{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T21:34:08Z","timestamp":1774474448151,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]],"date-time":"2024-12-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1733961600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JD"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,25]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>The current study investigates the reader demographics, appeals and reading motivations of Webtoon, a born-digital emerging multimedia reading platform that is widely available via mobile applications. This study aims to contribute to existing reader studies by exploring a novel reading platform in order to create future recommendation services.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>An online survey was distributed, targeting Webtoon readers 18\u00a0years old or older. Descriptive and exploratory statistical analyses based on 1,117 valid survey responses were conducted to better understand the readers of Webtoon.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>Seventy-six percent of Webtoon readers fall into the 18\u201333 age range, indicating the medium\u2019s popularity among young adult readers. Among 14 appeal elements identified, Webtoon-specific appeals include visual\/artistic style, sound and interactivity, time commitment, user-friendliness, and cost and price. Frequently selected Webtoon reading motivations include relaxation, changing one\u2019s emotional state, escapism and achieving new experiences. Lastly, a cluster analysis yielded six distinctive Webtoon reader profiles: Habitual readers, emotionally-responsive readers, occasional readers, convenience-seeking readers, socially aware readers and Webtoon expert readers.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>The current study adopts a persona concept from user experience research to suggest a way to understand Webtoon readers and improve recommendation services, a unique approach in reader studies. It aims to understand Webtoon readers from readers\u2019 advisory and media studies perspectives, bridging two areas.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/jd-03-2024-0069","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]],"date-time":"2024-12-12T08:00:52Z","timestamp":1733990452000},"page":"351-368","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Understanding the reader demographics of an emerging online reading platform, Webtoon"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"81","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2574-3591","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hyerim","family":"Cho","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Denice","family":"Adkins","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9931-375X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alicia K.","family":"Long","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"413","DOI":"10.1207\/s15548430jlr3704_1","article-title":"The path to competence: a lifespan developmental perspective on reading","volume":"37","year":"2005","journal-title":"Journal of Literacy Research"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alvarado, C.G. and Jackson, A. (2020), \u201cExpanded visual experiences and the expressive possibilities of the digital comic in the work of Alejandra G\u00e1mez\u201d, in Scorer, J. (Ed.), Comics beyond the Page in Latin America, UCL Press, pp.\u00a0114-135, doi: 10.2307\/j.ctv13xpstc.11.","DOI":"10.2307\/j.ctv13xpstc.11"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref003","unstructured":"Alverson, B. (2017), \u201cNYCC insider sessions powered by ICv 2: a demographic snapshot of comics buyers\u201d, available at: https:\/\/icv2.com\/articles\/news\/view\/38709\/nycc-insider-sessions-powered-icv2-a-demographic-snapshot-comics-buyers (accessed 29 October 2023)."},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref056","article-title":"Short reading","author":"American Library Association","year":"2016"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref057","author":"American Library Association","year":"2015","journal-title":"Emerging adulthood"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref004","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1016\/j.entcom.2016.08.006","article-title":"The emerging adolescent World of Warcraft video gamer: a five factor exploratory profile model","volume":"17","year":"2016","journal-title":"Entertainment Computing"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref005","volume-title":"Reading Audio Readers: Book Consumption in the Streaming Age","year":"2024"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref006","first-page":"17","article-title":"Comprehension strategies in practice through a graphic novel study","volume":"39","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journal of Reading Education"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref055","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.1002\/pra2.603","article-title":"I only wish that I had had that growing up\u2019: understanding Webtoon\u2019s appeals and characteristics as an emerging reading platform","volume":"59","year":"2022","journal-title":"Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref007","article-title":"The chemistry of game design","year":"2007","journal-title":"Game Developer"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref008","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1086\/674034","article-title":"From book appeal to reading appeal: redefining the concept of appeal in readers' advisory","volume":"84","year":"2014","journal-title":"The Library Quarterly"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref009","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"259","DOI":"10.1108\/JD-06-2020-0105","article-title":"Reading experience librarianship: working with readers in the 21st century","volume":"77","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Documentation"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref010","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"470","DOI":"10.1080\/00220973.2017.1421519","article-title":"Using reader profiles as snapshots to investigate students' reading performance","volume":"87","year":"2019","journal-title":"The Journal of Experimental Education"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref011","unstructured":"Duarte, F. (2024), \u201cReddit user age, gender, and demographics (2024)\u201d, available at: https:\/\/explodingtopics.com\/blog\/reddit-users#reddit-user-region."