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People living on poverty-level incomes in developing nations face unique health challenges as compared to those in developed nations. New insights emerge from a bottom of the pyramid context (India) where culture-based health notions, preventive orientation and health resources differ from developed western health orientations and resources. The purpose of this paper is to explore how structural and cognitive social capital indirectly influence preventive health behavior (PHB) through perceived health value.

The participants for this study include rural people from Tamil Nadu, a state of India who are classified as those living below poverty level based on a per capita/per day consumption expenditure of Rupees 22.50 (an equivalent of US$0.40 a per capita/per day) (Planning Commission, Government of India, 2012). The study included a total number of 635 participants (312 males and 323 females). Relatively a high response rate (79 percent) was achieved through personal contacts and telephone solicitation, cash incentive and multiple follow-ups. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing structural and cognitive social capital, preventative health behavior, perceived health value, and health locus of control (HLC).

The results show that perceived health value mediates the relationship between cognitive social capital and PHB. Specifically, cognitive social capital influences BoP people’s assessment of benefits of engaging in PHB, that, in turn, influences PHB. In addition, the findings showed that HLC moderates the effect of social capital on PHB. Social capital positively related to enhanced PHB only among those who believe that health outcomes are controllable.

The authors findings indicate that cognitive social capital has enormous potential in promoting health intervention and the health of poor communities, a sentiment shared by prior researchers (Glenane-Antoniadis et al., 2003; Fisher et al., 2004; Martin et al., 2004; Weitzman and Kawachi, 2000). Overall, from a theoretical, empirical and methodological perspective, the current study offers a unique contribution to the social capital and PHB literature. First, drawing from the HBM and HLC, the findings provide a more nuanced explanation of how distinct aspects of social capital predict PHB. Specifically, the relationship between social capital and PHB is qualified by the extent one perceives personal control over her health. In addition, the cognitive component of social capital influences PHB through perceptions of health value.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the indirect effects of nutritional knowledge and attitude toward food label use on food label use through self-efficacy and trust, as well as whether gender moderates this relationship.

A sample of Indian adults with multiple chronic conditions was surveyed about their nutritional knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy and use of food labels. Hypotheses were tested using Hayes’s (2013) PROCESS macro for SPSS.

The results show that nutritional knowledge and attitude toward food label use positively predict food label use through self-efficacy and trust. However, these mediation effects are moderated by gender such that the indirect relationship is stronger among men than women.

Food marketers and government agencies engaged in nutrition education campaigns should aim to increase patients’ confidence in comprehending food label information.

Since food labels can be a valuable tool to help patients with chronic diseases to make informed decisions about their diet and lifestyle, regulators may consider mandating nutritional labels on foods to help them improve their food or dietary choices.

This study uniquely applies Fisher and Fisher’s (1992) information–motivation–behavioral skills model as a theoretical framework to examine the influence of nutrition knowledge and attitude toward food label use on food label usage of Indian patients with multiple chronic diseases.

This paper aims to examine the effect of customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction while using a service on the willingness of consumers to engage in altruistic customer participation (CP) or co-production efforts aimed at helping other customers. It further examines the role of consumer skepticism toward the service category in moderating the effects of C2C interaction on altruistic CP and customer satisfaction.

A survey methodology was used to collect data from 374 consumers of health-care services in India. The data collection involved interviews of patients visiting diabetes clinics and focused primarily on the interaction between customers and their willingness to participate in educating members of the community on diabetic self-care.

The analysis shows that C2C interaction positively affects customer satisfaction and willingness to engage in altruistic CP. Consumer category skepticism does not moderate the effect of C2C interaction on customer willingness to engage in altruistic CP. However, category skepticism does have the moderating effect of significantly reducing the positive effect of C2C interaction on customer satisfaction.

