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The retail sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. Increase in per capita income, growing urbanization, and economic reforms are some key factors that have propelled its growth. The growing Indian market has attracted many foreign retailers and Indian corporates to invest in this sector. However, this is one of the few sectors in which there is a restriction on foreign direct investment. The sector is politically sensitive, and the Indian government is trying to formulate an appropriate policy regime.

In this context, based on a primary survey, this chapter tries to analyze what should be the right policy regime that will help to sustain the growth of retail in India. The chapter shows that due to the quasi-federal nature of governance, the retail sector is regulated by a large number of ministries/departments at the centre state and local level, which leads to multiple regulations and the requirement of multiple clearances. The laws relating to this sector are outdated and their definitions and enforcement varies across different states of India. Lack of supporting infrastructure, high real estate costs and low purchasing power of consumers are some other barriers. To sustain the growth of this sector, there is an urgent need for regulatory, fiscal, and other reforms. Precisely, the clearances process needs to be streamlined and outdated regulations should be amended. To encourage investment in the supply chain and inflow of technical know-how and skills the government should allow FDI in multibrand retail. However, since retail is a sensitive sector, India cannot take an international commitment on liberalization of retail before streamlining the domestic policy regime.

The purpose of this paper is to assess Indian consumers' brand consciousness by examining their brand knowledge, purchase behaviour and perceptions of foreign brands. It provides key inputs for global retailers to harness the potential in growing consumerism in India.

A survey of 300 Indian consumers was conducted and the data were analysed using descriptive and simple regression techniques.

The study found that brand purchase in India varies across product categories. At present, consumer knowledge and use of foreign brands is low, and Indian consumers are price‐sensitive. Indian consumers are experimenting with brands and would like more foreign brands to enter the Indian market.

Due to the small sample size, advanced econometrics techniques could not be used to analyse the dataset.

The paper is the first to assess the impact of retail liberalisation on Indian consumers' shopping behaviour, particularly their brand consciousness.

The aim of this study is to provide a review of the research studies that took place in the previous years regarding Mangiferin and its potential use in the treatment of various disorders such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and human immunodeficiency virus.

Mangiferin can be easily extracted from the plant at a very low cost to treat some common as well as deadly diseases, which will be a miracle in herbal treatment. In support of this, the recent related articles were considered to understand the bioactive compound “Mangiferin” to treat lifestyle diseases. Various review articles and research papers were collected from international and national journals, and internet sources were also being used to compile the current manuscript.

Mangiferin has been shown to have the potential to mitigate many life style diseases such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, fatty liver, atherosclerosis, dyslipidemia and diabetes-related end-organ complications such as retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy.

In this comprehensive review, this study evaluates Mangiferin and its lifestyle disease-modifying properties for nutraceuticals purposes.

This paper aims to examine the relationships among two distinct yet interconnected forms of value orientations, namely, terminal and instrumental values, brand consciousness and behavioral intentions. This study validated the conceptual model for branded fashion apparel consumption in an emerging market, e.g. India.

The research design followed a two-step approach to test the measurement and structural models for partial least squares structural equation modeling with SmartPLS (v.3.0) as recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988).

The results illustrated that both the instrumental and terminal values influence brand consciousness and, consequently, brand consciousness had an impact on behavioral intentions for fashion apparel consumption. Instrumental values had a greater influence on brand consciousness and behavioral intentions than terminal values. Brand consciousness mediated the relationship between instrumental/terminal values and behavioral intentions.

This study defined two value orientations (i.e. instrumental versus terminal) using cross-sectional data from an emerging market. Future studies may examine the research findings’ generalizability using diverse data sets (longitudinal and cross-sectional) and evaluate the value orientation and customers’ favorable behavioral intentions for luxury fashion consumption.

This study provides insights into luxury marketers and practitioners to understand the contribution of instrumental and terminal values on brand consciousness and behavioral intentions for luxury fashion apparel. The findings would assist in developing marketing strategies for an emerging market, i.e. India.

With the rapid proliferation of materialism, the Indian market has witnessed the dawn of a new era of luxury fashion acceptance. The research offers evidence that in emerging markets such as India, consumers exhibit value orientation toward luxury brands while holding a sense of fashion involvement in their consumption behavior.

This study is a pioneering attempt to understand the relationships between the value orientation, namely, instrumental and terminal values and their underlying influence on brand consciousness and behavioral intentions toward fashion apparel. Rokeach’s (1973) two-dimensional value dichotomy was adapted to understand luxury apparel consumption in an emerging market context, specifically India.

