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How Cover Affects the Choice of Romance Books at UD
Introduction
The cover of a book represents the way in which a book is marketed to the ultimate consumer; the reader. It has therefore been hypothesized that the design of a cover will always determine whether a book will be purchased and read by the consumer or not. The studies that have been conducted by various English and Social Science academic researchers have not only been for the purposes of academics alone, but also to aid marketers as well as publisher in identifying what kind of cover will attract the customers to a book. To this effect, various studies have been conducted detailing various aspects of romance book covers. The cover of a romance book shapes the choice of the readers as it is based on how individuals interpret the cover. The research questions in this paper is “How Cover Affects the Choice of Romance Books at UD”.
Literature Review
Relationship between picture and color use on book
In their study, Vanderschantz, and Timpany hypothesized that the cover of a book is a representation of what is inside (1). Sampling a total of 840 textbooks, they examined the covers of various books based on the cover type and design. In their findings, Vanderschantz, and Timpany found out that when a photograph is used on the cover, the book is likely to be read compared to plain cover text books (7). While Vanderschantz, and Timpany, analyze the representation of cover based on the presence or absence of an illustration, numerous studies have narrowed down to the type of illustration that the cover has adopted. In a similar fashion, McKnight hypothesized that the type of cover on a book will affect the likelihood of a reader to read the book (5). “And with so many options to choose from, the bright, colorful covers of romance novels became crucial sales tools for their publishers” (McKnight 5).
Romance book cover development from color to picture
Embarking on a more specific dimension, more studies by various authors have focused on the various types of cover used. For instance, McKnight furthers her study to investigate the preferences between an illustration and a photograph, and how they subsequently affect reader decision to purchase. She hypothesizes that a book with an actual photograph is more likely to get a reader’s attention as compared to when an illustration is used (36).
Since writers learned the art of marketing, they have used creativity in ensuring that they are unique from one another and capture the minds of more readers. In her book, McKnight gives a historical background of how cover for romance books have transitioned from hard cover since 1955 to more recent real photographs which are inscribed on romance books (13).
According to McKnight, marketers have transitioned from the traditional methods of book representations, moving towards more lustful picture as time goes by. As an example McKnight uses the illustrations of books such as Kept Woman, Passion Flower and Jungle Nurse among other books (47). Among the books McKnight covers in her work is The Manatee by Nancy Bruff, a Canadian book published by the Harlequins. The book shows early illustrations in the form of a colored painting depicting a police officer and a girl going upstairs. This illustrates that the publishing industries were competing on a higher note on pictures.
McKnight classifies men’s preferences versus female preferences that were used in publication and targeting readers. For instance, she writes “If men were attracted to tales of sex and violence, women wanted romance…” (9). This classification has formed a basis of hypotheses of many other subsequent studies.
Several studies on genre preference based on gender show several factors influence the choice of books .among the male and female readers. One assumption is that men are biologically aggressive in nature which will influence them to choosing books showing agility and aggressiveness which they can identify with. Another assumption is that gender stereotypes also play a major role. The gender of the protagonist also affects the choice of book genres. It is believed that ability to relate to the story is a major factor. Females prefer to read content which they can relate to as they always want to be loved, while the male readers relate with contents on action as they are believed to be aggressive in nature (Summers).
How do young adult choose books?
In her study, O’Connell examined some of the best-selling young adult novels to determine the kinds of images on romance cover that attract the young adults towards reading them, based on previous predetermined types of illustrations of cover such as human pictures or cartoon, and also on the background scene on the cover. In her findings, O’Connell realized that young adults will choose a book by its cover if the books are represented using real human pictures (29).
Another factor that determines the choice of a romance book read by young adults is whether the cover illustrations reflect their life and surrounding (O’Connell 6). According to O’Connell, various individuals go through different issues in their lives and would want to read novels in order to understand if the characters undergo what they are undergoing, and how they handle the situations. This means therefore that the readers will try to connect the relationship between them and the book characters, who should preferably appear on the cover as real human beings.
Limitations of secondary research
The cover therefore represents a link between the readers and the book. To make this connection effective, authors try to be as creative as possible and ensure that the cover creates a striking first impression that will lure the readers. Different readers may interpret the same cover in different ways, something that has not been given much attention by various researchers.
