STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 2000--

New Study Reveals Americans Remain Committed to Traditional Mail

Despite The Lure of E-mail Americans are involved in a love affair--with hard copy mail.

A recently released study found that among the activities that Americans enjoy doing daily, reading their mail ranked higher than talking on the phone, reading the newspaper, reviewing their e-mail or even watching TV. In fact, study respondents indicated that the only thing they look forward to more than reading the mail is seeing one's significant other. Other findings prove that, even in the digital era, Americans maintained an emotional attachment towards physical mail. Surprisingly, a majority of wired people (with access to e-mail), kept momentos such as family photographs or birthday cards delivered by the postal system, while only a small fraction saved digital photos or e-mail letters.

As with any successful relationship, America's romance with traditional mail is built upon a solid foundation of trust. In fact, the matriarch of mail, the U.S. Postal Service, ranked as the most trusted institution in America (66% have a "great deal" of trust in it), surpassing the police department (46%), the school system (38%), Internet providers (38%), the phone company (33%), the local media (newspapers, TV and radio 26%) and finally, the government (20%). Furthermore, despite its persistent efforts to woo Americans, study respondents were not fully swayed by the charms of the Internet.

Participants from all age groups remained committed to dependable, stalwart letter mail, particularly in light of the Internet's tendency towards viral attacks. In the categories of reliability and trustworthiness, physical mail outranked e-mail by a margin of 8 to 1, and 66% of the participants preferred traditional mail over e-mail to securely deliver important personal and professional communications.

"Traditional mail has captured the trust, respect and even the hearts of the American public through years of consistent, reliable service," said Tim Bates, Vice President, Marketing, Pitney Bowes Mailing Systems. "And, smart business marketers will take note of this fact when developing their customer communication strategies."

The study referenced above was commissioned by Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) Mailing Systems Division and conducted by the ICR Research Group. The survey was conducted by phone to 509 households across the continental United States. Of the respondents, 60% had access to an e-mail account either at home or through their work place. For more information on the study, please write to Jim Berkovich (Pitney Bowes, MSC 5411, 1 Elmcroft Road, Stamford CT 06926-0700) or Iya Davidson (Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, 909 Third Avenue, New York NY 10022-4731) - they look forward to receiving your traditional mail. However, if you must, phone numbers and e-mail addresses can be found at the beginning of this release.

Pitney Bowes is a $4.4 billion global provider of informed mail and messaging management. For more information about the company, visit www.pitneybowes.com.

CONTACT:

Media:
Pitney Bowes
Jim Berkovich, 203-351-7514
berkovji@pitneybowes.com

or

Ogilvy PR WorldWide
Iya Davidson, 212-880-5216
iya.davidson@ogilvypr.com