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This study aims to investigate the consumer behavior toward telemedicine services in India during the COVID-19 pandemic onset. With lockdown restrictions and safety concerns in visiting brick-and-mortar clinics or hospitals during the pandemic, Telemedicine had emerged as a potent alternative for seeking redressal to health issues. Based on theory and focus interviews with the telemedicine users, the researchers proposed a model to understand the intent and actual usage of telemedicine in India.

The cross-sectional study undertaken used a questionnaire designed on a seven-point Likert scale and administered to respondents with the objective of identifying the determinants of intent and actual usage of telemedicine services. Simple random sampling was used to collect primary data. The data was cleaned and finally a sample of 405 responses complete in all respects was considered for analysis. The questionnaire comprised of 34 items and following the recommendation of Hair et al. (2016), which says the minimum sample size in structural equation modeling should be ten times the number of indicator variables, a sample size of 405 was deemed adequate.

The research paper finds that performance expectancy, attitude, credibility and self-efficacy positively impact the intention of consumers to use telemedicine services. As the effort expectancy or risk perception toward telemedicine increases the intent and actual usage of telemedicine decreases. The intention to use telemedicine emerged as a strong predictor of the actual usage of telemedicine. Intent to use telemedicine was explained 81.4% by its predictors of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, attitude, risk, credibility and self-efficacy, and actual usage was explained 79.9% by its predictors. This study also reports that telemedicine was found to be popular among chronic as well as episodic patients though the preference was skewed in favor of the episodic patients. One of the advantages of telemedicine is its availability round the clock, and the study found that 8 a. m. to 12 noon time slot as the most preferred slot for seeking telemedicine services.

Chang (2004) opined that telemedicine can fulfill the needs of all stakeholders: citizens, health-care consumers, medical doctors and health-care professionals, policymakers, and so on. Considering the promise telemedicine holds, this realm must be studied and leveraged to the full potential. The study found that patients were using telemedicine even for their day-to-day aliments. This indicates a growing popularity of telemedicine and as such an opportunity for telemedicine companies to leverage it. In India, pharmaceutical companies cannot give commercial advertisements for medicines, and the same can only be sold through a registered medical practitioner’s prescription. As such there is total dependency on the medical practitioner for the sale of medicines. Telemedicine companies offer services of home delivering medicines clubbed with medical consultation thus giving them forward integration in their business models. Using telemedicine the patients had control over the timings of the services offered, and as such the waiting time to get a consultation and subsequent treatment was reduced considerably. Best medical advice from across the globe is available to the patient at less cost. Medical practitioners also stand to benefit as they can treat a variety of cases, collaborate among the medical fraternity and give consultation safely in case of fatal contagious diseases.

This study points to a definite growing popularity of telemedicine services not only in episodic patients but also chronic patients. Telemedicine with its unique advantages holds the promise to grow exponentially in the future and is a compelling health-care segment to focus on for delivering health-care solution to the geographically distant consumers.

The pandemic has brought to light the importance of quickly adopting new technologies and building resilient organisations. Also, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be addressed in large part through technological innovations. The development of smart systems which are linked with the Internet of Things (IoT) can create different opportunities to strategically face the barriers linked with the SDGs and make sure that there is an environmentally sustainable, equitable and healthy society. This study has utilised secondary and qualitative data and has adopted the interpretative and deductive approaches. It has given significance to several aspects of the SDGs and has linked them with digital technology such as accessibility to safe and clean portable water, production of sustainable food along with the generation of green energy and its utilisation. This study has evaluated the advantages of digitalisation so that it can catalyse the transition towards SDGs and improve the health of the citizens by giving digital accessibility specifically to the underserved community. The research has selected the most essential themes which are linked to the context of SDGs and has deeply evaluated a lot of information obtained from authentic secondary resources. At last, it provides a conclusion and recommendations where it has suggested several initiatives which could be made for enhancing the overall scenario and has also disguised the limitations that were identified while completing the study.

This study aims to identify the key drivers of consumer engagement in e-commerce among young consumers at bottom-of-pyramid (BoP) markets and their impact on continued usage intention.

A cross-sectional research design was used to understand low-income customers’ engagement in e-commerce, specifically online shopping. The data for this study were collected from BoP customers in the Indian market. A conceptual model was proposed, and hypotheses were developed using the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework. For analysis, structural equation modeling was performed using AMOS 20.0 software to test the structural model.

The results of the study highlight that perceived importance, technology and infrastructure and social influence are key drivers of e-commerce at BoP customers. Key drivers have shown a significant positive impact on customer engagement which leads to continue usage intention of e-commerce. Furthermore, customer engagement has shown a strong relationship with continue usage intention of e-commerce.

This study indicates that young consumers’ engagement is important for e-commerce service providers to gain a market share. BoP markets offer immense opportunities to create, develop and sustain e-commerce firms for a long time, especially in India. Managers should recognize the potential of BoP markets, which can generate a huge demand for products and services on e-commerce platforms.

This study contributes both theoretically and empirically. Theoretically, this adds to the existing knowledge of customer engagement, especially in e-commerce and BoP market segment. Empirically, it tested the conceptual research model of low-income customer engagement in the e-commerce marketplace using the S-O-R framework. The study recommended practical implications for e-retailers/e-commerce service providers engaging BoP customers in a digitally connected and intensively competitive era.