pass-along audience

pass-along audience definition - business

pass-along audience

Individuals other than subscribers who are exposed to a publication. For example, pass-along audiences include a family that shares a neighbor's magazine or patrons of a public library. Paid circulation of a periodical or newspaper tends to understate readership because of the pass-along audience.

Are publishers able to accurately gauge the pass-along audiences of their magazines? If so, how important is the result in pricing advertisements in their publications?

Readership numbers (the total number of estimated readers of a publication, including passalong audiences) are often more important than general-circulation numbers. In the medical field, for example, the impact factor of a journal is measured by looking at the frequency with which a specific journal is referenced over a set time period. If journal publishers can prove extended readership, using impact factor as one measurement of reach, advertising pricing can be adjusted accordingly.

E. Mace Lewis, Vice President, Business Development, QD Healthcare Group, Greenwich, CT

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Business Terms Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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