Over half of consumers (54%) report that the new Gmail Tabs feature hasn’t affected the amount of time they spend viewing promotional messages from their favorite brands, according to a recent report by StrongView.
However, 40% of consumers say they spend less time viewing promotional messages since the rollout of the feature, which automatically filters inbox messages to various tabs for US Gmail users.
Only 7% of survey respondents say they spend more time viewing messages since Tabs was introduced; however, 15% of younger users (age 18-24) say so.
In general, the survey found that younger users are making more use of Tabs. Respondents age 18-24 are more likely to find the new tabs helpful in managing their inbox (50%) compared with the general population (37%).
Younger users are also more likely to check the Promotions Tab to look for messages from their favorite brands (13% check more than three times a day, compared with 8% for the general population).
Below, additional key findings from the report.
General Trends
- Overall, 56% of those surveyed report their Gmail interface has defaulted to the new Gmail inbox with Tabs.
- 73% of those who have been transitioned to the Tabs feature have not changed any of the default settings (turned off/on, removed/added tabs, etc.).
- 75% say the feature is accurately sorting messages to the correct tabs.
- 88% of the general population say Gmail Tabs has not caused them to lose any email from their favorite brands; 100% of respondents age 18-34 say so.
Desktop vs. Mobile
- 59% of Gmail users surveyed access their accounts primarily on a desktop.
- 35% say mobile is the primary means of interacting with their Gmail messages; 46% of 18-34-year-olds say so.
About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 4,623 US internet users, conducted August 8-14, 2013.
