An email sent from an unknown person with the same name as the recipient is more likely to receive a reply, say Canadian researchers. The finding indicates that perceived family ties may still be important in modern communications, they say.
Kerris Oates and Margo Wilson at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada sent emails to 2,960 different people registered with the free email service and listed in public email directories. The email contained questions about the recipient's local sports team and the team's mascot.
Some people received a message apparently from a "stranger" with the same first and second name. Others received the same message from someone with only the same first or second name. A fourth group received the message from a sender with a completely different name.
When sender and recipient shared both first and last name, an email was 10.33 per cent more likely to elicit a reply. An email from someone with the same second name alone was 9.7 per cent more likely to receive a reply.
Emotional appeal来源：www.exam
But far fewer people replied to messages from people with the same first name alone. Wilson believes this shows that family names are a more reliable "cue" of kinship.
"A shared name has emotional appeal," Wilson says. "It reflects our social identity and status as defined by our descent. What this research shows is that shared names are effective in eliciting a minor act of altruism."
The researchers also found that women are more likely than men to respond to the same second name. They think this could be due to a stronger female interest in family history.
However, Wilson admits that the study may be affected by the number of unsolicited messages many people receive in their hotmail inboxes. She admits that people may be wary of false names being used. She says she also understands that some people may be concerned that the emails were unsolicited.