Data for this study were collected via interviews of consumers in India. Each consumer was interviewed by a trained interviewer. Although the authors do not detect any systematic influence in the results, the possibility of bias is acknowledged. Regarding the research implications, the finding that category skepticism does not moderate the effect of C2C interaction on willingness to engage in altruistic CP suggest that ultimately consumers may have stronger commitment and loyalty to themselves and that their relationships with the firm’s might be peripheral.

The study finds that consumer skepticism toward a service category can have adverse effects for service co-creation. The authors advise managers in troubled industries not to focus exclusively on improving brand differentiation but to also consider working with major industry players and regulators to address the deepest fears of consumers.

The findings have implications for the service dominant logic of marketing in that it suggests that category skepticism is disruptive to the value integration process on which service co-creation relies for value creation. This has strong implications for how managers should structure their interaction processes with customers and for future research that seeks to them prove customer productivity.

Previous studies that examined the role of empathy and nonverbal immediacy on business-to-business (B2B) salesperson performance is limited in scope and yielded inconclusive evidence. Grounded in Plank and Greene’s (1996) framework of salesperson effectiveness, this paper aims to empirically investigate the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior through which empathy and nonverbal immediacy influence sales force performance and the form of empathy (cognitive or affective) that has the most beneficial role in improving relationship (versus outcome) salesperson performance.

Using cross-sectional data that were collected from 422 pharmaceutical sales representatives, this study used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships.

Adaptive selling behavior mediates the effect of perspective taking empathy and empathic concern on relationship performance. However, the impact of empathy on outcome performance is not significant through adaptive selling behavior, but perspective taking empathy has a direct influence on outcome performance. Contrary to expectations, nonverbal immediacy is not mediated by adaptive selling behavior but has a direct and positive impact on relationship performance.

The results of this study have several implications for recruitment, training and assessment of salespeople in a B2B context. Based on the empirical evidence, it is highlighted that firms may use different forms of empathy and nonverbal cues to promote adaptive selling behavior that impact sales force performance (i.e. outcome or relationship).

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which simultaneously examines the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior in the relationship between three antecedent variables that relate to sales force empathy and nonverbal communication (i.e. perspective taking empathy, empathic concern and nonverbal immediacy) and two aspects of B2B sales performance (relationship and outcome).

The purpose of this paper is to investigate both long-run and short-run dynamics among the software and services export, investment in information technology (IT) and GDP in India and to investigate the direction of the relationship among the given three macro-economic variables.

The time series data have been taken to investigate the long-run relationship exists among the variables. Annual data were collected from the NASSCOM Annual Reports, Planning Commission of India and Reserve Bank of India during the period 1980–2016. Cointegration and vector error correction model have been used for analyzing the causal relationship among investment in IT, software exports and GDP in India.

Cointegration results confirm that software and services export, investment in IT and GDP are cointegrated, implying that there exists the long-run equilibrium relationship among the given three macro-economic variables. Similarly, vector error correction mechanism Granger causality results hold that there is uni-directional long-run causality running from software and services export and investment in IT to GDP, implying that software and services export is an important determinant of economic growth in India.

The limitations of the paper are generalization of the results and proxy variable for IT investments.

The paper has implications for the expansion of market concentration, diversification of software and service exports, and investments in R&D for increasing competitiveness of the industry in the global market.

This paper focuses on originality in the analysis of the relationship among the given variables software exports, investment in the IT sector and GDP in India. All the work has been done in original by the authors and the work used have been acknowledged properly.

The aims of this paper are twofold. First, the trends and patterns in key variables of performance of sample software companies during the study period are overviewed. Second, the determinants of information technology (IT) export across the sample companies during the period of economic slowdown have been analyzed.

Secondary data have been used in the study. Regression analysis is concerned with the study of the dependence of one variable, the dependent variable, on one or more other variables, the explanatory variables, with a view to estimating and/or predicting the mean or average value of the former in terms of the known or fixed values of the latter. The data collected through survey were scrutinized, and statistical software were used for analysis. The variables documented in the study include the exports, capacity utilization, profits, exchange rate and dummy for recession, dummy for countries of export.

