
individual’s Internet use, followed by other significant
variables, such as race/ethnicity, reading for work/school,
age, and education.
CONCLUSION
Despite rising sales and readership in recent years, ebooks
are not yet positioned to take over print books. Both print
books and ebooks have unique attributes and serve distinct
functions in meeting people’s reading needs, which may
vary by individual demographic, contextual, and situational
factors. The results of this study support the notion that
ebooks have firmly established a place in people’s lives due
to the convenient way in which they allow people to access
their favorite content in any place, at any time. As they
stand, ebooks and print books complement each other,
providing the same content in two different media.
The results of this study illustrate that there are a variety of
factors that contribute to print/ebook readership and
preferences. As technologies evolve, so may the functions
of ebooks. Future research should take into consideration
the context and situation of the individual, the
characteristics of the medium, and the functions that
print/ebooks can fulfill in order to better understand the
choices and preferences between the two. This study is
unique, but it is also limited, as it provides only a snapshot
view of ebooks and print books as they stand at this time. A
longitudinal study with more emphasis on function could
provide a more comprehensive picture and a more accurate
prediction of whether ebooks will ever fully replace print
books and why.
This study has implications for libraries, other information
institutions, and related shareholders such as publishers that
seek to understand and accommodate user preferences in an
increasingly digital, Internet-based information
environment. The study provides unique insight on user
choices and preferences when reading books. Additionally,
ebooks and eReaders are a rapidly evolving and popular
technology that is of great interest to media companies and
publishing companies. Findings from this study provide a
direction in understanding who is adopting such technology
and how it is being implemented.
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