Complainer Characteristics When Exit is Closed

Purpose – The paper seeks to investigate whether the demographic and socio‐economic characteristics of complainers in a monopolistic market are different from those in a competitive market.Design/methodology/approach – A literature review is undertaken, with particular emphasis on the socio‐economic characteristics of complainers. An empirical study is then presented. The empirical study consists of a large survey of satisfaction among consumers of the Norwegian Office for Social Insurance – a monopolistic governmental service provider.Findings – The study reveals that complainers in this monopolistic market belong to lower socio‐economic groups. They typically have low incomes, are outside the labour market, have a modest standard of accommodation, and live alone.Research limitations/implications – The study analyses only one type of monopolistic institution in only one country. The generalisability of the findings might, therefore, be limited. The study demonstrates that consumer complaint behaviour in ...