SPAMMING AND FLAMING (LAST PART)

Many of us think that spam is absolutely useless and inefficient as an advertising tool. How can it be of any use if everyone hates it and never read it? There is a huge variety of anti-spam programs designed to detect and filter out spam letters before they get into Inbox and even if spam managed to squeeze through all those filters most of the people never open it and delete immediately. There is an obvious question then - why do spammers continue to send those millions of spam letters everyday and how can they be useful for advertising purposes?

First of all, we have to admit that in the competitive world of business nothing can survive if it is not efficient and doesn't give enough profit. Therefore, spamming is definitely a profitable business and apparently quite lucrative. So, why does spam exist and how can it bring money if no one reads it?

If you think about it more then you will find a lot in common with TV advertisements. Annoying commercials also do not have many fans and in fact most of the people try to avoid them. According to opinion polls women are usually turning off the sound during commercial breaks, while men prefer to change the channel and those who continue to watch as it is are in minority. And still, companies are spending millions of dollars on creating and showing commercials on different TV channels. No doubt, commercials must have such an effect that all the invested money are coming back with a profit.

The secret is not very obvious but it is repetition. The effect is not even in repetition itself but in repeating many times, huge number of times. You must notice that advertising campaigns can last for years when one and the same commercial is regularly shown everywhere. Years after years, the product is the same and only the commercials are slightly changed. Finally, doing your everyday shopping you realize that among the range of products you in fact prefer one that "you know" and "you need" meaning the product, which is more often and more actively advertised on TV. The whole process can be considered as forming a conditional reflex. Organizing such long-term advertising campaigns companies have to take into account the percentage of instances when a viewer misses the program, changes the channel, turns off the sound or switch off the TV. This percentage is huge and in order to get the desired result commercials must be shown not just very often but infinitely often and everywhere.