Why spam works

Spammers are criminals, it’s as simple as that.

If no one responded to junk email, and didn’t buy products and services sold in this manner, then spam would be as extinct as the dodo bird.

However, according to a recent eMarketer survey, 11% of people continue to buy products and services from spammers. The report concludes that:

“According to a new survey of nearly 800 end users, comprising 34% corporate business users and 66% consumers, by Mirapoint and the Radicati Group, the answer is simple. Many of the people who claim to hate spam are supporting the practice by buying products from spammers … The survey found that 11% of users purchase products and services from spam e-mails, even though 9% of users have lost money to e-mail scammers!”

So, who are that 11% and why do they continue to be so ignorant and gullible?

Thinking that this level of ignorance can only be overcome by education, I decided to contact John Howard (the prime minister, not the actor) and proposed that instead of yet another “terrorism: be alert, not alarmed” campaign, why doesn’t he allocate some funds to a “spam: be smart, not dumb” initiative?

I’ll let you know when I get a reply. Don’t hold your breath, though.

Posted in Business, Email, Law, Marketing, Rants by Ivan