While most work has analyzed the various types of the cover that have been used by the romance novel authors, there exists a gap in terms of analyzing the interpretation of these cover in order to internalize the message presented on the cover. Additionally, the studies conducted previously have generalized on the genres and age of the readers.
There is thus no specific address by researches towards how college students are affected by the cover of romance books. The recent research works have not accommodated the concept of college students and their interpretation of the various romance novel cover, and how the cover helps the campus students choose their preferred books. Another area that is not focused on in most researches is McKnight’s classification that ‘men prefer tales that depict sex and violence, while women prefer tales of romance.’ This is presented as a hypothesis that has not been given much attention. Therefore, I did a research in UD to find more information on the limited secondary research.
Methods
To answer the research question, I created a survey to gather statistics and information about the research topic. The survey was done in the UD library. 30 students took part in this survey; 17 male and 13 female respondents. There were two part of the survey. Part 1 had 4 multiple choice and 1 free response questions. I designed 2 questions about color, 1 question about how they choose book. In part 2, I used 5 different book covers with different styles. I designed 3 multiple choice and 1 free response questions. The main focus for part 2 was on letting students choose which cover was best suited for romance novel. My expected outcome is the results of the book choices made by students based on color or picture.
Details of the Survey
When conducting the study, I formulated questions based on covers which have a very significant effect on UD students when choosing romance books.
Part 1
1. Do you like reading romance novels?
I asked this question because I believe more female readers like reading romance novels compared to male readers. I got the expected outcome. I did a research on 17 male and 13 female respondents. Majority of the male respondents didn’t like reading romance novels, while most female respondents like reading romance novels. 76% of male respondents didn’t like reading romance novel, while 69% of females like reading romance novels. Even though most of male respondents didn’t like reading romance novels, majority have same answer in part 2 question 3, an aspect which will be covered in this paper.
2. When choosing a book, what appeals to you most?
I chose this question, because I am focusing on “cover” which is the independents variable in the research. In the pie chart, you can see for the male results, title, cover and abstract have similar percentage. For the female results, most of them chose book by cover. Some students chose other, because some of them chose book by heard from others. For the result, exclude cover, people also like to choose book by their abstract and title. This research is more focus on how people choose book by cover. To avoid they choose book by title and abstract, I create part 2.
3. Do you think pink color signifies romance? 4. If not, which color do you think signifies “romance”?
The two questions are related to each other. First, I want to establish how many students believe that pink is a love color. This is important because pink color on the cover may influence the respondents when choosing romance books. Second, I want to establish which other color the students who didn’t choose pink, chose to describe love. 53% of the male respondents think pink is the color that signifies romance, in comparison to 62% of the female respondents who have the same views. Among the 8 male respondents who chose “No” in question 3, 88% of them chose red in question 4. Among the female respondents who chose “No” in question 3, 80% of them chose red in question 4. The results show that both pink and red are warm color and have the red pigment. In total, 93% of students questioned chose pink or red color which they think signifies “romance.” In the free response question 4, most student said, red is the color of the heart and the color of love is red.
Part 2
All books I choose are romance novel with different type of cover.
1 |
This book (pictured on the left) is about love in high school. The green color signifies life and youthfulness. However, the color does not symbolize any aspect of love.
Hypothesis: Less people will choose this cover as the best romance novel cover.
|
2 |
This book is a romance novel. Most respondents think red is the color of love in part 1. This book is a very important component of part 2 survey, because of the red color.
Hypothesis: Less people will choose this cover as the best romance novel cover.
|
3 |
This book is a romance novel. The book shows a couple sitting by the seaside and they appear happy. Why would we think they are a couple? Because they are sitting very close to each other and the woman’s head is resting on the man’s shoulder. I believe people usually see pictures first than color. The picture also signifies a happy ending for the novel.
Hypothesis: Most people will choose this cover as the best romance novel cover. |
4
|
This book is a romance novel. The cover has a male and female pictures on the cover. This cover suggests a first time meeting between the two characters.
Hypothesis: This cover is likely to be chosen as the best romance novel cover. |
5
|
This book was read during the current semester. This book motivated my research topic. I believe this book cover is not suitable for a romance novel.
