Study: Consumers Responsive To Junk Mail

Study: Consumers Responsive To Junk Mail
by Erik Sass, Tuesday, Jun 12, 2007 7:33 AM ET
IN THIS BRAVE NEW WORLD of digital communications, advertisers may be overlooking a valuable resource: junk mail.


Consumers are more responsive to junk mail, according to a new survey by International Communications Research publicized by Pitney Bowes. The ICR report has snail mail beating out email for certain kinds of communications, including confidential business information.

Per ICR, 73% of respondents prefer receiving new-product announcements via mail from companies they're already in contact with, versus just 18% for email. And 70% prefer mail for unsolicited information and offers telling them about products and services from companies that they don't engage with.

The most marked area of difference was confidential personal information. Eight-six percent of respondents prefer mail for things like bills, bank statements and financial reports, versus just 10% for email.

The survey also found that consumers aren't as likely to discard unsolicited mail containing product information, although they will trash email. Some 31% discard print mail versus 53.2% for email. This category includes products like brochures and catalogs.

Finally, consumers found mail offers less intrusive--i.e., less disruptive of daily activities--than both email and phone solicitations