Permission-Based Electronic Mail Factors from Recipient’s Perspective

Abstract

The research explores permission-based electronic mail (e-mail) factors. Permission-based e-mail refers to recipients who had previously agreed to receive advertisements or messages sent via an e-mail from a company. These factors are conceptualized as recipients’ intention to open, read, click and forward e-mails. The research uses the survey research approach. The target sample was 160 post-graduate students of a business school at a leading institution of higher learning in Malaysia. Data analysis for the research was performed using SPSS Version 21. The usable number of responses was, however, 145. The results shed light into permission-based e-mail factors from a recipient’s perspective. A recipient who intends to open an e-mail has the intention to read it, click a link on it and forward it. Notably, this is driven by a specific combination of factors in an e-mail that is important from a recipient’s perspective. Implications for theory and practice are discussed herein.   Keywords: Permission-based e-mail, internet marketing, electronic commerce, permission marketing.