• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 22, 2008

Sorry, MySpace and Facebook--young adults report paying more attention to marketing messages via e-mail and direct mail, according to new research from Ball State University and ExactTarget.

Among 18- to-34-year-olds, consumers are more likely to be influenced to make purchases based on e-mail marketing messages and direct mail than from advertisements or marketing messages on social networks, according to the white paper.

"It is too easy to assume that the media consumers who choose for their own news, information and entertainment are by default the best media to use for marketing messages," said Mike Bloxham, director of Insight and Research at Ball State University's Center for Media Design. "This is a dangerous assumption to make in a time when consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their level of control over their media experiences."

What's more, 20% of wired consumers have subscribed to marketing communications via text messaging, more so than any other group--but they want to receive texts only for urgent customer service issues such as financial alerts or travel updates.

In addition, more than 50% of young homemakers use social networks and text messaging during the day, but direct mail and e-mail are their two preferred marketing channels.

The study was the work of Ball State's Center for Media Design and the Indianapolis-based ExactTarget, an on-demand e-mail and one-to-one marketing company. It combines CMD's observational data on people's media use and exposure with ExactTarget's data on consumers' attitudes toward marketing messages received through distinct channels.

Among the other findings: 81% of retired consumers have purchased online, and 94% have been influenced by some form of direct marketing to make a purchase.