Spam mail finding success among the young, obese
Friday, January 8, 2010
A study recently published in the Southern Medical Journal indicates that overweight and young people were much more likely than others to open spam mail touting weight loss products, with almost one in five overweight college students studied reporting that they actually purchased the products offered.
Joshua Fogel, the associate professor of behavioral sciences at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York who oversaw the study, told the New York Times that he was "shocked by the results. Even among those with no weight problems, 5.2 percent bought something. It may be that young adults are hypersensitive to weight issues and they think, 'this can't hurt.'"
Students with weight problems were roughly four times more likely than those without to purchase the weight loss products being offered by the spammers. They were also more likely to receive spam offers for weight loss products in the first place.
Business Week reports that Fogel's next research objective is to discover which products overweight people are purchasing via spam mail, and whether or not the products are being used.
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