6 April 2008 - A new poll has revealed that 35 per cent of Brits would prefer not to receive printed business directories at home – preferring instead to look up information on the internet or to receive recommendations from friends.
The results of the poll commissioned by search website www.welovelocal.com and conducted by YouGov showed that 32 per cent of the British public has not used a printed business directory to look up local businesses or service in the last six months. Of the 1,974 respondents 35 per cent said they would prefer not to receive printed business directories at home.
Other finding were that 51 per cent of the British public use the internet most to find local businesses and services and that 67 per cent trust word of mouth more than advertising.
The two main business directories, the Yellow Pages and Thomson Local, distributed 50 million directories to British households in 2007. The results from the study suggest that 17.5 million of these business directories are never used.
Max Jennings, founder of www.welovelocal.com, commented: "more than 17.5 million unwanted directories are produced every year which, if stacked on top of each other, would be over 50 times the height of Mount Everest. The waste is staggering, particularly when this survey demonstrates that 51 per cent of all British adults are now using the internet to find local businesses."
Consumers wishing to opt-out of the Yellow Pages can do so by contacting Yell on free phone 0800 671 444. To opt-out of the Thomson Local directory consumers can phone 01252 555 555 or e-mail info@thomsonlocal.com.