The USPS Household Diary Study: Mail Use & Attitudes in FY 2010 -- Advertising Mail

By NuStats on behalf of the United States Postal Service (USPS)

Consumer Attitudes

"Contrary to the image that direct mail is “junk mail” and is tossed without consideration -- a majority of households report paying attention to the advertising they receive."

Date Released: April 2011

Type of Promotional Material/Activity Tested: Advertising mail delivered to households by the U.S. Postal Service. Advertising mail can be sent as First-Class or Standard Mail.

Sample Population: 5,428 U.S. households returned acceptable completed diaries (out of 8,078 households recruited to receive a diary package, representing a completion rate of 67.2%). The sample design involved a systematic sample stratified by urban/rural location and census region, ensuring even coverage across the US.  The sample was continuously fielded throughout all 52 weeks of the year.

Methodology:  The Household Diary Study is a continuously fielded study that uses a two-stage survey design:  Stage 1 is an interviewer-mediated household recruitment interview. Stage 2 is a self-completed seven-day household diary of household mail received and sent.

Metrics:  The household recruitment interview collects information on household and personal demographics, recall of mail sent and received, adoption and use of communications technologies, bill payment behavior, and attitudes towards advertising.  The mail diary covers collects information on the number of mail pieces received and sent, industry source, mail characteristics, and attitudes regarding mail received.

Top-Line Results:
 

• Households received 83.5 billion pieces of advertising mail in 2010, which was two percent less than 2009 and 16 percent less than 2008. In 2010, advertising mail represented 59 percent of all household mail.
   

• About 85% (70.6 billion pieces) of all advertising mail received by households in 2010 was sent via Standard Mail, which, after declining sharply in the first half of 2010, made an equally sharp comeback in the second half, leaving the total annual volume virtually unchanged from 2009. In 2010, households received an average of 9.6 Presorted Standard Mail pieces per week, compared to 11.4 pieces in 2008.   

• Eight of 10 households (81%) say they either read or scan the advertising mail sent to their homes --  54% of households surveyed usually read their advertising mail, while 27% scan the advertising mail they receive. One out of every five households (19%) report they usually do not read their advertising mail.
   

• Household behavior toward reading advertising mail is largely independent of how much advertising mail the household receives. For example, among households that receive zero to seven pieces of advertising mail per week, 54% usually read all or some of the mail and 18% usually do not read any. Among households that receive 18 or more pieces per week, 52% usually read all or some, and 20% usually do not read any. While households don't appear "turned of" to high volumes of direct mailings -- the percentage of households that usually read all advertising does decrease as the number of pieces increases.
   

• When asked about their intended response to advertising mail, 35% say they will respond or might respond to standard class mailings (e.g., catalogs) and 22% say they will or might respond to first-class mailings (e.g., credit card offers).
   

• Despite the attention paid to online and e-mail advertising, households with Internet access receive more advertising mail than those without access. This is reflective of household characteristics such as income and education -- Internet access is closely tied to income and education.  Households with broadband access average 15.1 pieces of direct mail a week; dial-up households average 12.6 pieces a week, and homes without Internet access average 9.4 pieces of direct mail per week.
   

• Half of all households (51%) read catalogs, while 18% discard them without reading them. On the other hand, 50% of households read credit card advertising while 25% discard them without reading.

• The amount of advertising mail received is closely tied to income, education, and age. Households with incomes over $100,000 and with a head of household age 55 and older received the greatest number of advertising mail pieces at 23.5 pieces per week.

• The higher the income, the higher the average number of responses to advertising mail.  For example, households with incomes above $150,000 report they intend to respond to 2.3 pieces of advertising mail per week, and they may respond to another 4.3 pieces per week. Other high-income households also indicate they will respond to more than one piece of advertising mail per week, as do some of the lower income households.
   

Take-Away:  This study, performed annually since 1987 by the US Postal Service, provides a consistent look at households' attitudes towards mail received, such as advertising mail.  Contrary to the image that direct mail is “junk mail” and is tossed without consideration -- a majority of respondents report paying attention to the advertising they receive, either reading it or scanning it.  In addition, 35% say they will or might respond to the offerings delivered via standard class mailings, such as catalogs, and two out of every 10 state they will/might respond to first-class mail solicitations, such as credit card offers.

Complexity rating of original source:  1  (Complex statistical analysis scale:  1= none, 2= moderate, 3 = difficult)

Source: The Household Diary Study: Mail Use & Attitudes in FY 2010