An old digital format still has plenty of life left. Compared with today's virtual worlds, e-mail is solidly Web 1.0 —an almost archaic communication channel. Yet e-mail works, and marketers and advertisers keep putting it to new uses.
Moreover, consumers —whose opinions are the ones that matter— genuinely like e-mail. Nearly three-quarters of adult e-mail users in North America said they used it every day, according to an April survey conducted by Ipsos for Habeas.
Two-thirds of adult respondents said they preferred e-mail for communicating with businesses. Just as many —and this is the important part— said they expected to still prefer e-mail five years from now.
That is not to say that consumers are ready for random, untargeted e-mail. Opt-in is still key. Consumers are even willing to help marketers custom-tailor their messages.
More than 88% of respondents said they would like more choices in e-mail content and frequency, including options on advertisements and special offers.
So if e-mail is set to remain a consumer favorite for the next several years, that must mean e-mail ad spending will grow during that time, right? Yes and no.
eMarketer predicts that e-mail ad spending in the US will hit $492 million this year, then increase by 55% to $765 million by 2012.
And while e-mail accounts for only about 2% of all online ad spending, eMarketer predicts that percentage will actually drop to only 1.5% of online ad spending in 2012, despite the growth in dollars spent. The amount spent on other formats will dwarf what is spent on e-mail, thanks to its low cost.
E-mail is cheap marketing. The pricing scales well, too: The cost of sending a million e-mails is little more than the cost of sending a thousand. However, this can also cause problems.
"E-mail is so inexpensive that it lulls many marketers into underestimating its influence on entire campaigns and a company's brand," said David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer.
Jun 8, 2008
May 27, 2008
Workers live in a continuous partial attention stage
Nowadays, proffesionals workers live in a state of continuous partial attention. The motivation is we don't want to miss anything because being connected makes us feel important.
It's my BlackBerry or my cell phone. How many phone calls did I get? Who did call me? Who is looking for me? What did I miss?
A lot of people would be lost without the telephones, handheld messaging devices and computer instant messages, said Putzier. In some cases, people would feel bad if they weren't constantly interrupted.
For some people, interruptions aren't interruptions to their job. Interruptions are their job. Workers tend to be unable to resist the temptation of calls or messages.
Why don't they just shut off your e-mail? Why don't they shut off your phone or close your door? The answer is because you can never tell where a more important message will arrive.
Basex calculated the cost of interruptions in lost working hours to U.S. business is $588 billion a year. No doubt: It's a lot of time and productivity wasted.
A sort of double-edged situation?
People like the convenience and possibilities that this technology affords them when they want to use it, but they don't like the intrusions that it creates for them when other people want to express the same rights.
The constantly connected trend is sowing the seeds of its own negative effects. Increasingly we fill more that we are overstimulated, overwhelmed and unfulfilled by information technologies.
It's my BlackBerry or my cell phone. How many phone calls did I get? Who did call me? Who is looking for me? What did I miss?
A lot of people would be lost without the telephones, handheld messaging devices and computer instant messages, said Putzier. In some cases, people would feel bad if they weren't constantly interrupted.
For some people, interruptions aren't interruptions to their job. Interruptions are their job. Workers tend to be unable to resist the temptation of calls or messages.
Why don't they just shut off your e-mail? Why don't they shut off your phone or close your door? The answer is because you can never tell where a more important message will arrive.
Basex calculated the cost of interruptions in lost working hours to U.S. business is $588 billion a year. No doubt: It's a lot of time and productivity wasted.
A sort of double-edged situation?
People like the convenience and possibilities that this technology affords them when they want to use it, but they don't like the intrusions that it creates for them when other people want to express the same rights.
The constantly connected trend is sowing the seeds of its own negative effects. Increasingly we fill more that we are overstimulated, overwhelmed and unfulfilled by information technologies.
May 26, 2008
Teens engage in electronic communication
87% of all teens engage at least occasionally in some form of electronic personal communication, which includes text messaging, sending email or instant messages, or posting comments on social networking sites, according to Pew Internet Project.
Although participation in these activities is widespread, 60% of teens who send these communications do not consider them to be “writing.” 38% of teens think of these communications as writing, and an additional 2% don’t know whether they consider them to be writing or not.
Although participation in these activities is widespread, 60% of teens who send these communications do not consider them to be “writing.” 38% of teens think of these communications as writing, and an additional 2% don’t know whether they consider them to be writing or not.
Apr 30, 2008
Internet addiction problem in Asia
After a series of 10 cardiopulmonary-related deaths in Internet cafés and a game-related murde, South Korea considers Internet addiction one of its most serious public health issues.
Using data from 2006, the South Korean government estimates that approximately 210,000 South Korean children (ages 6–19) are afflicted and require treatment. About 80% of those needing treatment may need psychotropic medications, and perhaps 20% to 24% require hospitalization.
Since the average South Korean high school student spends about 23 hours each week gaming, another 1.2 million are believed to be at risk for addiction and to require basic counseling.
In particular, therapists worry about the increasing number of individuals dropping out from school or work to spend time on computers.
