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The study aims to develop and test a relationship-building model for green brands. It synthesizes findings on the consumer motives offered by green brands, with relationship marketing and branding literature to the specific context of green brands to build a parsimonious model testing the links amongst four relational benefits, i.e. confidence, socialization, self-expression and altruism; two relational mediators, i.e. satisfaction and relationship quality; three behavioural outcomes, i.e. word-of-mouth, expectation of continuity and cross-buying; and two moderators of the benefits-mediators relationship, i.e. environmental consciousness and relationship length.

Data are collected from consumers of three brands of natural cosmetic products, totalling 848 questionnaires. Structural equation modelling is used to test the hypothesized relationships across the three brands.

The results show that confidence benefit has the strongest influence on relationship quality, followed by self-expression and altruism. Relationships quality and satisfaction with the green brand have a significant impact on all three behavioural outcomes. Both environmental consciousness and length of the relationship moderate the hypothesized interrelationships.

A new set of relational benefits for the green context is suggested. Several future research opportunities are suggested.

The study offers suggestions for managers to leverage relationship benefits for relationship strengthening.

No previous work has studied in an integrated way the relationship benefits and mediators to model the consumer–green brand relationship. The study provides a better understanding of the antecedents of consumer loyalty towards green brands.

Positioned in the e-retailing field, this study aims to investigate the effect of the retail store’s atmosphere on consumer behavior in 3D online shopping environments, focusing on store layout as a critical influential factor.

The research uses a mixed research method approach that includes two complementary studies. First, a three-round Delphi study with domain experts is used to develop a store layout classification scheme (Study 1), resulting in five distinct types of store layout. Subsequently, 3D online retail stores that use the five layouts are designed and developed. These serve as treatments of a laboratory experimental design, which is used to assess layout impact on a number of attitudinal and behavioral variables (Study 2).

Five distinct types of store layout have been identified in Study 1, and their distinctive features are presented. The findings of Study 2 indicate that online shopping enjoyment, entertainment and ease of navigation are influenced by the store layout types of 3D online environments. Specifically, the “avant-garde” layout type facilitates the ease of navigation of customers in the store and provides a superior online customer experience. The “warehouse”’ adopts long aisles for the display of products, which simplifies the comparison of products, whereas the “boutique” layout was found to be the best in terms of shopping enjoyment and entertainment. The “department” layout shares many common characteristics with traditional department stores, providing an entertaining and enjoyable store, whereas the “pragmatic” layout emphasizes low system requirements.

The paper presents characteristics that make store layouts effective for different aspects of online customers’ experience and identifies opportunities that 3D online store designers and retailers can explore for the provision of enhanced, customized services to online customers.

This paper examines recent technological developments in store design and visual merchandising. It identifies five layout types of 3D online stores, which are different from those of brick–and–mortar and 2D online stores, and investigates their impact on consumer behavior. Further, the paper examines how each layout type influences online shopping enjoyment, entertainment, ease of navigation, online customer experience and, in turn, purchase and word-of-mouth intentions. Finally, the paper examines the moderating role of telepresence. Individuals with high sense of telepresence conceive 3D environments as “real” and are more concerned about the attributes that trigger the sense of enjoyment they experience while browsing.

Alternative payment means have been expanding rapidly in recent years. The need to identify the segments of customers that are targetable for both financial and nonfinancial institutions is growing. The purpose of this paper is to use two different methods, discriminant analysis and decision trees, in order to compare the effectiveness of the two methods for segmentation and identify critical consumer characteristics which determine behavior and preference in relation to the use of payment means.

Using data from 321 bank customers, decision tree and discriminant analysis methods are used, first to test the same set of variables differentiating the customers and then to compare the respective results and prediction ability of the two methods.

Results show that discriminant analysis has a better model fit and segments the customers in a more effective way than the decision tree method. In addition, each method shows different variables to differentiate the customer groups.

