Introduction
The direct marketing-
direct consumer gap:
qualitative insights
Martin Evans
Maurice Patterson and
Lisa O'Malley
The authors
Martin Evans is Professor of Marketing and Director of
the Bristol Business School Research Unit in Marketing,
Bristol Business School, Bristol, UK.
Maurice Patterson is a Lecturer in Marketing at
Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent
University, Nottingham, UK.
Lisa O'Malley is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at
Nottingham University Business School, Nottingham, UK.
Keywords
Direct marketing, Privacy, Consumer behaviour,
Group discussion,Market research
Abstract
The need to explore consumer reactions to any form of
marketing is central to the marketing concept and this
paper reports part of an industry-funded project to
investigate how consumers interact with direct marketing.
The programme was qualitative, based on both individual
depth interviews and group discussions. A theme of
``paradox'' emerged from the research in a variety of
ways. Consumers generally take a pragmatic view of
marketing activity, but at the same time they are sceptical
of much direct marketing. The research identifies
consumers' key concerns with direct marketing as:
privacy, control and relevance. The resulting ``gaps''
between direct marketing practice and consumer
expectations and desires produce clearer areas for the
direct marketer to address.
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Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal
Volume 4 . Number 1 . 2001 . pp. 17±24
# MCB University Press . ISSN 1352-2752
17
Direct marketing expenditure continues to
increase rapidly (DMA, 1998) and there is a
reciprocal participation in dealing with
organisations by direct methods on the part
of consumers. Regarding the popularity of
the telephone, for example, it is suggested
that just over half the UK population are
telephiles who are comfortable using the
phone for telebusiness (The TeleBusiness
Report, 1998). The use of the Internet is at a
lower level at present but is in a fantastic
``growth'' stage.
From a consumer perspective, direct
marketing is seen to offer a number of
substantial benefits over traditional marketing
such as greater convenience (Darian, 1987)
and a more extensive product assortment
(Rosenberg and Hirschman, 1980; Gehrt and
Carter, 1992; Gillett, 1976).
However, there can also be disadvantages.
The issue of privacy is increasingly
conceptualised as both influencing and
exacerbating consumer concerns with
regard to direct marketing (Cespedes and
Smith 1993; Milne et al., 1996; Maynard
and Taylor, 1996; Patterson et al., 1997).
Although the degree of perceived risk is
another potential disadvantage, it is
encouraging that, as far as satisfaction with
direct mail goods and services is concerned,
there has been a steady rise over recent
years: in 1989 just over 30 per cent of a
sample of consumers was ``very satisfied''
compared with 45 per cent in 1995 (DMIS,
1998). So, in general terms, consumers are
becoming more relaxed about ordering via
the telephone and post and are more
satisfied with the products and services they
buy this way. We are increasingly seeing the
direct-consumer reciprocal of the direct-
marketer.
Objectives
With this as a background a qualitative
research programme was initiated, funded by
the direct marketing industry via the DMA
(West). The project aimed to investigate
changing consumer values, the
appropriateness of relationship marketing and
The research for this paper has been funded via the
Direct Marketing Association (West).
 The direct marketing-direct consumer gap: qualitative insights
Martin Evans, Maurice Patterson and Lisa O'Malley
consumer reactions to direct marketing. It is
on the last mentioned that this paper reports.
In this context the main aim was to identify
the issues that the industry should address for
it to develop further. More specifically, to
explore how consumers use various direct
marketing media, what they like and with
what they are less comfortable, in order to
identify how the industry could move
forward.
Methodology
The study consisted of two qualitative phases.
Initially, a series of depth interviews were
conducted in an effort to gather an
``authentic'' understanding of consumers'
values, their thinking on relationships, and
their experiences of direct marketing. The
second phase of the study encompassed a
number of phenomenological group
discussions.
An unstructured open-ended approach
was taken to the depth interviews. This
allowed respondents to demonstrate their
``unique ways of defining the world''
(Denzin, 1970). It recognised that a
standard, highly structured interview
schedule is not suitable for all respondents
and it enabled us to explore unexpected or
novel issues raised by respondents.
Interviewees were encouraged to tell ``their
stories'' and to offer their own definitions of
particular activities (Silverman, 1993).
