Do Not Call Registry Is Working Well.

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® 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 have received 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 desirability of “do not spam” legislation when, according to other surveys by Harris Interactive, the overwhelming majority of those online find spam very annoying.”

For more information at http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=439