Never ones to win a popularity contest, direct mailers probably won’t be terribly surprised to hear that American consumers are “fed up” with junk mail. That’s according to an opinion survey conducted recently by the National Consumers League, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group based in Washington, DC.
When asked about the things that were most likely to get on consumers’ nerves, 59% of respondents rated junk mail a 10, or the most annoying among a list that included telemarketing, credit card fees and the fine print on billing statements.
The group defines junk mail as unsolicited advertising, but “we didn’t explain that to each consumer, so each [one] may have had his or her own definition,” says league spokeswoman Holly Anderson.
Computer-automated phone services ranked second at 54%. Respondents said they preferred to reach a live person when dialing a company. Telemarketing fell into third place with 49%.
Fine print on bills, credit card fees, bank fees and ATM charges, and intrusiveness of advertising and commercialism followed in respective order.
Anderson says the league uses its Web site (www.nclnet.org), radio addresses and press releases to let consumers know about the Direct Marketing Association’s mail and telephone preference services.
The survey, “Consumers in the 21st Century,” was administered as part of the league’s 100th birthday celebration. It’s used to help educate consumers.
Interviews for the survey were done by telephone from April 22 to May 3 among a nationally representative sample of 1,006 adults age 18 and older. Ameritech and Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals sponsored the effort.
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