Public places are effective spaces

80 percent of waiting room readers act on ad or editorial content they see in magazines there, according to a new study released Monday by Time Inc. and Mediaedge:cia. It was reported in Media Post. This study meshes with a 2004 Time Inc. study focusing on doctors' waiting rooms.

"They're highly engaged, and they're in an environment where there's less multi-tasking going on and less distractions generally," explained Ian Lewis, Time Inc. vice president for research and consumer insights. "It's a captive audience, and people are picking up the titles that are appropriate in those situations."

Time's January Internet study tracked readership of six different magazines in a sample population of about 5,000 people. Focusing on Entertainment Weekly, In Style, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Parenting, and People, Lewis said "we asked them about a long list of different types of actions they had taken--including actions based on editorial content, actions based on ads, and some that weren't specific, like going to a Web site based on something in the magazine."

Not surprisingly, Lewis recounted, "Parenting is highly read in a doctor's office; InStyle shows up in a beauty parlor"--acknowledging, "of course, the companies seek to place the magazines in these environments. That's the whole point."

85 percent of the 5,000 respondents said they "didn't mind waiting if magazines were available" and 97 percent said "waiting rooms should provide things to read while you wait."