Young consumers use e-mail to find deals

Consumers ages 15 to 24 may show their affinity for their favorite brands on Facebook, but they turn to e-mail for deals, offers and coupons, a study by e-mail marketing vendor ExactTarget finds.

According to the poll, 56% of young consumers say they subscribe to a brand or retailer’s e-mail newsletter in search of on-going deals, compared with 28% who turn to Facebook for deals.

The study also found:

• Women are more likely than men to sign up for e-mails in order to obtain deals and promotions (67% compared to 57%).
• 88% of women indicate that promotions have motivated them to subscribe to e-mail marketing messages, compared to 70% of men.
• The average American consumer receives on average 44 e-mails a day, 12 of which are e-mails they signed up to receive from companies.
• The average teen receives less than half the e-mail of the average adult consumer; however, the amount of e-mail increases significantly when they graduate from high school.
• 81% of consumers that receive e-mail marketing messages have been motivated to provide a company with their e-mail address due to some form of promotion.
• 65% of women have subscribed to e-mail marketing messages in return for a “free” product, compared to 44% of men.

Consumers reported that they keep engaging in e-mail because it’s private, they are able to receive exclusive and personalized offers and they can respond to the message at their leisure.

ExactTarget polled 1,500 consumers for its study to determine consumers’ motivations for engaging with companies through e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.