Snail mail, still the champion of our hearts

E-mail’s pokey cousin – the old fashioned letter – is still most people’s preferred way to receive important information

In a competition that is right out Aesop’s fables, the ease and speed of electronic communication is proving no match for the seriousness and persistence of letters, IT news website comon.dk reported Thursday.

More than half of those participating in a poll taken by Epinion for national postal service Post Danmark say they prefer paper to electronic when it comes to receiving information from public institutions or private businesses.

Some 75 percent said they preferred communication from doctors to wind up in their mailbox rather than their inbox, and more than half said they felt communication from businesses by post was more ‘serious’ than electronic communication.

Not all forms of communication are equal, however. Most felt that routine information such as bank statements were low priority enough to be sent as email.

Part of the reason for the difference, according to the study, is the immediacy of written communication – not on the sender’s part, but on the recipient’s part: 83 percent said they open letters as soon as they get they get home from work. Only 35 percent read their e-mail first.

As the piles of email mounts up and number of letters decline, written communication increasingly signifies something important, while electronic communication is associated with ease and speed.

When it comes right down to it, however, people just want to be able to choose how companies contact them. Some 84 percent said the recipients should be able to indicate their preference.