Online recommendations are more effective for certain types of books, according to a 2006 academic study, “The Dynamics of Viral Marketing.”
Recommendations for fiction books were usually the least effective, with only about 2 percent resulting in a purchase. Recommendations for nonfiction books dealing with personal and leisure pursuits were more effective, resulting in purchases about 3 percent of the time.
Recommendations for medical texts tended to be much more effective, nearly double the average rate. The researchers attributed this to the higher median price of medical books and technical books in general. A higher book price increased the chance that recommendations would be consulted and accepted.
Recommendations were moderately effective for certain religious categories: 4.3 percent for Christian living and theology, and 4.8 percent for Bibles. By contrast, books not connected with organized religions had lower recommendation effectiveness, including New Age (2.5 percent) and Occult (2.2 percent).
The researchers concluded that recommendations from family members or personal friends were much more effective for fiction and religious book categories than were online recommendations from strangers.
Some book categories, such as gardening, tended to have different recommendation effectiveness depending on how specialized the text and how widely the topic is supported by online communities. For example, books on vegetable or tomato growing had only an average recommendation effectiveness compared to other nonfiction. However, recommendation of books on orchid cultivation, which tends to be more specialized, had double the recommendation acceptance. Book buyers become more likely to purchase a book according to the number of recommendations they receive for it, but become immune after a certain number of recommendations for the same book.
Automated book recommendations: Effectiveness by genre, price
Online recommendations are more effective for certain types of books, according to a 2006 academic study, “The Dynamics of Viral Marketing.”
Recommendations for fiction books were usually the least effective, with only about 2 percent resulting in a purchase. Recommendations for nonfiction books dealing with personal and leisure pursuits were more effective, resulting in purchases about 3 percent of the time.
Recommendations for medical texts tended to be much more effective, nearly double the average rate. The researchers attributed this to the higher median price of medical books and technical books in general. A higher book price increased the chance that recommendations would be consulted and accepted.
Recommendations were moderately effective for certain religious categories: 4.3 percent for Christian living and theology, and 4.8 percent for Bibles. By contrast, books not connected with organized religions had lower recommendation effectiveness, including New Age (2.5 percent) and Occult (2.2 percent).
The researchers concluded that recommendations from family members or personal friends were much more effective for fiction and religious book categories than were online recommendations from strangers.
Some book categories, such as gardening, tended to have different recommendation effectiveness depending on how specialized the text and how widely the topic is supported by online communities. For example, books on vegetable or tomato growing had only an average recommendation effectiveness compared to other nonfiction. However, recommendation of books on orchid cultivation, which tends to be more specialized, had double the recommendation acceptance.
Book buyers become more likely to purchase a book according to the number of recommendations they receive for it, but become immune after a certain number of recommendations for the same book.
You can read the entire study here.