E-Marketing Ethics

The growth in unsolicited emails from companies to consumers with over half of UK consumers (57 per cent) reporting a growth according to a survey of 400 consumers conducted by anti-span technology company Brightnoil. Worryingly, over two-thirds of respondents defined spam as ‘marketing or promotional emails from unknown companies or individuals,’ and over half of the sample found spam annoying or extremely annoying.

Global vice-president of marketing Francois Lavaste commented ‘Email is an excellent medium, but it is a mistake to use it without prior consent. It is better suited to the later stages of developing a relationship. We believe the best solution is for internet service providers to install the protection on behalf of their customers who shouldn’t have to worry about it.’

The EU’s Electronic Data Protection Directive stipulates that marketers must not send emails to consumers who have not expressly stated their wish to receive them. By October 2002 seven countries had signed up with a deadline of October 2003.

Based on: Anonymous (2002) UK consumers have had enough of spam email, Marketing Week, 31 October, p.39.