Saturday, July 28, 2007
Instapundit:
IN LIGHT OF YESTERDAY'S POST ABOUT TV, ARNOLD KLING SENDS THIS:
Back when I had my relocation web site, we got hold of some zip-code level marketing data. When I looked for purchases that correlated with affluence, hardback books was one of the strongest.
Rich people read. Books.
I'm not surprised to hear that.
Not so fast. The data show that rich people buy hardbacks. Doesn't show they read them.
Substitute goods include paperbacks, used bookstores, the library, the internet.
Rich people have been known to buy books as gifts, to buy books in bulk for their employees, to buy books as interior decorating accessories, for their not so rich kids, or even to read them. It might be useful to correlate how often these rich people, having bought volume 1 of a series, go on to buy volumes two and three.
Most American adult males are functional illiterates, but the rich may be an exception. I'm not saying the rich don't read. I'm saying the data don't properly indicate reading ratios.
IN LIGHT OF YESTERDAY'S POST ABOUT TV, ARNOLD KLING SENDS THIS:
Back when I had my relocation web site, we got hold of some zip-code level marketing data. When I looked for purchases that correlated with affluence, hardback books was one of the strongest.
Rich people read. Books.
I'm not surprised to hear that.
Not so fast. The data show that rich people buy hardbacks. Doesn't show they read them.
Substitute goods include paperbacks, used bookstores, the library, the internet.
Rich people have been known to buy books as gifts, to buy books in bulk for their employees, to buy books as interior decorating accessories, for their not so rich kids, or even to read them. It might be useful to correlate how often these rich people, having bought volume 1 of a series, go on to buy volumes two and three.
Most American adult males are functional illiterates, but the rich may be an exception. I'm not saying the rich don't read. I'm saying the data don't properly indicate reading ratios.
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