E-Books and Consumer Attitudes the

E-Books and Consumer Attitudes The marketing of e-books could be retooled to successfully meet the demands of consumers as well as allay their fears about the technology itself. As evidenced by the survey, one of the biggest grievances that consumers had with e-book technology was that they felt it was not reliable. In order to help put these consumers at ease, the manufacturer could offer comprehensive warranties or focus marketing to reflect a more reliable image.

The readers could also have a more comprehensive instructional manual in order to promote better care and understanding of the technology. Reliability is a function of a consumer's understanding of the product and how to care for and operate it. If consumers are given more understanding within these realms, and a focus on reliability is maintained within the marketing drive, manufacturers should be able to reduce this consumer concern. Another major consumer concern relative to e-books is efficiency.

Though relatively vague in nature, efficiency of the e-book could refer to the amount of time it takes to turn the reader on and off vs. having a paper representation of a book instead. In order to help speed up efficiency, manufacturers could look into incorporating e-book technology into cell phones and other widely used portable devices. In this way, people would already have the devices on and ready to use instead of having to carry a separate e-book reader device.

Cost is most certainly an issue as seen in the survey results. While e-book technology is still relatively new and rather expensive, the cost for an e-reader is relatively low compared to when they first arrived on the market. However, manufactures could do well in packaging their books in a way that is more cost-effective. Perhaps a subscription service would help reduce the perceived maintenance or operation cost of the e-book.

This may also help the perception of a high aggregate cost for these devices, as cheaper subscriptions or individual books could help consumers see the e-book as a cheap alternative to the real thing. Also, as time goes by, technology will become cheaper and cheaper, so these devices will likely fall in price over the next few years. Again, this is another area where-book and e-reader manufacturers and retailers could do well by incorporating this technology into devices that are hand-held and already in use like cell phones or tablets.

Interestingly enough the survey revealed another specific consumer concern associated with e-books that could be taken advantage of by manufacturers in order to sell more products or help to boost the popularity and image of the company. Those surveyed felt that e-books and their usage relative to the environment was important to them. Consumers see e-books as environmentally friendly alternatives to paper books and publications, and manufacturers could do well in helping to accentuate and reinforce this fact.

The marketing of e-books and e-readers to a target audience who is concerned about the environment or the environmental impact of paper.