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People fake reading to impress partners, finds survey

Fallacious habits
Last Updated 16 February 2015, 19:10 IST

Fake reading is an emerging trend in metros across the country including Bengaluru. Many Indians buy books to decorate their homes, some buy it to impress their prospective partners. In fact, people like to fake read in public places, finds a recent survey on reading habits.

The survey, conducted in seven cities in the country including Bengaluru, showed that several people who buy classics never read them.  Called the ‘Fakespeare Survey,’ Landmark Bookstores undertook such a survey for the first time to map the reading habits of people. According to Sivaraman Balakrishnan, Senior Manager (Marketing and Communication), Landmark Stores, they were curious to dig deeper into the buying patterns of their readers. While a plenty of surveys had been done to look into what books people buy, this one aimed at looking into why people were buying certain books.
As part of the survey, readers in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai were sent a questionnaire. Nearly a thousand people responded to the questions posed to them. “Were we to ask the questions in person, people might have hesitated to answer. Hence it was mailed to them,” Balakrishnan added.

Responses elicited
The responses elicited from the readers showed that about 23 per cent of people did fake reading to impress potential partners while about 13 percent purchased books to decorate their homes. Not just homes, about 10 percent of people bought books as an accessory, merely to complete their outfit.

Balakrishnan added that fake reading depended on the category of books.
For instance, people would normally not fake read a best seller but would do it with a classic. The survey showed that when it came to fake reading, 25.82 percent Indians preferred reading economy and finance, and about 21.87 percent fake read English classic literature, Charles Dickens, for example.

According those who conducted the survey, the response was given by people in the age group of 18 and 30. Some of the questions posed to them were: ‘Have you ever purchased books as an accessory only to do up your office space and not read?'; ‘Have you ever purchased books as an accessory to decorate your home with no intention of actually reading?'; ‘Have you ever purchased books as a fashion accessory simply to complete your look?'; ‘Would you ever fake read to impress a potential partner,? among other questions. Popular fiction, English poetry, classic English literature, economy and finance, philosophy and spiritual books were some of the categories that people picked.

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(Published 16 February 2015, 19:10 IST)

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