The findings are limited to the sector and country of the study, as well as the convenience sample that has been used.

Suggestions for financial managers to better understand their customers’ behavior and target the right group are discussed.

This is the first attempt to compare decision trees and discriminant analysis as alternative segmentation methods for payment means.

Knowledge of the management issues for developing new bank offerings efficiently is limited. Furthermore, recent research suggests that organisational learning can contribute greatly to the success of innovation projects. The aims of this paper are to provide a detailed description of the development process of a new financial product and to identify learning actions that may contribute to its effectiveness.

Reports findings from a qualitative, longitudinal case study of a well‐known French bank.

The results revealed an informal development process consisting of a sequence of issues to solve and decisions to make.

Though observations fit with the theoretical model, the findings cannot be generalized due to the use of a qualitative methodology. Thus, selecting a development project that brings variance to the scope and degree of innovativeness could enrich the observed learning mechanisms. Second, as services are very heterogeneous, further research should be done on the development processes of different new services, for example standardised versus customised. Third, mechanisms of adoption or avoidance of learning procedures remain to be explored extensively. Understanding the reasons of choice and adoption of learning strategies according to the environment and nature of the project could lead to further managerial recommendations.

Implications for banks to encourage learning during innovation are discussed and several opportunities for further research are suggested.

An informal development process is revealed, consisting of a sequence of issues to solve and decisions to make. Multiple learning actions and strategies are identified that enhance process effectiveness and efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of service quality and satisfaction on three consumer behavioral intentions, namely word‐of‐mouth, site revisit, and purchase intentions in the context of internet shopping.

To achieve this objective 240 online interviews were carried out (response rate 24 percent) from a randomly generated sample of 1,052 online shoppers using the database of a leading Internet provider in Greece as the sample frame.

Data analysis involved the comparison of three rival models using structural equations modeling. The prevailed model reveals that e‐service quality has a positive effect on e‐satisfaction, while it also influences, both directly and indirectly through e‐satisfaction, the consumer's behavioral intentions, namely site revisit, word‐of‐mouth communication and repeat purchase.

The results confirm that cognitive evaluations precede emotional responses and that quality is a strong antecedent of satisfaction. However, the findings highlight the importance of the interaction experience with the e‐shop on perceived quality. Moreover, the study underlines the crucial impact of the four key e‐service quality drivers on the entire cycle of buying, including post‐purchase behavior, confirming existing evidence in both off‐ and on‐line context.

Practitioners should carefully consider their web site's attributes. They should make their sites easy‐to‐use and easy‐to‐navigate and place extra emphasis on providing fast, accurate, and uncluttered information through their web sites. Also they should direct marketing activities with the aim to enhance satisfaction from e‐shopping, particularly regarding the service encounter incidents.

The paper makes a scholar contribution by examining the notion of e‐service quality and how it relates with e‐satisfaction while exploring unexamined consumers' behavioral intentions and both their direct and indirect antecedents.

The article explores the quality dimensions that the visitors of national and foreign business‐to‐consumer portals use to assess the performance of their service offering. Based on the SERVQUAL model and previous research on Web site evaluation and quality, the paper identified three quality dimensions that proved to be stable across sites’ nationality and user profiles. Several implications are drawn from these results for both Web site marketers and future academic research.

This paper aims to investigate the different types of perceived relational benefits in the bank‐retail customer relationship. It further seeks to assess the influence of these benefits on satisfaction with the bank and on three behavioral outcomes, word‐of‐mouth, intention to continue the relationship and cross‐buying.

Three focus groups with retail bank customers were conducted to identify perceived relational benefits. Then exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were run on survey data to confirm the structure of relational benefits. Finally, a structural equation model was estimated in order to test the relationships between relational benefits, satisfaction with the bank and behavioral outcomes. The country of study was Greece.

