• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, December 8, 2021

Consumers worldwide will share their email address with a brand more than any other personal detail. But most never open emails they subscribed to, according to The Mobile Customer Imperative, a study released Wednesday by Airship. 

Of the consumers polled, 77% will provide their email address. Next, they will supply their name (67%), interest relevant to the brand (67%) and communication preferences — i.e., channel, topic, and frequency (59%). 

In contrast, 55% will give their postal address, while 53% will provide their mobile number for text messages, 43% will give their securely stored payment information and 41% will give their mobile number for calls. 

Email clearly rules in this area. But having subscribed, consumers are likely to delete or ignore brand emails — 14% always, 34% often and 30% about one half of the time. 

Consumers in the U.S. exceed these averages — 16% always unsubscribe 35% often, and 29% about one half of the time. 

Boomers are most likely to frequently or always unsubscribe — 48% do so, as do 40% of Gen X, 39% of millennials, and 38% of Gen Z. 

In general, consumers worldwide say the following: 

• I often unsubscribe from brand emails — 41% 
• I mark for deletion by scanning who it is from — 35% 
• I mark emails for deletion by screening subject lines — 34%
• I use a secondary email account that I rarely check — 20%
• I don’t check email — 16% 
• I provide anonymous email addresses (e.g., via Sign in with Apple) — 10%
• I provide fake email addresses — 7%
• Other — 1% 

Of course, the report is tilted toward mobile apps, and it documents robust growth in app usage, with 75% of shoppers using them more or the same than before the pandemic.

Drilling down, 51% are using them more for social media, 47% for media & entertainment and 39% for retail. 

Why do people opt out from email and other messaging on smartphones? The reasons are: 

• Messages were too frequent — 51%
• Information not relevant/personalized to my needs — 40% 
• Messaging was duplicated across channels (same information across email, SMS, app, etc.) — 32% 
• Unable to control the types and topic of messages received — 31% 
• Messaging was too promotional — 27% 
• Didn’t receive enough value/discounts — 27% 
• Other — 1%

In the U.S., only 34% say the messages are too frequent.  

As for opting in, consumers cite these motivations: 

• Earn immediate discounts or loyalty reward points — 35% 
• Shipping/delivery or curbside pickup alerts — 25% 
• Order confirmation/receipts — 25%
• Early access to big sales events, or exclusive product drops — 21%
• Broad sales alerts & discounts — 20%
• Personalized offers based on browsing behavior or past purchases — 14% 
• Special offers triggered by your location — 13% 
• Product warranties — 13% 
• Other — 18% 

Globally, German consumers seem to be the most cautious: 36% will give a brand their phone number for text messaging and 29% for phone calls, whereas in India, 72% will do so for texts and 68% for calls.

Airship surveyed 9,143 respondents from the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Australia, Singapore and India.