Climate protection as an opportunity for banks to increase earnings and consumer trust

Banks are currently facing numerous challenges. In addition to the ongoing cheap money policy of the European Central Bank, a regulated market environment and a rapidly progressive digitization, financial institutions are increasingly confronted with topics such as sustainability and climate protection. From the latter derive not only risks but also chances for banks. Sustainability risks can impact different risk categories such as market risks, credit risks, operational risks, and liquidity risks. Moreover, reputational risks can occur in this context. This is especially important as bank customers constantly develop a greater awareness of ecological issues, and thus, develop increasing expectations on how companies – like banks – deal with issues like climate protection and sustainability. For this reason, we will start with a theoretical explanation of the key words and then present the results of our customer survey to highlight the current expectations of bank customers in the context of climate protection. Based on this, we formulate recommendations for banks on how to generate a competitive advantage by engaging in climate protection and by taking sustainable actions.

Community Pharmacist-Administered COVID-19 Vaccinations: A Pilot Customer Survey on Satisfaction and Motivation to Get Vaccinated

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Swiss health authorities approved and ordered two mRNA vaccines in 2021. The canton of Zurich was the second in Switzerland to allow community pharmacists to administer the COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Moderna to the adult population. We aimed to pilot a customer satisfaction questionnaire regarding COVID-19 vaccinations in Zurich pharmacies. Questions focused on satisfaction with different aspects of the service, motivation for getting the vaccination, and reasons for being vaccinated in a pharmacy. Zurich pharmacies administered 68,169 COVID-19 doses until June 2021, and 421 questionnaires were filled. Respondents’ mean age was 43.5 (±13.2) years, with 42.3% reporting being women and 46.1% being men. Of the 372 complete questionnaires, 98.7% of the respondents would have recommended the service to others. High levels of satisfaction were reported concerning pre-vaccination discussion (98.9%), pharmacies’ information level on COVID-19 vaccines (98.9%), general comfort with receiving the vaccination in a pharmacy (99.5%), injection technique (99.2%), and premises used (98.1%). Most respondents (57.3%) would have had the option of another vaccination provider, but the pharmacies were chosen for their opening hours, ease of access, and perceived trust. The availability of pharmacist-administered services may be an important contributor to a successful vaccination programme in Switzerland.

Motives of Customer Loyalty in Supermarket Patronage in Sri Lanka

The supermarket concept has led to a renewed interest among shoppers in the contemporary retailing context. The study was conducted to understand the nature of supermarket patronage in the Sri Lankan context and evaluate the motives behind the choice of supermarket patronage and how those motives impact on customer loyalty. The study is quantitative in nature and the conclusive research design was adopted. Customer survey was conducted to collect data from customers who reside in two major provinces of Western and Southern in Sri Lanka. Data were collected in two stages from two different samples to identify the motives of supermarket patronage and validate the results. The descriptive results provide valuable insight towards the different preferences of male versus female shoppers in supermarket patronage. An exploratory factor analysis was employed for the purpose of identifying key motives of supermarket patronage by shoppers. The results produced three major dimensions which were labelled as ‘product motive’, ‘services motive’ and ‘atmospheric motive’. The structural equation modeling technique was employed to test the impact of motives on customer loyalty. The results are decisive which indicate that all three motives have significant impact on loyalty where the atmospheric motive has the highest impact on loyalty compared to product and services motives. Key words Customer Loyalty, Shopping Motives, Supermarket Patronage Cite this paper: A.C. Karunaratna, (2021). Motives of Customer Loyalty in Supermarket Patronage in Sri Lanka, Vidyodaya Journal of Management, 7(1), 133-162.

Does the “Like” Habit of Social Networking Services Lower the Psychological Barriers to Recommendation Intention in Surveys?

Background: Companies often measure their customers’ recommendation intention using the loyalty index based on the idea that a customer who has high loyalty and is committed to a brand has the confidence to recommend it to others. The psychological barrier is higher for recommendation intention, which may influence the behavior of others than for satisfaction on an individual level. However, the action of recommending has become commonplace due to the spread of social networking services (SNS). Pushing the “like” button for posts by family, friends, and co-workers has become an ingrained practice for consumers. Therefore, it is thought that “like” habits in SNS may lower the psychological barriers to the recommendation. Objectives: In this study, it was hypothesized that the more people habitually like posts on SNS, the higher the score for their recommendation intention in a customer survey. Methods/Approach: Propensity score matching was used to investigate a causal effect between the likes and the recommendation intention in a customer survey. Results: Based on the results of an online survey of chocolate brands in Japan, the causal effect was verified by propensity score matching. Conclusions: The results suggest that not only in companies but also in academic research, a valid concern is that the causal effect cannot be accurately evaluated unless a survey design is performed in consideration of the effects.

