September 28, 1999 Web posted at: 2:53 p.m. EDT (1853 GMT) by Mary Lisbeth D'Amico

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MUNICH (IDG) -- In Germany, one out of two customers who send e-mail to a company can expect to hear nothing back.

That is one conclusion of a new study called E-mail economy 1999, conducted by Markt & Daten modalis, a Berlin-based market research company.

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Posing as different customers with a product inquiry, Markt & Daten in August sent off e-mail to 543 German companies representing a cross-section of industries, according to an excerpt of the study posted on the Markt & Daten Web site. Of those companies, only 54 percent of the companies felt it necessary to respond to the e-mail.

Markt & Daten initially gathered some 640 company names, which included those with annual revenue of more than 1.2 billion marks, and 50 Internet companies. In the former category, many companies lacked a Web site or e-mail address altogether, according to Frank Wagner, Markt & Daten Internet project manager.

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The research firm rated the companies by how easy they were to contact, how quickly they responded and the quality of their answers. By industry, Markt & Daten found that Internet companies such as Yahoo Deutschland had an above-average response rate, as did car-parts manufacturers.

Of those companies that did answer, more than half responded on the same day. Compared to a similar but smaller study conducted with 200 U.S. and German companies last year, Wagner said, the response rates have also improved.

Markt & Daten heaped special praise on easy-to-reach companies such as Shell, which lists on its Web site contact information and even photos of experts responsible for areas like gas, oil and diesel, as well as emergency contact information for those who need a particularly speedy answer.

Deutsche Telekom was noted for responding within hours of the e-mail request.

Poor marks go to Coca Cola Deutschland, Reemtsma, Phillip Morris, Stollwerck and Nordzucker, all major public companies with no Web site.

Lufthansa scores low for requiring users to click 15 times before even finding the contact information, and a car parts manufacturer called Hella stands out because it asks users on its online contact formula not to pose any questions about the company's products.

One of the wackiest responses came from Neckerman Versand, an online mail order catalogue. When asked via e-mail about Internet security, the company responded, "Nothing is 100 percent certain, except for death."

Markt and Daten's U.S. subsidiary is conducting a similar study of the Fortune 500 in the U.S.. The results of that study will be available by the end of the year, Wagner said.

Mary Lisbeth D'Amico is Munich correspondent for the IDG News Service.