Email advertising : exploratory insights from Finland

Abstract

Since the advent of the internet, much speculation has ensued regarding its tangible benefits to business. This article looks at the effectiveness of email advertising to
promote information to consumers. Within this email promotion context, and using data from a survey of 838 female Finnish consumers of a major international
cosmetics brand, we investigate consumer perceptions of email advertising. Specifically, within an exploratory research context we address two research questions: (1) What email advertising factors may influence visits to the company website? and (2) What email advertising factors may influence visits to a physical (i.e., bricks-and-mortar) company sales outlet? Results suggest that email advertisers
should strive to generate emails that are perceived as useful. Useful emails appear to influence consumers to visit the store primarily to either buy the product or view the product firsthand, rather than visit the company website. However, as consumers could not buy the advertised products from the website, these findings should be
regarded as preliminary. Factors influencing perceptions of email advertising usefulness are explored along with limitations and future research directions.