Important in this process was the
development of a rapport between
interviewer and interviewees. ``Humanistic
approaches favour `depth interviews' in
which interviewee and interviewer become
`peers' or even `companions''' (Reason and
Rowan, 1981). The primary purpose of this
phase of the research was to generate
qualitative data in sufficient depth so that
they would provide a detailed
understanding of relevant consumer-
perceived issues concerning their
interaction with direct marketing (Saunders
et al., 1997; Edwards and Talbot, 1994).
The second phase of the study employed
group discussions because they ``are
particularly well suited to collecting in-depth,
qualitative data about individuals, definitions
of problems, opinions, feelings and meanings
associated with various phenomena'' (Basch,
1987) and because the group dynamics
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Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal
Volume 4 . Number 1 . 2001 . 17±24
process facilitates interaction between
respondents, thereby providing a stimulating
and secure setting in which to express ideas
(Mendes de Almeida, 1980). As such, ``the
permissive group environment gives
individuals license to divulge emotions that
often do not emerge in other forms of
questioning'' (Kruegar, 1994). The purpose
of this phase of the research was to further
clarify the interaction consumers have with
direct marketing.
A total of 40 depth interviews and nine
group discussions were conducted at a
number of locations in South Wales, the
West of England and the South East. In
addition to demographic criteria
respondents were selected (via professional
recruiters) on the basis that they had
received some direct marketing
communication in the two weeks prior to
interviewing. With regard to the group
discussions group homogeneity was
maintained (based on gender, age and
socio-economic group) in order to promote
a positive and open atmosphere conducive
to good information sharing, and because
phenomenological groups should be
homogeneous (Calder, 1977). Discussion
guides were semi-structured allowing the
moderators to investigate those issues of
prime importance while at the same time
offering a degree of flexibility.
All interviews were recorded on
audiocassette and unabridged transcripts
were then generated. The process of data
analysis followed Wolcott (1994) in that it
incorporated the three major phases of
description (relying heavily on verbatim
quotes from respondents), analysis
(identifying important factors, themes and
relationships) and interpretation (making
sense of meanings in context).
Findings
The use of direct marketing
The ``convenience'' benefit referred to earlier
was certainly supported here; respondents
taking the point further by (generally)
agreeing that ordering and ``doing business''
via the telephone is more convenient than by
mail and there are signs of understanding the
benefits of Internet shopping:
 The direct marketing-direct consumer gap: qualitative insights
Martin Evans, Maurice Patterson and Lisa O'Malley
Yes . . . once a month . . . things like catalogues
. . . I do car insurance over the phone (Male, 25-
34).
Don't get round to using the post . . . too slow
and unreliable . . . you don't know whether
they've received your order until it doesn't arrive
(Male, 25-34).
Always use the phone (to order) . . . never the
post . . . it's unreliable . . . the phone is immediate
. . . the printed word is dead . . . it's all virtual
reality now.
Some respondents are more resistant to direct
marketing:
The post . . . comes in the morning and I'm
rushing out to work and then when I get back
I've got other things to do (Female, 45-54).
Just can't be bothered to open it all . . . I think
there's just too much of it really (Male, 25-34).
This shows direct marketers that, although
direct marketing is clearly a convenience to
the time-constrained contemporary
consumer, it can also be its own worst
enemy because the consumer can be
bombarded by a mountain of mail with little
time to sort it all. The perception of too
much mail (or telemarketing activity)
intruding into one's life is the domain of
physical privacy (Patterson et al., 1997) and
is explored in a different context later. But
the following quote summarises the position
of many:
Don't write off for anything . . . if you do you get
on loads of mailing lists and get loads of junk
mail through the door (Male, 25-34).
The understanding indicated by this
statement of the marketing use of personal
details and of direct marketing lists reflects a
degree of marketing knowledge on the part of
the contemporary consumer. This may not
have existed in previous eras and is a point
taken further in the next section.
The street-wise but cynical consumer
Respondents saw a general increase in direct
marketing activity over recent years and,
whereas none particularly welcomed this, they
do not all feel the same about the increase.
Many are pragmatic:
Increased but it doesn't really bother me (Male,
25-34).
There's a lot more . . . (because) I think probably
more competitive businesses (Female, 45-54).
Some are more cynical:
We are a very consumerist society I think
(Female, 45-54).
Some of it I find mildly offensive, some of it is
just silly! (Female, 25-34).
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A few are very unhappy:
We're swamped now . . . saturated . . . can be
slightly intimidating (Male, 45-54).
