The Opening and Reading Behavior of Business-to-Business Direct Mail

Companies who are able to optimize their target audience's opening and reading behavior of commercial business-to-business mailings realize two objectives at the same time: increase response rates of these mailings and lift the level of exposure of their company, its products, and/or services. However, little is known about the way in which managers open and read direct mail pieces that are received at their offices. This study investigates the antecedents of and relationships between direct mail opening, reading, and response behavior in a business-to-business context and reports the results of a field experiment in which 60 Belgian managers participated. The study shows that manipulating envelope characteristics is the most effective way to influence business-to-business direct mail opening behavior. Segmenting and targeting appear to be key success factors for stimulating reading and response behavior. Mailing content characteristics were not related significantly to reading behavior, nor did mail pressure affect opening behavior.