Table A3-41
Standard Mail from Mail Order Companies
Reaction to Mail Piece by Familiarity and Shape
(Percentage of Pieces)
Postal Fiscal Years 1987, 2006 and 2007
(Diary Data)
Shape Read
(Immediately and Set Aside)
Found Useful Will Respond
1987 2006 2007 1987 2006 2007 1987 2006 2007
Previous customer:                  
   Letter size envelope 65.0 57.7 59.5 52.2 41.3 54.1 18.8 14.2 14.4
   Larger than
   Letter Size Envelope
74.3 66.1 66.5 58.7 53.2 51.1 27.1 19.5 19.7
   Catalog 74.9 77.8 75.9 70.3 72.5 73.4 25.1 16.6 17.8
Organization known:                  
   Letter size envelope 34.2 26.8 41.0 13.3 11.7 25.3 5.6 2.8 12.0
   Larger than 
   Letter Size Envelope
44.5 32.2 38.4 27.0 13.8 13.6 9.7 3.1 4.6
   Catalog 44.6 53.8 48.9 31.5 34.6 32.5 6.7 3.3 5.7
Organization unknown:                  
   Letter size envelope 29.4 34.4 29.4 7.0 13.6 5.5 6.7 5.6 2.6
   Larger than
   Letter Size Envelope
32.9 29.5 24.4 14.2 10.9 6.6 4.7 0.8 4.0
   Catalog 36.8 40.7 33.5 17.7 24.9 17.4 3.5 2.7 2.5
NOTE: Percentages represent row percentages within each familiarity and shape category;
these do not sum to 100 due to the inclusion of multiple questions in this table. 
  Fluctuations may be due to small sample sizes.