What Kind of Newspaper Reader Are You?

A leading Copenhagen newspaper, Ekstra Bladet, has always sought to “maintain” high frequency buyers; target middle frequency buyers to boost subscriptions and single copy buyers; and target the impulsive behavior of low frequency buyers with pictures of pretty girls and/or scoundrels on the cover.

Now, according to an article in the INMA’s Ideas magazine by research manager Pia Stork, readers’ increased individualization and fragmentation of consumption have forever changed things. “Determining behavior and interests are crucial to understanding how readers use and perceive media,” she says.

Stork now divides her paper’s readers into five categories: “indignant,” “social,” “ambivalent,” “pleasure seeking” and “closet.”

Indignant readers are the ones for which newspapers remain a constant. “These readers are typically skeptical, and identify with the victims of fraud and deceit,” writes Stork. Sociable readers are action oriented and want fast and general information without getting too heavy.

Ambivalent readers are heavy media consumers who want to stay up to date but don’t consider the newspaper to be substantial or reliable. Pleasure seeking readers are very low frequency readers who use the newspaper to kill time and take a mental break from more serious matters. And closet readers perceive the newspaper as “trash. They have a feeling of voyeurism when reading the paper.” That’s me (just kidding).