Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of consumers drawn from eight countries, this study identifies and compares bases for international market segmentation. The antecedent roles of EID, COS, and the four demographics variables on the behaviors associated with nine product categories are examined.

Findings – The findings imply that consumers are complementing an identity rooted in their traditional culture with one that is globally-oriented. The roles played by demographic and psychographic variables varied considerably, not only across product categories, but moreover, across country samples.

Research limitations/implications – The study focuses more on consumer goods and less on intangible services. The sample and sampling approach place some limits on generalizability.

Practical implications – The results provide insights for international managers into when (i.e. product categories) and where (i.e. locations) marketing strategies could be standardized across national frontiers, and when and where these strategies should be customized or “glocalized.”

Originality/value – The paper makes a significant contribution to the international market segmentation literature, demonstrating the variable impact of demographics and identity across consumer behaviors. The findings bolster the notion that many cultures have the innate facility to glocalize, that is, to absorb foreign or global ideas with the best practices and bond these with native customs. The results further imply that globalization takes on many forms throughout the world.

Design/methodology/approach – The context was the airline industry and the subject pool consisted of experienced consumers. A survey was employed to measure individualism/collectivism, various internal/external information sources, and the functional and technical dimensions of “should” and “will” service expectations. Hypothesized relationships were tested using a structural equations modeling approach.

Findings – Both individualists and collectivists relied more on external information sources in formulating their service expectations, gave variable weight to the functional and technical components, and used more realistic “will” expectations to judge service offerings. Internal (external) information sources were relatively more important in forming expectations for collectivists (individualists) than for individualists (collectivists), and “will” (“should”) expectations were more diagnostic for collectivists (individualists) than for individualists (collectivists).

Research limitations/implications – Generalizability of the findings is limited due to the specific industry under study (airlines), the sample (two geographically-proximate sub-cultures), and the scope of the cultural variables considered (individualism/collectivism).

Practical implications – Whether managers should leverage the functional and/or technical components of services depends in part on the cultural orientation of their customers. Managers should also recognize that customers’ usage of various information sources in forming service expectations is also, in part, culturally determined.

Originality/value – In this era of globalization, researchers and managers alike need to consider the subtle influences of culture on marketing theories and the formulation of service expectations respectively.

Design/methodology/approach – The context related to various personal and household behaviors vis-à-vis the environment, and the subject pool consisted of a diverse group of urban consumers. A survey was employed to measure various attitudinal and personality variables corresponding to internal/external locus of control, as well as a battery of pro-environmental behaviors. The research propositions were tested using a structural equation modeling approach.

Findings – We found four distinct dimensions of ELOC, two of which relate to an external LOC (“biospheric-altruism” and “corporate skepticism”) and the other two relate to an internal LOC (“economic motivation” and “individual recycling efforts”). We then linked these four dimensions to a variety of pro-environmental behaviors. Highly variable patterns were obtained, with different dimensions assuming a greater or lesser impact, or no role at all, depending on the specific behavior under analysis.

Research limitations/implications – Generalizability of the findings is limited due to the sample (urban consumers from one major city), and the method employed (validity of self-report measures and the non-experimental nature of the field study).

Practical implications – Our findings highlight the importance of considering the specificity of pro-environmental behaviors, when assessing the antecedent roles of pro-environmental attitudes/dispositions, which are in-and-of-themselves, complex and multidimensional.

Originality/value – In this era of environmental degradation, researchers, managers, and public policy makers alike need to consider that pro-environmental attitudes are composed of multiple dispositional facets, and that the role of these facets is highly context-specific.