SAN DIEGO, Calif. – More than half — 63 percent — of consumers will buy products advertised in email they receive on their mobile devices, but they want the offers to include a significant discount, according to a survey of consumer email attitudes conducted by BlueHornet Networks Inc.

In addition, although the majority of consumers who possess mobile devices use them to read email at least occasionally, 82 percent still prefer to opt in to a mailing list the old-fashioned way: on a brand’s website. Only 39.7 of mobile users, even those who visit social-networking sites like Facebook on their mobile devices, have entered their email address on a brand’s social page. Twenty-eight percent said they have entered their email address within a mobile app, and only 14.5 percent sent their email address via text message.

The second-annual study, reported in BlueHornet’s “2013 Consumer Views of Email Marketing,” surveyed a national panel of 1,000 U.S. adults aged 25 to 40 who live in urban or suburban areas.

“By surveying similar demographic groups and asking several of the same questions each year, we’ve been able to identify shifts in how consumers view email marketing,” said BlueHornet Vice President of Marketing Susan Tull. “By including new questions for 2013, this year’s report provides marketers with useful data in understanding possible future trends and behavior patterns.”

Also among the 2013 survey’s findings:

• Email-enabled mobile device usage increased by eight percent over 2012 levels.
• Nearly 84 percent of respondents named discounts as the most important reason for signing up to receive emails, and 74.2 percent said they have redeemed a discount by showing their mobile device to a cashier in a brick-and-mortar store.
• Nearly 70 percent of consumers open emails they know may be advertising-related, as long as the email comes from a familiar brand whose products they already consume.

Of particular note: 43 percent of respondents said they read emails more often on a mobile device than on a desktop. It’s hardly surprising, then, that more than 30 percent of all respondents said they unsubscribe when email displays poorly on a smartphone or tablet, even if they could read the same email on another type of machine. The finding suggests consumers approach each email only once, in whichever format they first encounter it. If that format is mobile and the email fails to engage them, they are unwilling to give the brand a second chance — ever.

In addition, high-frequency email drives more unsbuscribes than lack of relevance by a factor of 10 percent.

The takeaway? Low-frequency email marketing messages that display well on mobile devices and offer discounts may produce the best return on investment.

The entire report may be viewed here.