An empirical investigation of the impact of communication timing on customer equity

Abstract

This research examines the impact of communication frequency on customer retention and spending and thus, ultimately, on a firm's Customer Equity (CE). We conduct an empirical study in the context of permission-based e-mail marketing in the entertainment industry and find that intercommunication timing has a dramatic impact on customer behavior. Message scheduling affects both attrition and the customer response and thus has a critical impact on the value of one's customer base. The impact of intercontact duration is asymmetric in that too long intercommunication time is less problematic than too short intercommunication time.