A few days ago I got a press release announcing the results of a new email study and the only question that came to my mind after reading it was, “What ever happened to logic and common sense?”
The
study I’m referring to was conducted in recent months by Quris, Greenfield Research and Executive Summary, who surveyed 1,256 regular email users on a range
of attitudes and behaviors about permission email marketing.
The study concluded that - get this - “well-executed permission email positively affects brand attitudes.”
Forgive the monosyllabic
reaction, but DUH!?!
Be that as it may, it gets better. The second finding of this “study” was: “The quality of email programs impacts brand perceptions.” Apparently, the majority of respondents
to this particular study “believe” [I guess they’re not quite sure] that the quality of permission email programs influences their opinions, positively and negatively, about the companies sending them
email. Well, of course it does! That’s not only common knowledge, it’s common sense – everything you do impacts your brand! Everything! Including email! Why would anyone need to research this?
But
wait. That’s not all. The finding that really got me thinking about whether I give the online industry too much credit for basic intelligence was, “Subscribers loyal to permission email programs are
better customers.” These esteemed researchers concluded that respondents who have maintained permission email relationships longest with companies are much more likely to shop online, click on links
in permission messages and feel that email impacts their perception of a company’s brand.
That jewel of a discovery goes hand in hand with the next one, which basically states that consumers are
more interested in receiving email they’ve specifically asked for than email they didn’t ask for.
If the email marketing industry still needs someone to “research” this kind of stuff, we might as
well all pack up and go home now. I sincerely hope that’s not the case and that common sense will prevail.