Tariff-type suitability's impact on satisfaction of Mobile Internet customers in Germany

摘要

Prior literature argues that the choice of a mobile voice service tariff, which is financially non-optimal for an individual, has detrimental impacts on customer loyalty and satisfaction. Unfortunately, extant work has not yet examined the extent to which effects of tariff-type suitability on customer satisfaction hold for Mobile Internet (MI) access services. This study addresses the gap by analysing 'system-captured' tariff type and MI usage intensity data in a sample of 399 MI subscribers in Germany. For MI adopters in a use-dependent (flat) tariff scheme usage intensity was significantly negatively (positively) related to MI satisfaction. This indicates that satisfaction with MI access services is decreasing if customers overpay for their Ml access because they have selected unsuitable rate plans.