<p>I told my kids not to check the box on the PSAT or SAT tests. No mail or e-mails whatsoever. Save a tree! And save on stress. I think it helps to actively choose versus passively react, as with any shopping decision. :)</p>
<p>^D didn’t mark boxes on her tests, but has still received a fair amount of mail.</p>
<p>Is it an “ego boost” if I receive a mailing from Mercedes, because presumably they’ve figured out that I might be in an income bracket or zip code where I might be able to afford one?</p>
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Yes. For some people it might be. That’s their business. Not sure why it seems to bug you so much. </p>
<p>Plus, it isn’t an entirely equivalent comparison. In my neighborhood you have 5 million dollar homes near $2000 a month apartment buildings. I get mail all the time for luxury items I’m not even in the ballpark as far as affording. At least in some cases I assume college mailings are a bit more discerning. Otherwise we’d have a stack of Princeton pamphlets mailed to my “barely qualified for graduation” son just becasue many of his clasmates were top students. We don’t.
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I get a lot of mailings probably simply because I passed the professional engineer exam, or because my name comes up on various energy industry lists - they refer to me as a “leader in industry” things like that. I know I’m not, but after overcoming a good deal of adversity in my early career, and after being disabled for a while as well and unable to work, it’s nice to receive things like this as opposed to a court summons or disability checks. Of course, I don’t need my ego boosted, it could probably stand to come down a few pegs.</p>
<p>OTOH, to get a mailing from Mercedes and just asume that you can afford it because you get the letter, then to complain because the price turns out to be more than you can afford is not an appropriate reaction.</p>
<p>I’m entitled to think such people are naive to think that it means that someone at Mercedes “cares” about them specifically.</p>
<p>I just asked my soph D about the mail she received from colleges (some elite and some not). She said, “Well, clearly it just meant that I got on their mailing list.”</p>
<p>Some of the colleges need dedicated forests to produce those marketing materials. And they brag about their environmental education programs.</p>
<p>Mercedes cares enough to spend the money to follow your click throughs or to do a direct mail piece. They hope you’ll buy a Mercedes! So in that respect they care about whatever demographic or sociographic information put you on the list :-)</p>
<p>For juniors and seniors it’s even simpler. They are juniors or seniors in high school, they are interested in college enough to take college required testing. To narrow the cost of the marketing down, you pick arbitrary test scores or available demographic information that aligns with your target. It does not need to be a national campaign either. Marketing 101. Expected return rates aren’t very high for click throughs or old fashioned direct marketing so you can pretty much predict your return on the investment. If it didn’t work, no one would do it.</p>
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Yes, of course you’re entitled to think that, and I would agree with that.</p>
<p>OP - Keep in mind that the opposite is also true. D received no mailings from her first choice school (notorious for sending a lot), but was accepted at and attended that school.</p>