Filipino Reading Habits Survey Results and Limbag Kapihan (Updated: 7 Mar 2014)

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So, here's the presentation I showed during my section in National Book Development Board's Limbag Kapihan for writers. In it are the results for the Filipino Reading Habits Survey I conducted last Feb.

One caveat I will emphasize: this is an informal survey, and I am no statistician. I am, however, a very curious individual, and I like facts and statistics. Hence, the survey. The rest of the caveats you'll find in the presentation.

The first few slides are mostly pictures of the different activities Filipino readers are up to, at least those within my zone of awareness. And I think while I was showing these, my main message was: Can we please stop saying that Filipinos aren't readers? Please. Look at the pics. Look at the sites. Look at the stats. I mean, sure, our readership isn't like the readership in other countries, but I would say it's a stretch to say Filipinos don't read or don't read a lot.

Anyway, I'll let the presentation speak for itself. I decided to add survey highlights, conclusions, and recommendations to this post, just to get the message across more clearly. You'll find them below the presentation. 





Those who answered the survey:
  • Obviously people who are online
  • Started from my personal network
  • Total of 408 respondents
  • 65% female
  • A total of 73% from 18-34 age group
  • 48% employed full-time

Highlights:
  • In 2013, Filipino readers read an average of 21.96 books per reader. Of these books, 19.51 of them were for leisure reading. As a comparison, the NBDB 2012 Readership Study shows that the average number of books read in the previous year was only 5.2. If we get the number from only the ABC segment, that would be 8.1. 
  • In 2013, Filipino readers bought an average of 15.7 books. A reader spent an average of P276.23 on each book purchased. 
  • 83% of Filipino readers say they read ebooks.
  • Ebook readers (the 83%) read an average of 11.89 ebooks in 2013, but bought only 4.88 ebooks. 
  • Most popular book genres read by respondents is Literary Fiction, followed closely by Fantasy, Mystery, and Young Adult.
  • 88% of readers read books written by Filipino authors.
  • Readers of Filipino authors read an average of 6.2 books by Filipino authors in 2013.
  • Most popular way to get book recommendations is through 1) bookstore browsing, 2) offline word-of-mouth; and 3) online word-of-mouth

Conclusions:
  • If Filipinos who have online access read 19.51 leisure reading books per year and buy 15.7 books per year, then this means that they read a lot. Therefore, if your book isn’t being bought, then it doesn’t mean that there are no Filipino readers; just that they’re not reading or buying you.
  • Understandably, Filipino readers who have access to the internet will read ebooks, and are starting to read quite a number of them. However, most of the ebooks read were not bought.

Recommendations:
  1. Find out in what language readers prefer to read.
  2. Find out where they get their books.
  3. Conduct a study on library perceptions.
  4. Conduct a more comprehensive e-reading survey.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them here or anywhere you can find me: Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks, and keep reading!


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