Research Paper on:
Direct Mail Order Industry in South Africa

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
South Africa, versus the United States. Upon researching the issue however, we did not find much information about mail-order (or direct marketing as we call it) in South Africa  -- and we found absolutely nothing on this topic as it pertains to womens apparel. Upon further research, we figured out why -- namely, unlike the United States, where  many products and services are purchased either by phone or e-mail, and then sent to the regular mail, South Africa is not as far advanced as the US when it  comes to direct marketing. In this paper, we will determine why South Africa is not as strong in terms of direct mail as is the United States.  One reason for the reluctance to order products either on the Internet or through catalog in South Africa is because of the issue of privacy  (Rosenfield, 1999). In the United States, people are relatively relaxed about privacy (although security concerns certainly remain paramount in regards to the Internet) (Rosenfield, 1999). But then again, the United  States has never been a repressive regime like South Africa (Rosenfield, 1999). "go to a country thats no oppression, though, and folks there are pretty keen on protecting their privacy  rights," said James Rosenfeld of the Direct Marketing Association (Rosenfield, 1999, p. 26). Rosenfeld indicated that things are getting better in South Africa -- for example, people are not quite  so frightened when they receive catalogs, wondering how marketers got their names (Rosenfield, 1999). Rosenfield did have a few choice words about South African business-to-business attempts that as he said,  provide "with the worst US can offer in terms of sheer hopelessness: no benefits, no offer no clue" (Rosenfield, 1999, p. 26).