This looks like a good example of why I say mistrust research. This morning Small Biz Labs posted an intriguing piece showing that consumers prefer regular mail to email for receiving product information and promotions; by a large margin.

That surprised me and I like Small Biz Labs, so I read on.

According to the survey cited, 73% prefer regular mail to email for product announcements, and 70% prefer regular mail for unsolicited promotional material.

The trail of clicks ends with a Pitney Bowes — the postage meter company — press release. Pitney Bowes commissioned the study. Hmmm  … would they have a reason to want to find that traditional mail is better than email? And guess what, Small Biz Labs mentions the source in its reference, but I hadn’t noticed it because I was focusing on the research, not the funding of the research.

I’m not saying that anything about this is dishonest, just that I can design questions on a survey to generate the answers I want. Mistrust research.

Link: Small Biz Labs: Survey on Traditional Mail Versus Email.

—Tim