Hypothesis: This book is not likely to be chosen as the best romance novel cover especially before reading it. |
Data analysis, interpretation, and presentation
1. Which book you ever read or know? (more than one)
I asked this question because I want to make sure they never read or know any of those books, which means they choose book only by their cover. For the result, 87% of students never read any of those books. There have one male student choose book1 for question 1 and 3, because he had read this book already. By the way, this male student choose book not by cover, because he already know this book. By this question I can know how many people choose books only by cover.
2. Which book you think is romance book? (more than one)
The results of the survey regarding the books which the students questioned chose as romance books are as follows; 3% of the students chose book 1, 43% chose book 2, 83% chose book 3, 57% chose book 4, 27% chose book 5.
We can clearly see that book 3 and book 4 have the highest number of respondents who think they are romance novels because they both have a display of male and female on the cover. Book 3 shows that the couple have a stronger bond in their relationship. This is shown by their closeness; they are sitting very close to each other and the girl’s head is resting on the boy’s shoulder. The results show that when students choose a romance book by cover, they try to find male and female depicting some sort of a “relationship” on the cover. They will then choose a book based on color of the cover, which is why book 3 came third.
3. Which book cover you think is the best cover for romance novel?
77% of the students think book 3 is the best cover for romance novel. In the free response question, most people said, because it show a couple on the cover. 7% of the respondents chose book 1 cover is best suited for a romance book, 3% chose book 2, 10% chose book 4, while 3% chose book 5.
For the secondary research I find some articles about how to choose book by cover. By research, I learn relationship between pictures and color use on book. The book which have pictures on cover will have more possibility choose by people. The book have no pictures on the cover will have less possibility choose by people. Also in the history of romance book cover, artist and publisher put more attention on book cover, and put more pictures in the cover. I want to find out relationship between color and picture, so I create part 2. From the results of this question, it is clear that book covers without either a display of male or female characters, or colors pink or/and red are less likely to be chosen as romance books. At the same time, they also believe red and pink are the colors of love and romance.
I thought it have limited that different readers may have interpret the same cover in different ways. However, the results of this question almost same. In the free response question, most people said, because it show a couple on the cover. In the subconscious, people love happy endings and they are looking for more relationship between two people.
Conclusion
1. What I learned?
- learn from secondary and primary research (how to do primary research)
2. By secondary research and primary research, it answer my question “How Cover Affects the Choice of Romance Books at UD”. (You can talk about picture and color both in secondary research and primary research) follow the outline. See Limitations of secondary research to write conclusion.
- People choose book by picture (relationship between male and female on the cover)
- choose by color
Make change
(When doing this research, I learnt that when collecting primary data, there is need to formulate precise and relevant questions, write down the neutral notes, and without bias interpreting both the primary and secondary research data to avoid researcher bias. The expected outcome of the research has been achieved which have answered the research questions. The picture of a male and female couple showing some form of connection on the cover of a book is a major influence on the choice of that book by readers looking for romance novels. The second factor is color, with red and pink being associated with romance books. The findings are proven in the literature review and in the survey findings. These factors can help publishers in marketing of romance books especially among the student population. )
Works Cited
McKnight-Trontz, Jennifer. “The Look of Love: The Art of the Romance Novel”. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002. Print.
O’Connell, Kathleen C. “Young Adult Book Cover Analysis.” Diss. University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2010.
Summers, Kate. "Adult Reading Habits And Preferences In Relation To Gender Differences". journals.ala.org. N.p., 2013. Web. 14 Dec. 2016.
Vanderschantz, Nicholas, and Claire Timpany. “Who Says You Can't Judge a Book by its Cover?” International Journal of the Book 10.4 (2013).
Which book you think is romance book?
1 13 25 17 8
book cover best SUITED for A romance novel?
2 1 23 3 1
When choosing a book, what appeals to you most? (MALE)
29%
Title
35%
Cover
29%
Abstract
[PERCENTAGE] Other 5 6 5 1 When choosing a book, what appeals to you most? (FEMALE) [PERCENTAGE] Title [PERCENTAGE] Cover [PERCENTAGE] Abstract [PERCENTAGE] Other 1 8 3 1