The study, conducted by Bowker Market Research for Publishing Technology found that the number of online communities for publishing companies is predicted to grow from a current average of 2.1 to more than five over the next two years.

At the moment two-thirds of publishers currently host reader communities but this is expected to rise to over 90% by 2015.

The survey found that 73% of all publishers felt online communities would help them to engage better with their audience while 72% of trade publishers said it would help increase direct relationships with customers and 45% claimed they provided or would provide good marketing support to sales channels.

Bowker Market Research direct Jo Henry said: “There is a substantial amount of activity going on in this area as publishers seek new ways to engage directly with their consumers.”