CCSC Seminar with Prof Dr Christian Brock (Rostock University)

Mind the Gap: Understanding and Overcoming the Sustainability Intention-Behavior Discrepancy

Abstract

Nowadays, customers demonstrate a growing environmental awareness, ecological convictions, and an increasing desire for sustainability. It is therefore not surprising that the demand for ethically and ecologically sustainable products as well as sustainable services has significantly increased in recent years. However, many customers do not translate their positive accordingly into corresponding behaviors. This gap between intention and actual behavior is referred to as the Intention-Behavior Gap (IBG). Numerous research studies have already been devoted to this "gap" in consumer behavior research. These studies predominantly focus on the traditional product sector, with only a few addressing this issue in the service sector. Particularly in the service sector and its associated characteristics, the gap is likely to be significantly larger. Against this background, the overarching goal of my presentation is to shed light on the IBG in the services context of services by identifying and addressing specific (consumption) barriers.

About Prof Dr Christian Brock

Professor Dr. Christian Brock holds the Chair of Business Administration and Marketing at the University of Rostock. After completing his apprenticeship as an industrial clerk and working in the sales department at 3M-Loewe GmbH, Christian Brock studied business administration at the University of Münster. In 2009, he earned his doctorate at the Chair of Distribution & Retailing (Marketing Centrum Münster) on the topic of customer satisfaction and complaint management. After a short post-doc phase at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Christian Brock was appointed to the Assistant/Associate Professorship for Service Marketing and E-Commerce, endowed by the Otto Group, at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen in 2010.

His research focuses on retail and service marketing, multichannel management, and complaint management. His work has been published in journals such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Service Research, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Psychology & Marketing, among others

Christian Brock's research has been recognized with Best Paper Awards at internationally renowned conferences; his dissertation received the Highly Commended Award from the Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Competition in 2009. In 2020, the third edition of the textbook Retail Marketing, co-authored by him, was published by Springer.