Study Finds Value in Email Spam

Ant writes "According to a LiveScience story, a steady diet of email spam can be good for you. From the article: 'Researchers split a group of more than 2,100 Canadians into two groups. One group got e-mails that promoted healthy lifestyles, the other got none. "These were informative and motivational messages sent weekly for 12 weeks," explained study leader Ron Plotnikoff of the University of Alberta. The e-mails promoted the benefits of a good diet and physical activity. Those who were effectively spammed, as a group, saw their mean body mass index (BMI) go down, meaning it improved. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Overall BMI rose for the control group, which did not get the emails.'"

Comments

Not sure quite what part of this is new

[Sv-Manowar]

So they seem to have established that drilling a message home to people through their inbox can sometimes make a point. I really dont know how this is any different to any other repeated advertising/promotion, except that this kind (if sent without the users request) is actually illegal. Surely if someone wants to be reminded all the time about a specific thing, they could just get reminders to flash on the screen, instead of clogging their inbox with these e-mails..

Spam + Solicitation != Spam

[Endareth]

Surely spam by definition is unsolicited? If you have a group of people choosing to receive it then it's no longer spam. Whatever the intention and results of this study, linking it to spam is simply wrong.

Re:Spam + Solicitation != Spam

[MattyDK23]

The article doesn't mention, though, if the members of the spam group were aware of the fact that they were receiving the study's spam -- or if the members of the no-spam group were aware they weren't receiving the study's spam.
Furthermore, could the spam group differentiate between the genuine spam and the study's opt-in spam?
It's kind of like a blind test. Sure, you probably signed a waiver saying you're willing to receive extra "spam". But you don't know if you're receiving the extra spam or not, and if you are, you're not aware of which emails are the extra spam.

Re:Spam + Solicitation != Spam

[mwvdlee]

Besides, have you ever received any "health" spam?

All I get is spam about illegal drugs or medication, genitalia modifications, unfortunate nigerians, porn or how my bank account details got lost again.

I also wonder as to the content of these spams; was it health tips or true spam advertising dangerous medication, and why did their BMI go down; because they started using illegally obtained or even banned meds?

The power of suggestion

[ReformedExCon]

It is not so much the spam itself (though I have to question why they refer to the emails as spam when it seems that they were primarily informational emails), but the constant suggestion to live right and healthily that put the idea into the recipients' heads to do just that.

It is very similar to the rise in karate school enrollments after a popular martial arts movie like The Karate Kid is released. People take whatever they can from any message and sometimes those messages can lead to action. In this case it was towards weight loss, in others it is towards violence, in others it is towards humanity towards fellow humans.

Not exactly spam

[Chatmag]

The emails were informative. I see nowhere in the article that they promoted a product or service.

If I get an email with no commercial link, or promoting a particular product, its not spam. Spam is UCE, unwanted commercial email.

Re:Not exactly spam

[LetterJ]

"Spam is in the eye of the beholder."

The problem with that from the other side is that we've got a large percentage of the population that puts the definition closer to "Email I didn't expect today." Even if they requested it (with double-opt in subscriptions), if they didn't expect it when it arrives (through forgetfullness, etc), they still report it as spam and react as though you sent Viagra ads.

I've got people who specifically sign up and confirm the subscription to an email course and still threaten legal action over the "spam" when the 3rd installment of the course arrives.

Leaving the definition "in the eye of the beholder" is far more dangerous than a clear agreed-upon definition.

That's backwards. UCE is spam...

[msauve]

but spam is not just UCE. Spam is any unsolicited bulk email.

Bogus Article / Bogus Research

[humankind]

The article isn't about spam. It's a study of the effects of e-mail-based affirmations. It doesn't take a bunch of goofball researchers to demonstrate that daily affirmations are influential, but what does that have to do with spam? Nothing.

Spam is universally acknowledged as unsolicited, deceptive, indiscriminate, often illegal and immoral solicitations.

If they want to do a legitimate study on spam, then use spam, NOT uplifting e-mail messages.

Re:So obvious!

[delete]

I don't know if this is supposed to be funny or the author of the parent post was trying to be sarcastic, but it does actually work. Ever hear of "you are what you eat"? Try "you are what you hear". Seriously.

Perhaps some people react positively to criticism by attempting to prove the critic wrong. But for many people, abusing them as you advise will only serve to lower their self-esteem and destroy any motivation they may have. For most of us, support and encouragement from those around us is generally more helpful than discouraging words.

I seriously hope you don't treat your family or friends in that way, for their sake.

Don't waste your time RTFA

[aztektum]

Basically it says that the Jedi Mind Trick may work if you are persistent in application.

Re:So obvious! - i'd say

[ZeroZen]

Holy missed the joke there. Did you read everything he said? At the bottom he concludes and it's obviously a joke.

Re:So obvious!

[lightspawn]

Oh - and by the way, the study says "These were informative and motivational messages sent weekly for 12 weeks". How is that spam?

I'm guessing they didn't opt in, the email headers were forged, they were sent through open relays, and the mails included referral links to sleazy web sites offering related products.