Sponsored Content WEBINAR: ELECTION 2008: E-mail Tips from a Political Insider   WEBINAR: Becoming the Illusionist: The Magic of Using "Brand" to Drive Response without Results Disappearing in the Process   WEBINAR: Score and Win Through Cooperation   TOOLS OF THE TRADE: Holiday's are prime-time for email marketing - maximize your ROI by getting to the inbox   ON DEMAND WEBINAR--MASTER CLASS: High Performance Online and Off-line Strategies for Large Scale Customer Acquisition   FREE WHITE PAPER - Direct Mail and the Internet Find any supplier you need - agencies, CRM, fulfillment, lists, e-commerce, paper, printers, telemarketing, and more. Featured Categories Lists and Data Telemarketing Database Marketing E-commerce Web Marketing Agency & Creative Services Print, Production & Paper Lists and Data Processing :: view all categories Get free access to more than 50,000 list data cards - one of the most comprehensive databases in the industry. >> Search Now DIRECT Buzz Blog Webinars Buyer's Guide Calculators JobZone ListFinder Promo Calendar Research Store E-Newsletters Print Magazine This Month in Direct Magazine Bare Bones Postal reform works. The rate hike that takes effect May 12 is the lowest in memory: an average of 2.88%. And some mail classes are getting even less than that... See Full April Issue

The typical consumer is a heck of a lot smarter about e-mail than most marketers and Internet service providers think, according to a study due out from the E-mail Sender and Provider Coalition today.

Moreover, the average e-mail user would embrace more sophisticated tools for managing their inbox, according to the ESPC

For example, 90% of the 2,252 respondents to the survey said they’d like to see an unsubscribe button built directly into their e-mail programs, and 80% said they’d like to see a “report fraud” button added, as well.

And contrary to conventional wisdom, the vast majority appears to understand the difference between unsubscribing and reporting spam.

“Consumers are very sophisticated with regards to e-mail and we’re not going to scare, confuse or annoy them with more detailed solutions to managing their inboxes,” said Trevor Hughes, executive director of the ESPC.

Moreover, trust in unsubscribe mechanisms is surprisingly high. Eighty two percent of those surveyed said they use the unsubscribe features provided when they want to stop getting e-mail from companies from which they had previously requested to receive messages. Seventy one percent said they believe unsubscribe links work, and 48% said they use unsubscribe links even when they don’t know the sender.

“Consumers are using unsubscribes. Any tools provided by the ISPs that help make that process easier for them, they would absolutely embrace and use,” said Hughes. “Our survey results certainly indicate that consumers understand the difference between reporting something as spam and unsubscribing.”

And while the idea that consumers are generally pretty sharp about e-mail defies much of conventional wisdom, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise, added Hughes.

“E-mail in society today is perhaps the most common communication tool, certainly in business, and in personal communications, as well,” he said. “And with that level of adoption and engagement within the population, it is predictable that you’re going to see an increasing level of sophistication as the years go on.”

Seventy three percent of those surveyed said they have six or more years experience with e-mail and on average, they check their messages once a day, according to the study.

The survey also bolstered findings from other recent studies that found people are using the “from” and “subject” lines to determine whether or not to open an e-mail or reject it as spam.

Eighty percent of those surveyed said they decide whether to click on the “report spam” or “junk” button without opening the e-mail, according to the survey. Also, 73% make the decision using the from line and 69% said they make it using the subject line, according to the ESPC.

“If your from line and subject line have any appearance of being spammy, you’ve got a four out of five chance that they’re going to ding you before they even know what’s inside your message,” said Hughes. “Consumers are whipping through their inboxes these days with a great rate of confidence that using the from and subject lines exclusively can determine whether something is spam or not.”

In other findings, 20% or respondents said they have hit the “this is spam” button to unsubscribe. Seventy nine percent of the respondents said they hit the “report spam” button when they don’t know who the sender is.

Consumers also apparently have a relatively high opinion of e-mail certification, according to the ESPC. Fifty three percent of those surveyed said they would be more likely to open an e-mail if it had a symbol identifying it as having been certified by a trusted third party.