On the impact of the EC Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, the annual The Preference Society survey found that it has 77% say it is confusing, with 72% believing that marketers were not conforming to the legislation.
However, the research did find that the directive has improved the targeting of email communications, according to 75% of respondents. The same percentage believed that it has made direct marketing more credible in the eyes of consumers.
On other issues, questioned about their use of opt-in data, 77% currently use it for online communications and 55% use or are planning to use it for offline communications.
Regarding suppression, 35% said they used suppression files before starting a direct marketing campaign. A greater proportion, 66%, felt that the use of suppression files should be compulsory.
Opinions were also sought on telemarketing. Just over 50% thought that this would become a big consumer issue in the future, with 75% stating that they think opt-in for telemarketing will make direct marketing more credible. However, 60% think that opt-in for telemarketing will make it more difficult to acquire new customers.
Nina Longstaff, marketing director of The Preference Service, said: "Our research reveals that marketers are increasingly recognising the importance of becoming more responsible with their direct marketing campaigns. More and more understand that using opt-in data and suppression products that improve targeting and maximise return on investment from direct marketing campaigns is common sense."
The survey results came as The Preference Service celebrated its fourth birthday with its 850th client win.
The milestone caps a successful 12 months during which the company grew turnover by 33% and won blue-chip clients including Barclaycard, News International, Bauer and HBOS.
The research was based on the responses of 342 mainly client-side marketers to questions related to topical direct marketing and data issues. It was carried out in August and is titled 'Mind the Gap -- Closing the Consumer Chasm 2004'.
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