The impact of socioeconomic variables on cultural behavior: The case of subscribers to literary magazines

Abstract

This paper gives the results of a survey held among subscribers to seven important Dutch literary magazines. The vast majority of readers of literature restrict their attention to books. A very small segment of the public also reads literary journals. This choice requires a vast knowledge of literary authors and their work. It is argued that socioeconomic properties such as ‘level of education’ and ‘profession’, which are current in socio-cultural research, contribute little to our understanding of the decision to subscribe to literary magazines. The type of education the respondents received and the type of profession they practice proved to be more effective in analyzing the choice behavior of the respondents and their preference for particular magazines. Evidence was also found for the idea that literary magazines serve other tastes than literary books. Whereas the respondents largely preferred books of narrative prose - as most purchasers of literature do — literary magazines appealed to their taste for poetry or essays. The use of magazines, a medium that is different from books, presupposes that one has developed preferences for literary genres that play a subordinate role on the market for literary books.