Email as a customer service tool: an investigation into email reply quality of Malaysian hotels
Abstract :
This exploratory research applied the Diffusion of Innovations theory to investigate email presence and
examine the quality of email reply by 530 Malaysian hotels. Of the 530 hotels, only 359 hotels provided
email information on their website and 167 replied to the mock email. This study used content analysis
technique to measure the quality of email response based on 5P features: Prompt, Polite, Personal,
Professional and Promotional. Findings of this study found poor email reply quality, reflecting poor
customer service by Malaysian hotels. Malaysian hotels performed best in providing a polite opening in
their email and answering the questions and weakest on using email as a promotional tool. Academically,
this study helps generalise email diffusion study and the influence of organisational characteristics with
technology implementation. Suggestions to improve hotel email use for customer service and marketing
are also offerred.