Consumer Preferences Report

Background

If you’re not already invested in key channels like email, SMS/MMS (and now RCS), WhatsApp, and social messaging apps, those are a logical choice because they’re preferred globally by consumers.

Email and SMS/MMS remain the most popular communication channels globally, preferred by 79% and 49% of consumers, respectively. And with the advent of branded messaging with RCS, business texts are going to get even better.

Before you overhaul your entire communications strategy based on this data, keep in mind that channel preferences can vary significantly by region, generation, and use case. We’ll dive deeper into these factors in the sections below.

Consumers preferred digital communication channels, gobally

Regional preferences

Understanding regional preferences is crucial. For instance, WhatsApp enjoys widespread popularity in countries like Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, and Singapore, while messaging apps like LINE are particularly favored in Japan. Tailoring your communication strategy to these regional preferences can significantly enhance your engagement efforts and ensure you meet your audience where they are most active.

Channel preferences by country

What digital communication channels do you prefer when receiving communications from businesses? Select all that apply.

Scroll to see all results.

	Australia	Brazil	Colombia	France	Germany	Japan	Mexico	Singapore	UK	US	Global
Email	87%	77%	81%	78%	77%	75%	73%	81%	81%	80%	79%
Text messaging	59%	30%	54%	49%	27%	36%	40%	41%	50%	66%	49%
WhatsApp	14%	77%	68%	20%	59%	1%	71%	63%	37%	10%	36%
Social messaging apps	35%	41%	30%	29%	35%	23%	43%	36%	33%	40%	35%
Phone call	27%	22%	28%	32%	27%	15%	27%	20%	28%	40%	29%
Push notifications	18%	9%	19%	11%	20%	16%	21%	28%	18%	20%	18%
General messaging apps (LINE, Telegram, Viber, WeChat)	11%	17%	15%	8%	17%	44%	20%	27%	13%	11%	17%

Each generation has distinct preferences for communication channels, shaped by their unique experiences and technological familiarity

Generational preferences

Each generation has distinct preferences for communication channels, shaped by their unique experiences and technological familiarity. To help you align your strategies with the specific needs and expectations of each age group in your audience, here are a few key insights to know.

Older generations favor email: A hefty 87% of baby boomers and 83% of Gen Xers listed email as a preferred channel, compared to only 77% of millennials and 70% of Gen Zers. Looks like the inbox is still in style—at least for some!
Younger users are all about push, social, and messaging: Here’s some tea. Both Gen Z and millennial consumers were more likely to prefer these three channels than older generations.
Gen Z wants to talk—on the phone!: Think Gen Z is all about digital? Think again! With 34% of them open to phone calls from businesses, they’re the most likely generation to actually pick up the phone.
Millennials know what’s up with WhatsApp: Two in five millennials listed the messaging app as a favored channel.

Channel preferences by generation

What digital communication channels do you prefer when receiving communications from businesses? Select all that apply.

	Gen Z	Millenial	Gen X	Baby boomer
Email	70%	77%	83%	87%
Text messaging	48%	41%	29%	49%
WhatsApp	37%	40%	35%	30%
Social messaging apps	48%	41%	29%	21%
Phone call	34%	29%	26%	27%
Push notifications	21%	22%	17%	11%
General messaging apps (LINE, Telegram, Viber, WeChat)	21%	20%	17%	8%

Channel preferences by use case

Adding to the complexity, consumers often prefer different channels for different types of communications. For example, a customer might prefer to handle support issues over the phone, receive sales notifications over email, and urgent alerts via SMS. By implementing a preference center or allowing customers to specify their preferred channels during account sign-up, your business can personalize its communication strategy to meet each customer's unique preferences, ensuring engagement on the right channel every time.

Below, we take a closer look at our global respondents' preferences for key use cases, including sales and support, marketing and promotions, and user authentication.

Global consumers' preferred digital communication channels by use case

How do you prefer to receive the following communications from businesses? Select all that apply.

	Email	Phone call	Push notifications	Text message	General messaging apps	Social messaging apps	WhatsApp	Other/NA
Urgent alerts	56%	35%	23%	56%	9%	8%	22%	2%
Appointment reminds/confirmations	63%	22%	19%	54%	8%	7%	22%	2%
Status updates	56%	21%	23%	54%	9%	8%	23%	2%
Order confirmations	79%	15%	18%	42%	8%	7%	21%	2%
Product notifications	75%	11%	22%	32%	8%	10%	18%	3%
Customer satisfaction surveys	80%	12%	12%	26%	7%	8%	15%	3%
Customer support	67%	44%	12%	31%	8%	8%	20%	2%
Loyalty program notifications	77%	11%	20%	32%	7%	8%	16%	4%
Promotions & sales	79%	10%	20%	32%	8%	11%	18%	3%
Two-factor authentication	62%	18%	16%	56%	7%	7%	17%	3%

Understanding these touchpoints along the customer journey is critical to creating great customer engagement

Bringing it all together

How to ensure every interaction is a touchpoint triumph

When selecting the right communication channels, it's essential to consider regional, generational, and use case preferences. But that’s not all. Another key factor to keep in mind is the immediacy framework, which can further guide your decision making and ensure you're delivering the right message at the right time through the most effective channel.

The Immediacy Framework

Consumer channel preferences can shift based on the urgency of the message. When deciding on the best channel to use, answer these two questions:

How immediately does the consumer need to receive a communication? (Urgency)
Will the consumer want a record of the interaction? (Archival)

Depending on your answers, you might want to leverage more than one channel to communicate with your customers. For example, if a user orders food via a mobile application they might expect delivery notifications via SMS or WhatsApp, but the purchase receipt via email. Understanding these touchpoints along the customer journey is critical to creating great customer engagement.

Incorporating these factors into your channel strategy will help you craft a more personalized, efficient approach to customer communication.