Consumer complaint behaviour in telecommunications: The case of mobile phone users in Spain

•Consumer complaint behaviour theory is used to analyze Spanish telecommunications data.•The main determinants are the type of problem, socio-demographic factors and the user׳s type of contract.•Proper complaint handling leads to satisfied, loyal and profitable consumers.

This work analyses the post-purchase behaviour of mobile phone users once they have experienced a service failure. Taking into account the existing literature on Consumer Complaint Behaviour (CCB), a survey for 4249 individuals in Spain is used for specifying econometric equations that explain the determinants of the complaining decision and the impact that a proper complaint management may have on overall satisfaction. The results suggest that dissatisfaction is not a necessary condition for complaining and that the propensity to complain is different depending on the type of problem experienced by the customer. Another finding is that a proper handling of complaints by the company may constitute a source of improvement in the overall user satisfaction and profitability of the firm. This result is of interest for its implications when designing a company׳s marketing strategy. Accordingly it seems reasonable to use complaint management as a powerful tool to retain customers.