Harte-Hanks Introduces Technology Purchase Index

SAN DIEGO, CA – March 12, 2012 – Harte-Hanks, Inc. (NYSE:HHS), a worldwide direct and targeted marketing company, announced the release of a new tracking index that identifies large-scale buying patterns in technology purchasing across a broad spectrum of businesses, government and educational institutions. The Technology Purchase Index, or "TPI," provides economists and technology marketers with information they can use to analyze technology buying cycles and predict future buying trends.

"The true value of the TPI is that it's based on information collected from real-world technology purchase decision-makers and reflects their future buying intentions," said Randy Ilas, general manager of Harte-Hanks Market Intelligence. "Buying intentions are by definition forward looking and are therefore more useful in predicting future economic activity than indexes built on purchase data which tend to lag the market."

The TPI focuses on purchase intentions within five key technology areas: cloud computing, virtualization, computer hardware, computer software and communications. The data underpinning the TPI was gleaned from more than 180,000 interviews conducted by Harte-Hanks in connection with its Ci Pipeline® lead generation service, which identifies technology purchasing initiatives in North American and European business locations. Purchase intentions may be tied to aging equipment, business process improvements, or investments in new business capabilities. As a result, changes in the TPI provide a possible indicator of future purchase levels and overall sector performance.

"Because the TPI is drawn from such a broad sample of the market, we are able to present a view of the market that has never been presented before," Ilas said. "We believe the TPI will help technology solution providers plan and respond to important changes in the technology market – changes that have not been detected by other measures."

Harte-Hanks plans to update the index quarterly. The TPI will be published in March 2012 and will report purchase intentions collected through the fourth quarter of 2011. In addition to quarterly updates, Harte-Hanks plans to change the specific purchase initiatives tracked by the index over time, as particular technologies achieve market saturation and new technologies emerge. Thus, the TPI should continue to provide relevant information about the business technology marketplace in the future.

More information about the Harte-Hanks Technology Purchase Index is available at http://www.citdb.com/TPI.

About Harte-Hanks®

Harte-Hanks is a worldwide direct and targeted marketing company that provides marketing services and shopper advertising opportunities to local, regional, national and international consumer and business-to-business marketers. Visit the Harte-Hanks Web site at http://www.harte-hanks.com or call (800) 456-9748.

The Harte-Hanks Market Intelligence division monitors installed technology and spending plans at business, government and institutional sites in North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America. This technology content is combined with the tracking of IT decision-makers and chief-level executives, allowing its customers to find the right opportunity with the right decision-maker and to act on it efficiently and effectively. Visit http://www.citdb.com/TPI or call (800) 854-8409.

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