Zomato: An Ignorant Customer Communication Mistake or a National Issue?

On October 18, 2021 a Zomato app user wanted a refund for a missing item in his online food service order and contacted the company’s customer care agent over Twitter. The customer was from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where Tamil was the native language and a matter of parochial pride. What had started as a minor food order detail escalated into an online nationwide language debate with the accompanying hashtag #Reject_Zomato. The entire episode and ensuing online debate lasted less than 24 hours. But the matter created an indelible trail of negative publicity and scathing media coverage for Zomato, denting the company’s reputation. Was Zomato’s public response to the issue appropriate? Should the company review its use of Twitter as a customer care channel? More broadly, what changes should be considered for Zomato’s customer support function to deal effectively with culturally-attuned customer communication in a diverse market of 1.4 billion people with many different regional identities, cultural pride levels, and spoken languages?

This case is suitable for courses in marketing, communications, or international business at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The setting of the case explores the theme of customer engagement and customer service using social media channels in a business environment with high cultural distance, both between the company’s customer support team and the customer. It also discusses issues of communication between customer care agents and customers with diverse regional and cultural identities, which can be a challenge for companies navigate effectively. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to<ul><li>understand the communication dynamics in using social media handles as a customer support channel;</li><li>identify obstacles to empathic communication in customer service and support;</li><li>understand the role of trust and its various dimensions in customer engagement and communication; and</li><li>devise a customer communication strategy suitable for markets with high cultural distance.</li></ul>

• customer communication
• cultural distance
• empathic communication
• Twitter customer support communication
• market expansion