OPENING E-MAIL MARKETING MESSAGES ON SMARTPHONES: THE VIEWS OF MILLENNIAL CONSUMERS

Recent years have witnessed a steep rise in the adoption of smartphones and their prevalence in all the activities related to internet browsing. Consequently, mobile devices should be essential to any digital marketing strategy. At the same time, some digital marketing tactics such as e-mail marketing became popular due to their reported efficacy and return on investment. Still, research on e-mail marketing is scarce and consumers’ behavior towards e-mail campaigns received on their smartphones has not been addressed. Considering this research gap, the present study aims at identifying the factors responsible for opening promotional emails on the smartphones by millennial consumers. Based on the available literature on e-mail marketing message opening behavior, an exploratory study was conducted among 12 Portuguese Millennials. Results of the study show that smartphones are a preferred medium for receiving promotional e-mails, due to the convenience it offers and the preference of the participants for their smartphones to perform their personal tasks. Still, to make the users open e-mail messages on their smartphones, the subject lines should be relevant for e.g., it should promise some economic benefits and limited time offers. Overall, this study demonstrates that smartphones provide a very attractive yet challenging medium for companies to communicate with their customers and prospects through e-mail marketing. It also discusses the relevance of the topic for future research.