Representative letters instead of legal names throughout the official recording of findings will protect anonymity.
Participants were provided with researcher contact information to address concerns and ensure transparency (Appendix 4).
Obtaining informed consent
Protecting privacy
Avoiding deception
Providing the right to withdraw
4.0. FINDINGS AND ANALYSES
4.1. FINDINGS
Interview findings were outlined in field notes and placed within a thematic map (Appendix 2), following on from the semi-structured approach to interviews taken (Appendix 5). These were then compared against the secondary case studies to generate an informative correlation and representative outcomes.
Figure 10 summarises themes explored by participants within interviews (Appendix 3), relating to channel consumption, relevancy and value.
Figure 10: Summary of Findings
4.1.1. ATTITUDES, PREFERENCES AND RELEVANCY
All participants outlined a depth of channel preferences in marketing communications, which DM was then compared to throughout the interview questions (Appendix 5).
Across the interview sample, attitudes varied as each experience outlined by participants was reasonably specific relative to the channels they frequently engage with. However, all participants (A-E) agreed that as some of the channels they engaged with was not specifically opted-into, this had an overall impact on how the message was valued and subsequently acted upon.
Participant A (Appendix 2) outlined a perspective from a marketing communications agency, emphasising the relevance and value of DM:
“There’s a single or two-stage approach to getting a response. Two stage is if we have to initial cold prospect for clients, from our experience DM, Email or Trade Press are the most useful”.
“For sole traders, we have a go-to mailer strategy where coupon offers for wholesale clients have created a response rate between 10-22%.”
However, the consumer proportion of the sample (Participants B-E) reacted negatively to a cold-prospect or two-stage approach to DM communications, associating DM with junk-mail:
“Post (DM) is a channel I avoid, because mostly when I get generic brochures in the post, they go straight into the recycling bin”. (Participant B, 26).
“Sometimes, I get useless letters about credit cards or mortgages which have no relevance. They just get thrown straight out.” (Participant D, 36).
“If I get brochures they stay in an unused pile and then get recycled. I prefer to look at things on a screen.” (Participant B, 26).
4.1.2. TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
However, the sample does attribute relevance to DM in specific applications, giving examples of positive channel experiences:
“When I receive post it’s usually really detailed, even if its generic. I can see straightaway whether it’s valuable or not, because all of the information I need to make a decision is in one useful place.” (Participant D, 36).
“With wanted mail, I can keep it in a safe place and pick it up again when needed. Plus all of the information is in one handy location and not stored all over my desktop.” (Participant E, 28).
This contrasts from the overall perception of DM in the conceptual framework (Figure 5) which posits that DM is less relevant in contemporary practice. Whilst the sample predominantly do not value mass-market post or junk mail, there is a clear preference for DM from organisations they have a pre-existing relationship with:
“I get mail from Barclaycard as I have a credit card with them. This helps me to manage my finances, track my spending and get access to the best deals. I get promotional catalogues from Very who I have an account with. The White Company, Tesco, Costco and Boots are other companies who always send me personalised offers and I always end up redeeming them” (Participant E, 28).
“I definitely prefer face-to-face communications or physically having the information in front of me. Online I’d have to do a lot of research to get to that stage and I don’
