'Spam' Definition Grows

Just because US consumers opt in to e-mail lists does not give marketers license to send endless irrelevant material.

That is the main finding of recently released data from a MarketingSherpa/Q Interactive study fielded last fall. While the top reason that respondents reported e-mail as spam was because they had not opted in to mailings, the second was that the material sent did not interest them. More than four out of 10 e-mail users who hit the "spam" button said they had categorized uninteresting mail as junk.

The researchers noted that inbox overload was creating greater competition among legitimate e-mailers: As filters improved, users would focus less on traditional spam and more on which opt-in material interested them most.

In general, e-mail users have perceived a rise in spam for years. About one-half of adult e-mail users surveyed by Merkle and Harris Interactive during the past four years said they received "somewhat" or "a lot" more spam every year.