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 While I am apt to ask myself any number of questions throughout the course of the day, the ones that seem to hang on for dear life, often keeping me up at night, include questions about whether my next-door neighbor is actually a serial killer or just a gentleman keeping odd hours, whether Bono would like me if he ever met me and whether or not books are on the verge of obsolescence because of their availability on electronic devices.
Thanks to recent research, it seems I have an answer for at least one of these questions….
Although it seems that tech-savvy millennials would prefer getting their literature from convenient e-books, it turns out that this generation of readers would prefer actual books over e-readers — maybe even more than older readers — according to a study from the University of Arizona.
Likewise, the study also determined that across all adult age groups, consumers look on e-book ownership much differently than actual physical ownership of a book.
"We looked at what's called psychological ownership, which is not necessarily tied to legal possession or legal rights, but is more tied to perceptions of 'what is mine,'" said lead study author Sabrina Helm, a UA associate professor who researches consumer perceptions and behaviors.
The feeling of control over the object, whether the object defines who they are and if the object gives the possessor a sense of belonging in society were all factors that contribute to psychological ownership, according to the research.
"Psychological ownership is important in people's perception of how they value certain products or services or objects," said Helm. "In the context of digital products, we thought it would be appropriate to look at how people take ownership of something that's not really there — it's just a file on your computer or device or in the Cloud; it's more of a concept than an actual thing."
Publishing their findings in the journal Electronic Markets, researchers divided participants into four different focus groups with two groups of millennials, one group of Baby Boomers and one group of Generation Xers.
As researchers moderated, the groups revealed their feelings about ownership of physical books versus e-books. Some findings:
- Because they don’t have full control of the e-book (i.e., they can’t copy a digital file to a number of devices), they don’t feel they have complete ownership of it.
- Because they couldn’t share the e-books with their friends as well as being unable to gift the e-books or sell them, participants reported the items felt less valuable that physically possessing a book.
- Because participants experienced physical books via senses such as touch, sound and smell, they reported feeling more emotionally attached to the physical books.
- Because the process surrounding the purchase of e-books made it feel more like renting the book versus actually buying it, the participants reported feeling less ownership over the product.
- Because physical books can be displayed, readers associate that with an expression of their identity to others.
Yet, despite all of the resistance expressed concerning e-books, there were some in favor of the technology, namely minimalists who don’t enjoy the clutter of books as well as older populations who are able to manipulate text size and lighting using e-books, making for a more comfortable reading experience.
"One of the conclusions of our research was that digital books and physical books are entirely different products," said Helm. "E-books feel like more of a service experience; overall, they seem to offer a more functional or utilitarian experience. You have much more richness if you deal with a physical book, where all your senses are involved."
"Physical books are very special products, and we know that physical books have a lot of meaning for a lot of people," Helm continued, "Digital reading is still fairly new, digital books are still a fairly new product category, and thinking about ownership in the context of these kinds of products is new for most people."
That being said, it seems that actual books are safe...at least for now.
Do you prefer electronic devices or the real deal when it comes to reading?
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