British mag industry to release comprehensive sub study

The Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) of Great Britain have carried out a major research campaign about the views about magazine subscriptions called The Loyalty Challenge: How Consumer Subscriptions Work. It's to be launched next month with a series of events starting March 19, at which point advanced copies of the document will be made available to registrants. The printed report will be available for publishers on 16 April.

A sample of almost 5,000 subscribers and non-subscribers was used to survey attitudes and behaviour towards magazine subscriptions. The report also contains what the PPA calls "crucial eye-openers from customer focus group sessions".

This is interesting, but in a way surprising, since the British system of distribution relies so heavily on single copy sales or reservations of copies at news agents. Whereas Canada, where circulation success depends on subscription sales, has never (as far as I know) done a broadly based and independent study like this.