Correspondence: Zia ul Haq, Department of Management and Commerce, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, 500032, India. E-mail: zia@manuu.ac.in, managementmaster25@yahoo.co.in, Web: www.manuu.ac.in

¹is presently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Management and Commerce, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, India. In addition to teaching assignments, Zia is also involved in research on the topic 'Effectiveness of Online Advertising'. For the past 2 years, Zia has been guest faculty at National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Hyderabad, India, and has also written a book on marketing management, which will be published shortly in India.

Received 8 May 2009; Revised 8 May 2009.

Abstract

E-mail marketing offers great opportunities for businesses. Marketing activities supported by e-mails allow companies to directly communicate with their consumers without time or location barriers. The topic of advertising via e-mails is of major interest. It addresses consumers with individualized advertising messages via e-mails. This paper discusses its relevance and investigates antecedents of consumer attitudes toward advertising via e-mails. The analysis is based on a consumer survey. For this purpose, a quota sample of 800 Internet users in India has been interviewed. The results indicate that the content and the frequency of advertising message have the largest impact on attitude toward advertising via e-mails. By understanding consumers, attitude toward advertising, designers and marketers can better strategize their advertising designs. A better understanding of interactivity can also help to improve the effectiveness of interactive media such as the Internet. A methodology for studying the factors that contribute to consumers' perceptions of ads is proposed, and implications for Internet-based advertising are discussed.