Introduction
The rising cost of textbooks has significantly impacted different categories of people, including publishers, students, and learning institutions. There are different arguments on the approaches to the causes of the increase in the products’ cost. One of the arguments behind the rise in textbook cost is that it results from the immense growth of the retail of used books (Roediger). On the other hand, some argue that the price change results from production factors, demand for higher profits, and royalties.
In addition, students’ preference for online study materials over hard copies has contributed to a significant deprivation of demand, resulting in price hikes for the few copies sold to make profits. This research focuses on the effects of the rising cost of textbooks on different categories of individuals and provides recommendations for strategies that organizations can take to counter these outcomes.
Effects of Rising Textbook Cost on Learners
This is the most affected category as it contains the direct consumers of the products. Learners experience many challenges when the prices increase frequently. The discovered impacts on students include diminishing the learning curve and increasingly limited access to books and online content. The learners need help accessing textbooks, both hard and soft copies since their purchasing power depreciates—a price increase results in a demand for more money to access the products (Kristof). Therefore, the customers experience less purchasing power, considering their money remains intact and the price increases. Limiting access to materials has long-term effects: declined performance and lack of academic excellence.
The increasing price of textbooks results in poor academic performance and focus on education as students need help accessing resources to facilitate their learning process. Students must practice what they have learned in class, hence failing exams. In addition, the cost hike minimizes student interaction with books, preventing a deep understanding of the topic they study since they cannot access further knowledge in their field. Therefore, the quality of grades and performance among learners reduces, and knowledge becomes deficient.
Effects on Production Companies and Writers
Changes in the cost of textbooks have affected production companies and writers at large. The impacts vary from group to group but may affect both categories’ motivation and creativity. The profit maximization goal is a crucial motivator for the change in price levels for textbooks.
Companies
Companies need help in book production due to the increased cost of textbooks. First, the change results in an increase in the profits that companies gain from the sales of books. Companies gain much income from sales of overcharged prices of books. As Roediger argues, the price of textbooks increases since companies want to counter the losses originating from the increased resale of used books in the market. Therefore, the production company obtains profits from the overpriced sales. The textbook cost increase impacts companies by changing the profitability index of the institution.
An increase in the price of new textbooks has resulted in the growth of alternative businesses that sell second-hand books to people who cannot afford the expensive new ones. The businesses have increased competition for publishing companies. Therefore, writers and their publishers have identified the strategy of advancing the content in their books and upgrading it to encourage new purchases (Rafi et al. 42). The approach ensures that the company beats the rival companies selling second-hand textbooks. Increased sales revamped the company and increased the profitability index. Companies need to consider their production cost and determine sensible profits to avoid exploitation of the consumers.
Writers
Writers and creatives are responsible for creating and arranging the contents within the textbooks. They formulate the wordings and generate the content and contexts of the ideas within the books. Many of them are motivated by the financial benefits they receive from the sales of the books since they receive royalties from the selling companies. In most cases, the writers receive a different compensation from the increased cost of textbooks since they only receive a specific percentage from the income earned per book sold. An increase in price lowers the number of sales since students do not purchase highly-priced books.
Therefore, a price increase may demotivate writers from generating new ideas when underpaid for their products (Jenkins et al. 6). Writers engage with the company to determine the royalty they obtain from sales of their content. The interaction must be sensitive, and the compensation amount must be considered based on facts. This ensures an understanding between the company and its client, hence dismissing overpricing on the books.
Conclusion
The immense growth of textbook costs has influenced access to education in institutions by affecting different groups of stakeholders in the education system. The most affected are students who face challenges accessing materials to facilitate their studies and frequently opt for alternatively cheaper ways of accessing information, such as the Internet. However, some of these sources could be more reliable, lowering the quality of education and knowledge the students obtain. College libraries are another category of people affected by increased textbook prices since they encounter challenges purchasing expensive textbooks.
Therefore, the organizations have countered the failure to have updated books in their stores by issuing their mandate to the producer companies. This eases the process of accessing books for students and guarantees their effective performance. On the other hand, producer companies have encountered challenges in their production process due to low demand for new books due to competition from existing second-hand sellers that offer older versions of textbooks at relatively cheaper prices. It is critical to evaluate the different effects of the increased cost of textbooks to determine optional strategies to counter the negative implications.
Works Cited
Jenkins, J. Jacob, et al. “Textbook Broke: Textbook Affordability as a Social Justice Issue.” Journal of Interactive Media in Education, vol. 1, no. 3, 2020, pp. 1-13.
Kristof, Kathy. “What’s behind the Soaring Cost of College Textbooks.” Cbsnews. 2018. Web.
Rafi, Muhammad, et al. “Evaluating the Impact of Digital Library Database Resources on the Productivity of Academic Research.” Information Discovery and Delivery, vol. 47, no. 1. 2019, pp. 42–52. Web.
Roediger, Henry L. “Why Are Textbooks so Expensive?” Association for Psychological Science, 2005. Web.