North Americans and Europeans are much more likely to use email as their primary form of communication than those in the Asia-Pacific Region, where instant messaging is more popular. A new study by Epsilon, that analyzed 13 countries use various communication tools and respond to permission-based email (PBE) in different ways based on their country of origin. Though the largest percentage of emails received is spam, email remains a mainstay communication and is being used on an increasing number of devices, North American (87%) and European (74%) are more likely than their peers in the Asia-Pacific region (58%) to use email as their primary online communications tool. In Asia-Pacific, instant messaging use is notably high, with 28% using it as their main form of communication.

Email is also replacing other channels of communication, especially from certain types of organizations. More than one-third have replaced traditional channels in favor of email for communications from banks (40%), promotional postal mail (38%) and telemarketing (34%). There also is a desire for email to continue to displace offline coupons (14%) and telemarketing (28%). Permission-based emails (PBEs) are more likely to elicit actions from Asia-Pacific, including clicking on a website, signing up for more information, watching a video clip, clicking on an advertised link or purchasing online or off-line. Asia-Pacific also leads in reported usage of a PDA or smartphone for email with 32%, significantly more than North America (9%) and Europe (7%).

Consumers continue to take a variety of offline actions as a result of email communications, including visiting a store (49%) and purchasing by phone (25%) or catalog (25%) which reinforces the need for marketers to implement a multi-channel strategy. 59% Asia-Pacific consumers report making an offline purchase as a result of email communications, followed by North America (53%) and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (37%).

Another notable difference by region lies in what compels consumers to open a permission-based email. While half of Asia-Pacific feel that subject lines are the most compelling feature, more than two-thirds of North American and European respondents say it is the “from” line. Additionally, discount offers, free product offers, familiar brand names and personalization of subject lines increase the likelihood of opening.

Additional study findings:

* Spam is the most common type of email received in all regions. Other types of emails include retail offers, work-related emails, emails related to personal interests, emails from friends and family, business newsletters and account statements.

* Security concerns and a lack of attractive offers/promotions are the primary reasons they do not interact with the emails they receive.

* North Americans are the most likely to unsubscribe to emails; Irrelevant content and frequency are cited as the two most likely reasons for un-subscription;

* About eight in 10 North American respondents have added PBE addresses to safe sender lists. Overall, more than half of respondents have added PBE addresses to safe sender lists.

* The biggest concerned about viruses, identity theft, phishing, and scams. Concerns about phishing and pharming have increased significantly from 2005 to 2009 for US.

* While most consumers manage one primary inbox for the programs they subscribe to, mobile phones and PDAs are gaining popularity for time-sensitive alerts such as news, weather and finance/stock information.

* The highest percentages in all regions say they prefer to receive emails in HTML format, while those in Asia-Pacific are most likely to say they have no preference.