Marketing Professor: Only Hufflepuffs Totally Loyal to Harry
Books
Posted by: sue
October 20, 2008, 04:33 PM
The Telegraph is reporting tonight that a professor in the UK has done a study on readers of the Harry Potter novels, with the findings apparently revealing there are four distinct type of readers. According to the report, Professor Stephen Brown of the Ulster Business School says the groups closely mirror the Houses of Hogwarts, and indicates the breakdown of the groups as follows:
- 'Hufflepuff' readers take the tales at a slow, steady and systematic pace and enjoy re-reading the books over and over.
- 'Gryffindor' readers are eager and energetic and will
devour the latest Potter book in one sitting, but quickly move on to
new things.
- 'Ravenclaws' are subversive and take
the stories with a pinch of salt, while 'Slytherin' readers are not
fussed about the books.They prefer the films but pretend to have read the books when it suits them.
Speaking about potential sales and continuing interest in Harry Potter now that the seventh and final book in the series has been published, Professor Brown said "It is an interesting time in the development of the Potter brand
because a lot of people have moved on. It will only be people who revel
in his world who will continue with their admiration of the brand," he
forecast.
He also noted that "Only the Hufflepuffs are totally loyal to Harry, the Gryffindors are
already moving on to other things, the Slytherins never really liked
him anyway and the Ravenclaws are too busy writing their own fan
fiction or posting spoof videos on YouTube."
Finally, Professor Brown said that the Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling do not have staying power, and noted "It could come back into fashion but I think it could be like many fads
and just fade away and people will look back and say 'Why did we ever
read this stuff?' "
No word if Professor Brown has ever visited a Harry Potter fan site while doing the research.
219 Comments
@ Mimblewimble
I think Prof. Brown must be a Slytherin ;-)
Gee… at first when I found out I was a hufflepuff I got all mad and said “NO! I wanna be a Ravenclaw!” Then it said hufflepuffs are the only ones who are loyal to harry and I was like “HELL YA I’M HUFFLEPUFF ALL THE WAY BABY!!”
I agree with the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor qualities, but I think he’s been a little to harsh on us Ravenclaws. Not all Ravenclaws are so cynical . . . think of Luna, she’s one of Harry’s most dedicated followers.
Ahahahahahahahah. And of course Sue would be the one to post this.
I don’t think it’s a fad, even if it fades a bit. The Lord of the Rings and Narnia aren’t fads, and neither is this. The story is woven too well to fray much at the edges.
I don’t think Narnia is as big as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter to be honest…
Hmm, that’s a very accurate division of readers! I started as a Hufflepuff, but with the later books, especially 6 and 7, I started to burn through them, eager to finish them. Now I’m back at being Hufflepuff, as I’m rereading HP1 and 7.
I do disagree about HP being a fad though. Even now, there are people just discovering the Harry Potter books and falling in love with them. I remember at the beginning of this year reading a blogpost from Steven Levitt of Freakonomics fame. He read the whole series in 4 months and said that after finishing, he felt “depressed and empty” (to which I responded: "Try 7 years! :( ").
a ravenclaw for real but it looks like I am a hufflepuff reader. I bet Sue couldn’t wait to post about Hufflepuff. squee! :)
Obviously there are different levels of fandom-mania, but attributing Houses to divisions of the fandom is sketchy and falls back too much on stereotypes. Bring along the next pyschoanalysis of the fandom already.
Two final words: Zacharias Smith.
@ If I’m a Hufflepuff, I’m switching to Durmstrang
You sound like a real Gryffindor? ;-)
(i’m referring to your name )
GAHH! Puff Pride all the way! Oh, that was AWESOME! …except the part about it being a fad… ha! yeah right… :D
I think i have to say I am a hufflepuff, I was never a great reader, but Harry Potter got me excited (in my 20’s) to read other things, made reading less intimidating and less scary, but I read Harry over and over again and will continue doing so.
Actually, with me, it seems that I read less, now that I have Harry Potter: I don’t read THAT much, so when I do, it’s less often a new book now, since I want to reread HP. So I reread HP loads, but that makes me read less new stuff
I have to disagree with this guy. I am a Gryffindor through and through and have “devoured” the books…over and over again. When something new worth looking into comes along within the Harry Potter brand, we Gryffindors will be all over it, I have no doubt. We may have moved on to save ourselves from literary doldrums, but will be happy to come back at any chance we can get.
@ Mimblewimble
I think Prof. Brown must be a Slytherin ;-)