|
Date: 2007
Type of Promotional Material/Activity Tested:
Consumer attitudes towards the environment and the impact of direct mail.
Sample Population:
1,000 US respondents, divided equally between men and women. Age of respondents split with age breaks matching the US census: 18-39 (34%), 40-49 (24%), and 50 or above (38%). Living area data split: Urban, Suburban, and Rural (about half of the respondents are suburban residents).
Methodology:
Online closed-question survey
Results:
-
More than 87% of respondents state that environmental conservation and preservation is important/somewhat important to them.
-
Close to 90% review their mail daily while 9.8% say they look through their mail often.
-
Nearly 45% of respondents have used a new business thanks to direct mail, 33% contributed to a non-profit for the first time because of information received in the mail, and more than 30% renewed a relationship with a business after a lapsed period of time due to direct mail.
-
In rating possible harmful environmental activities, direct mail is ranked by respondents second-to-last in terms of adverse environmental effects. Driving one’s car (27.4%), wasting water/electricity (21.7%), littering (21%), using non-recyclable produced materials (10.4%), and air travel (7.8%) all exceeded direct mail and catalogs (6.9%) as the top perceived harmful activities.
-
More than two-thirds of respondents say their opinion of direct mail would improve if they knew there was a "green mail" label awarded by a third party such as the EPA, and if undeliverable mail were kept to a minimum with correct addressing capabilities.
-
Take Aways:
- Pitney Bowes Executive Chairman, Michael Critelli attributes the overestimation of direct mail’s environmental impact to its ubiquity in our lives today -- consumers “dispose of mail every day, whereas the other big items are probably disposed of less frequently.”
- Keeping in mind that the immediacy of mail and the attention it gives to a company’s marketing message -- opportunities abound for direct mailers to pursue cost efficient and environmentally friendly mailings.
Complexity rating: 1 out of 3
(Complex statistical analysis scale: 1= none, 2= moderate, 3 = difficult)
|
