Research Shows That Weight Loss Products Advertised In Spam E-Mail Are Purchased By Young Adults With Weight Problems: Psychological Stress Implicated

It is not stress - it is STUPIDITY.

"Forty-one percent of college students with weight problems opened and read spam e-mail advertising weight loss products and 18.5 percent bought these weight loss products, according to a new study published in the January issue of the Southern Medical Journal. The research was conducted by Joshua Fogel, Ph.D., an Associate Professor of the Business Program at the Department of Economics at Brooklyn College , and Sam Shlivko, B.S., a former Brooklyn College student and currently a student at New York Law School.

In additional analyses considering the impact of a number of relevant variables, those with weight problems as compared to those without weight problems, were three times more likely to open/read and also three times more likely to purchase weight loss products from this spam e-mail. Also, increased psychological stress was associated with an increase in purchases of these weight loss products advertised in spam e-mail.

As lead investigator, Dr. Fogel analyzed data from a survey of 200 college students, who were asked if they had weight problems and if in the past year they received, opened/read, or purchased products from spam e-mail about weight loss topics. Psychological stress was measured by the Perceived Stress Scale."

Flunk 'em.