Five types of perceived relational benefits were identified: two trust‐related (competence and benevolence), special treatment, social and convenience. Only competence and convenience significantly affect satisfaction with the bank. No direct link between relational benefits and behavioral outcomes was found, as satisfaction plays a mediating role between them.

Findings are context specific but extend previous knowledge on the nature of relational benefits and point out the need to study trust benefits in a multidimensional way as well as to further confirm “convenience” relational benefits.

Findings suggest additional leverages to build relationships and help identify priorities for enhancing overall bank satisfaction through relational actions.

This is the first time that two types of trust‐related benefits are distinguished and a convenience benefit is identified. Further, two of these newly identified benefits (convenience and competence) are the ones that build satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to examine alternative constructs that are used in parallel to describe the strength of consumer‐brand relationships. First, the two main conceptualisations of relationship quality (RQ), as developed by relationship marketing and branding literature, are analysed to highlight their common elements. Then, the recently applied in branding context concept of consumer‐brand identification (CBI) is analysed, and issues regarding its nature and link to RQ are raised.

The paper draws upon existing literature on the streams of branding and relationship marketing, to propose a conceptualisation of consumer‐brand RQ and examine the link of CBI to RQ. To investigate the research questions, an exploratory qualitative paper is undertaken involving four focus groups with consumers who have developed relationships with cosmetic brands.

Responses provide evidence for the concepts of satisfaction, trust, commitment, intimacy and love in describing consumer‐brand RQ. CBI emerges as a distinct construct of cognitive nature. Furthermore, RQ appears to be differentiated according to consumer age.

This research enables commencement of empirical examination of the link between RQ and CBI and the relative role of age into building strong relationships with brands.

The paper bridges two different research streams, relationship marketing and branding, into conceptualising consumer‐brand RQ. Furthermore, the paper is a first attempt to explore the role of CBI in relation to the construct of RQ, thus fulfilling an identified gap in the literature regarding the link of those constructs.

This paper aims to explore benefits customers expect from a long‐term relationship with their bank and the costs associated with such a relationship; it further tests these relational benefits and costs as segmentation variables.

A qualitative study based on three focus groups was designed to provide initial input on different types of expected relational benefits and costs. Then, quantitative data were collected from a survey of 209 real bank customers.

Analysis reveals five types of expected benefits and two types of costs. Four clusters were formed out of these seven expected benefits/costs. These clusters are also different on demographic, behavioral and psychographic variables and present clear and consistent relational profiles.

Scales developed from the focus groups need further validation. Also, findings should be considered as sector and context specific. This work brings additional insight into the nature of expected relational benefits and costs, supports their usefulness for customer segmentation and offers opportunities for studying relational benefits and costs in an integrated way.

Findings provide managers with a better understanding of what customers value in the relationship with their bank and what keeps customers back from having a “close” relationship. Also, relational benefits/costs segmentation is suggested as a powerful tool for targeting and positioning.

The study identifies new types of relational benefits and costs. It is the first time expected relational benefits and costs are studied together and confirmed as meaningful segmentation variables.

Trust has proven to be a key variable in understanding and predicting consumer behavior in the self‐service technology and e‐commerce contexts. However, it has never been examined as a segmentation variable. This study seeks to investigate the possibility of using trust in two self‐service bank channels: internet, and phone banking, to segment potential users of these channels.

Using data from a survey of 762 real bank customers discriminant analysis is used to test variables differentiating two groups of customers having, respectively, “high” and “low” trust in internet and phone banking.

Results show that the groups of “high” and “low” channel‐trustors are different in a number of attitudinal, behavioral and psychographic criteria. In addition, the two groups react differently in terms of intention to use internet, and phone banking.

This work contributes to existing literature on trust by opening an additional use of and a new research perspective on trust. Its findings are limited to the sector, technology and cultural context of the study.

In this paper several suggestions for bank managers to better target the adopters of self‐service technology‐based channels are discussed.

This is the first attempt to examine trust as a segmentation variable and to bring evidence for its relevance for marketing decisions.