“There is no more room on my bookshelf” - BookTube viewing in relation to the book buying behaviour and reading habits of its viewers

With the rise of Web 2.0 and online electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), it became clear that people who are being exposed to large quantities of these online person-to-person eWOM messages have a higher purchase intention and buying behaviour, thus they are more likely to purchase consumer products after viewing such messages. The aim of this study is to investigate BookTube, which is a subset of the YouTube community and which consists of eWOM videos in which BookTubers talk about books and reading. BookTube is still a rather unexplored part of social scientific research, hence why this study aims to explore the relationship between watching BookTube videos on YouTube and the book buying behaviour and reading habits of its viewers. In addition, the book buying behaviour and reading habits of both BookTube viewers and non-BookTube viewers are also compared and explored in more detail by means of an online survey (N = 1264). Results show that there is a positive relationship between watching BookTube videos and the book buying behaviour and reading habits of the viewers and that viewers thus buy and read more books when watching more BookTube videos. Furthermore, viewers buy significantly more books if their motivation to watch BookTube videos is to gain information about new books on the market. On the other hand, viewers buy significantly fewer books if their motivation to watch BookTube videos is to be entertained or to acquire a feeling of community. Lastly, results show that people who watch BookTube videos buy and read significantly more books compared to people who do not watch BookTube videos. It can thus be said that there is a clear relationship between watching BookTube videos and the book buying behaviour and reading habits of its viewers, as well as between the book buying behaviour and reading habits of BookTube viewers and non-BookTube viewers. BookTube viewers thus feel the need to own and read an extensive number of books if they watch a lot of BookTube videos which means that watching BookTube videos plays a significant role in the book buying behaviour and reading habits of its viewers.