Improving Email Response in a Permission Marketing Context

Abstract

Obtaining a reasonable level of response from email surveys and direct marketing via email is usually seen as notoriously difficult. This paper argues that ‘response’ is a complex concept and reports the results of an email survey in Norway into the effects on a range of response characteristics of email use patterns, perceptions about technology, campaign elements and seeking different levels of permission from potential responders. The results challenge many of the assumptions about email response characteristics.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Basi

R. K.

. (1999) World Wide Web response rates to sociodemographic items, Journal of the Market Research Society, 41, 4, pp. 397–441.

Bell

, & Francis

. (1995) Consumer Direct Mail Just How Effective is it? ESOMAR, WARC.com.

Brandal

, & Aanstad

. (2001) Kan Internett bidra til forsterke kundelojaliteten til Trumfkonseptet? Internal report, Trumf, Norway.

Farris

. (2001) Permissionbased email marketing: the new frontier, Admap, March, www.warc.com.

Godin

. (1999) Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends, and Friends into Customers. London: Simon & Schuster.

Kent

, & Lee

. (1999) Using the Internet for market research: a study of private trading on the Internet, Journal of the Market Research Society, 41, 4, pp. 277–285.

MacPherson

. (2001) PermissionBased Email Marketing That Works! Dearborn Trade.

Mehta

, & Sivadas

. (1995) Comparing responses rates and response content in mail versus electronic mail surveys, Journal of the Market Research Society, 37, 4, pp. 429–439.

Pickton

, & Broderic

. (2001) Integrated Marketing Communications, London: Financial Times, Prentice Hall.

10.

Ranchhod

, & Zhou

. (2001) Comparing respondents of email and mail surveys: understanding the implications of technology, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 19, 4, pp. 254–262.

11.

Sheehan

K.B.

, & McMillan

S.J.

(1999) Response variation in email surveys, an Exploration. Journal of Advertising Research, 39, p.45.

12.

Tse

A.C.B.

(1995) Comparing the response rate, response speed and response quality of two methods of sending questionnaires: email vs. mail, Journal of the Market Research Society, 40, 4, pp. 353–361.