College students are receiving an increasing number of unsolicited advertisements via text messaging, according to a recent study conducted by Ball State University's Center for Media Design.

The study, authored by advertising professor Michael Hanley, found that one in four students at Ball State have received text message advertisements on their cell phones.

The study also showed that only 5 percent of students could recall the business advertised in the message and just 1 percent responded to the ad. Almost 90 percent of the ads remembered were from pornographic Web sites.

The study, conducted Feb. 9 to 23, surveyed 1,171 Ball State students via e-mail and cautioned that its results were not intended to generalize all college students. Reponses of "do not know" and "does not apply" were not included in the results.

Hanley said "spim," or spam on cell phones, has grown rapidly from modest activity three years ago to the 43 percent of all text messaging for which it accounts today.

The boom in cell phone ads stems from the growth of cell phone use among college students, the widespread availability of text messaging and the emergence of mobile instant messaging services, Hanley said.

"The main way ads are delivered today are through mobile instant messaging systems, primarily AOL, Yahoo and MSN," said Hanley.

The ads are then routed to cell phones through the instant messaging system.

Nine of 10 students in the study found the ads annoying, and two of three said they were less likely to do business with a company that sent text message ads.

It also can cost students around 10 cents per message to receive the ads, according to Hanley. He stressed that such ads are not only annoying, but also illegal.

"It's against the law to send unsolicited ads to cell phones, according to the CAN-SPAM Law passed by Congress in December 2003, via mobile instant messaging and text messaging," Hanley said.

Hanley said that while efforts are being made by both cell phone providers and the Federal Communications Commission to prevent spim, "they can't stop all the messages."

Megan Knight, a College of Health Sciences sophomore, said she received text message advertisements for long distance rates.

Knight said she was surprised by the ads and would probably not respond to them.

Lauren Smith, an Arts & Sciences sophomore, recalled receiving a text message ad for a Spanish-language dating service.

"I thought it was actually funny, but I was a little disturbed that they got my number," Smith said.

She said she was less likely to do business with a company sending such ads.

"That's a little too aggressive," she said.

Despite the low response rate and legal issues behind the ads, text message advertising continues to grow because it is successful from a business perspective.

"A 1 percent response rate — given the small expense involved in distributing text messages — is still a potentially profitable strategy," said Jim Pokrywczynski, associate professor of advertising and public relations.

Joyce Wolburg, associate professor of advertising and public relations, agreed that whatever level of response spimmers get, the tactic must be profitable.

"The fact that they're still doing it means it's worth their while," Wolburg said.

But advertisers have overlooked "the annoyance factor" of their ads, and such irritation "weakens the effectiveness of all advertising," she said.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 7 2005.