Half of UK public ‘bombarded’ with irrelevant marketing

UK – Half of the UK public feel that they are bombarded with irrelevant marketing materials, according to research from The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). 

Computer stress crop

According to the research, 42% of people said they receive marketing via social media at least once a day, and 36% say they receive calls once a week or more. 

But half of those that have ever received this marketing say that it’s never relevant to them. It is reportedly most common to receive marketing about a hobby or interest that they don't have ( 61%), or promotions or offers in areas they neither live in or visit ( 35%). 

Over half ( 55%) of people receiving promotional material believe that the majority of these organisations obtained their contact details without their consent. 

This research comes alongside the launch of The CIM’s Data Right campaign, which calls on business to be more responsible with the way they manage data. 

“What’s most worrying about these results is that they are unsurprising," said Chris Daly, The CIM’s chief executive. "In our interconnected, ‘always on’ world, being bombarded with irrelevant materials has become the expected or the norm.

"It’s not good enough and it’s eroding the trust between customers and businesses. We need to act now and this is why we are asking organisations to take the Data Right pledge, to commit to showing greater respect and accountability to their customers.”

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.

The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.

Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.

For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.

Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.

0 Comments


Display name

Email

Join the discussion

Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest insights and trends...
Sign Up
Latest From MRS

Our latest training courses

Our new 2025 training programme is now launched as part of the development offered within the MRS Global Insight Academy

See all training

Specialist conferences

Our one-day conferences cover topics including CX and UX, Semiotics, B2B, Finance, AI and Leaders' Forums.

See all conferences

MRS reports on AI

MRS has published a three-part series on how generative AI is impacting the research sector, including synthetic respondents and challenges to adoption.

See the reports

Progress faster...
with MRS 
membership

Mentoring

CPD/recognition

Webinars

Codeline

Discounts