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The Company
The National Publishing Company was a leading
publishing company with several years of experience in
the printing and publishing industry. The company had
several publications which included a daily newspaper
58 Vikalpa
tit-bits, etc., although some of them concentrated on of Titli, it included households which had bought at
mythological and historic stories. In addition to such least once in the last three months.)
children's publications, there were other magazines
such as family magazines, women's magazines, politi- The study indicated that 70 per cent of Titli buyers
cal magazines, etc. Annexure 2 gives a brief description were regular buyers and the remaining 30 per cent were
of the major publications available in the state. occasional buyers. The regular purchase level of other
magazines ranged from 20 per cent to 60 per cent, the
remaining being occasional buyers. Thus, for Petals, the
Salient Findings of Market Research Study regular buyers constituted 50 per cent of total users,
The report submitted by the market research agency whereas for Chand aur Suraj, it was 32 per cent. Guiding
contained several important information useful for Light, on the other hand, had only 23 per cent of regular
Saxena. This study carried out by the research agency buyers.
was in two phases. The first phase consisted of a survey
The study revealed that, on an average, 1.7
to understand the profile and reading habits of
magazines were bought by each buyer household. The
magazine readers especially that of Titli readers. The
study further revealed that about 55 per cent of Titli
second phase consisted of a series of focus group dis-
buyers did not buy any other magazine whereas among
cussions to understand the attitudes, needs, and expec-
the buyers of all other magazines, more than 80 per cent
tations of children as well as that of parents with respect
also bought Titli, It was also found that as many as 60
to children's magazines.
per cent of the households which had children in the
The survey was conducted among households with target age group read Titli. This was because, in addi-
a monthly income of above Rs 750 having children in tion to the 45 per cent who bought the magazine,
the age group of 3-14 years. The respondents were another 15 per cent borrowed it from neighbours or
mothers or guardians of children. The sample size for friends.
the survey was 3,500 respondents representing various
Purchase of Children's Magazine based on Monthly House-
regions of the state. The focus group consisted of 16
hold Income
groups of children and five groups of parents. Some of
the major findings of the market research study are The study indicated that about 33 per cent of
discussed below: households having monthly income up to Rs 1,000
purchased any one of the vernacular magazines
Awareness of Children's Magazines among Parents whereas about 61 per cent households with a monthly
There was a high degree of awareness of Titli among income of over Rs 4,000 purchased a vernacular
respondents; about 76 per cent of them mentioned the magazine. The purchase pattern with respect to English
magazine spontaneously whereas only about 31 per magazines, however, was found to vary with difference
cent were spontaneously aware of Petals, another com- in income. Thus, only four per cent households with a
peting publication. Little flower, yet another competitor, monthly income up to Rs 1,000 bought any English
received an un-aided awareness level of 19 per cent magazine whereas about 29 per cent households with a
among the respondents. The aided awareness level of monthly income of more than Rs 4,000 bought an
all these publications including Titli was about 85 per English magazine. Exhibit 4 gives the purchase pattern
cent. of magazines based on monthly household income.
The study indicated that out of the total households, 51 The children between the age groups of 6 and 11 years
per cent purchased either a vernacular or an English constituted about 50 per cent of the readers of children's
children's magazine and 49 per cent of the households magazines. For Titli too, this group constituted about 54
purchased any one of the vernacular magazines. Ex- per cent of the readers. It was also seen that children
hibit 3 gives the percentage of households buying a between the age group of 6 and 14 years constituted
children's magazine. (The current buyer of a magazine about 75 per cent of the readers while for Titli, this age
was defined as a household which bought at least one group constituted about 90 per cent of its readers. Ex-
out of the last six issues of a magazine and in the case hibit 5 gives the constitution of the readership base of
Features Most Liked The main interest of the children at this stage was
playing with other children of their own age, many
The survey of parents also provided some insights into times with their own siblings (since they were not al-
the popular features published in Titli which were lowed to go out of the house). Although the children
preferred by children belonging to various age groups. watched TV, they did not have high interest and invol-
According to the parents, picture stories like "Friendly vement in this activity. For most children in this age
Ghost," "Magic Monkey," and "Detective stories" were group, interest in reading was secondary to that of
most popular among children. Exhibit 7 gives the rela- playing. Parents, however, encouraged reading habits
tive preference of various features published in Titli as as they felt reading would lead to interest in studies.
assessed by the parents. Purchase of magazines, generally left to the parent's
Leisure Habits of Children discretion, was occasional rather than regular and
brand loyalty among children was low.
