Why do people unsubscribe from email newsletters?

Almost half of people unsubscribe from email newsletters because they receive too many of them, according to research from GetApp.

The survey found that excessive email frequency was to blame for 46.4 percent of people who decided to unsubscribe.

This is more than 3 times higher than any other cause, with receiving emails that look like spam being the second most popular option (17.2 percent). Irrelevant content and not knowing that they were subscribing were the third and fourth most cited reasons.

The amount of content of the newsletter was less important to our respondents, with only four percent naming this as a reason to unsubscribe from an email newsletter. Similarly, lack of personalized and tailored content wasn’t seen as important, with only 7.2 percent giving it as a reason to unsubscribe.

• Almost 50 percent of people unsubscribe from email newsletters because they receive too many

• Nearly a fifth unsubscribe because the email looks like spam

• Only 4.3 percent unsubscribe because there is too much or not enough content.

Answers to the question: “What’s the most common reason you unsubscribe from an email newsletter?”

Too many emails (46.4%)

Looks like spam (17.2%)

Irrelevant content (15.8%)

I didn’t know I was subscribing (9.1%)

Not tailored to my preferences (7.2%)

Too much or too little content (4.3%)

Demographics: Over 500 US-based respondents from a panel of internet users, between the ages of 25 and 44 with an average inferred annual income of between $25k-$100k.