From a press release by International Communications Research (ICR):

"A recent survey completed by International Communications Research (ICR) revealed that even in today's digital world, consumers clearly prefer mail over other communications vehicles such as e-mail for receiving new product information and offerings as well as confidential business communications, such as bank statements and financial reports.

"The study, the fourth mail preference survey commissioned by Pitney Bowes since March 1999, found that the majority of consumers (73 percent) prefer mail for receiving new product announcements or offers from companies they do business with, as compared to 18 percent for e-mail. Mail was also preferred by 70 percent of respondents for receiving unsolicited information on products and services from companies with which they are not currently doing business.

"For confidential communications such as bills, bank statements and financial reports, respondents overwhelmingly preferred mail (86 percent) as their channel of choice, as compared with 10 percent for e-mail. This response is virtually identical to the response in the 2004 survey, which also showed consumer preference for mail at 86 percent."

The rest of the release can be read here. Another notable finding is that 45.3 percent of respondents rated mail as less intrusivethan other communications channels, including e-mail and the telephone. Apparently, people still appreciate the fact that getting a letter doesn't interrupt other activities the way the arrival of non-print messages can and so often does.

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As previously posted, Don Carli of the Institute for Sustainable Communications led a well-attended panel discussion on environmental discussion for the print media on behalf of the newly formed Sustainable Advertising Partnership. A podcast of what was said at the June 14 event ("Advertising, Publishing and Supply Chain Transformation") is now available at the coalition's Web site.