The Indian IT sector was set for smaller growth due to global economic slowdown. Large IT service players were able to some extent cope with tighter client spends, but it was smaller IT companies which were facing the severe heat. Production of sample companies decreased at an average of 34 per cent in 2008. The profits of the sample companies have decreased by 34.34 and 78.67 per cent, respectively, during 2008. In case of determinants of software exports, it is observed that capacity utilization is positively related to exports. The estimated mean of exports increases by about 1.370.

This paper focuses on originality in the sphere of scientific work. Secondary data have been used in the study. The data were collected from the Annual Reports of four randomly selected software companies. Both face-to-face interview and on-line survey based on a structured questionnaire to the sample companies were used to collect the data. All the work has been done in original by the authors and the work used has been acknowledged properly.

This chapter has three central goals: First, it aims to introduce the concept of consumers’ online brand endorsements, which we define as consumers’ intentional, public, and positive online affiliations with brands (e.g., liking a brand page on Facebook). Second, it provides an overview of the drivers and consequences of this phenomenon. Third, it answers the question whether and when the broadly adopted marketing strategy of consumers’ online brand endorsements is feasible.

To accomplish these goals, we conducted a general review of the literature.

We identified three different drivers of consumers’ online brand endorsements: Identity-related drivers, brand-related drivers, and community-related drivers. Based on the literature we suggest that from the perspective of the endorsing consumer, online brand endorsements have the potential to be a two-sided sword.

The greater potential of this marketing technique appears to rely on the fact that consumers’ online brand endorsements are broadcasted to a gigantic network of other consumers and their potential to be contagious.

Consumers’ online brand endorsements are a new phenomenon and therefore quite understudied. Still, many brands have social media marketing strategies that aim to acquire huge amounts of endorsements by their consumers. This chapter contributes to our knowledge about the underlying mechanisms of consumers’ online brand endorsements. Moreover, it shows how and when consumers’ online brand endorsements can be a feasible marketing strategy.

The general orientation of services marketing literature with regard to consumer or buyer behavior has been with “at‐need” purchases, those purchases made only when current consumption needs are felt. This standard approach has overlooked purchase behavior that has a time lag to consumption. “Pre‐need” services are purchased in anticipation of their future use. The characteristics of “pre‐need” services are identified and a model or framework is developed for integrating the pre‐need dimension with the marketing mix variables. The model leads to important managerial and research implications in the pre‐need marketing of services.

Marketing literature on consumer behavior has been generally oriented toward the “at‐need” purchase, goods that are purchased only when current consumption needs are felt. Marketing management strategies have been proposed under the assumption that buying occurs shortly before actual consumption. Behavior patterns that did not fit this mold were either ignored or given the label of unsought goods. This standard approach has overlooked purchase behavior that has a time Jag to consumption. “Pre‐need” goods are purchased in anticipation of their future use. This article identifies the characteristics of “pre‐need” goods and services and elaborates on them through case examples. Finally, a case is advanced for the important managerial and research implications of including the “pre‐need” dimension in consumer behavior analysis.

Focuses on the inverse problems arising from the simulation of forming processes. Considers two sets of problems: parameter identification and shape optimization. Both are solved using an optimization method for the minimization of a suitable objective function. The convergence and convergence rate of the method depend on the accuracy of the derivatives of this function. The sensitivity analysis is based on a discrete approach, e.g. the differentiation of the discrete problem equations. Describes the method for non‐linear, non‐steady‐state‐forming problems involving contact evolution. First, it is applied to the parameter identification and to the torsion test. It shows good convergence properties and proves to be very efficient for the identification of the material behaviour. Then, it is applied to the tool shape optimization in forging for a two‐step process. A few iterations of the inverse method make it possible to suggest a suitable shape for the preforming tools.