Why We Buy Books
In: LogosSearch for other papers by Daniel Bunyard in
Current site
Google Scholar
Publishing is often characterized by instinctive decision-making with little attempt to apply a scientific methodology to an obvious question: why does one book sell and another not? The thesis of this paper is that, although there are aspects of a book’s publication history that one cannot predict in advance, one can know what these aspects are. A simple syllogism underlies the argument: if human behaviour can be understood through psychology and if book-buying is a form of behaviour, the motivations for book-buying can also be understood through psychology. This approach can be applied historically, through recourse to sales data, to trace the fossils of books published long ago and so discover the type and strength of the motivations that once drove people to buy them. History demonstrates that these motivations, once properly framed, can be understood to be influenced by context. Book-buying motivations also appear cyclically. This leads to a discussion of why it is that one book rather than another may satisfy a motivation and therefore sell better than another. Using the concept of prisms combining to reflect a motivational ‘light’, we see that books exist as constructs of a finite range of elements that cohere (or not) in a multiplicative way to enhance or diminish their effectiveness. Evidence is also given for what appears to be a universal ratio that dictates a natural entropy in the effectiveness of these prismatic elements.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Belk, R. W. , 1988. ‘Possessions and the Extended Self’, Journal of Consumer Research, 15 (2), pp. 139–168.
-
Belk, R. W. , 2013. ‘Extended Self in a Digital World’, Journal of Consumer Research, 40 (3), pp. 477–500.
-
Bhaskar, M. , 2013. The Content Machine: Towards a theory of publishing from the printing press to the digital network (London: Anthem Press).
-
Deci, E. L. and Ryan, R. M. , 2016. Self-Determination Theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness (New York: Guilford Press).
-
James, W. , 1890. The Principles of Psychology (New York: Henry Holt).
-
Maslow, A. , 1943. ‘A Theory of Human Motivation ’, Psychological Review, 50 (4), pp. 370–396.
-
Moretti, F. , 1994. ‘Modern European Literature: A geographical sketch’, New Left Review, 206.
-
Ogilvy, D. , 1983. Ogilvy on Advertising (New York: Vintage Books).
-
Sassoon, D. , 2006. The Culture of the Europeans: From 1800 to the present (London: HarperPress).
-
Will, G. F. , 2018. ‘We Have an Epidemic of Loneliness. How can we fix it?’, Washington Post, 12 October.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 37 | 0 | 0 |
| Full Text Views | 1868 | 591 | 46 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 2982 | 815 | 27 |
Why We Buy Books
In: LogosSearch for other papers by Daniel Bunyard in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Publishing is often characterized by instinctive decision-making with little attempt to apply a scientific methodology to an obvious question: why does one book sell and another not? The thesis of this paper is that, although there are aspects of a book’s publication history that one cannot predict in advance, one can know what these aspects are. A simple syllogism underlies the argument: if human behaviour can be understood through psychology and if book-buying is a form of behaviour, the motivations for book-buying can also be understood through psychology. This approach can be applied historically, through recourse to sales data, to trace the fossils of books published long ago and so discover the type and strength of the motivations that once drove people to buy them. History demonstrates that these motivations, once properly framed, can be understood to be influenced by context. Book-buying motivations also appear cyclically. This leads to a discussion of why it is that one book rather than another may satisfy a motivation and therefore sell better than another. Using the concept of prisms combining to reflect a motivational ‘light’, we see that books exist as constructs of a finite range of elements that cohere (or not) in a multiplicative way to enhance or diminish their effectiveness. Evidence is also given for what appears to be a universal ratio that dictates a natural entropy in the effectiveness of these prismatic elements.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 37 | 0 | 0 |
| Full Text Views | 1868 | 591 | 46 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 2982 | 815 | 27 |