Marketers who adapt their practices and empower consumers will connect more effectively with their target, according to The 2005 Marketing Receptivity Survey from Yankelovich Partners.

“It’s not the methods, it’s the practices,” says J. Walker Smith, president of the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based marketing consulting firm and an author of Coming to Concurrence. “It’s a requirement to have insights into the attitudes of today’s consumer. Convenience used to mean ‘easy for me to get to.’ Now it means ‘what I want, when I want it, wherever I am.’ “

56% of respondents avoid buying brands that saturate them with advertising.

80% of respondents classified as “most resistant” to marketing messages call shopping their least-favorite activity. Research also shows consumers want better marketing more than they want new media. Additionally, 80% resist sales of e-mail lists without permission and 79% resist sales of mailing lists without permission.

So, What do Consumers Want?

The Yankelovich MONITOR® survey, begun in 1971, is the first and longest-running tracking of marketplace trends. The 2005 Marketing Receptivity Survey – designed to help reengage consumers – was conducted among 600 empanelled MONITOR respondents with data weighted to ensure a nationally representative sampling of consumers age 16 and over.

Respondents to the telephone survey tell marketers there’s much work to do:

43% don’t want to spend time with marketing that’s long and vague: They want a “What’s in it for me?” approach. If it’s direct mail, they want it customized.
People respond best to direct mail that delivers personal value for the time spent reading it, not the typical letter that only describe the value people would get by buying the product.

33% won’t look at marketing when they believe they are not “in charge.” They place a value on their time and will respond to marketing when it’s convenient and relevant.

One solution? Convert marketing into an information forum. The Progressive Direct Group of Insurance Companies, for example, encourages consumers to make informed decisions about their auto insurance and gives the tools to do so. By visiting progressive.com, consumers can obtain Progressive Direct’s rates along with the rates of other leading companies.

For Progressive Direct, this means consumers may end up leaving to get a quote from one of its competitors. In this way, Progressive Direct can present itself as a resource for consumers.

32% like marketing personally communicated by friends or experts they trust, but the message must be worth talking about to be passed along.

One bright note:
Growth in the percentage of consumers who actually like advertising – up to 55% from the previous year’s 47%.