Do Men and Women Respond to Direct Mail Differently?

Do men and women differ in how they respond to direct mail? New research by the University of Wisconsin suggests that direct mail campaigners can use different techniques for better results among men or women.

The researchers, led by Ruth Hansen from the University of Wisconsin’s Whitewater College of Business and Economics and Lauren Dula from Binghamton University, examined two different approaches to writing direct mail copy. The “Security” approach emphasises safety, stability and loss prevention while the “Universalism” approach values understanding, tolerance and welfare for people and the natural world.

The study sought to discover whether men and women reacted differently to the two approaches, and which approaches were more positively received.

Direct mail campaigns written in a Universalism style, a Security style and a mixture of the two were sent to 1400 individuals, with an equal split between men and women.

The study’s control letter received the highest positive response (91%), with the Security letter coming in second place (90%), followed by the letter containing a mixture of the two approaches (88%). The Universalism letter received the lowest number of positive responses at 97%.

However, when the researchers began breaking down the response rates between men and women they started to see some differences.

91.4% of women were willing to make a donation compared to 86.3% of men – but the Security letter was most effective at convincing women, earning 93% positive responses.

More men favoured the control letter (89.1%), with only an 87% positive response to the Security letter and an 94.3% response to the Universalism letter.

Researchers also saw differences in how much each gender was willing to donate, with women willing to donate up to $56, compared to $51.10 for men.

The researchers concluded by noting that, as the research was conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, this may have influenced both responders’ willingness to donate and the favour for Security letters. However, the research certainly offers food for thought – and some interesting new approaches for direct mail campaigners.