Complete Story
05/24/2017
Study shows people respond more to physical ads
Here’s a shocker: That Millennials, who barely look up from their smartphones, even in the bathroom, prefer direct mail over email. That’s the premise of a quirky little white paper from the U.S. Postal Service.
The USPS claims that 64% of Millennials “would rather scan for useful info in the mail than email.”
... The study also states that almost half of Millennials ignore digital ads, compared to 15% for direct mail. And it shows that 77% pay attention to direct mail advertising, 90% think it’s reliable, 57% have purchased in response to direct mail and 87% like receiving direct mail. They beat out other age groups across the board.
Perhaps more importantly, The USPS partnered with the Center for Neural Decision Making at Temple University’s Fox School of Business to study ad responses. They found that while people process digital ad content more quickly, they spend more time with physical ads.
What’s more, physical ads “triggered activity in a part of the brain that corresponds with value and desirability.”
And participants had a stronger emotional response to physical ads, and remembered them better, the USPS writes.
