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The purpose of this paper is to provide new ways of thinking about what motivates consumers to choose the green alternative, ideas that will be helpful in reducing the unsatisfactory green attitude-behaviour gap. Consumers have many self-aspects. This paper shows why it is necessary to activate consumers’ pragmatic selves if we want to predict purchase behaviour. The pragmatic self is concerned with costs and reference prices. When researchers activate consumers’ idealistic selves, they get idealistic answers which deviate from actual behaviour. The study also distinguishes between green alternatives with desirable green or non-green self-benefits, and green alternatives with other-benefits that are difficult to comprehend.

This study is based on a consumer survey and the data is analysed with structural equation modelling. The concept environmental colour is introduced to understand purchase differences between different consumer segments on the market.

This study shows that consumers buy benefits, which is why dark brown consumers choose the green alternative when it has a competitive advantage. It also shows that the propensity to choose the green alternative is highest among consumers who in addition see green as a benefit and have the habit of buying other green products. Another result is that the green consumers have higher self-awareness than brown consumers and are very cost conscious.

Good decisions are based on what consumers actually do, not what they say they would like to do. This paper offers practical help on understanding consumers’ purchase criteria and how to activate their pragmatic selves. Much more could be done to promote the pro-self and pro-social benefits of making sustainable choices.

To get a sustainable world, it is urgent to understand what motivates consumers to pay extra for environmentally friendly alternatives.

This paper offers new theoretical insights on how researchers can reduce the green gap.

Global marketing is based on cross‐cultural similarities instead of cross‐cultural differences. For a company encountering markets with similar cultural values it is easy to standardise the marketing program. Typically, however, most markets have different cultural values. The global marketer therefore has to decide how to coordinate its marketing program in the best way possible. This case study shows how a global retailer has coordinated its marketing program in an industry which has resisted the forces of globalisation more than most other industries.

Consumers do not select their main bank in a particularly conscious fashion; results of a survey of 558 Swedish bank customers and 53 bank branch managers indicated that for a third of respondents the choice was random. However, bank location, availability of loans, and payment of salary through a certain bank are reasons for choice, as is the influence of parents' choices. Choice is most probably a result of a match between bank image and consumer interests.

If market planning and co‐ordination is done at headquarters it is essential that branch managers can supply information of a high quality as well as execute the decisions made at headquarters. Therefore branch managers need to have a good understanding of the market. This study compares how branch managers perceive certain problems against the way in which the same problems are perceived by bank customers. A previous study in this area by Turnbull is discussed and compared with the findings of this report. The results are based on 558 consumer questionnaires and 53 of 54 bank branches which were approached responded. The survey was carried out in Gothenburg. Most managers do not see it as their obligation to collect and compile information systematically on what bank customers might want, which indicates a low consumer orientation. The transition of banks from passive fund holders to active service marketers did not seem to be completely accepted by branch managers. Most bank managers thought bank marketing activities were most important for satisfying customer expectations. Branch managers seem to be aware of problems but do not collect market information properly. They are able to solve present problems quite well but are less able to predict future changes in demand for new services.

To study the impact of the corporate store image on customer satisfaction and store loyalty in grocery retailing. Corporate (store) image is defined as the combined effect of how the retailer as a brand, manufacturer brands, and store brands are perceived. The reason for including store brands and manufacturer brands in this definition is that the image and equity of retailer brands depends on the product brands they carry and the equity of those product brands.

A mail survey to consumers, 1,000 usable answers. The test of the proposed model was based on a simple path model that related the latent variables to the dependent manifest variable store loyalty.

Most important for customer satisfaction is the store as a brand. Retailers must be good at retailing. Customers are satisfied when the store is neat and pleasant and when they feel that the store understands their needs. Only certain customer segments are interested in store brands. Satisfied customers are loyal.

A limitation is the way store loyalty was measured, i.e. as an estimate of how much the respondent's household spent in the main store. Another limitation is the fact that the study is based on “manufacturer brands” and “store brands,” rather than specifically mentioned real brands.

