In their efforts to more cost-effectively reach lucrative younger markets and
garner higher spending from this group, advertisers have for several years been
reallocating media dollars to Internet-based media from traditional marketing media,
which include television, radio, magazines, newspapers, and postal direct mail (Gengler,
2010). The ICOM 2008 study and its reported preference among 18- to 34-year-olds for
direct postal mail delivery of marketing information versus e-mail or other Internet-based
delivery channels provided reason for marketers to reexamine how direct marketing
media are utilized to reach the young adult market segment. This reexamination often
resulted in modified resource allocations to refine the efficiency of media spending and
thereby drive maximized return on marketing investment due to the additional buying of
this demographic group. To effectively accomplish such reallocation of resources, and to
better inform decisions related to modifying marketing plans in order to more
appropriately target this group, marketers require additional understanding of these
consumers and the drivers of their preference for direct marketing media.
Marketers are continually trying to attract new customers in order to positively
impact sales and increase return on marketing investment. As the Internet has gained
popularity in the United States, marketers have significantly shifted marketing budgets
from postal direct mail and other traditional media to digital media, including e-mail and
Internet-based advertising (Stone & Jacobs, 2008). A recent study of 1,529 participants
by the ICOM Information and Communications division of Epsilon, a database marketing
industry leader, has shown that 18- to 34-year-old consumers have expressed a two-to-
one preference for receiving marketing information via postal direct mail versus e-mail or
other Internet-based communication, including social networking. This finding ran