Ground Breaking DMA Consumer Research

Ground Breaking DMA Consumer Research Provides Positive News For Direct Marketing Industry

Launched yesterday at the International Direct Marketing Fair, the DMA?s first ever study into consumer perceptions of direct marketing offers an exciting new insight into what consumers really think about direct marketing.

The research showed that nearly seventy percent (66%) of consumers were happy to receive direct marketing if relevant to them, highlighting the importance of well-targeted, timely dm communications. The research findings also revealed that there were four distinct personality types when it came to attitudes to direct marketing, providing the industry with a unique insight into how consumer perceptions of direct marketing vary and the reasons for this.

The four personality types highlighted by the research were:

Open all hours ? younger, generally female consumers receptive to direct marketing. They pick and choose, being quick to reject marketing that doesn?t impress but slow to throw away customer magazines.

Pragmatists ? usually mid-market consumers in the family life-stage. They are concerned with value for money and are the most likely to welcome and respond to direct marketing.

Time-pressured butterflies ? likely to be older, upmarket and female. These consumers value fast response, preferring newspapers and magazines as a source of marketing information.

Guarded privatists ? probably retired and probably male, they tend to dislike targeted communications, preferring to obtain their consumer information from television and radio advertising.

James Kelly, DMA Managing Director commented, ?This is the first ever research project of its kind undertaken in the UK, and the level of consumer response and outcome of the research is better than we could possibly have anticipated.

The aim of this research was to report the full picture in terms of the public?s understanding and perception of direct marketing. It is vital that the industry uses this research to build on the positives from this research and address the areas which provoked a negative response.?

The research was carried out by the Future Foundation and consisted of 762 face-to-face interviews, representing the demographics of the UK adult population, and 505 completed communications diaries.

Other key findings include:

Over half of consumers (57%) have purchased through or requested further information from direct marketing

35% of respondents claim that personal contact is the most important factor when dealing with companies.

Consumers receive just under five direct marketing communications a day, yet half of all respondents underestimated this volume, suggesting that consumers do not feel swamped by direct marketing

Nearly one third of direct mail recipients either made a purchase, requested more information or filed the document for future use

Customer magazines are the most liked direct marketing medium with 45% of those who kept a diary holding onto them or responding to them in some way

Home shopping material is most likely to be filed for further use, with nearly 40% of diary respondents filing the material or asking for more information

Email marketing also scored highly with 30% of diary respondents filing, requesting further information or actually buying

http://www.creativematch.co.uk/viewNews/?90658