Old School Still Cool Among Coupon Users

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Old school is still cool when it comes to coupons.

American adults use paper discounts and coupons, like those found in newspaper inserts and mailings, more often than discounts and coupons obtained online or by email.

That’s according to a new CreditCards.com survey conducted by market research firm GfK Custom Research North America, which polled about 1,000 American adults.

Among the 85 percent of survey respondents who use discounts or coupons, they primarily obtain them from:

  • Newspapers: 34.2 percent
  • Online: 25.2 percent
  • Mail: 23.1 percent
  • Email: 13.1 percent

Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com’s senior industry analyst, says in a news release:

“Dead trees aren’t dead when it comes to coupons. Plenty of Americans are still opening their snail mail and reading the Sunday paper. I expect paper coupons to lose some market share, though, as consumers and brands get even more comfortable using them electronically.”

The CreditCards.com survey also found that, among credit and debit cardholders, 42 percent prefer to have discounts automatically applied to their payment cards. Such so-called card-linked offers are currently offered by at least a few institutions, including American Express, Bank of America and Discover.

Earlier this year, a survey from the coupon industry found that while the digital distribution of coupons increased last year, distribution via free-standing inserts like those in newspapers was most common.

For help finding discounts, visit our deals page and coupons page.

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