Aggressiveness of telemarketing

During the past two decades the use of the telephone had been dramatically increased, while its possession and using are presented as almost as an imperative at the moment. Business entities are guided by the stated fact when creating communication strategies, so it is mostly treated as an inevitable instrument of direct marketing communication with the target audience. Therefore, the subject of the paper is direct marketing communication, with special reference to telemarketing. Although it has a wide range of strengths and advantages, a common objection to telemarketing is an overly aggressive approach which can decrease the level of customer satisfaction. Since the costumers are the center of marketing efforts, an aim of the research paper was to identify their attitudes about marketing campaigns via phone call and text message. The empirical research was conducted on the territory of the Republic of Serbia on a sample of 100 respondents. The analysis had been performed using Pearson's correlation test, after which the hypothesis H0 - "Interactive communication via telephone is perceived by consumers as aggressive" was confirmed. The results of the research indicated that consumer interest will decrease proportionally as the aggressiveness of direct interactive marketing grows in their consciousness.