Hong Kong consumers respond to email marketing

Hong Kong - An online survey on consumer email marketing trends jointly conducted by Radica Systems, the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Centre for Electronic Commerce and atNext.com shows more than 40% of respondents purchased promotional items in response to email marketing.

The study conducted in July this year collected 886 valid responses aimed at providing insights on the attitude of the Hong Kong public towards email marketing and the impact of spam.

The survey highlighted the importance of permission-based email marketing as results revealed 87% of respondents would delete emails from unknown senders, while 59%   would open and read opt-in emails while 11% of respondents showed interest in reading permitted emails.

Francis Kwok, CEO for Radica Systems, pointed out marketers should keep track of their deliverability reports after email marketing campaigns are launched to ensure that their emails are not treated as spam by internet service providers.

"Obviously, people like to read their subscribed emails and feel annoyed when they receive emails from unknown senders," Tam Kar Yan, chair professor for the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Centre, information and systems management said.

"Therefore, the UEM (Unsolicited Electronic Messages) bill not only protects the public from spam problems, it can also create a healthy environment for the growth of email marketing and further encourages the technology development of email marketing".  

The survey also evaluated the popularity of promotional emails from different brands in five major industries. Sony, Egl Tour, HSBC, Nike and Broadway Cinemas were ranked as the most favourite brands in the respective industries such as travel and catering, finance and insurance and fashion and beauty.