To reinforce the pragmatism of many
consumers, the discussion turned to explore
respondents' views of what direct marketing
does for companies. There is a general
perception that direct marketing gives
information, reminds consumers of their
needs and is able to be more accurately
targeted:
They target what they think you are interested in
(Female, 45-54).
I suppose you can cover a lot of people with a
mailshot and it's fairly inexpensive really
(Female, 25-34).
As well as the use of marketing terminology,
there are other manifestations of consumers'
knowledge of direct marketing, even if there
are misconceptions:
. . . There has to be a bank, a central bank of
information that they draw from. You're on
someone's file somewhere (Female, 45-54).
. . . I don't know if anybody's come across
Experian but they are the company that notes
everything that you do in your life . . . People can
look into Experian and find out what you're
borrowing . . . unless you pay cash (Female, 45-
54).
So again these findings tend to suggest that
the contemporary consumer understands
aspects of direct marketing from the
marketer's perspective. Similarly, the
discussion included an exploration of what
direct marketing does for the respondents
themselves. Again, ``information'' turned out
to be an element:
If the advert has given me information about
something, then it makes me want to try it out
(Female, 45-54).
I suppose it tells me about different products, a
wide range of things that I wouldn't normally
think about (Female, 25-34).
This reinforces the benefit of ``choice'' as
mentioned earlier. Some other benefits of
direct marketing, for our consumers, revolve
around sales promotion. Many of the mailings
from so-called loyalty schemes merely offer
further discounts and consumers tend to see
much direct marketing activity in the same
way:
I do like those that give you an offer like free
cinema tickets (Male, 18-24).
I don't mind . . . local stuff, especially offers on
local services (Male, 45-54).
 The direct marketing-direct consumer gap: qualitative insights
Martin Evans, Maurice Patterson and Lisa O'Malley
So, consumers understand what direct
marketers are trying to do, but do not always
appreciate the increase in personal targeting.
They like direct marketing which gives them
some form of discount and the general
convenience which the telephone (especially)
provides. The expanded product assortment
brought via direct marketing is also a clear
benefit to consumers.
However, consumers are sometimes less
happy when they receive unsolicited material
than when they themselves hold the initiative:
If I wanted to find out about something, I'd go to
the Yellow Pages . . . I wouldn't sit here waiting
for someone to phone me (Female, 45-54).
If I haven't contacted them first . . . they are
immediately off my list of suppliers . . . don't call
me, I'll call you (Male, 45-54).
These quotes lead to an important finding,
namely that consumers like to have control
over marketer-consumer interaction, and this
is a point discussed later.
For direct marketers to target consumers
appropriately they need to have relevant
personal details. On this trade-off issue there
are again many different views. Some are
pragmatists:
I'm not particularly bothered about that. I've
nothing terrible to hide! It doesn't really bother
me, I'm just mildly interested to know how they
get hold of your name sometimes (Female, 45-
54).
It's more targeted (Female, 45-54).
Don't mind if a company wants to know more
about me (Male, 18-24).
. . . I don't mind junk mail, maybe I don't get
much post! I'm the one that, where it says if you
want further information, I always tick it. I just
quite like coming home and going through bits
and pieces, just to see what's around. I rarely use
any of it, I just look and then bin it. I don't mind
getting it (Female, 45-54).
But some are concerned about their privacy:
I think it's quite unnerving really what people
might know. How much detail they do actually
have on you regarding income and credit limits. I
don't know what details are stored (Female,
25-34).
Don't give out any information if I can help it . . .
all they need is postcode . . . don't think the bit
about ``better meeting needs'' is true (Male, 25-
34).
. . . I'd hate to think what they know about me
(Female, 45-54).
. . . They are selling your name and address to all
sorts of companies all the time (Female, 45-54).
All the junk mail . . . it's an infringement of your
privacy (Female, 45-54).
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. . . Junk mail, God. I give to one charity and the
next thing I know I've got ten charities coming in
daily. They've obviously sold it on for profit
(Female, 45-54).
Poor targeting annoyance
Consumers might understand some of the
rationale behind personalised targeting but
their experience does not always match
marketers' intentions.
The following quotes show the negative
effects of irrelevant targeting:
Don't like unsolicited mail . . . haven't asked for
it and I'm not interested (Female, 25-34).
Most isn't wanted, it's not relevant and just
clutters up the table . . . you have to sort through
it to get to the ``real mail'' (Male, 45-54).
