Bigfoot Interactive Survey Unveils Consumer Perceptions and Behaviors Regarding Spam and ISP Satisfaction
-- Email Users Continue to Favor Ignore/Delete Key to Battle Unwanted, Unsolicited Email and False Positive Issues Remain --
NEW YORK – November 18, 2003 – Bigfoot Interactive, the leading provider of strategic, ROI-focused email communication solutions and marketing automation technologies, today announced the results of a nationwide poll of email users. The Bigfoot Interactive OmniTel telephone survey, conducted by NOP World Research across adults with home Internet access, explores consumers' loyalty, interest and satisfaction with their current ISP/Email Service Provider and gauges their perceptions of and actions taken against unwanted email.
Despite the continued proliferation of anti-Spam products and tools, survey results indicate a continued strong preference for individual or self-initiated filtering techniques. Use of the delete key and ignoring Spam continue to be the overwhelmingly preferred methods for dealing with unwanted, unsolicited pornography (74%) and unwanted commercial email from unknown senders (83%). Unsolicited, unwanted pornography elicits the most negative consumer action (beyond deletion) - close to a quarter (23%) blocked sender/html, used a "report spam button" or set a filter. 78% of the respondents feel unsolicited email containing pornography should be treated differently by the ISP versus other types of unsolicited email.
In addition, adults indicated they are most dissatisfied (somewhat/very) with the speed (19%) of the service they use to read their email and its Spam fighting features and functionality (17%). Survey respondents also acknowledged the continued problem with "false positives" as more than 28% agreed email they requested from a trusted source was delivered to a junk mail folder and 24% agreed they recently lost or did not receive an email that they expected from a trusted source.
"The identification and separation of wanted and unwanted email is a serious challenge to the industry and to consumers," said Al DiGuido, CEO of Bigfoot Interactive. "AOL's recently announced enhanced whitelisting system at last week's Bigfoot Interactive PROfile Email Summit is a welcomed addition to the current program designed to help assure the delivery of email from permission-based marketers. We applaud AOL's commitment to protect and support reputable, permission-based marketers and the relationships they have with consumers and encourage other leading ISPs to follow suit."
Additional survey highlights include:
- 88% of adults want their ISP/Email Service Provider to offer an unsubscribe option that would safely remove them from email lists.
- More than a third (36%) indicated they would pay for a service that guarantees delivery of critical email communications, such as a billing alert or financial statement.
- More than 11% of consumers surveyed indicated they had switched email service providers in the last six months. In addition, more than 14% of consumers indicated they are considering switching providers in the next six months.
In addition, the survey also explores future use and purchase plans of anti-Spam products. For a complete summary of the findings of the survey, including the executive summary, please email Michael Della Penna at
penna@epsiloninteractive.com . The survey is based on interviews conducted from October 24 - 26, 2003. The sample consists of 1,000 completed interviews, and all respondents were 18 years of age and older. The findings are based on 483 adults with Internet access at home. The margin of error is +/- 5 percent.
About Bigfoot Interactive
Bigfoot Interactive (www.bigfootinteractive.com) is the leading provider of strategic, ROI-focused email communications solutions and marketing automation technologies. Through its combination of innovative technologies, professional services and vertical market expertise, Bigfoot Interactive helps marketers acquire, grow and retain profitable customer relationships through highly relevant and personalized email communications. The company's end-to-end suite of industry-specific products and services includes scalable email campaign technology, delivery optimization, marketing automation tools, turnkey integration solutions, strategic consulting, and creative expertise to produce email programs that generate measurable results throughout the customer lifecycle.
Since 1997, Bigfoot Interactive has developed successful permission-based email programs for more than 150 top companies, including Expedia, American Honda Motor Co. and The Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive. Privately held and based in New York, the company's investors include JPMorgan Partners, Flatiron Partners, Hudson Ventures, Mitsui & Co., Grey Ventures, HPJ Media Ventures and Syndicat Technologies.
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