Have you ever wondered how people choose books? We have come to a time where readers are exposed to thousand new book releases each year not counting the books, which are released through electronic publishing. With more than 175,000 titles published every year, the competition for the readers’ attention is fierce.

The interest that readers will show towards any book depends on five different parameters: the reputation of the author, the reputation of the publisher, the design of the cover, the relativity of the cover to the content of the book and the type of the book (fiction – non fiction).

Research has shown that the reputation of the author, the reputation of the publisher and the cover design have the highest impact on the readers final decision.

Let’s have a more detailed look: people buy books for different reasons (to gain knowledge, to gain pleasure, to feel more intellectual, etc). A study, conducted in 1992 by Leemans and Stockmans, revealed that the choice of a book is a complicated process because of the many available options. They have shown that in most cases the process of choosing a book has two phases. The first phase (elimination phase), where multiple criteria are used, aims in reducing the number of available options. In the second phase, the remaining options are evaluated using more strict criteria, the top three being: the author’s reputation, the reader’s experience with the author and the book’s content.

Kamphuis in 1991, identified the same criteria along with eleven others, like the book’s theme, the writing style, the book’s appearance and its perceived cultural value.

Stockmans and Hedrickx (1994) have shown the book cover has major impact on the readers’ decision. A well perceived book cover will encourage people to read the book summary, to examine its content and, eventually buy it. The book cover, just like a product’s package, has two main functions: (1) it contains and protects the content and, (2) it delivers direct (title, drawings and pictures) or indirect (colors, cover material) information about the book’s quality and content.

Getting people’s attention is required before persuading them to buy. This is what the book cover does. Stokes (1985) proved that a product’s package has significant impact on the product’s perceived quality, especially when consumers are not familiar with the brand.

To summarize, several studies, which have been conducted focusing on the book choice process, indicate that among the different attributes that potential buyers are faced with, three stand out as the most effective on their final choice: (1) the author, (2) the reputation of the publisher and (3) the book cover.