Direct Mail Privacy-Efficiency Trade-offs within an Implied Social Contract Framework

The authors conceptualize direct mail as an implied social contract between marketers and consumers. Four attributes constitute the direct mail social contract: volume, targeting, compensation, and permission. Several proposals have been advanced in an effort to protect consumer privacy in the direct mail environment. These proposals would directly or indirectly result in changes in the levels of the social contract attributes. The authors use a conjoint study to measure the trade-offs consumers make among these attributes. The results suggest consumers want improved targeting efficiency and lower mail volume, and they are not willing to pay for these improvements. These findings suggest that consumers consider several attributes in their evaluation of direct mail social contracts. Proposals to alter the direct mail environment must consider all these attributes in concert.