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New information and communication technologies are constantly emerging, altering business methods, and particularly, the relationship an organization establishes with its customers. Therefore, it is essential to analyse the impact of these technologies on customer behaviour. The purpose of this study is to explore, in the banking sector, the impact of customers’ use of self‐service technologies on their interest in a relationship approach, and consequently in a long‐term personalized relationship. A survey of 242 adult students reveals that there is no real impact of the use of self‐service technologies on interest in a relationship approach. Respondents who use these technologies extensively do not place more or less importance on their relationship with a given bank.

This chapter describes the situation of the two ‘official’ linguistic communities within the province of Quebec, Canada, whose primary language is either English or French and who attend post-secondary pre-university colleges. It examines the point of view of young Anglophones learning French as a Second Language (FSL), for whom French instruction is mandatory. A random probability sample of 974 students was selected in 11 colleges. The authors conducted 22 individual interviews and met with 48 students during four focus group sessions. The interviews and the quantitative data show that students at all levels have low levels of motivation for FSL and negative attitudes towards the Francophone community. How students perceive FSL education has a statistically significant impact on motivation: the more positive their perceptions, the higher their motivation. Moreover, the reported number of Francophone friends and the number of hours students reported speaking in French with these friends, has a significant impact on their perceptions. Based on the importance of this friendship dynamic, the authors propose that Second Language Acquisition should not focus primarily on language code proficiency and communication skills, but rather encourage students from different linguistic groups to meet and develop productive relationships, which is scarce in language instruction settings.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the behaviour of Portuguese users and non‐users of self‐service technologies (SSTs) in banking services.

An empirical study is conducted by means of a survey questionnaire. Data are collected from a sample of 300 respondents chosen to represent the Portuguese adult population in terms of age, gender, and geographical place of residence.

The results show that Portuguese users of SST banking services are likely to be young to middle‐aged individuals, with medium to high levels of education. They have a greater propensity to complain and are more price‐sensitive than non‐users of such services.

Only six dimensions of consumer behaviour were investigated: price sensitivity, satisfaction, word‐of‐mouth, repurchase intention, propensity to change banks, complaint behaviour. Only three forms of SST contact were examined (ATMs, telephone banking, and internet banking). Other behaviours and SSTs could be examined in future research.

Banks investing in SST can expect: more sales (consumers with higher intention to repurchase); more opportunities for service recovery (consumers with higher propensity to complain); and more price competitiveness (more price‐sensitive consumer behaviour).

This is the first study to examine consumer behaviour among Portuguese customers of SST banking services. The study shows that SST does not ensure consumer satisfaction and positive word‐of‐mouth; moreover, it is not a barrier to changing banks.