Adobe study: Irrelevant marketing resistance highlights need for personalization

SAN JOSE, Calif. — New research from Adobe shows consumers are increasingly tuning out irrelevant marketing, with actions ranging from deleting messages and unsubscribing to simply ignoring brand communications altogether.

The Adobe for Business study, based on a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, highlights a generational divide in how audiences respond. Baby Boomers and Gen X are more likely to delete messages or mark them as spam, while younger consumers tend to disengage more quietly by ignoring notifications or muting brands.

Unsubscribing remains a common response across all age groups and is the top action among Gen Z, reinforcing the importance of relevance in maintaining customer relationships.

Key findings

• Consumers spend more than 17 hours annually managing irrelevant marketing messages
• 80% feel overwhelmed by marketing emails, averaging about 50 per week
• The unsubscribe tipping point is nine messages per week
• 76% say irrelevant messaging erodes brand trust
• 51% say brands do not respect their time
• 39% are more likely to buy from brands that personalize effectively
• Email drives purchases at a rate 200% higher than text messaging

The findings reinforce the growing importance of targeted, personalized communication as brands compete for attention in increasingly crowded digital channels.

For pharmacy and health-focused retailers, where trust and frequency of communication are critical, the data highlights the need to balance outreach with relevance, ensuring messaging supports patient engagement without contributing to fatigue.