Satisfaction of Individual Mobile Phone Users in Spain

Consumer satisfaction is a key determinant of consumer retention, consumer welfare, and is also a strategic variable for competition and international comparisons. Spain’s mobile customer satisfaction is the lowest in the European Union. The focus of this paper is to identify the determinants of residential mobile phone users’ satisfaction among private consumers of mobile telecommunications in Spain. Two innovative aspects of this paper are the focus on individual residential consumers, and the usage of rich data to convey high quality statistical information. The contribution of each of the components to the overall satisfaction is measured. Also, relationships between different aspects of satisfaction and its determinants are formulated. The paper specifies econometric models and estimates them using a survey of 4,249 mobile phone users. The results indicate that customers are less satisfied with larger carriers, and are more satisfied with smaller and newer operators. Complaints about billing, difficulty in obtaining the required information and coverage are major contributors to consumer (dis)satisfaction. Policy recommendations are suggested to improve customer satisfaction, contribute to customer retention and improve the position of the country in the international rankings