Folio: Wire | 7.20.06

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Survey Reveals Most Engaging Magazines


National Geographic is America's favorite publication in terms of reader engagement and perceived quality, according to a 2005 Publication Reader Satisfaction Survey conducted by Monroe Mendelsohn Research. Guideposts, Smithsonian, The Economist and Departures, took second through fourth place, respectively.


For the survey, 16,000 men and women rated more than 200 major consumer magazines and national newspapers in 21 categories on a variety of topics including readers’ perception of the overall title as well as product satisfaction (editorial content, covers, visuals/illustrations and advertising).


A sampling of category winners includes National Geographic (General Interest and Outdoors), Veranda (Shelter), W (Fashion), Playboy (Men’s), The Economist (Business/Financial), Departures (Travel), Saveur (Food/Wine), Time (Newsweeklies), Rolling Stone (Celebrity), Real Simple (Women’s  Lifestyle), Marie Claire (Younger Women) and Parents (Parenting).


The study is used by both publishers and advertisers to judge reader engagement and brand recognition. The 2006 study also will look at leading search engines, publication Web sites and major ad-supported Web sites.