welovelocal.com have commissioned a YouGov poll* into printed business directories in Britain.
With the rise of web usage over the last five years, we wanted to take an authoritative look at the changing trends in the way people look up local businesses in Britain.
Over 50,000,000† printed businesses directories are distributed in Britain each year, and our poll reveals that 35% of British adults would prefer not to receive printed business directories at home, equating to in excess of 17,500,000 books. Click here to read full poll results.
And now for some numbers...
- 17,500,000 Number of printed business directories delivered to unwanted homes each year
- 2,833 Number of miles they would stretch when placed end to end
- 3 Number of times they would stretch from Lands End to John O'Groats ‡
- 50 Number of times taller than Mt Everest if stacked on top of each other §
- 35% % of British adults who would prefer not to receive a printed copy
- 43% % of 18-34 year olds who would prefer not to receive a printed copy
- 70% % of 18-34 year olds who would prefer to use the internet to find local businesses
- Thinking specifically about the last 6 months, which one of the following have you used the most to find local businesses / services?
- 51% Internet
- 24% Printed directories
- 14% Recommendations
- 6% Not applicable
- 2% Telephone services
- 2% Other source
- 2% Don't know
- Which one of the following do you trust the most when trying to find local businesses / services?
- 67% Word of mouth
- 19% Both equally
- 5% An advertisement
- 4% Neither
- 4% Don't know
Recycle
Our poll has revealed that millions of printed business directories are delivered to unwanted addresses every year.
The good news is, it has never been easier to recycle your directory with the majority of city councils' recycling services now accepting them.
Recycle Now is a great website setup to help you learn more about recycling. Find your nearest recycling point, see what types of waste it takes, and do your bit for the environment.
Recycling is great, but even the recycling process creates a carbon footprint. Ideally directories that never get used should never be printed.
Opt out
Many people don’t know that you can 'opt out' of receiving printed business directories. It’s simple to ‘opt out’ all you need to do is contact the directory using the phone number printed at the front of the book and give them your postcode and house number – it really is that easy.
Others believe that printed business directories should be 'opt in' rather than 'opt out' meaning that only those who find them useful should continue to receive them, thus limiting the environmental impact caused by wasted directories.
Alternatives
Never before have we had so many sources of high quality local information. Be it via telephone, SMS services or the Internet.
Our poll demonstrates a change in the way people look up local businesses, with 51% of the British Public most frequently using the Internet as a means to look up local businesses and services.
With changing trends, come new opportunities to improve the way we find local businesses. Using the Internet allows you to access maps to locate businesses, customer reviews to contextualise listings, and extra useful information provided by business owners.
* All figures, unless otherwise stated below, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,974 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 15th - 17th January 2008. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
† Estimate based on distribution figures found at Yell.com and ThompsonDirectories.com, two
leading business directory publishers. 28 million Yellow Pages and 22 million Thomson Local
books are delivered annually = 50 million business directories.
‡ Approximate Length of a Yellow Pages = 0.29m, Approximate Length of a Thomson Local = 0.27m
0.29 × 0.35 × 28,000,000 = 2,482,000 metres, 0.27 × 0.35 × 22,000,000 = 2,079,000 metres
Distance from Lands End to John O'Groats = 874 miles = 1406659 metres, (2482000+2079000)/1406649 = 3.24
Distance in miles = (2,079,000+2,482,000)/1609.45 = 2,833.9 miles
§ Approximate Height of a Yellow Pages = 0.05 metres, Approximate Height of Thomson Local = 0.035 metres
0.05 × 0.35 × 28,000,000 = 490,000 metres, 0.035 × 0.35 × 22,000,000 = 269500 metres
Height of Mount Everest = 8,848 metres, (490000 + 269500) / 8848 = 85.83
(Figure lowered to 50 times to account for variation in directory height.)