Should ISPs Offer Spam Discounts?

Most Internet users find spam annoying, but some would be willing to live with it for a price. They would accept spam as part of an arrangement that included incentives such as discounts from their Internet service providers, according to a study authored by two university researchers.

Young Internet users would accept spam in exchange for an Internet service fee discount, according to the study, which was conducted by Clyde Bentley, an associate professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia's Missouri School of Journalism, and Anca Micu, a doctoral student at the school.

The researchers posted a questionnaire online and then sent out the survey's uniform resource locator in a mass e-mailing to the community around the university.

Difference of Opinion

More than 2140 entries were analyzed. The study's results indicate that while students and nonstudents receive the same amount of unsolicited e-mail, the two groups hold different attitudes toward accepting spam.

While 63.37 percent of nonstudents said they would not accept spam under any conditions, only 37.56 percent of the students shared that opinion. And at each suggested discount level, more students than nonstudents said they would be willing to accept spam.

Another difference between the two samples involved Internet connection quality. While 61.52 percent of the nonstudent sample used cheaper dial-up services, only 36.52 percent of students used the same method.

These results confirmed the researchers' hypothesis that users who pay high monthly service fees are willing to receive spam in return for obtaining a discounted rate.

Business Plan

Based on these findings, the researchers proposed a new model: ISPs would directly e-mail advertisements to customers in exchange for a monthly Internet service fee discount. The ISPs would recover the cost of the discounted fees from advertisers who would send bulk e-mail messages.

"This model is a win-win-win situation; all three sides--the consumers, the ISPs, and the advertisers--would be satisfied," the researchers' report concluded.