Effect of Water pH on Domestic Machine Washing Performance of Delicate Textiles

In order to investigate the effect of washing water pH on textile damage for delicate garments, the study was conducted such that a customer survey was first applied to randomly selected users to analyze domestic washing machine using habits of Turkish consumers. Based on the findings of the survey, the experimental study was designed in two successive phases to investigate the dimensional and mechanical behavior of certain types of delicate textiles against varying washing conditions by taking in particular, water properties, namely pH, hardness, and temperature into account, and accordingly to determine the optimized washing conditions for such textiles. Firstly, tergotometer was employed as a washing machine simulator. Within the light of the results obtained, the experimental work of the second phase of the study was conducted, which involved a domestic washing machine as a real-life scenario. All of the results, including the correlation between the data sets obtained from the tergotometer and domestic washing machine trials, were statistically analyzed using Minitab 17. The study produced some important findings regarding the effect of washing water pH on delicate textiles, in addition to an algorithm for improving the present washing program, minimizing textile damage for mainly wool and silk garments.

Telemedical Second Opinions in Germany – a Customer Survey of an Online Portal

BackgroundSecond medical opinions (SOs) can strengthen patients’ certainty in decision-making. Since 2019, statutory health insured German residents have the right to obtain an SO for selected indications according to the SO Directive. Additionally, several health insurers offer SO programs often in cooperation with telemedical SO providers. Telemedical SO programs are mostly based on documents only. Our aim was to analyze the characteristics of people who obtained telemedical SOs, their experiences made during the SO process, and their assessment of SOs in general and of the different routes of SO delivery (personally/by phone/documents only).MethodsGerman residents who obtained an SO via an online portal between January 2016 and February 2019 (n=1247) were contacted by post between August and November 2019 up to three times. The results were analyzed descriptively.ResultsThe 368 participants (response rate 30%) were 54% male, 95% statutory health insured and 61 years old (median; interquartile range 51-72). Most participants reported having an orthopedic condition (87%) or had been recommended surgery (78%). The most common reason for seeking an SO in general was the need for more information on further treatment recommendations (64%). A telemedical SO was mainly chosen because it was offered by the health insurer (82%). Disagreements between first opinions and SOs occurred in 55% of the participants. Approximately 60% of the participants with disagreements followed the treatment recommendation of the SO. For 67% of the participants, the SO (rather) enhanced the certainty in decision-making. Approximately 75% were (rather) satisfied with obtaining the SO via the online portal, and 95% would seek another SO (irrespective of the online portal). The most preferred route of SO delivery was a personally delivered SO, which 80% would (rather) consider, followed by 70% (rather) considering SOs based on documents only and 48% (rather) considering SOs by phone.ConclusionSOs were generally appreciated. Although our results show that SOs (based on documents only) support patients and that patient satisfaction was high, personally delivered SOs were still preferred. Future research on the use of SOs based on documents only (in which patient population and in what situations) is needed.

Reducing plastic packaging at the Prince George Farmers' Market

Plastic pollution, a global problem, contributes to detrimental impacts on the environment. To mitigate plastic pollution locally,farmers’ market scan play a role in reducing plastic consumption. Many studies have suggested that customers and vendors are aware of environmental problems. Yet vendor environmental awareness does not always result in appropriate actions, as many vendors still rely on plastic packaging. To investigate the reasons for such reliance, I conducted vendor interviews and a customer survey at the Prince George (B.C.) Farmers’ Market. The results show that the barriers to reducing plastic include packaging availability, characteristics, functions, and price. Based on interview results, I developed a manual to support vendors interested in reducing plastic packaging at their stalls. I also offer recommendations as to how policy makers can motivate vendors and customers to reduce plastic consumption, such as offering customers reusable bags and organizing plastic-free events.