DMNews Direct Mail Survey 2007
By DMNews Survey on Direct Mail and the Environment Conducted by Pitney Bowes
Green/Sustainability
"The EPA states that advertising mail is responsible for 2% of all municipal waste -- yet close to 85% of respondents believe that direct mail counts for more than a third to a half of municipal waste."
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
Top-Line Results:
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More than 87% of respondents state that environmental conservation and preservation is important/somewhat important to them.
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Close to 90% review their mail daily while 9.8% say they look through their mail often.
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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.
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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.
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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.
- Close to two-third have not heard of DMA’s No-Cost Mail Preference Service (MPS) opt-out service. Only 15% of respondents have registered with DMA’s Mail MPS.
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.
- This survey represents a call to action for the industry to both do more to lessen its environmental impact and better educate the public about what it is doing in that area--consumers want more choice in the mail they receive.
Complexity rating: 1 out of 3 (Complex statistical analysis scale: 1= none, 2= moderate, 3 = difficult)
Source: DMNews Direct Mail Survey 2007 as reported in the DMNews article "The Power of Perception."