The growth rate for store brands in grocery retailing is twice as high as for manufacturer brands. Wisely launched, store brands may be profitable to retailers. However, although gross margins are much higher for store brands than for manufacturer brands, net margins are equal. It is therefore important to find out how important store brands are in a customer perspective. After all, retailers prosper when they have satisfied and loyal customers.

The paper is based on a more holistic definition of corporate store image than prior studies, which should give a more accurate picture of the relative importance of the store as a brand, and manufacturer as well as store brands.

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the understanding of how customer contact persons influence attitudinal and behavioral loyalty in three different customer groups, who differ in terms of their motivation and ability to understand stock market information. The mutual fund product is one of last century's big success stories. Consumers invest a lot of money in complex financial products that they do not understand. Therefore, they need professional advice to make decisions.

The study is based on a nationally representative random sample of mutual fund owners. The elaboration likelihood (EL) model predicts that high, moderate, and low elaborators are different. Three such customer groups were therefore analyzed.

A path model shows that customer contact persons influence attitudinal and behavioral loyalty and that the impact is higher for high elaborators (higher knowledge and motivation to process stock market information) than for low elaborators. This suggests that the role of the contact person differs for different customer groups, i.e. the notion of multiple roles for variables.

Future studies of complex services should acknowledge that different groups of consumers with different needs, preferences, and behaviors have different needs and preferences, and that they react differently

Customer contact persons must be rewarded for delivering value to customers. Unless they do, they will loose their unique opportunity to influence customers' decisions. They must adapt their communication to different customer groups, and acknowledge that the perception of what is valuable advice may differ.

This paper demonstrates that a very simple and easy to use model can show the value of customer contact persons. All linkages in the model are tested, which is not done in prior research. In addition, different groups of consumers have different needs, preferences, and behaviors, a fact that is almost never acknowledged in prior research.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of booking website (hotel or third-party) characteristics and hotel star-rating classification, as signals of quality, on travelers’ relationships with hotels or hotel chains, taking into account the moderating effect of travelers’ tendencies to seek variety.

To test the hypothesized relationships, structural equation modeling was performed. A multi-group analysis was also conducted to test the moderating effect of travelers’ variety seeking.

Both booking website quality and star rating improve customer satisfaction with specific experiences at hotels and behavioral intentions toward hotels. The results also show that travelers’ variety-seeking levels (low/high) exert a moderating effect on their overall relationships with hotels, and quality signals are more relevant for those who are less inclined to seek variety in their travel experiences.

This paper analyzes the importance of quality signals on travelers’ relationships with hotels in an electronic shopping environment. Furthermore, the influence of travelers’ variety-seeking in the hotel sector in particular is studied. For hotel managers, a better knowledge of this personality trait can help to apply successful segmentation strategies.

Este estudio analiza la influencia de las características del sitio web de reserva -web propia del hotel o de un tercero- y del número de estrellas del hotel, como señales de calidad, en la relación del cliente con el hotel o cadena, teniendo en cuenta el efecto moderador de la tendencia del viajero a buscar variedad.

Para probar las hipótesis, se llevó a cabo un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM). También se realizó un análisis multi-grupo para probar el efecto moderador de la búsqueda de variedad del viajero.

Tanto la calidad del sitio web de reserva como las estrellas favorecen la satisfacción del cliente con la experiencia concreta en el hotel y, finalmente, las intenciones de comportamiento hacia el hotel. Además, el análisis muestra que el nivel de búsqueda de variedad del viajero (bajo/alto) ejerce un efecto moderador en su relación global con el hotel y que las señales parecen ser más relevantes para los individuos con menor tendencia a buscar variedad en sus experiencias de viaje.

Este trabajo analiza la importancia de las señales de calidad en la relación de los viajeros con los hoteles en un entorno de compra electrónica. Además, se estudia la influencia de la búsqueda de variedad de los viajeros en el sector hotelero en particular. Un mejor conocimiento de este rasgo de la personalidad puede ayudar a los gerentes de hotel a aplicar estrategias de segmentación exitosas.