Much direct marketing is perceived to be
poorly targeted and therefore seen to be
irrelevant (financial services marketing is
especially criticised):
Anything to do with finance. I'm very happy for
somebody else to do it (Female, 45-54).
Don't like those for personal loans . . .
``everybody else turned you down'' . . . so
insulting (Male, 45-54).
Majority seem to be for credit cards . . . I've got a
credit card (Male, 25-34).
However, when there is relevance:
My son has asthma and occasionally you get
adverts for asthmatic products ± allergy
friendly stuff. I will actually read that
(Female, 25-34).
Another aspect of relevance is the level of
repeated contacts via post or mail and many
consumers experience too many of the
same:
Repetition, always the ones you don't want to
see (Male, 45-54).
Husband and wife can get same thing several
times (Male, 45-54).
A further element of relevance concerns how
recipients are targeted. Our research uncovers
a gender issue:
(I like direct mail to be) More colourful and
more instantly appealing (Female, 25-34).
(Brightly coloured envelopes) Usually goes
straight in the bin (Male, 25-34).
This supports other gender research in
direct marketing which suggests that
women prefer graphical imagery and colour
more than men based on the way male
and female brains process information
(Evans et al., 2000).
 The direct marketing-direct consumer gap: qualitative insights
Martin Evans, Maurice Patterson and Lisa O'Malley
From the rich data from the qualitative
research several clear issues emerged and are
discussed in the next section.
Discussion
The key issues to emerge from the depth
interviews revolve around the concepts of
privacy, relevance and control.
Privacy
Privacy concerns are not common to all
respondents, with some suggesting that
unsolicited mail and telephone calls do not
bother them. However, privacy is an issue that
does concern some respondents, with physical
privacy (the intrusion of direct marketing into
their homes) representing an annoyance and
information privacy (relating to the
information available on consumers)
representing a more substantial worry. In
terms of the latter, respondents' level of
knowledge varies substantially. People react
in different ways. For example, some are
pragmatic and recognise that the provision of
personal details may improve targeting.
However, those who feel particularly strongly
attempt to minimise the information held on
them, and rarely, if ever, provide direct
marketers with personal details or request
communications from them.
Relevance
Interestingly, privacy concerns feature most
strongly when respondents perceive that they
are targeted with irrelevant marketing
communications. As outlined above, the
emotive response to this can vary from a
general annoyance to overt concerns, and the
strongest reaction is to actively withdraw from
direct marketing communications. Direct
mailers do not like the term ``junk mail''. It
applies to mail which is perceived by the
recipient as being uninteresting or irrelevant:
If a person is interested in a subject and receives
an unsolicited telephone call or piece of mail
about it, he is not likely to view its receipt as an
invasion of privacy . . . It is relevant (Sherman,
1991).
According to the respondents in our depth
interviews, there are, actually, a variety of
dimensions to the relevance issue. The four
variations being: interest, timeliness,
repetition, and the information processing
effect. Relevance can only be achieved
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through improvements in targeting;
improvements that require the use of personal
data on individuals by companies:
Better market data makes marketing more
efficient, and in competitive markets some of the
fruits of efficiency are passed on to consumers
(Blattberg and Deighton, 1991, p. 12).
Control
In both the depth interviews and the group
discussions, control emerged as an important
consideration for consumers. Indeed, control
issues underpin concerns with regard to both
privacy and relevance and, as such, must be
taken seriously. It is worth reflecting on the
implications of the following quotes:
. . . I would prefer it if I didn't see anything in the
post unless I had specifically requested it
(Female, 25-34).
. . . Personally, if I've got something that I want
to do financially, I would look into it and go to
my own people. I would search them out myself
rather than look at something that came through
on the carpet because generally you just pick it
up and throw it away (Female, 25-44).
. . . It's just it's annoying to be sent things that
you are not interested in. Even more annoying
when they phone you up . . . If you wanted
something you would go and find out about it
(Female, 45-54).
Indeed, there is evidence that perceived
control could be used to encourage more to
use the Internet:
I have looked at Internet sites . . . only when I
wanted to . . . only because I was in the market
(Male, 25-34).
Control has been cited in other research as a
dimension valued by consumers (Gober,
2000).
Implications: direct marketing-direct
consumer interaction gaps
Our research reveals a healthy but dissonant
interaction with direct marketing on the part
of consumers and this can be summarised in
terms of a continuum reflecting the
knowledgeable consumer. On the one hand,
there is a surprising level of marketing
knowledge which is manifested in marketing
terminology and clear understanding of the
principle of targeting. On the other hand,
there is much misunderstanding ± the
perception of one single database where all
our lives are stored.
