Some book buyers may be leaving Amazon for Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores and the likes of Costco because the large e-tailer's dispute with publisher Hachette, according to new survey data.
From industry publication Publishers Lunch:
In a recent survey of almost 5,300 buyers (completed July 19), Peter Hildick-Smith of the Codex Group reports finding high awareness of the dispute. Just over 39 percent of respondents indicated that they were aware of the standoff.
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Among those book buyers aware of the dispute who have an opinion on that disagreement, 19 percent said they were buying fewer books from Amazon, while 4.4 percent said they were buying more books from the etailer.
That means that roughly 7.5% of book buyers say they're buying fewer books from Amazon because of its standoff with Hachette while about 1.4% of book buyers are actually buying more books from Amazon because of it, according to the data.
The Codex group also found out where those book buyers were going. About half the shifted buying went to Barnes & Noble, independent bookshops, barnesandnoble.com (the online store for Barnes & Noble), used bookshops and Costco, in that order.
In early June, brand consulting firm YouGov determined through a survey of consumers that Amazon had not yet suffered any damage to its brand reputation among consumers due to the dispute. The survey happened before the impact of Stephen Colbert's long segment slamming the retailer could be measured, however. A more recent survey by YouGov of consumers gave Amazon the highest consumer perception of any brand.
Amazon has not yet returned request for comment.
