75% of internet users surveyed worldwide preferred receiving retail promotions via email over text, according to a March 2012 report from Ipsos. Internet users in the UK and US were even more inclined to prefer email than the average internet user, at 87% and 86%, respectively.

Internet users in the largest emerging-market countries, though, were less partial to email-based marketing messages. Among the so-called BRIC countries, Brazil came closest to the worldwide average, with 76% of respondents in the country preferring email. Respondents in Russia, India and China also preferred email over text, but greater portions of respondents (at 32%, 34% and 43%, respectively) in those countries preferred receiving promotions via text message.

In countries like India and China, where total internet user numbers can measure in the hundreds of millions and mobile users approach the billion mark, these percentage differences can mean a much broader reach for promotions than in more developed markets such as the UK or US.

In a statement, Ipsos claimed that worldwide, promotions via email are preferred for online purchases and the ease of printing coupons for in-store use. This may be true for consumers in developed economies and for worldwide campaigns, but marketers should consider localizing promotions for the hundreds of millions of people who are primarily on feature phones in India, China and similar markets.