Title: Consumers and teleworking advertisements in spam e-mail

Authors: Joshua Fogel; Leora Lindsey Pollack

Addresses: Department of Finance and Business Management, 218A Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA. ' Jamaica, NY, USA

Abstract: The internet facilitates telework opportunities. This study analyses variables associated with opening/reading and also purchasing from spam e-mail advertising telework. Variables analysed as possible predictors included personal demographic variables, internet characteristics variables, psychological questionnaires, and attitude items. Among 200 college students, 22% opened/read and 8.5% purchased from this spam e-mail. Previous response to a fraudulent e-mail offer was significantly associated with opened/read and trust that the internet provides accurate information about working from home was significantly associated with purchase. Companies should consider creating telework opportunities to target college students using an ethical advertising medium. Content on trust should be included in the e-mail and on the website to improve click-though rates.

Keywords: telework; telecommuting; working from home; spam emails; internet; online fraud; consumers; consumer behaviour; advertisements; teleworking adverts; teleworking ads; fraudulent emails; fraudulent offers; trust; click-though rates.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2012.047592

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2012 Vol.5 No.1, pp.48 - 62

Received: 01 Sep 2011
Accepted: 08 Feb 2012

Published online: 27 Aug 2014 *

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