Differences between customer type and consumption stage in terms of service failure responses and preferred service recovery strategies in the cellphone industry

Cellphone network service providers face intense competition in a market reaching maturity. The industry is plagued with difficulties with infrastructure, congestion and subsequent service problems. This paper uncovers individual service failures customers experience in this industry, what their likely responses to a serious service failure are, and the service recovery strategies they prefer. It is the contention of the authors that different types of customers and customers in various consumption stages respond differently when faced with service failures and would therefore prefer different service recovery strategies. A total of 2339 useable responses were collected in Gauteng, South Africa through convenience sampling of cellphone owners aged 64 years or younger. The results indicate that respondents consider network unavailability to be the most common service failure. Significant differences were found between groups of respondents, based on the type of customer and consumption stage, with regard to their likely responses to a serious service failure and the service recovery strategies they prefer. The results of the study may guide service providers in tailoring service recovery strategies for different types of customers and consumption stages.