Content analysis of explanations

phase described in the above sections, and discussed in the discussion section. It was also informed by the literature on online silence reviewed in 2.7 Online silence, and on

attributions reviewed in 2.4.1 Attribution theory. The content analysis started with an analysis of the explanations provided for the silence created by the participants. The reason for that is that the explanations for the participants’ own silence were provided with

significantly more certainty. This certainty about the explanations made it easier to identify key categories. Three key categories were identified, two of which were divided into sub- categories, as detailed below. Each category is supplemented by several illustrative verbatim (italicized) quotations as provided by the participants. Researcher comments appear in square brackets, and are not italicized.

5.3.3.1 Category A: recipient has not seen the incoming message

Examples:

 “This is a broken communication. It was sent but never received. If it were received I would have answered. It was my intention to reply !”

 “I never recieved the email i was supposed to reply to”

5.3.3.2 Category B: recipient did not intend to respond

This category has three sub-categories:

5.3.3.2.1 Recipient did not think it was necessary to respond

Examples:

 “i don't think it is necessary [to respond to an invitation], unless I'm not able to make

the meeting.”

 “The customer did not request a confirmation that the change had been made. The

change was minor and was actually actioned by another department so I did not regard a reply as required of me.”

 “Assigned to another to respond. [sender], however, didn't consider that [response sent by another, to be] related to the email sent to me.”

5.3.3.2.2 Recipient did not want to continue the communication

Examples:

 “I did not feel like responding as I get many such emails and was weary of

responding to them, even on an informal basis.”

 “We are irrelevant to each other at this point in time and I didn't understand why the

sender would wish to contact me at this late date. I was unwilling to open up the potential for further communication.”

 “I decided that my response was not going to be productive to finding a solution as

the person seemed uninterested in hearing another perspective.” 5.3.3.2.3 Recipient did not respond as a way to say “no”

Examples:

 “Someone tried to sell me a product that I did not need.”

 “The purpose was to arrange a future meeting. […] I unintentionally lead the person believe that I was interested in further contact when I was not. Therefore when I received the email I did not reply.”

 “he asked for somehting I could not provide”

5.3.3.3 Category C: recipient intended to respond or even started

responding; nevertheless, the recipient did not send a response for a

long period of time.

This category has three sub-categories:

5.3.3.3.1 A response has not yet been sent

Examples:

 “due to lack of time I have not responded...I will later”

 “I recieved the e-mail to my work e-mail address I then got very busy and as the e-

mail was not a business related matter I felt I should do my work before responding and did'nt get around to it.”

 “I began a response, but have not yet sent it due to some changes in my life. Since the

changes have settled though, admittedly I have not yet finished and sent the email.” 5.3.3.3.2 A response has eventually been sent, late

 “I wanted to respond with news and detail. This takes time and I didn't allow for the

time to complete the message […] The message was finally sent and with full explanation. However, the response was not timely.”

 “The email not being top priority and a high number of other emails to respond

to.[…] they emailed again and this prompted me to respond immediately” 5.3.3.3.3 Finally too much time passed to respond

Examples:

 “Being too involved in a life that does not include that person so […] and then

conveniently forgetting the email. Never seemed the right time to take time to respond”

 “By the time a response would have been forthcoming the sender and I had both

already decided through other forums that the initial request was not important and therefore did not necessitate a response.”

These three main categories allowed classifying 23 of the 26 open text explanations for the intended recipient’s silence. Two of the cases were classified as category A, 11 were

classified as category B, and 10 were classified as category C. Three were left unclassifiable, mainly due to an unclear open text explanation.

These three categories were then applied to the explanations offered for the silence that senders experienced. These explanations were, as expected, expressed with less certainty, and their tone was more tentative. Nevertheless, the three classifications proved useful in categorizing the possible explanations reported by the participants.

Of the 30 open text explanations, in three cases the participants gave a possible reason that was classified as A (example: “I actually have no idea why the person has not responded. Except to think that they have changed their email or that the email address I used is not their primary account.”); in eight cases the explanation was classified as B (example: “In my opinion, the key reason I did not receive a response to my e-mail was because the recipient chose not to respond.”); in seven cases the explanation was classified as C (example: “By neglecting to respond immediately, he has perhaps put it aside til a more convenient time and as a consequence has forgotten, [the subject of my email] is not all that important or he is

simply taking his time.”; in four cases the explanation could be classified under more than one of the three categories (example:” I am not sure if the owner does not use that e-mail address on his website anymore or if the owner decided not to respond because he/she is no longer interested in renting the apartment. I suspect the first one is most likely.”); in four cases the responders could not provide any possible explanation (example: “I have no idea, and dont really mind”); and, in four cases it was impossible to classify the explanation (example: “Organisational chaos and lack of good clear processes”).