Canadians Take Hogwarts Express: 85% Say It's Great For Kids, At Least 4,500,000 Adult Muggles Have Read A Harry Potter Book

Toronto, ON - According to a new Ipsos-Reid/Globe and Mail/CTV survey more than four in ten (44%) Canadian muggle households have read at least one of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books--of Canadian adults, at least 19% (approximately 4,500,000) have read one or more of the books (8% have personally read one of the books, 25% say a family member(s) have read one of the books, and 11% say that both themselves and a family member(s) have read one of the books). A "muggle" is a human non-magical person and a "howler" is an envelope containing a loud, angry message.

The majority (85%) of Canadian adults agree that "Harry Potter books are great because they inspire children to read," with 54% strongly agreeing, and a third (35%) of Canadian adults are "personally looking forward to reading the new Harry Potter book."

On the other hand, four in ten (43%) Canadians agree that "Harry Potter is over-hyped and just another marketing tool to pry money out of parents hands" and one in six (16%) agree that "the Harry Potter books should be banned from school libraries because they glorify witchcraft." It should be noted that there is no inconsistency between 85% of Canadian adults indicating the books are great because they inspire children to read" and 16% who say they "should be banned from school libraries because they glorify witchcraft" (total 101%) due to statistical rounding.

Ipsos-Reid asked those respondents who have read at least one of the Harry Potter books (19%) which character they most identify with. Harry Potter (24%) tops the list followed by his peer, Hermoine Granger (20%) in second place, and Professor Dumbledore (10%) in third. Other responses include the giant Hagrid (9%), Professor McGonagall (8%), and Harry's other close friend Ron Weasley (6%). A mere 3% of respondents identify with the dark Professor Snape, 1% with the evil Lord Voldemort, while none (0%) identify with the nasty student, Draco Malfoy. Fifteen percent (15%) say they do not identify with any of these characters, and 3% don't know which character they identify with.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Globe and Mail/CTV poll conducted between June 17th and 19th 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1055 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

More than four in ten (44%) Canadian households have read at least one of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. One in ten (8%) say they have personally read one of the books, one quarter (25%) say a family member(s) have read one of the books, and 11% say that both themselves and a family member(s) have read one of the books --at least 19% of Canadian adults (approximately 4,500,000) have therefore read one or more of the books. The remaining 56% say they have not read one of the books nor have one of their family members.

• British Columbians (13%) are more likely than others to have personally read the book(s). Residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (65%) and Atlantic Canada (62%) are most likely to say they or their family members have NOT read the book(s), followed by residents of Ontario (59%), Quebec (55%), Alberta (52%), and finally British Columbia (47%).

• Young adults (11%) are more likely than their middle-aged (8%) and older (6%) counterparts to have personally read the book(s), middle-aged adults (29%) and older adults (26%) are more likely than their younger (18%) counterparts to say a family member(s) has read the book(s), and middle-aged adults (13%) are more likely than their older (8%) and younger (10%) counterparts to say that both themselves and a family member(s) have read the book(s). Young (60%) and older (60%) adults are both more likely than middle-aged (49%) adults to say they or their family members have NOT read the book(s).

• Women (11%) are more likely than men (6%) to have personally read the book(s). Men (60%) are more likely than women (53%) to say they or their family members have NOT read the book(s).

• Canadians with at least some post secondary education are more likely than others to have personally read the book(s) (11% vs. 4%) and to say that both themselves and a family member(s) have read the book(s) (14% vs. 5%). Canadians with a high school diploma or less (67%) are more likely than others (50%) to say they or their family members have NOT read the book(s).

• Canadians from upper income households (17%) are more likely than others (8%) to say that both themselves and a family member(s) have read the book(s), Canadians from lower (63%) and middle (57%) income households are more likely than Canadians form upper (48%) income households to say they or their family members have NOT read the book(s).

The majority (85% - 54% "strongly agree," 31% "somewhat agree") of Canadian adults agree that "Harry Potter books are great because they inspire children to read."

• Residents of Ontario (87%) and Quebec (87%) are the most likely to agree that "Harry Potter books are great because they inspire children to read," followed by residents of British Columbia (85%), Atlantic Canada (83%), Alberta (82%), and finally Saskatchewan/Manitoba (77%).

• The likelihood of agreeing that Harry Potter books are great because they inspire children to read" appears to decrease with age (90% young adults vs. 86% middle-aged adults vs. 81% older adults).

• University graduates (92%) are more likely than others (82%) to agree that Harry Potter books are great because they inspire children to read."

• Canadians from upper income homes (91%) are more likely than others (84%) to agree that Harry Potter books are great because they inspire children to read."

A third (35% - 16% "strongly agree," 19% "somewhat agree") of Canadian adults are "personally looking forward to reading the new Harry Potter book."

• Residents of Quebec (39%) and Alberta (39%) are the most likely to say they are "personally looking forward to reading the new Harry Potter book" followed by residents of British Columbia (37%), Ontario (32%), Atlantic Canada (31%), and finally Saskatchewan/Manitoba (27%).

• Middle-aged adults (40%) are more likely than their older (28%) and younger (35%) counterparts to say they are "personally looking forward to reading the new Harry Potter book."

• Women (385) are more likely than men (31%) to say they are "personally looking forward to reading the new Harry Potter book."

• University graduates (41%) are more likely than others (32%) to say they are "personally looking forward to reading the new Harry Potter book."

• Canadians from upper income homes (41%) are more likely than others (33%) to say they are "personally looking forward to reading the new Harry Potter book."

Four in ten (43% - 18% "strongly agree," 24% "somewhat agree") Canadians agree that "Harry Potter is over-hyped and just another marketing tool to pry money out of parents hands."

• Residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (33%) are the LEAST likely to believe that "Harry Potter is over-hyped and just another marketing tool to pry money out of parents hands."

• Canadians without a university degree (46%) are more likely than those with (35%) to agree that "Harry Potter is over-hyped and just another marketing tool to pry money out of parents hands."

• Canadians from lower income households (50%) are more likely than those from upper (37%) and middle (45%) income households to agree that "Harry Potter is over-hyped and just another marketing tool to pry money out of parents hands."

One in six (16% - 9% "strongly agree," 7% "somewhat agree") agree that "the Harry Potter books should be banned from school libraries because they glorify witchcraft."

• Older adults (20%) are more likely than younger (13%) and middle-aged (15%) adults to agree that "the Harry Potter books should be banned from school libraries because they glorify witchcraft."

• Women (20%) are more likely than men (12%) to agree that "the Harry Potter books should be banned from school libraries because they glorify witchcraft."

• Canadians without a university degree (18%) are more likely than those with (9%) to agree that "the Harry Potter books should be banned from school libraries because they glorify witchcraft."

• Canadians from lower (20%) and middle (18%) income households are more likely than Canadians from upper (9%) income households to agree that "the Harry Potter books should be banned from school libraries because they glorify witchcraft."

Ipsos-Reid asked those respondents who have read at least one of the Harry Potter books (19%) which character they most identify with. Harry Potter (24%) tops the list followed by his peer, Hermoine Granger (20%) in second place, and Professor Dumbledore (10%) in third. Other responses include the giant Hagrid (9%), Professor McGonagall (8%), and Harry's other close friend Ron Weasley (6%). A mere 3% of respondents identify with the dark Professor Snape, 1% with the evil Lord Voldemort, while none (0%) identify with the nasty student, Draco Malfoy. Fifteen percent (15%) say they do not identify with any of these characters, and 3% don't know which character they identify with.

To view the release and the detailed tables, please open the attached PDF documents.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900