Everyone hates spam.

That was the undeniable conclusion of a survey of 21,102 people conducted by the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue, a forum of 64 consumer organizations in the United States and Europe. The forum develops and agrees on transatlantic trade policy recommendations that are made to the European Commission and U.S. government.

Ninety-six percent of the people surveyed they hated spam or it annoyed them. Eighty-four percent–17,753 people–said all unsolicited commercial e-mail should be banned, and 82 percent–17,197 people–said governments should allow commercial e-mail to be sent only if the recipient has agreed in advance to receive it.

Outrage over unsolicited commercial e-mail is a worrisome trend for real estate brokers and salespeople because e-mail newsletters and other solicitations and communications are now a mainstay of real estate marketing. As spam becomes all the more hated and problematic, people will be less likely to open unfamiliar or not-immediately-recognizable messages.

Eighty-three percent of those who completed the TACD online survey said they believed that most spam e-mail is fraudulent or deceptive, and 80 percent of the people favored a requirement that unsolicited commercial e-mail be labeled as an advertisement.

Sixty-five percent of those surveyed–13,775 people–said spam cost them or their employer time or money. Slightly more than 13,000 people said they use a spam e-mail filter, but only 3,565 people said such filters generally worked very well.

Wider usage of spam filters could block many real estate e-mail messages from reaching the intended recipient’s e-mail inbox.

Another worrisome finding for legitimate e-commerce was that 52 percent of those surveyed–10,895 people–said they shop online less or not at all because they are worried about spam. And 91 percent said that they were concerned about children’s exposure to spam.

The spam survey was conducted online in multiple languages from Oct. 8 through Dec. 8, 2003.

The survey organizers said in a statement that the percentages of people from different countries who selected the same answers were remarkably similar.

“It would seem that there is global agreement that spam is unacceptable,” TACD said.

***

Send a Letter to the Editor for publication.
Send a comment or news tip to our newsroom.
Please include the headline of the story.

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×