 The direct marketing-direct consumer gap: qualitative insights
Martin Evans, Maurice Patterson and Lisa O'Malley
There again there is much cynicism
amongst consumers who know that the
commercial pressures of business means there
is no altruism and that marketers are not
particularly trustworthy and are generally out
to manipulate consumers. The opposing and
simultaneous reaction is for high levels of
participation by consumers of the marketing
game.
As in most healthy people, there are often
tensions derived from opposing and
apparently irreconcilable cognitions. The
reconciliation is achieved by shifting
consumer perception and direct marketing
practice towards each other in order to fill the
gaps in Figure 1, especially in terms of
Figure 1 The direct marketing-direct consumer ``paradox'' gaps
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Volume 4 . Number 1 . 2001 . 17±24
privacy, relevance and control. Direct
marketers, however, must remember not to
provide just the ``trappings'' surrounding this
closure without the ``substance''.
First, this means that consumers need to
perceive that they have control over what they
receive, what happens to their personal
details, and over-interaction with marketers.
Marketers could provide the means for
consumer-controlled interaction (e.g. less
unsolicited outbound contact and more
opportunities for consumers to contact
marketers in their own time and own way,
such as via the Internet).
Also, clearer explanations over how
personal details are collected and used and
 The direct marketing-direct consumer gap: qualitative insights
Martin Evans, Maurice Patterson and Lisa O'Malley
how they can be withheld should be provided.
Related to this is the need for marketers to
publicise the Preference Services more
thoroughly and the DMA has already
embarked upon such a campaign.
As for ``relevance'' it is clear that some
cynicism is derived from marketers claiming
to be in a relationship with individual
consumers and saying they are being treated
in this way, yet providing offers which are not
received as being relevant or timely.
Inaccuracies in how consumers are addressed
sometimes annoy and give the lie to such
claims. Also, it is apparent that consumers
want to be treated in different ways. That is,
not only in terms of the offer itself, but how it
is presented. Women, for example, have been
found to respond better than men do to
colour and mood because the female brain
uses more connections between sections of
the brain and makes more meaning from
these than do men (Evans et al., 2000).
Conclusion
In conclusion, consumers' reactions to direct
marketing are an amalgam of paradoxes. On
the one hand, they are increasingly
knowledgeable (one woman knowing a little
about Experian) but at the same time it is ``a
little knowledge'' ± many don't know who else
has access to their personal details. On the
one hand, consumers are active participants
in direct marketing; increasingly buying via
the phone or post and happy to do so, yet on
the other hand, are increasingly cynical of
marketers' intentions and method of
approach. These tensions clearly lead to
dissonance but in every human being there
are natural conflicts, so we are merely
identifying how some are manifested with
respect to direct marketing. There are ways of
overcoming this dissonance; if one knows the
source of this, then the reduction or
avoidance of dissonance can be so much more
directed.
Consumers do not always think they are
truly being targeted in relevant, personalised
ways, so claims of being one-to-one or of a
``personal relationship'' nature should be
avoided until there can be true fulfilment in
this respect. In other words, consumers see
through personalised claims when everyone in
their street has been selected as a special
winner. Direct marketing has perhaps not
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Volume 4 . Number 1 . 2001 . 17±24
reached (for most companies) the stage of
being able to treat each consumer as an
individual and should revert to a
segmentation approach until it can. At
present consumers perceive there to be a lack
of true understanding of their personal
circumstances which aggravates their
cynicism toward marketers.
The personalising issue is of further
importance, because it appears that style of
information processing will be a major
catalyst in dealing with consumers in more
appropriate ways ± not only what is offered,
when, but how and in what style.
Marketers can improve the interaction with
their consumers if they allow for a greater shift
of control over this interaction to the
consumer, for example, as can occur with the
use of the Internet as opposed to outbound
telephoning.
There is much that marketers can do to
improve consumers' perceptions of direct
marketing ± for example, the nature of the
trade-off between relevance and revealing
personal details and the various safeguards
which are in place. Privacy will be a growing
concern as marketers fuse and mine databases
more and more. Already we see the use of
census and transactional data and, in some
financial service companies, genetic data are
being integrated (Specter, 1999). Perhaps, if
known, this would lead to even greater
consumer concerns.
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