This conceptual paper proposes the Print Affordances Model, an integrative framework for understanding the continued use of printed books in three domains where digital alternatives are widely available: education, leisure reading and religious practice. The article seeks to identify recurring affordances that help explain why print remains valuable across these otherwise distinct contexts.
The article employs an integrative comparative literature review drawing on scholarship from psychology, education, sociology, media studies, documentation studies, religion and book history. Using technological affordance theory as a conceptual lens, the analysis examines recurring explanations for the persistence of print across three domains of book use: textbooks, leisure reading, and sacred texts.
The literature reviewed suggests that two affordance dimensions recur across diverse forms of print use: stability and differentiation. Rooted in readers' sensory engagement with books as material objects, these affordances arise through the combined experience of touch and vision. Stability refers to the perception of books as durable, fixed and spatially reliable objects. Differentiation refers to the perception of books as discrete material artifacts distinct from other texts and objects. These affordances emerge relationally through interactions among documentary form, readers, tasks, practices and social contexts.
The proposed model may serve as a foundation for future research on books and other paper-based artifacts, including notebooks, photographs, certificates and documents. It also contributes to ongoing discussions within documentation studies, material media studies and book history concerning the relationship between material and digital forms.
Although a substantial body of scholarship has documented the continued use of printed books, explanations are often developed within specific domains and disciplines. This article offers a conceptual framework that synthesizes insights from multiple literatures and identifies common affordance dimensions that operate across educational, leisure and religious contexts.
