The world is going digital, with paper seemingly falling into oblivion. But is print really a thing of the past? A recent study of consumer preferences in the areas where paper competes with digital content revealed that traditional print has not yet lost its powerful appeal.

Without undermining the importance of digital content, it is worth realizing that the it has not yet permeated our everyday lives, shows the study conducted by Toluna in June 2017 among nearly 11,000 respondents from 10 countries. In France, paper’s supremacy seems particularly striking.

From promo leaflets to books, paper’s position remains unshakeable

A whopping 85 percent of French respondents choose an old-fashioned printed book over its digital equivalent, while 80 percent would rather pick a paper magazine than its electronic edition. Print also wins in the category of product catalogues (62 percent of respondents) and newspapers (59 percent). Why is paper so popular? It’s rather simple: perusal of a paper-printed word seems a more pleasant experience to a majority of those surveyed, compared to reading e-content.

In advertising, paper-printed word seems more persuasive

59 percent of French respondents pay more attention to advertising on paper, compared to electronic mail. Online marketing and ads appear to be rather unpopular with consumers. An impressive 72 percent of French respondents ignore most of advertising on Internet, while 35 percent admit to never read email newsletters. Even worse, 68 percent of French consumers find online advertising annoying and often irrelevant, while 61 percent cannot recall when was the last time they voluntarily clicked on an online ad.

Source: https://www.lsa-conso.fr/le-papier-grand-favori-des-francais-devant-le-digital-etude,267942