People don’t want marketers to sell personal data about them–unless they get permission first. More than 80% of respondents to a survey said that unauthorized sale of personal information is a serious privacy violation.
The results of the survey, conducted by Yankelovich MONITOR MindBase and DIRECT Magazine, are to be released today at the NCDM Conference in Philadelphia.
Privacy worries carry over to e-mail. Some 87% of those surveyed said that the sale of e-mail lists without permission is a serious privacy violation.
And more–88%–said that the sale of telemarketing lists without permission is a serious privacy violation.
Eighty-eight percent say they receive too much unsolicited direct mail.
Consumers have a right to complain, according to the study. “Consumers who most actively complain about direct marketing are also the biggest purchasers of goods and services through direct marketing.
They want simplicity. Most consumers prefer to use a single channel for a single transaction.
Consumers who use the Internet continue to use all direct marketing channels and are the most involved with direct marketing. For them, there is a synergistic, rather than cannibalistic, effect.
Consumers want human contact when it comes time to make purchases, said Craig Wood, president of Yankelovich MONITOR MindBase. “Many appear to use catalogs and the Internet to research their purchases, but then turn to live-person interactions–either by calling telecenters or visiting retail outlets to complete the deal,” he said.
Each year, Yankelovich MONITOR surveys 2,500 U.S. adults age 16 and over. For this research, a random sample of 999 respondents were re-contacted and asked about direct marketing. The interviews took place from June 3 to 11, 2002.
DIRECT Newsline is published by DIRECT magazine.
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