Abstract
Researchers have paid scant attention to the obligation of marketers to obtain prospective customers' permission to use e-mail as a marketing tool. To clarify the authorization process, we apply the psychosocial theory of commitment and consider the mediator role of trust. We demonstrate that the prospective customer, by filling out an authorization form, places confidence in his applicant and commits himself for the future. The prospective customer should thus accept more easily new authorization requests from this applicant and develop in its favor longer term loyalty commitment. An empirical test of these assumptions, realized through experimentation, consolidates these theoretical proposals.
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