Commentary

Don't Call the Elderly, the Wealthy, or the Married

Don't Call the Elderly, the Wealthy, or the Married

Two-thirds of Americans say they are ready to sign up for the newly established "Do not call" registry - a single, national registry which will exempt households from many types of telemarketing calls. Interestingly, households that say they are most likely to sign up are older and higher-income Americans as well as those that are married.

Survey findings indicate that older Americans do not want to be bothered with telemarketing calls, with 56% saying they definitely will sign up for the new "Do not call" registry. In addition, 83% of America's highest income households, those with more than $60,000 in household income and a disproportionate amount of buying power, indicate they are considering registration (63% definitely will, 20% might).

The survey also confirms that married consumers, especially those with children, are more likely than the average to put their name on the list. Nearly six in ten (58%) married consumers say they definitely will sign up, while those that are single or without children are less likely to register (37% and 34% of these groups don't intend to register, respectively).

Overall, findings indicate that two-thirds (69%) of the public support the exemption for survey research, indicating that most Americans understand the difference between research and telemarketing calls.

These results are from a survey of 1,000 Americans conducted June 27-30, 2003 by WirthlinWorldwide, a strategic opinion research and consulting firm. The sample is statistically representative of adults, age 18 and older, living in the contiguous United States.

You can read more, including seeing the study, here in this pdf.

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