price sensitivity of consumers is enforced by price focused marketing techniques. Sustainable marketers consequently may use producer instruments such as saving calculators (e.g. energy saving potential of Electrolux lights), life cycle cost information sheets or labeling instruments to emphasize the advantages of lower use costs when compared to conventional products. Case study A good example for better understanding the concept of Customer Costs in Sustainability Marketing is the introduction of the product “Marathon” by Royal Philips Electronics. In 1980, Philips Lighting paved the way for a more energy efficient and environmental friendly technology in the lighting sector by inventing the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). Although the newly introduced light bulb had a longer lifetime, was more energy efficient and reduced the heat emissions to a minimum, it was not welcome in the market. Due to its higher acquisition price, inconvenient shape and dissatisfying functionality, the penetration rate of CFL bulbs into the lighting market stayed low (<0,1 CFL/American household) until the mid-90s. Not even the introduction of the award winning “Earth Light” changed the consumer attitude towards the environmentally friendly CFL bulb. A market survey exposed the major problems: very high acquisition price (10,80 € in comparison to 0,55 € for incandescent light bulbs) and confusion among the customers about the functionality and lifetime expectancy of CFL bulbs. Following these problems, in 2000 Philips introduced a new brand of long-lasting and energy efficient products, called “Marathon” which promised up to 25% of energy saving during its whole lifetime (5-7 yrs). The “Marathon” series provided a range of long-lasting and energy-efficient light bulbs, all labeled by the Energy Star and suitable for many locations and different demands of the customer. Philips therefore was able to shift the focus from the higher acquisition costs to the lower total costs during the entire lifetime of a CFL bulb. For sustainability marketers it is a crucial success factor to create awareness among the customers about the total costs of products. The nature of price system One of the most challenging tasks of sustainability marketers is to create awareness among the customers about the total costs of the product. Another challenging task is the problem of social and environmental costs, which are not included in the actual price. These external costs can consist in exploitation of natural resources, bad working conditions in factories, underpayment of workers, destruction of the ecosystem, high carbon dioxide emissions