Sydney, Nov 26 : A new research has found that Australians are impulsive email users and oblivious to online etiquette.

According to the study conducted among a representative sample of full-time workers in all Australian states, the majority are trigger-happy emailers who often send messages to the wrong person or in the wrong tone because they don't stop to think.

Rob Keller, research director at Arnold + Bolingbroke, the firm responsible for the Communications Conundrum study has revealed that 66 per cent of people admit responding to emails automatically without giving them proper consideration and before they decide whether emailing is the best form of reply.

In the study, it was found that only a third of respondents considered which reply method to use, with even fewer choosing a phone call or a face-to-face chat as an alternative. Women were the worst offenders, being 11 per cent more likely to abuse email than men.

"People generally click reply and send to make it go away. It seems they are keen to get on with work because dealing with email takes so much time," Smh.com.au quoted Keller, as saying.

However, the need for expedience is creating misunderstanding.

The study discovered that nearly half the respondents had accidentally sent a message to the wrong recipient, while 51 per cent sent one that was misunderstood. Nearly half felt angry, embarrassed or frustrated at times by incorrect missives.

"We were surprised at the extent of the problem. As email users we think about these things in the back of our minds, but this confirms it," Keller said.

Keller did not study email users' habits at home but it is likely that work habits are repeated in all email communication.

"In a general sense, because it comes down to people's personalities and how considered and careful they are, there is a likelihood it would happen in their personal life as well," he said.

Etiquette author and coach Patsy Rowe is shocked by the results of the study.

"People are getting silly. They send an email to people sitting five cubicles away from them in the office. I probably couldn't run my business without email either but we need to be a bit more discerning," she said.

The Australian report came after a larger study in January by the global research firm Forrester, which discovered email dominates people's daily online activities. It found 72 per cent of American respondents used it daily, compared with the other two most popular online activities - playing games (16 per cent) and instant messaging (10 per cent).

Citrix Online, a firm that hopes emailers will use its web conferencing products for some online communications instead, commissioned the study. (ANI)