Despite the regulatory measures implemented, The feeling of intrusion and excessive solicitation remains very strong. The specialist in customer relations Notify unveils a new study, who confirms that consumers demand more moderation and relevance in the contacts of brands.
It is a strong signal of the study : 45,8% of French people believe that cold calling will increase in 2025, an increase of almost 10 points compared to last year. However, the law aimed at regulating unsolicited calls came into force in January 2023. Result : distrust persists, or even intensifies. Only 18,9% of respondents say they have noticed a drop in these unwanted calls, while 35,3% believe that nothing has changed since the introduction of the new regulatory framework. To better understand this perception, Notify asked : “How many cold calling phone calls do you receive?, according to you, each day ? » Answers : 32,4% estimate they receive between 3 and 5 per day, 21,7% mention 1 to 2 daily calls, 15,1% talk about more than 6 calls. Et 30,8% say they no longer answer unknown numbers at all, to preserve oneself.
Digital solicitations : fatigue sets in
Beyond the phone, all marketing channels are affected by this saturation phenomenon. The French are exposed to more than 1,200 advertising messages per day, all formats combined. This avalanche of content has a psychological cost : 58,2% of respondents say they are “much too solicited” by brands and 35,7% “a little too busy”. Barely 6,1% say they do not feel any particular pressure. This overflow results in a wave of unsubscriptions : 57,6% regularly unsubscribe from newsletters, notifications or promotional messages ; 37% rarely do so and 5,4% say they never unsubscribe.
The popular email, the phone shunned
Not all channels are in the same boat. Email remains by far the preferred channel for the French to receive communications from brands., with 86,4% of respondents in favor. It is perceived as less intrusive, easily consultable and above all controllable (we can ignore it, sort it, or unsubscribe easily). The SMS follows, at 11,2 %, in front of push notifications (3,6 %) wallets (2,3 %), and… the telephone, good last, just 0,9% preference.
Time wasted managing these requests
Between reading, sorting and deleting promotional messages, the French devote a significant amount of time of their day to it : 58,4% say they spend less than 5 minutes per day viewing promotional messages, 23,6% spend 5 to 9 minutes on it, 10,9% between 10 and 14 minutes and 7,1% spend more than 15 minutes there. Results similar to those of 2024, which confirm that this temporal pressure is taking hold in the uses. Even deleting these messages can quickly become time-consuming : 30,4% spend less than 5 minutes per day, 34,1% between 5 and 9 minutes, 29,6% between 10 and 14 minutes and 5,9% more than 15 minutes. Will this trend finally run out of steam? ? From January 1, 2026, explicit consent will become mandatory for all telephone canvassing. A major regulatory change which will force brands to fundamentally rethink their approaches and move away from volume logic.
Study carried out internally by Notify : 1,153 people aged 18 and over responded to the survey, according to the quota method (sex, age, region), via an online self-administered questionnaire.
