Study: Two-Thirds of E-mail Users Face Default, Image Suppression

E-mail marketing firm Epsilon Interactive found that 65 percent of American e-mail users have encountered default image suppression in its first consumer survey on default image suppression conducted in July 2006.

The Epsilon Interactive study revealed that these e-mails messages arrive in inboxes without images initially displayed. However, the study found that 69 percent of users who face this problem activate suppressed images, and more than 94 percent do so at least occasionally.

For e-mail marketers these findings are significant as major ISPs and e-mail clients including Microsoft's WindowsLive Mail -which is slated to replace MSN and Hotmail within the next year- prepare to adopt default image suppression.

Other findings in the study found that 90 percent at least sometimes activate images in e-mail they receive from their friends and family. Sixty-nine percent at least sometimes activate images in statements or order information from senders they buy from and 57 percent at least sometimes activate images in promotional messages from senders they buy from or have accounts with, or from senders to whom they've given their permission to send them email.

Thirty-one percent at least sometimes activate images in promotional messages from senders whom they have not given permission to send email, but whose names they recognize and trust. Sixteen percent at least sometimes activate images in promotional messages from senders whose names they don't recognize, but whose contents or offers interest them.