The unfortunate side of direct marketing is receiving spam. As such, opting out allows people to stop information about unsolicited products or services. That almost seems too good to be true. To determine if a person can stop spam, let’s consider what steps need to be completed and then determine how effective the results might be. The three areas targeted and generally associated with direct marketing campaigns are telemarketing, email marketing, and direct mail.
In an effort to reduce the number of calls consumers may receive at home, the US federal government created the National Do Not Call Registry. Initially this registry was created so that numbers would not be contacted for five years, but as of April 2007 those numbers will remain permanently on the list as it is now a law as of February 2008. An interesting quote is that of the United Kingdom. Direct Marketing Association operates a plan to reduce spam calls. However, it does not stop solicited calls, market research calls, silent calls, or calls abroad.
Email marketing provides an opt-out link or button that provides the sender that the recipient-consumer can opt out of receiving further emails. However, there is a side effect to this option. Clicking on the link or button will confirm to the sender that the email address is valid and in turn opens up the possibility of receiving more unsolicited or spam emails.
Every year, American consumers are flooded with written offers of credit or insurance that they didn’t ask for. Senders have often previously assessed the creditworthiness of recipients. The Fair Credit Reporting Act allows creditors and insurers to use CRA information as the basis for sending unsolicited firm offers of credit or insurance. In addition, the FCRA also provides a mechanism that consumers may opt out of receiving applications by directing CRAs to exclude their name and address from the lists provided to these agencies to submit pre-screened applications. The caveat is that consumers will still receive these offers, but these offers will not be based on credit records maintained by CRAs. Consumers can opt out of receiving offers from US national credit bureaus.
Finally, the US has the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Mail Preference Services that offer an opt-out service. By using this service, the consumer’s name is added to a “removed” file list, which is available to direct sellers. While there is no charge for this service, there is a $1 fee to register through regular mail. Another service will help stop the delivery of mail to a deceased person. Registration will not completely stop delivery if the organization is not registered with the DMA.
The unfortunate side of spam is that it seems nearly impossible to remove your name from a solicitation list. You may be able to remove your name from a list, only to find that it generates additional mail from another source.
MEANS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opt-out