When you receive a promotional email in your inbox, what’s the first thing you do? Hit delete? You’re not alone. A piece of direct mail, on the other hand, is harder to ignore. A recent study shows that direct mail makes a deeper and longer-lasting impression on people’s brains than digital advertising.

FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanners were used to see which areas of the brain were activated when participants viewed the same marketing message both physically on a piece of direct mail and digitally on a computer screen.

Direct mail proved to make a greater impact and generated a deeper emotional processing than digital messaging. The physical appearance of direct mail caused the brain to believe it more, as it seemed to be more ‘real’.

This study proves that the experience of a brand is able to stay in the memory a lot longer with a physical direct mail piece, as apposed to digital media.

Younger consumers also surprisingly, prefer print marketing over digital advertising. According to a survey by ICOM, consumers of all ages find traditional direct mail campaigns to be more trustworthy and reliable in relation to advertising or social media.

So, do you agree? Can direct marketing really influence your mind?