About 90 per cent of the children were exposed to the
television medium and this was found to be almost Both the children and the parents expected more
uniform across different age groups. Regular viewing entertainment than information from reading. The
of programmes on the television was found to be about children, in particular, looked for picture stories, short
65 per cent, again uniform across different age groups. stories, games, colouring, etc. The appeal of the
It was also noted that the total duration as well as the magazine was as much through its "window dressing"
programmes watched by the children were monitored as through its contents; purchase was heavily influ-
and controlled by the parents. enced by offers of gifts, prizes, posters, etc.
60 Vikalpa
Stage of Passive Approval sumed dimensions such as enforcing ban on watching
TV, restricting time for playing/reading, etc. The
This stage was characterized by a high interest in read-
parents were concerned about the children's studies as
ing on the part of the children. In general, the children
well as character building at this stage and hence kept
in this group studied in class VI to VIII (age of about
a close watch over what the child saw, read, and did
10-12 years). Parental attitude towards reading by this
during his/her spare time.
stagehad "cooled down" to that of passive approval, but
it was not yet discouraging. Purchase of a magazine at The children in this age group started exhibiting
this stage was mainly guided by the children's insis- variations in preferences of features in magazines. They
tence and the children's choice. The children in this age preferred stories which inspired and motivated them;
group also purchased magazines more regularly and stories which made them "think about the deeper mean-
were more loyal to specific magazines. Some children, ings." They were also interested in "thought provoking"
in addition to children's magazines, also started read- articles on general or social issues. The children in this
ing science magazines. Although this was due to group had a greater desire to seek exposure to the adult
prompting by the parents and the teachers, they began world and look for "realistic" values. Parents expected
to genuinely like science magazines. reading to inculcate values of responsibility and
develop personality and self-confidence. Reading had
Despite the fact that playing continued to be of
a high impact on character and behaviour at this age.
great interest to the children, there was a distinct
preference towards reading as this was becoming the The main reading materials for children belonging
most enjoyable activity. The parents at the same time to this age group were magazines like Titli and science
were careful to see that reading magazines did not magazines. This was also an age group which indicated
distract the children from studies. Watching of a growing penetration of general interest magazines
television too was of considerable interest to the targeted at grown ups like India Today. Such magazines
children in this age group. Many of them also started were highly favoured by parents as suitable reading
some hobbies like collecting stamps, coins, match-box material for children belonging to this group. There was
labels, car/motorcycle posters, keeping a pet, etc. Thus, low readership of story books /novels (like Enid Ely ton,
the children in this group had varied interests and Nancy Drew) during this phase. The children regularly
activities. 'scanned' headlines, sports, etc. in the newspaper.
Due to a relatively high level of interest in reading, Image Perceptions of Titli
the children in this group exchanged magazines and
The focus group discussions also indicated that Titli
books between them and even discussed popular was perceived to be a superior magazine by the children
stories and features published. The main features in because of elements such as more interesting and
magazines interesting to the children were stories, diverse stories, more picture stories, more colour, etc.
general knowledge, sports information, etc. The parents In general, Titli was perceived as a magazine appealing
expected the children to read stories which would pro- more to 8-12 year old children and, to a lesser extent,
vide moral values and articles which gave scientific and 13-14 year old children. Although the younger children
general information/knowledge. There was a marked were eager to associate themselves with Titli, a few of
improvement in the attitude of the parents when the older children were embarrassed to be seen reading
children displayed information picked up through it as if they were doing something "childish" for their
reading. age.
Stage of Active Control Among the parents, the image of Titli was that of a
source of "good, harmless entertainment." While some
This was the stage when the children were in classes IX parents were appreciative of the usefulness/informa-
and X. The children in this age group derived a high tive value of the magazine, the general tendency was to
level of enjoyment from reading; this was an activity dismiss it as 'light reading.' This tendency, however,
'relished' even more than TV though they had lesser was less pronounced among the parents who read Titli
amount of leisure time at their disposal due to increased and, therefore, knew the contents of the magazine. The
study load and tuition. This was also a stage marked by parents of older children in particular looked down on
a high tendency on the part of the parents to control all Titli as they felt that it was meant for younger children
the leisure activities of the children. This control as- and had no great value for older children. This was one