Majority of Respondents See E-mail as Essential, Reveals Survey by IncrediMail
Monday, 16 April 2007
IncrediMail Ltd., a software company specializing in Internet consumer products and services, today announced the results of an online survey, which queried users about e-mail communication. More than 10,000 IncrediMail users completed the survey, which was posted on the company’s Web site, and responded to questions about the role of e-mail in their daily lives and what they have communicated about via e-mail.
“This survey yielded many surprising and compelling results about how important e-mail is to our users,” said IncrediMail Executive Vice President, Jeff Holzmann. “Not only did the survey show how much our users value their e-mail, but also the extent to which they use the IncrediMail Web site to find new products through interaction with our Web site.”
People around the world have come to rely on e-mail as an essential means of communication, a fact that was reinforced by the survey’s respondents; a resounding 73.8 percent think that e-mail is essential to their life. When asked what they would rather give up for a day instead of losing e-mail, the surveyed said that they would rather forego chocolate (54.4 percent), coffee (50.2 percent), television (41.4 percent), their cell phone (38.4 percent) or their spouse/significant other (14.9 percent) than e-mail.
Beyond sending plain messages, more and more people are emphasizing what they are trying to communicate via e-mail by boosting their messages with images, emoticons and animations. Nearly 90 percent of the respondents have included images in their e-mails to enhance the message and more than 90 percent have used an emoticon, smiley face or an animated character in an e-mail to achieve the same affect.
According to the survey, e-mail is often used as a way to handle both lighthearted and delicate conversations. Nearly 50 percent of respondents have used an e-mail to prank or joke with a friend or colleague. 19 percent of those surveyed have started or advanced a romantic relationship via e-mail, while 7 percent have ended a relationship the same way. Similarly, 3.7 percent of respondents have ended a business relationship by firing someone through e-mail.
In addition, 72 percent of respondents use e-mail to share personal photos. IncrediMail embraces this trend by offering its Letter Creator software, which enables users to turn their own personal photos into e-mail backgrounds.
“We have more than 10 million registered users that enjoy making e-mails more personalized and customized, with IncrediMail,” said Holzmann. “And we will continue to offer the superior quality content that our users expect.”