Survey Reveals:
People Prefer the Personal Touch When Saying "Thanks"
Writing Thank You Notes is Still In Style
Even pets are getting into the act!
Much to the surprise of etiquette experts, the number of people who send thank you notes is rising and they aren't using email to do it.
Roughly three times as many people send a handwritten note to say Thanks than send an email, according to a recent survey by Soleberry.com, an online stationery boutique. In fact, even people's pets are getting into the act: 20% of survey respondents write thank you notes on their behalf. "I think it's quite civilized myself," says Gabrielle Dudnyk, Soleberry's founder and, not coincidentally, pet owner.
Survey results showed that one-third of respondents write more thank you notes now than they did a year ago; only 8% are writing fewer. Interestingly, the 18- to 29-year-old age bracket has seen the largest increase: 41% of them are writing more thank you notes. "A lot of major events can happen during this time in someone's life, from graduation and landing a new job to getting engaged, married and having a baby or two," Dudnyk says. "People receive gifts to celebrate these milestones, and with a gift comes the need for a thank you note."
At Home
On the personal front, 63% of those surveyed prefer to send handwritten thank you notes, while 14% send emails and another 14% take host/hostess gifts to parties and other social functions. "I think it's rude not to send a handwritten thank you note. Especially in this day and age of email, we have lost that personal touch," a survey respondent writes. Another adds, "I am writing more [notes] to teach my kids that email isn't the answer to everything!"
At Work
In the workplace, emailing a thank you after a job interview or function is becoming more commonplace. The majority of respondents (68%) who send post-interview thank yous, however, still favor sending a handwritten note.
DIY!
And those who don't write? Not surprisingly, 39% cite lack of time more than any other reason. Regardless, the task of thank you note writing isn't one people are likely to outsource anytime soon. Only 7% of respondents said that they would find it helpful to have someone else write and send the notes for them.
Then there are those who do have time, but don't have the desire: 23% admit that while they know they should write a thank you note, they are just too lazy to do it. Luckily, this silent minority is just that - a minority. The rest of us are still making the etiquette experts happy by writing those two little words: "Thank You."
Survey conducted in October 2006 by Soleberry Modern Stationers, LLC.
