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Case Study of a Magazine Purchase

snapshot of Monocle Magazine
Snapshot via New York on Instagram.

I don’t remember the exact moment I discovered the existence of global culture magazine Monocle. But recently I bought a copy. (So sue me, I like luxury.) Tracing my progress toward that decision is interesting.

  1. Months ago I read a Nieman Lab interview with Monocle founder Tyler Brûlé.
  2. Last week I started a project about modern cities. The magazine’s radio station Monocle 24 has a show called The Urbanist, which I knew because Jessica Bridger mentioned contributing on her website. I listened and liked it.
  3. I sampled some of their other podcasts. Enjoyed them.
  4. I downloaded the Monocle 24 app, which alternates trendy multi-continent music shows with various talk segments. (The music lineup is slightly more repetitive than I’d prefer.)
  5. I thought, “If I like the audio this much, maybe I would like the magazine too.”
  6. I searched the web for other articles about Tyler Brûlé (found and read: 1, 2, 3, 4).
  7. I wrestled with Monocle’s ecommerce interface.
  8. I wanted the magazine enough that I tried again.
  9. Success! Received this email:

successful Monocle order

By the way, the cost wasn’t negligible: £6 copy + £16.75 shipping = $35 (roughly). If I had realized how expensive shipping would be before sending the purchase through, I would have found another way to get the magazine. I think Pegasus Books carries it…

If the magazine is pleasurable enough, I will probably subscribe. That’s $150+ dollars per year. Not nothing!

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