Abstract:

First of all, a magazine or a newspaper is an object, something that you can touch and handle, something that - with a few exceptions - you have to buy with your own money. Let us take the example of a magazine; its format, its weight, the quality of its paper, its lay-out, its type-setting, its general colour, that is to say, the proportion between white, black, supporting colour and full colour, all of these build up the subtle personality of that object which is also a magazine. Research we carried out some years ago shows that buyers and readers derive some sort of mild sensuous gratification from the touch and look of the magazine, considered as an object, and that this is an important element in the set of motivations conditioning loyalty.