Direct Marketing Media Research Articles

Bank managers’ direct marketing dilemmas – customers’ attitudes and purchase intention

Investigates customer attitudes towards the direct marketing strategies employed by banks in relation to how attitudes toward the marketing media used and response channels influence the customer’s intention to purchase. Marketing media include mail promotion, telephone, and e‐mail promotions. Response channels include mail order, telephone and e‐mail orders. A total of 153 customers of bank services and products completed a survey questionnaire on their attitudes. Research indicates that customers generally evince a negative attitude toward banks using direct marketing strategies. They have mixed feelings about response channels, and low intention to purchase as an outcome of direct marketing. Purchase intention is significantly influenced by attitudes toward direct marketing media rather than response channels. Attaching promotions to communications a customer is expecting to receive can strengthen purchase intention. No demographic differences indicate that attitudes may have a stronger association with purchase intention. Revealed dilemmas faced by bank managers, marketers and researchers.

Direct marketing communications in the UK: a study of growth, past, present and future

In this paper the authors present a framework to aid visualization and appreciation of the dramatic growth enjoyed by direct marketing communications in the UK over the last 15 years. This growth has been fuelled by a demand ‘pull’ and a technology ‘push’. In terms of the former, market fragmentation and increasing individualism resulted in the demise of the mass market. Traditional communications media subsequently began to decline in effectiveness (while simultaneously experiencing escalating costs). Together these resulted in a demand for effectively targeted marketing communications. This demand was met by technological developments; in particular relational databases and desktop publishing (DTP) revolutionized direct marketing. Other, related developments, led to a growth in the depth and accuracy of information held on individual consumers. On the basis of the current trends evident within direct marketing media, the authors identify future prospects for the industry. These include greater integrati...

Direct marketing in UK retailing: rhetoric and reality

In recent years a number of commentators, taking note of facilitating developments in customer information systems, have predicted a movement toward retail direct marketing in the UK. Speculation in the trade press as to the potential consequences of such a movement has become almost commonplace. The fact remains, however, that little is actually known about the extent to which retailers are even interested in, let alone practicing, direct marketing. Consequently, this study aims to provide an initial benchmark against which future retail direct marketing developments can be gauged. In summary, it appears to justify interest in the emergence of a retail direct marketing movement. The results show both a high level of interest in direct marketing media, and the potential for the adoption over time of more sophisticated direct marketing applications. However, there appear to be a number of barriers to the adoption and implementation of direct marketing in the retail business. These are identified and discussed.