Americans have some very definite attitudes when it comes to how they receive information from advertisers, and from the 51 million-plus who signed up for the the national do-not-call list, we know that the telephone is among the least favorite ways.
   We can also assume that email is fast losing any popularity it had, perhaps contrary to what direct marketers would have us believe. That's judging by the growing furor over spam and the brisk sale of anti-spam programs.
   What that leaves is the oldest form of direct mail. And what's becoming apparent is that pitches sent by land mail, while certainly annoying to some, may still be the best way for businesses to reach consumers.
   That's at least the finding of a study sponsored by CTAM, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, and conducted by Centris, a research group.
   The study, based on interviews with more than 1,000 U.S. adults, found that just 1 percent prefer to receive messages from marketers by telephone. 
  Those with a preference for email was not all that much higher--just 5 percent.
  By far the largest share--51 percent--said they preferred to receive traditional mail.
   It also appears that a fairly large share of direct mail recipients actually open those mailings--some 77 percent.
  Also, a surprisingly small share never open direct mail. The survey, taken in August, found that only 23 percent responded that they had opened no direct mail pieces in the past week.
  A number almost as large, 21 percent, said they opened three quarters or more of all the promotional and advertising pieces they received.
  While the survey did not look at comparable open rates for email, they would appear to be quite lower. A survey by DoubleClick found that 65 percent of recipients delete email without reading it.