Spam encourages people to buy, study reveals

6th December 2007

Despite general opinion that spam emails are annoying, a study has found that the unsolicited emails do in fact encourage consumers to buy.

Endai Worldwide found that 50 per cent of people have bought something as a result of a marketing email over the last year.

Michael Ferranti, chief executive of the firm, said that the company was "very surprised" by the research results.

"It reinforces what we've believed at gut-level all along and that is that consumers will always be motivated to buy if the offer is appealing and customer-centric," he added.

Of those who admitted to buying products as a result of spam, 40 per cent claim "a good offer or deal" was the most important factor in their purchasing decision.

Other reasons included recognition of brand names and interesting subject lines.

According to digital solutions company Vigorate, 50 per cent of businesses do not make full use of email marketing campaigns "for fear of being perceived as a spammer".