Men’s Magazine Readers Fail To Live Up To Their Image

A report by Mintel International into men’s lifestyle magazines has found that many titles have become more notorious than their readers.

Magazines like GQ and Loaded do not only appeal to the ‘lads culture.’ The research has discovered that family men and working ABs also enjoy these magazines. The main attraction of these titles is their humour, trendiness and features, and not the much-hyped sleaze and bad taste. Report manager, Amanda White said: “A spate of negative publicity highlighting the bad taste of such publications has benefited the market by encouraging impulse purchasing.”

Demographically, young men without children were most likely to buy these magazines, although ABC1s, ‘better off family’ men and ‘working managers’ were just as likely to be clutching a copy of GQ or Loaded. London and Scotland recorded the highest number of purchases in this sector.

The men’s magazine market has increased by 400% in the last five years. The sector is now worth an estimated £30.9 million.

Amanda White pointed out: “There is significant room for expansion with 68 % of men claiming that they would never buy these magazines. The number of men aged 25-54 years will significantly increase by the year 2000, a key opportunity for magazine publishers.”

Mintel: 0171 600 5703