As of June 2007, South Korea has trained 1,043 counselors in the treatment of Internet addiction and enlisted over 190 hospitals and treatment centers. Preventive measures are now being introduced into schools.
China is also greatly concerned about the disorder. The Director of Addiction Medicine at Beijing Military Region Central Hospital reported 10 million Chinese adolescent Internet users meet Internet addiction diagnostic criteria.
As a result, in 2007 China began restricting computer game use; current laws now discourage more than 3 hours of daily game use.
In the United States, accurate estimates of the prevalence of the disorder are lacking. Unlike in Asia, where Internet cafés are frequently used, in the United States games and virtual sex are accessed from the home.
Attempts to measure the phenomenon are clouded by shame, denial, and minimization.
To face this growing situation, society have to discuss more about new habits related to new technologies use.
Read more->
Using data from 2006, the South Korean government estimates that approximately 210,000 South Korean children (ages 6–19) are afflicted and require treatment. About 80% of those needing treatment may need psychotropic medications, and perhaps 20% to 24% require hospitalization.
Since the average South Korean high school student spends about 23 hours each week gaming, another 1.2 million are believed to be at risk for addiction and to require basic counseling.
In particular, therapists worry about the increasing number of individuals dropping out from school or work to spend time on computers.
As of June 2007, South Korea has trained 1,043 counselors in the treatment of Internet addiction and enlisted over 190 hospitals and treatment centers. Preventive measures are now being introduced into schools.
China is also greatly concerned about the disorder. The Director of Addiction Medicine at Beijing Military Region Central Hospital reported 10 million Chinese adolescent Internet users meet Internet addiction diagnostic criteria.
As a result, in 2007 China began restricting computer game use; current laws now discourage more than 3 hours of daily game use.
In the United States, accurate estimates of the prevalence of the disorder are lacking. Unlike in Asia, where Internet cafés are frequently used, in the United States games and virtual sex are accessed from the home.
Attempts to measure the phenomenon are clouded by shame, denial, and minimization.
To face this growing situation, society have to discuss more about new habits related to new technologies use.
Read more->
Apr 16, 2008
Time to recognize Web addiction as illness
Compulsive emailing and text messaging could soon become classified an official brain illness.
An editorial in the past month's issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry says Internet addiction (including "excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations and email/text messaging") is a common compulsive-impulsive disorder that should be added to psychiatry's official guidebook of mental disorders.
Like other addicts, users experience cravings, urges, withdrawal and tolerance, requiring more and better equipment and software, or more and more hours online, according to Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
Block says people can lose all track of time or neglect "basic drives," like eating or sleeping.
Block says about 86 per cent of Internet addicts have some other form of mental illness, but that unless a therapist is looking for it, Internet addiction is likely to be missed.
He argues the phenomenon warrants being included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, psychiatry's official dictionary of mental illnesses. The next edition, DSM-V, is due out in 2012. A draft is expected to be available for public comment next year.
But some say the research into Internet addiction is in its infancy and wonder how doctors decide when computer use crosses the line from the normal, to pathological.
British psychiatrists, reporting last year in the journal Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, say a "significant minority" - some estimate between five and 10 per cent of online users - are addicted to the Internet, and that while early research suggests most are highly educated, highly introverted males, more recent studies suggest the bulk of the problem is occurring among middle-aged women on home computers.
Some use computers like they would drugs or alcohol as a way to escape reality, the researchers say. Addicts may be addicted to everything from the sheer act of typing, to chat rooms, online shopping or three-dimensional, multiplayer games users have described as "heroinware."
According to addiction therapist John Macdonald, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, computer use becomes problematic when the behaviour starts affecting people's lives.
Read more->
An editorial in the past month's issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry says Internet addiction (including "excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations and email/text messaging") is a common compulsive-impulsive disorder that should be added to psychiatry's official guidebook of mental disorders.
Like other addicts, users experience cravings, urges, withdrawal and tolerance, requiring more and better equipment and software, or more and more hours online, according to Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
Block says people can lose all track of time or neglect "basic drives," like eating or sleeping.
Block says about 86 per cent of Internet addicts have some other form of mental illness, but that unless a therapist is looking for it, Internet addiction is likely to be missed.
He argues the phenomenon warrants being included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, psychiatry's official dictionary of mental illnesses. The next edition, DSM-V, is due out in 2012. A draft is expected to be available for public comment next year.
But some say the research into Internet addiction is in its infancy and wonder how doctors decide when computer use crosses the line from the normal, to pathological.
British psychiatrists, reporting last year in the journal Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, say a "significant minority" - some estimate between five and 10 per cent of online users - are addicted to the Internet, and that while early research suggests most are highly educated, highly introverted males, more recent studies suggest the bulk of the problem is occurring among middle-aged women on home computers.
Some use computers like they would drugs or alcohol as a way to escape reality, the researchers say. Addicts may be addicted to everything from the sheer act of typing, to chat rooms, online shopping or three-dimensional, multiplayer games users have described as "heroinware."
According to addiction therapist John Macdonald, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, computer use becomes problematic when the behaviour starts affecting people's lives.
Read more->
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