Buyers and borrowers : the application of consumer theory to the study of library use
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Buyers and borrowers : the application of consumer theory to the study of library use
(Haworth library and information science)
Haworth Press, c1993
Available at 6 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
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University of Tsukuba Library, Library on Library and Information Science
015:E-52931001010,941010890
Note
Bibliography: p. 177-181
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Learn a practical new approach to some long-standing and significant problems that librarians are continually called upon to address, such as:
Is the library reaching its target audience?
What do shifts in use patterns reflect?
How often can users be expected to visit the library on the average?
Can users be identified by category by the way they use the library?Author Charles D. Emery takes a close look at some methods which can be used to answer these questions accurately. Using the analogy of repeat buying, which has been shown to follow consistent and regular patterns across a wide range of consumers, brands, products, time periods, and other conditions, Mr. Emery applies the same concepts of research to the investigation and analysis of library use. There are remarkable similarities between library borrowing and consumer purchasing patterns. Thus, not only does the consumer purchasing model provide us with a means of investigating and predicting library user behavior, but it furnishes an appropriate mechanism for the more sophisticated analysis of that behavior through the application of marketing concepts such as product mix and brand switching.By drawing the comparison between library borrowing and consumer purchasing, Mr. Emery has identified what library administrators have hitherto lacked: a readily accessible corpus of theory and practical example upon which to base a coherent and cumulative body of research into the behavior of library users. The results will be useful as input to planning and distribution of resources in matters of budgets, services hours, personnel, and programming.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
The Meaning of Marketing
Library Patrons as Consumers
Library Use Patterns
Consumer Research and Behavioral Models
Repeat Buying Theory
Hypotheses
Field Work
Data Analysis
Replication
Conclusions
Appendix: Library Borrowing Trends at Cranfield
Bibliography
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"