Do Not Call Registry Is Working Well, According to Latest Harris Poll
February 13 2004 - 1:40PM
PR Newswire (US)
Do Not Call Registry Is Working Well, According to Latest Harris
Poll More Than Half of All U.S. Adults Say They Have Signed Up, and
They Now Receive Far Fewer Telemarketing Calls or None at All
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Trade
Commission's National Do Not Call Registry has been remarkably
successful. More than half of all adults (57%) say they have signed
up and most of these people say they have either received no
telemarketing calls since then (25%) or far less than before (53%).
Only a few of those who have signed up report getting the same
number (5%) or more (1%) telemarketing calls than before. These are
some of the results of a nationwide Harris Poll conducted online by
Harris Interactive(R) with a nationwide sample of 3,378 adults who
were surveyed between January 19 and 28, 2004. Other interesting
findings in this research include: * The proportion of all adults
who have heard of the Registry has increased from 71% last
September to 91%. * The proportion of all adults who claim to have
signed up with the Registry has increased from 32% last September
to 57%. * Over 90% of those who have signed up report receiving
fewer telemarketing calls, including the 25% who say they
havereceived none, 53% who have received some but far less and 14%
who have received some but a little less than before. Knowledge and
experience of polls, surveys and Do Not Call Registry Most people
on the Registry (68%) do not know if survey research firms and
pollsters are allowed to call numbers that have signed up for the
Registry. Only a quarter (24% of those signed up) know that they
are allowed to call because they were exempted from the "do not
call" restrictions. A few people (8% of those who have signed up)
mistakenly believe that pollsters are not allowed to call. Two in
every five (41%) of those on the Registry report that they have
been polled since signing up. So what? "In my experience," states
Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive,
"these results are remarkable. It is rare to find so many people
benefit so quickly from a relatively inexpensive government
program. This successful initiative now raises more questions about
the desirabilityof "do not spam" legislation when, according to
other surveys by Harris Interactive, the overwhelming majority of
those online find spam very annoying." TABLE 1 FAMILIARITY WITH
NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY "Have you seen, read or heard about
the National 'Do-Not-Call Registry' list that the Federal Trade
Commission has recently set up to go into effect as of October 1,
2003?" Base: All Adults September 2003 Now % % Have seen, read or
heard 71 91 Have not seen, read or heard 28 7 Not sure/Refused * 2
TABLE 2 REGISTERED FOR DO NOT CALL REGISTRY "Have you registered
for the National 'Do-Not-Call Registry' list?" Base: All Adults
September 2003 Now % % Have registered 32 57 Have not registered 67
41 Not sure/Refused 1 2 TABLE 3 VOLUME OF TELEMARKETING CALLS
RECEIVED SINCE SIGNING UP ON DO NOT CALL REGISTRY "Since you signed
up, have you received any telemarketing calls?" Base: All Who Have
Registered Total % No telemarketing calls 25 Some, but far less
than before 53 Some, but a little less than before 14 About as many
as before 5 More than before I signed up 1 Not sure 2 TABLE 4
WHETHER CALLED BY A POLL OR SURVEY SINCE SIGNING UP ON DO NOT CALL
REGISTRY "Since you signed up, have you been called by anyone who
was doing a poll or a survey and wanted to ask you questions?"
Base: All Who Have Registered Total % Yes, have been called 41 No,
have not been called 51 Not sure 8 TABLE 5 KNOWLEDGE OF WHETHER
POLLS AND SURVEYS CAN CALL THOSE ON DO NOT CALL REGISTRY "Do you
know if survey research firms and pollsters are allowed to call
numbers that have signed up with the 'Do-Not-Call Registry'?" Base:
All Who Have Registered Total % They are allowed to call 24 They
are not allowed to call 8 Not sure 68 Methodology The Harris
Poll(R) was conducted online within the United States between
January 19 and 28, 2004 among a nationwide cross section of 3,378
adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults
in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into
line with their actual proportions in the population. "Propensity
score" weighting was also used to adjust for respondents'
propensity to be online. In theory, with probability samples of
this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results
have a statistical precision of plus or minus three
percentagepoints of what they would be if the entire adult
population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately,
there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or
surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical
calculations ofsampling error. They include refusals to be
interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order,
and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may
result from these factors. This online sample is not a probability
sample. These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of
the National Council on Public Polls. About Harris Interactive(R)
Harris Interactive (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/) is a
worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The
Harris Poll(R), and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct
scientifically accurate market research. Headquartered in
Rochester, New York, U.S.A., Harris Interactive combines
proprietary methodologies and technology with expertise in
predictive, custom and strategic research. The Company conducts
international research through wholly owned subsidiaries --
London-based HI Europe (http://www.hieurope.com/) and Tokyo-based
Harris Interactive Japan -- as well as through the Harris
Interactive Global Network of local market- and opinion- research
firms, and various U.S. offices. EOE M/F/D/V To become a member of
the Harris Poll Online(SM) and be invited to participate in future
online surveys, visit http://www.harrispollonline.com/. DATASOURCE:
Harris Interactive CONTACT: Nancy Wong of Harris Interactive,
+1-585-214-7316 or Web site: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/
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