The study examined the role of collective self-esteem (CSE), online communities, green attitudes and the influence of celebrities on green clothing involvement and consequently its impact on green clothing purchase behavior of Indian consumers.

A mix of convenience and random sampling was used for data collection via an online survey. The sample (n = 403) comprised consumers having awareness about green clothing. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for analysis.

Online communities, green attitudes and influence of celebrities predicted green clothing involvement and in turn their purchase behavior. CSE had no impact on consumers' green clothing involvement.

The findings can help green apparel manufacturers and designers to use celebrities and online communities to educate and promote the benefits of green clothing. Social media can be employed to share experiences and engage consumers about green clothing.

Since online networking sites are gaining predominance in influencing behavior, the study extends the earlier research on social influence by examining its role along with celebrities and CSE on green apparel involvement and purchase. The study combines celebrities, online communities and collective identity influences (offline and online) in predicting green clothing purchase in India.

Increased competition among different retail formats has led mall managers to focus on mall promotional activities to attract shoppers to malls. The purpose of this paper is to understand Indian mall retailers views on mall events and its role in improving traffic, sales and mall image.

The current study used a qualitative to decipher mall retailers’ views regarding mall events. In total, 36 in-depth interviews of mall retailers across 13 metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities (Tier-I and Tier-II) were conducted to develop a comprehensive understanding of mall events organized by Indian mall managers.

The findings revealed that mall events were categorized under six different types: product launch events, events organized to promote the social cause, commemorate festivals, celebrity nights, events organized by retailers in malls and theme events. There were differences in the nature of events used by malls in bigger and smaller cities across India. The nature of mall events varied according to regional, cultural and lifestyle factors across the country.

Mall managers can use the insights from the study on mall events for segmenting and targeting strategies. The different types of mall events can be used for improving footfall, sales and mall image. The study findings employ a grounded theory approach to understand mall retailers’ views on mall events. Future research can be directed toward understanding mall managers’ and consumers’ opinions about the relevance of mall events in improving footfall and profitability of malls.

Extant research has looked at mall events, their role and efficacy in a consolidated manner. The current study attempts to segregate the events organized by mall management into distinct categories and provide linkages of these categories concerning mall image and traffic.

India has taken a successful step towards meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by providing access to basic amenities such as safe drinking water, waste management, drainage systems and bio-compost pits in households. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that significantly impact access to such basic amenities in villages in two states in the hilly regions of India.

Village-level secondary data collected from the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) website has been analyzed using multiple linear regression and non-parametric statistical tests. Socio-economic and demographic variables are the independent factors in regression whereas availability of basic amenities is the dependent variable.

Findings reveal that in Himachal Pradesh, gender ratio, annual income per family, percentage of BPL households, percentage of pucca houses, and percentage of village population above graduation, significantly impact access to piped water in village households. Also, literacy rate and percentage of population with education above graduation significantly impact availability of compost pits. Further, in Uttarakhand, percentage of pucca houses influences access to waste collection system and availability of compost pits. Availability of drainage systems is influenced by literacy rate. A comparison between the two hilly states reveals that Himachal Pradesh is better off in terms of ease of access to drinking water whereas Uttarakhand is ahead in terms of other amenities.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other studies have used socio-economic and demographic variables to study access to basic amenities in villages in hilly states in India.

The study aims to explore the relationship between the dimensions of green intellectual capital (GIC) and employee green behavior (EGB).

A survey has been conducted among a random representative population of employees working for the energy-sector organizations in India to collect data for this study. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for GIC supports the inclusion of the new dimension in its construct. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) validates the measurement model. Hypothesized relationships have been examined by applying structural equation modeling using partial least squares method.

Results corroborate that all the four dimensions of GIC have varying degrees of significant positive impact on EGB. The study contributes to the existing literature by extending the understanding of the concept of GIC and its connection with EGB using natural-resource based theory and social cognitive theory (SCT).

The study has empirically examined the relationship between GIC and EGB in the context of a developing country like India. Moreover, unlike the existing literature that have classified GIC into green human capital (GHC), green structural capital (GSC) and green relational capital (GRC), the study identifies green spiritual capital (GSpC) as another important dimension of GIC which is an intangible asset and highly relevant in influencing altruistic activities like green behavior. The study presents significant implications for managers and policy-makers for ensuring EGB by investing in GIC resources.