},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref012","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.33365\/jeltl.v2i1.762","article-title":"Students' perception towards the use of Webtoon to improve reading comprehension skill","volume":"2","year":"2021","journal-title":"Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref013","first-page":"626","volume-title":"Elucidating User Behavior in Music Services Through Persona and Gender","year":"2016"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref014","first-page":"2231","article-title":"The multimedia life of a Korean graphic novel: a case study of Yoon Taeho's Ikki","volume":"13","year":"2019","journal-title":"International Journal of Communication"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref015","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"187","DOI":"10.13185\/kk2017.02908","article-title":"Webtoon as a new Korean wave in the process of glocalization","volume":"29","year":"2017","journal-title":"Kritika Kultura"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref016","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"657","DOI":"10.1002\/jaal.1147","article-title":"Care as a border-crossing language: the Webtoon reader discussion forum as mediascape","volume":"64","year":"2021","journal-title":"Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref017","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.25024\/kj.2020.60.1.71","article-title":"Webtoons go viral?: The globalization processes of Korean digital comics","volume":"60","year":"2020","journal-title":"Korea Journal"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref018","first-page":"2094","article-title":"Snack culture's dream of big-screen culture: Korean webtoon's transmedia storytelling","volume":"13","year":"2019","journal-title":"International Journal of Communication"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref019","article-title":"Global user number of navel webtoon 2018-2022","year":"2023","journal-title":"Stat"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref020","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1080\/21504857.2022.2053557","article-title":"I read webtoon every day!\u2019: young adult k-pop fans' language learning and literacies with Korean webcomics","volume":"14","year":"2023","journal-title":"Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref021","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1620","DOI":"10.3390\/su13041620","article-title":"Motivation and reuse: how does motivation affect sustainable use intention for brand webtoons?","volume":"13","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sustainability"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref022","unstructured":"Lee, M.J. and Kim, S. (2023), \u201cWebtoons are South Korea's latest viral cultural export\u201d, available at: Bloomberg.com, https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2023-05-09\/webtoons-are-south-korea-s-latest-viral-cultural-export"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref023","article-title":"Understanding users of commercial music services through personas: design implications","year":"2015"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref024","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.15017\/2186145","article-title":"Korean webtoons: explaining growth","volume":"16","year":"2016","journal-title":"The Annual Report, Research Center for Korean Studies"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Moura, H. (2011), \u201cSharing bites on global screens: the emergence of snack culture\u201d, in Jin, D.Y. (Ed.), Global Media Convergence and Cultural Transformation: Emerging Social Patterns and Characteristics, IGI Global, doi: 10.4018\/978-1-60960-037-2.ch003.","DOI":"10.4018\/978-1-60960-037-2.ch003"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref026","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0041763","article-title":"The development of online comics to explain the \u2018nuclear reaction\u2019 topic","volume":"2331","year":"2020","journal-title":"AIP Conference Proceedings"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref027","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"86","DOI":"10.1002\/widm.53","article-title":"Algorithms for hierarchical clustering: an overview","volume":"2","year":"2012","journal-title":"WIREs Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery"},{"issue":"10","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref028","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.telpol.2022.102407","article-title":"Exploring fans' participation in digital media: transcreation of webtoons","volume":"46","year":"2022","journal-title":"Telecommunications Policy"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref029","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"055038","DOI":"10.1088\/1361-6552\/ac166c","article-title":"Hallwachs and the negatively charged particles' - the development of education comics","volume":"56","year":"2021","journal-title":"Physics