An Analysis of Corporate E-Mail communication as part of Airlines’ Service Recovery Strategy

Given the increased use of the Internet in the travel industry, companies should be eager to provide reliable and high quality service when communicating online. This study focused on e‐mail response behavior of airlines with special attention to service recovery. A mystery approach was applied to empirically test the responsiveness and quality of replies to inquiries and complaints. Results show that complaints are answered less often and in an inexpedient manner. However, compared to inquiries, airlines address complaints in an empathetic and polite way.