How is the diversity of cultural consumption changing in an era of abundant supply? To what extent does market data bear out those expectations which came with the boom in digital technologies? Does it support Chris Anderson’s early 2000s Long Tail Theory, which posited that the number of niche markets would expand whilst the overall concentration of sales per outlet would fall?
These questions, which were the subject of works published by the deps in the early 2010s, are now more pertinent than ever because the online consumption of non-physical and physical goods has increased considerably over the last decade, with the proportion of online buyers among the French population rising from 33% in 2007 to 60% in 2016. It also seems vital to re-examine the question of changing diversity of cultural consumption by consulting the same data source (i.e. the GfK panel which surveys all consumer purchases based on a representative sample of points of sale) and by deploying the tripartite approach to diversity developed in the Stirling model, based on variety, balance and disparity.
This publication presents the key findings of the research conducted on the book market between 2007-2016, whilst another edition of the “Culture Studies” collection presents that for recorded music market.
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