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The UK bookselling scene has changed dramatically over the last 5 years. The impact of conglomerate marketing from publishers and booksellers as well as the intensification of competition from supermarkets and online booksellers has compelled traditional chain booksellers to adopt a more focused approach to their marketing strategies. Doctoral research currently being carried out at The Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen examines current marketing strategies across UK chain bookstores and analyses how consumers respond to the techniques being used to implement these strategies. Semi structured interviews with selected trade experts within UK chain bookstores have been carried out, with a view to drawing out expert opinion on current marketing and branding strategies, and to identify those issues which chain booksellers need to address in order to remain commercially viable. These detailed interviews identified several issues which are central to UK chain bookshop marketing strategy, for instance, the need to expand the book buying market; the need to define individual bookshop identity within chains and the concept of the bookshop as a lifestyle destination. Focusing upon key issues identified by the trade experts, questionnaires were designed and carried out face to face with 100 consumers in three different UK chain bookshops. The objective of the questionnaires was to identify how consumers respond to the issues identified by the trade experts as being central to the bookshop brand, the marketing strategy and the future of bookselling. This research draws upon established theories of retailing, marketing and consumer behaviour, as well as the considerable body of writing and opinion on these issues in the trade press. It sits within the wider context of retail research, while focusing upon bookselling. The proposed paper will present key findings from the research to date.

Stream: Other or Stream Unspecified, Books, Writing and Reading

Paper: Bookselling Culture & Consumer Behaviour

Audrey Laing is a PhD research student within the Publishing Department at The Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. Her thesis is entitled "Bookselling Culture and Consumer Behaviour: Marketing Strategies and Responses, in Traditional and Online Environments" and examines how customers respond to the marketing techniques used by UK chain bookstores. Audrey's interest in this area of research grew out of the 12 years she spent working in chain bookstores and the many changes that took place in the book trade over that period.

Jo Royle is Senior Lecturer and Subject Leader for Communication and Publishing within the Aberdeen Business School at the Robert Gordon University and is Undergraduate Programme Manager in the field. She lectures on Electronic Publishing and Consumer Publishing at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels; and has supervised and carried out research in these areas, and gained related external funding from sources including the Arts and Humanities Research Board and British National Bibliography Research Fund. In particular this research has focused on the role of branding for consumer publishers on the Internet and change management issues associated with multimedia publishing for children. She recently gained internal funding from the RGU Research Development Initiative and it is from this that the research on branding and the community in bookselling is progressing. She was previously Editorial Manager of an independent consumer publishing house.