By Julia Sutherlin // SWNS
NEWS COPY W/ VIDEO + INFOGRAPHIC
Men are bigger romance fans than women, according to a recent survey.
The survey of 2,000 American romance readers revealed that 63% of men surveyed consider themselves die-hard romance enthusiasts compared to 60% of women.
Men also spend more time reading romance: On average, the study found that men will spend 364 hours immersed in the genre per year while women will spend 312 hours per year.
Commissioned by ThriftBooks and conducted by Talker Research, the survey also uncovered who readers are imagining when reading romance, their must-haves for the perfect reading session, misconceptions about the genre and their favorite and least favorite plot tropes.
Seventeen percent of married readers typically picture their spouse when imagining the love interest in a novel, 21% of respondents admitted to having envisioned their celebrity crush and 7% of readers even revealed they typically imagine their ex.
For respondents who imagine celebrities, when the love interest in a romance novel is a woman, Gen Z pictures Zendaya most often (39%), both millennials (26%) and Gen X (26%) imagine Angelina Jolie and baby boomers said they’ll most commonly think of Halle Berry (19%).
When the love interest is a man, the celebrity most commonly pictured among Gen Z readers was Timothée Chalamet (25%). For both millennials (34%) and Gen X (26%) it turns out to be Channing Tatum while the top answer for baby boomers was Brad Pitt (25%).
Before becoming romance junkies, readers said they had a few misconceptions about the category. A few common misbeliefs were that romance books all have predictable/happy endings (38%), all follow the same formulaic plot (27%) and are all about fairy tale romance without enough physical romance (19%).
But after digging into the genre, they were surprised to find that romance novels are often very well written (54%), contain spicy content (46%) and frequently have surprising plot twists (37%).
Examining their best-loved tropes, the survey found that romance readers most enjoy forbidden romance (45%), friends-to-lovers (44%) and enemies-to-lovers (42%) plots and dislike reading about love triangles (23%), office romances (22%) and fake dating scenarios (21%) the most.
“The study found that romance tropes aren’t limited to books,” said Barbara Hagen, vice president of marketing at ThriftBooks. “Seventy-eight percent said a romance trope has happened in their real life. More than a few had love-at-first-sight encounters, with one respondent saying they married a man after knowing him for just five days.”
To set up the perfect romance reading session, readers said their top must-haves are a cozy blanket (65%), a snack (46%) and a quiet house all to themselves (41%).
In fact, 44% prefer to read in perfect silence, while 17% typically enjoy the sound of rainfall and 12% will turn on white noise.
Respondents said a typical reading session lasts a little under an hour and a half (81 minutes), on average, but most (85%) admitted that if the book is particularly engrossing, they’ll stay up all night reading to finish it.
It’s no surprise then that of all book types, readers said romance (67%) is the genre most likely to keep them reading all night long.
Examining the anatomy of the ideal love novel, respondents ranked good character development (49%), realistic dialogue (33%) and ample romance moments (33%) as the most important characteristics.
On average, readers said they can tell if they like or dislike a romance novel 33 pages in.
However, Gen Z will stick it out the longest of all generations and read 45 pages of a book they don’t like before throwing in the towel.
Gen Z (58%), millennials (51%) and Gen X readers (46%) are most likely to take a romance book recommendation based on the plot while baby boomers are most likely to pick up a book if it’s suggested to them based on the author (50%).
Popular romance novel recommendations from the survey include modern reads such as “The Notebook,” “It Ends with Us” and “Fifty Shades of Grey” as well as classic titles like “Gone with the Wind,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “Wuthering Heights.”
“It’s heartwarming to see that readers are still actively reading and recommending classic romance novels as well as contemporary ones,” said Hagen. “And while more than a few had misconceptions before getting into the genre, the study found that many readers found romance to be more nuanced than originally thought.”
TOP CELEBRITIES PICTURED WHEN READING A ROMANCE NOVEL
WOMEN
- Angelina Jolie - 26%
- Megan Fox - 21%
- Zendaya - 20%
- Selena Gomez - 19%
- Scarlett Johansson - 19%
MEN
- Channing Tatum - 26%
- Brad Pitt - 22%
- Chris Hemsworth - 20%
- Ryan Reynolds - 19%
- Chris Evans - 17%
READING IN A YEAR SNAPSHOT
- Average romance books read per year - 36
- Average hours reading romance per year - 312
Survey methodology:
Talker Research surveyed 2,000 American adults who read at least 3-4 romance novels per year; the survey was commissioned by ThriftBooks and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Jan. 2 and Jan. 8, 2025.
We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:
- Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
- Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in
Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.
Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.
Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.
Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:
- Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
- Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
- Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
- Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once
It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.
