Customer Correspondence: Corporate Responses and Customer Reactions

Abstract

Utilizing over one thousand legitimate compliment and complaint letters and emails a study was conducted to obtain current information concerning corporate responses to these queries as well as customer reactions to the corporate actions. Comparisons were made between product and service marketers and between traditional mail and email queries to up-date the literature in this area. Findings indicated that compliment inquires were as likely to elicit a response from firms as complaint inquires, however service marketers were much less likely to respond to either type of inquiry than product marketers. Email complaints were more likely to elicit a response, although less generous than traditional mail complaints, resulting in a less enthusiastic customer reaction. The findings indicate that service marketers should devote more efforts to responding to customer correspondence as the positive outcomes of these efforts are overwhelming. Repurchase intentions and positive word-of-mouth are both improved with strategic responses to customer correspondence. The results of this study have implications for the development of strategic marketing communication tactics.