ECONOMIC STABILITY

Aside from an increased interest in coupons, the economic downturn looks to have had little effect on people’s e-mail-inspired purchases, according to a recent study by Forrester Research.

Forty-two percent of more than 2,000 North American consumers surveyed in November reported having made at least one e-mail-inspired purchase; in April, 45% reported doing so, according to the study written by Forrester analyst David Daniels.

And e-mails may be influencing retail purchases: 41% of consumers said that as a result of current economic conditions, they are more likely to click on ads for coupons, the report said.

Eighty-two percent of consumers said they planned no changes in their Internet spending over the next 12 months. At the same time, 24% of consumers who said they send text messages instead of e-mail also said they plan to send fewer text messages in the next 12 months as a result of the economic downturn, according to Forrester.

These factors are likely to “drive consumers back to online forms of communication,” the study said.

While texting seems incredibly popular, just 14% of online adult cell phone users have read e-mail on their phones within the last six months, according to Forrester.

Also, North American e-mail users are less susceptible to an economic downturn than their social media peers and the online population overall because e-mail users tend to be older and have more disposable income, the study asserted.

“As one of the most efficient direct marketing channels, e-mail marketers should continue to embrace relevancy empowering tactics — testing, segmentation and targeting — as consumers’ appetite for e-mail in this economic downturn is strong and in-boxes will remain cluttered,” the report said.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Seth Godin’s landmark book “Permission Marketing” was published 10 years ago last month. At the time, asking consumers to opt-in so you could contact them was considered crazy. Today, not so much!