People read what they like, and sometimes it is in a doctor's office

It ain't what you do, it's the way what you do it; as apparently true in magazine reading as in other aspects of life, at least according to a paper published by the Magazine Publishers of America. The paper can be found at the MPA website and was summarized in a report in MediaPost's Center for Media Research.

The Value of Magazine Readership study is an update, pulling together new information from a number of sources, of an earlier study published by the MPA and it suggests that many assumptions may not be accurate about the connection between consumers' reaction to magazine advertising and the price paid and circulation source for the magazines that they read.

• Price paid and circulation source do not predict reader engagement or demographics
• Differences in the ways subscribers, newsstand buyers and public place readers respond to magazines and to the advertising in them are often insignificant
• Public place copies generate significant advertising exposure opportunities, often to readers with desirable demographic characteristics

One component of the study reiterated the value that carefully targetted public place copies can bring to advertisers:

Estimated Readers Per Copy Generated by Public Place and Newsstand Copies
	Newsstand	Public Place
Total Readers (per copy)	4	30
Adults HHI $50,000+	2.4	16
Adults HHI $75,000+	1.6	10
Professional/Managerial	1.3	7.9
Women 25-54, HHI $50K+, Any College	1.2	8.3
Source: Condé Nast research incorporating MRI data, 2003

Tom Robinson, Managing Director, Affinity Research LLC, noted: "Based on interviews with more than 60,000 magazine readers in 2006, on average, more than half took or plan to take action as a direct result of exposure to specific print ads. Reader action levels were similar for both paid and nonpaid readers."

Actions Taken in Response to Advertising
	Paid	Nonpaid
Consider purchasing the product or service	20%	18%
More favorable opinion about the advertiser	13%	11%
Gather more information about product or service	2%	11%
Visit advertiser's website	10%	10%
Purchase the product or service	8%	7%
Visit a store, dealer or other location	8%	7%
Save the ad for reference	6%	5%
Recommend the product or service	5%	5%
Some other action	4%	5%
Took any action (net)	52%	51%
Source: Affinity's VISTA Print Effectiveness Rating Service. Base: Actions taken based on respondents recalling specific ads, multiple responses.