Recall of Promotional Products

* 7 in 10 consumers recalled receiving at least one promotional product in the past 12 months. A similar finding was observed in previous studies. Among those who recalled receiving promotional products, 70% recalled receiving two or more items.

* Recall of the advertiser and message behind the first promotional item recalled are very high. While 88% recalled the advertiser from a promotional product received in the past 12 months, 71% recalled advertisers on a newspaper or magazine read a week before, which speaks to the power of promotional products to support brand recall.

* Financial services, retailers, apparel brands and electronics manufacturers are the most commonly recalled advertisers of promotional products. The most often recalled promotional product categories include:

- Wearables (41%)

- Writing Instruments (35%)

- Drinkware (19%)

Usage of Promotional Products

* 8 in 10 consumers own between 1 & 10 promotional products, 6 in 10 keep them for up to 2 years, and about half (53%) use a promo item at least once/week or more often.

* The main reason for keeping a promotional product is usefulness. Ranking higher in usefulness are Computer Products (100%), Health & Safety Products (100%) and Writing Instruments (91%).

* Sporting Goods/Leisure Products/Travel Accessories (24%), Housewares/Tools (21%) and Wearables (23%) are more often kept because of their perceived attractiveness.

* The top categories of promotional products kept because they can be used for contact information reference are Buttons/Badges/Ribbons/Stickers/Magnets (33%), Electronic Devices & Accessories (29%) and Computer Products (23%). However, promotional products are not often used for contact information reference.

* When it comes to frequency of use, Calendars/Planners (85%), Computer Products (85%) and Electronic Devices & Accessories (82%), take the top 3 spots.

* Most promotional products are kept at home (54%) or on the person (24%). Promotional products that are not worth keeping are either filed away and ignored (42%) or given to someone else. Only one in 5 trashes non-wanted promotional products.

* Promotional products should be thought as "gifts for family and friends" to extend their relevancy beyond target users to facilitate passing the to others and thus increase their reach.

73% of consumers have received promotional products in the past 12 months

88% recalled the advertiser regarding promo items received in the last 12 months

62% recalled the message regarding promo items received in the last 12 months

82% own 1 to 10 promo products

74% keep promo products for more than a year

59% had a more favorable impression of the advertiser after receiving a promotional item.

Research from PPAI_November 2012