Viability of Fee-Based Email Service for Retail Customers

Unsecure free email services face possible threats from spam, phishing, and hacking. Secure email eliminates most of these risks. The primary objective of this study was to understand the market for fee-based secure email service. A Web-based survey was designed using secondary research and inputs from focus group interviews and administered to a random sample of individuals living in the US. Analysis of data gathered from 189 responses revealed that although people are concerned about email security, they may be unwilling to purchase fee-based secure email service. Market for fee-based secure email service is small and dispersed throughout the US. Results also indicate that pricing drives individual intention to purchase fee-based email service. A scale to measure effectiveness of email service was developed. The study concludes the lack of a profitable market for the fee-based secure email service and discusses the challenges of marketing this service in a B-2-(2C) environment.

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