Audiobooks market and consumer's trends - (Marketing)

Audiobooks were created in 1932 as a way of addressing the vision impaired population in the United States. However, it has only been until recent years that this activity is becoming more widely adopted by the global population transitioning in the last decades from books-on-tapes and compact disks, to the current audiobooks platforms available online. 

These changes in the way consumers approach audiobooks are resulting in a new whole group of trends as the audiobooks market is estimated to grow from $2,7 USD billion in 2019 to $15 USD billion by 2027 (Grand view research, 2020). Therefore, companies have a growing interest to provide consumers with their ideal service which also impacts the trends that audiobook consumers adopt as a new way of learning and entertaining.

Recent conditions due to the global pandemic and spread of the covid-19 virus have clearly impacted the consumption trends of all the population around the world. Being lockdowns one of the main measures taken by governments it also meant that public spaces such as libraries and universities were closed to the public, speeding up the adoption process and therefore, audiobooks have become one of the preferred ways to access content from books (Springer, 2021). 


Consumer trends

According to the Audiobooks market report 2020 - 2027 there are some important trends happening in the audiobooks space. 

Firstly, the main way of delivery of the service is through smartphones accounting for 43% of the total, then tablets, personal computers, compact disks and smart speakers (which are expected to grow in use). 

Secondly, one of the main reasons why people find audiobooks attractive is thanks to their ability to allow multitasking, a wider portion of the population are realising they can engage with book content while also doing other activities such as driving or doing exercise. 

Thirdly, adults are the main consumers of audiobooks with over 75% of titles sold, while  fiction books are the preferred ones surpassing non-fiction books in a two-to-one proportion. 

Finally, the voice reader’s skills are a very important factor to take into consideration as more and more listeners complain not for the books’ content but the readers’ voice, pace and intonation (Grand View Research, 2020). 


More factors

While consumers and companies innovate, there are also other factors to keep in mind, for example, The United States alone consumed 48% of the total audiobooks sold in 2019.  

Indicating the USA is the biggest market in audiobooks. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand from other locations of the glove such as countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America, and the need to make books available in more languages (Fortune business insights, 2022). 

Additionally, buying audiobooks in a one purchase time download has traditionally been the preferred option, although that is changing as subscription systems with books on demand models continue to evolve, developing more user friendly websites and increasing offerings available at a lower cost with more benefits.

As current consumer behaviour trends in the audiobooks space continue to evolve in the delivery, type of device, format, platform, availability, genre, language and distribution channels, it is clear there is a growing interest for companies to supply that demand for audiobooks as the market worth is only expected to continue increasing at an exponential pace. 

Therefore, from a marketing perspective it is vital to acknowledge these current trends to understand the consumer’s perception, motivations, attitudes, as well as cultural and individual factors in order to help consumers entertain and achieve their personal objectives while creating a profitable relationship for the company.



Written by Sergio Quintero, 2022, student of Master of Business Administration, 
Kaplan Business School, Melbourne, Australia.



REFERENCES


Grand View Research 2020, Audiobooks market size, share, industry report 2020 - 2027, Grand view research, retrieved 13 May 2022 <https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/audiobooks-market>.

Snelling, M 2021, ‘The audiobook market and its adaptation to cultural changes’, Springer,  Pub Res Q 37, 642–656.

The McCrindle Blog 2021, Australian Income and Wealth Distribution, McCrindle, retrieved 13 May 2022 <https://mccrindle.com.au/insights/blog/australias-income-and-wealth-distribution/>.

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