Vulnerable consumers and satisfaction with public services: does country matter?

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Public Administration scholars and practitioners are paying increased attention to "vulnerable citizens" - groups of citizens who, for reasons beyond their control, are disadvantaged in comparison to other citizens - when consuming public services. Initial research focused on how citizens' socio-economic background shapes their behaviour and satisfaction. Citizens, however, take decisions within a context, but we know little about how their experiences differ depending on their country of residence. We contribute to the emerging strand of scholarship on citizens' vulnerability by comparatively analysing the experience of vulnerable citizens in the telecommunications and electricity markets in three large EU countries, selected to represent "advanced", "intermediate" and "laggard" stages of reform. We first establish that citizen socio-economic characteristics matter for patterns of expenditure and perceptions of service affordability and then show how citizen vulnerability differs depending on country context. Results are useful to practitioners seeking to target regulation to improve the experiences of vulnerable citizens.