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12/04/2008: "Recent Study Finds That 18 to 34 Year-Olds More Influenced By Email & DM"

I would have thought that social media has more influence over the younger set. I would have been wrong. According to recent results of a study of a collaborative research project with Ball State University's Center for Media Design in a new whitepaper, "Messaging Behaviors, Preferences and Personas," this group is more influenced by email marketing and direct mail. Here's what it says:

"One of the key findings in this research is that 18- to 34-year-olds claim they are more likely to be influenced to make purchases based on e-mail marketing messages and direct mail than from marketing messages on social networks," said Mike Bloxham, director, insight and research, Ball State University's Center for Media Design. "It is too easy to assume that the media consumers choose for their own news, information and entertainment are, by default, the best media to use for marketing messages. 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."

So, if you market to this group, you might want to keep this in mind.