A new study by DoubleClick shows email as an integral part of consumer lifestyle (via MarketingVOX) .

The study reveals a merging of personal and professional email usage - with almost as many people (~55%) viewing their work email at home as well as at work; and with almost 50% of the respondents viewing personal email at work as well.

The study also found a declining concern with regards to spam - with spam email making up 30.3% of all email messages in 2005 - down from 45.5% back in 2002. While spam is a still a major concern for 55% of the respondents, viruses (75%), identity theft (67%), spyware (66%), and scams (61%) have overtaken spam as issues of greater concern.

While the way DoubleClick reports numbers in their press release can be interpreted in many different ways, it is probably save to conclude that email should continue to be an integral part of your marketing arsenal - as 78% of the respondents have made a purchase as a result of an email, 59% have redeemed coupons they received via email, and almost 33% have clicked through an email to make an instant purchase.

Interestingly enough - and perhaps pointing to the importance of a trusted partner company as part of your email marketing efforts - the study found that the more "trust-worthy" your brand, the better success you will have with email - with 74% of the respondents pointing to "a brand I know and trust" as the element most likely to drive a response to an email.

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