Education"},{"issue":"6","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref030","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"585","DOI":"10.1080\/02702711.2018.1496502","article-title":"Profiles of readers in a digital age","volume":"39","year":"2018","journal-title":"Reading Psychology"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref031","first-page":"2161","article-title":"Dynamics between agents in the new webtoon ecosystem in Korea: responses to waves of transmedia and transnationalism","volume":"13","year":"2019","journal-title":"International Journal of Communication"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref032","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1359","DOI":"10.12973\/eu-jer.10.3.1359","article-title":"Online English comics as reading materials for English language education department students","volume":"10","year":"2021","journal-title":"European Journal of Educational Research"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref033","article-title":"Webtoon CEO sees massive growth and new opportunities in U.S. market","year":"2021","journal-title":"Forbes"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref054","volume-title":"Readers\u2019 Advisory Service in the Public Library","year":"2005"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref034","volume-title":"The Readers\u2019 Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction","year":"2009","edition":"2nd"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref035","unstructured":"Semrush.com (2024), \u201cgoodreads.com may 2024 traffic Stats\u201d, available at: https:\/\/www.semrush.com\/website\/goodreads.com\/overview\/"},{"issue":"1-2","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref036","first-page":"103","article-title":"Not your usual bedtime story: the transformative power of the online LGBTQ YA graphic novel","volume":"18","year":"2016","journal-title":"Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref037","volume-title":"Transcending Boundaries with LGBTQ Webtoons: An Alternative Platform for Democratic Discourse, Dissertation","year":"2018"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref058","article-title":"Traffic analytics, ranking stats and tech stack: webtoon.com","author":"Similarweb","year":"2023"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref038","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0037488","article-title":"Educational comics to explore electromagnetic waves through the Hertz story to prove the Maxwells equation","volume":"2320","year":"2020","journal-title":"AIP Conference Proceedings"},{"issue":"43","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref039","first-page":"27","article-title":"Welcome to toontown","volume":"269","year":"2022","journal-title":"Publishers Weekly"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref040","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"432","DOI":"10.1108\/jd-06-2020-0098","article-title":"Reading by listening: conceptualising audiobook practices in the age of streaming subscription services","volume":"77","year":"2021","journal-title":"Journal of Documentation"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref041","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"229","DOI":"10.1145\/2967934.2968082","article-title":"The gamification user types Hexad Scale","year":"2016"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref042","first-page":"1","article-title":"Portraits of success: building personas from scholarly reading patterns","volume":"2","year":"2013","journal-title":"Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref043","first-page":"129","article-title":"Between satire and nationalism: the transcoded pantheon of hell in the webtoon Sin kwa hamkke (\u2018Along with the Gods\u2019, 2010-2012)","volume":"43","year":"2020","journal-title":"Bochumer Jahrbuch zur Ostasienforschung"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref044","article-title":"Fans of comic books in the U.S. 2019, by gender","year":"2019","journal-title":"Statista"},{"key":"key2025022807182463200_ref045","article-title":"The effectiveness of webtoon for EFL students in mastering vocabulary","year":"2019","journal-title":"Conference of English Language and Literature"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref046","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.1080\/13511610.2020.1828839","article-title":"Korean webtoons and collective innovation: expanding Europe's creative industries through competitive localization","volume":"33","year":"2020","journal-title":"Innovation: European Journal of Social Sciences"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2025022807182463200_ref047","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"701","DOI":"10.1215\/10679847-8606404","article-title":"Redrawing the division lines? Surplus, connectivity, and remediation in the South Korean webtoon Secretly, Greatly","volume":"28","year":"2020","journal-title":"positions: east asia cultures critique"}],"container-title":["Journal of Documentation"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/JD-03-2024-0069\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/JD-03-2024-0069\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T22:33:43Z","timestamp":1753396423000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/jd\/article\/81\/2\/351-368\/1242770"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]]},"references-count":52,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,25]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/JD-03-2024-0069"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/jd-03-2024-0069","relation":{},"ISSN":["0022-0418","1758-7379"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0022-0418","type":"print"},{"value":"1758-7379","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,12]]}}}