Definition of ''spam'' changes for consumers

The term ´spam´ is interpreted in a multitude of ways by consumers, marking a shift in the definition from ´unsolicited´ to ´unwanted´.

That is according to the recently-published Spam Complainers Survey by Q Interactive and MarketingSherpa, which revealed that the majority of consumers do not accurately comprehend the term.

As many as 56 per cent of respondents indicated that they viewed marketing messages that they were not interested by as spam, even though they were from known senders.

In addition, half of participants defined spam as ´too frequent emails from companies I know´.

Matt Wise, president and chief executive of Q Interactive, commented: "This survey uncovered … a major disconnect in consumers´ understanding and use of the ´report spam´ button, as well as consumers´ definition of spam from ´I didn´t sign up for it´ to ´I don´t like it´."

Stefan Tornquist, research director of MarketingSherpa, added: "Spam complaints are the primary metric that internet service providers (ISPs) use to determine email delivery. This study shows that consumers don´t really understand how the complaint system works and that emailers don´t understand how consumers define spam."

© Adfero Ltd