One of the most intriguing findings of the surey was that the greatest degree of emotional attachment was still felt for the traditional media.

Books were not only one of the most common sources of entertainment - second only to radio - but they also attracted the greatest degree of engagement of any media.

Just over half - 53 per cent - of book readers said they could never stop or would hate to have to stop reading. For Sky TV and radio - the next most engaging - the figure was 51 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.

Some activities that were very common, such as reading newspaper and listening to radio online, had a relatively low degree of attachment. Conversely, other forms of entertainment which were yet to gain a large following, such as playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORGs) and watching Blu-ray DVDs, attracted a high degree of attachment.

"While much attention is placed on digital entertainment trends, it is still the traditional media to which consumers are the most emotionally attached," the survey's authors said. "But the attachment tends to be highly correlated with age - for instance teenagers have a much higher level of emotional attachment to digital entertainment."

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