Digital magazine readers want more personalized ads

When GfK MRI consulted their iPanel, made up of tablet and e-reader users, over two-thirds overall (67%) said they preferred reading digital magazines. However, 65% of the same panel of readers also indicated that the experience of reading a print magazine was better than the digital counterpart.

Why? Because, says GfK MRI's VP of research operations, Risa Becker, despite the convenience, portability and immediate access of digital magazines paper magazines continue to hold a tactile appeal.

Other annoyances of digital magazines cited by the iPanel include lengthy download times (48%), gimmicky videos (46%) and that it's hard to find for magazines they want to read on their mobile devices (43%).

The good news is that 70% of digital magazine readers said they would like to be able to purchase items simply by clicking on ads within a publication and 67% would like those ads to be personalized to their own interests.

Ultimately, most digital magazine readers said they wanted uniformity of formatting across all digital magazines.

"Although magazine publishers are experimenting with different formats in order to differentiate their digital brands, this is not necessarily resonating with digital readers adopting the new tablet technology," said Becker.

Tags: digital format, digital magazine, ecommerce, ereader, magazine publisher, online advertising, personalization, print publishing