People are fed-up with what is being called "second degree spam", e-mails from companies about products they are not interested in, says a survey.
Even if people signed up to be sent news or offers, NCorp"s survey says over half see them as irrelevant spam. From December, EU rules to tackle spam will force companies to ask customers for permission before sending e-mails. As a result, second degree spam will "worsen", says NCorp"s Martin Blackburn, damaging consumer loyalty.
Sending spam is completely socially unacceptable, whatever form it takes," says Mr Blackburn, NCorp"s managing director. But one in six spam e-mails arriving in UK inboxes is from companies sending information about irrelevant products or services, according to the survey. The problem is set to worsen with the UK and EU ban on unsolicited communication, thinks Mr Blackburn, as more businesses use opt-in mailing lists as a way to sell goods.