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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has given an upsurge to online retailing in Pakistan. This shift has escalated the issues about privacy concerns among consumers. Keeping in view the growing concerns, the objective of this study is to investigate customer patronage in online shopping and the role of privacy concerns in this relationship.

To generalize the relationship between antecedents and outcomes of privacy concerns, a cross-disciplinary macro model was used. Data were collected through a survey method from the consumers who used credit and debit cards during online shopping.

Results show that government regulations have a significant positive relationship with privacy concerns and customer patronage. Privacy concerns are found to have a significant negative relationship with organizational ethical care while customer patronage was found to have a significant positive relationship with organizational ethical care. Customer patronage was also found to have a significant negative relationship with privacy concerns. Privacy concerns mediated the relationship between government regulations and customer patronage, whereas privacy concerns does not mediate the relationship between organizational ethical care and customer patronage.

The research adds to the existing literature and highlights the customer behavior toward online shopping/e-commerce in developing economies. The research gives a direction to stakeholders to counter privacy concerns and ensure safer e-commerce practices.

This study aims to present a comprehensive investigation into users’ behavioural intentions to use e-pharmacies through the lens of the privacy calculus model. The present study also investigates the effects of perceived benefit, perceived privacy risk, timeliness and perceived app quality on e-pharmacy usage through the mediating role of trustworthiness.

The study used a deductive approach and collected data from 338 respondents using the purposive sampling technique. partial least squares structural equation modelling was applied to analyse the data.

The findings of the study indicate that perceived benefit, perceived privacy risk, timeliness and perceived app quality do not directly impact users’ behavioural intentions towards e-pharmacy adoption. Instead, it demonstrated that perceived benefit, perceived privacy risk, timeliness and perceived app quality influenced behavioural intention indirectly through the mediating role of trustworthiness

This study offers valuable insights to entrepreneurs, marketers and policymakers, enabling them to develop regulations, guidelines and policies that cultivate trust, safeguard privacy, ensure prompt services and create an enabling environment for the adoption of e-pharmacies. The present study also contributes to the existing literature by extending the privacy calculus model with the integration of timeliness and perceived app quality to explain users’ adoption behaviour towards e-pharmacy.

This study aims to explore the spillover effects of data breaches from a consumer perspective in the e-commerce context. Specifically, we investigate how an online retailer’s data breach affects consumers’ privacy risk perceptions of competing firms, and further how it affects shopping intention for the competitors. We also examine how the privacy risk contagion effect varies depending on the characteristics of competitors and their competitive responses.

We conducted two scenario-based experiments with surveys. To assess the spillover effects and the moderating effects, we employed an analysis of covariance. We also performed bootstrapping-based mediation analyses using the PROCESS macro.

We find evidence for the privacy risk contagion effect and demonstrate that it negatively influences consumers’ shopping intention for a competing firm. We also find that a competitor’s cybersecurity message is effective in avoiding the privacy risk contagion effect and the competitor even benefits from it.

While previous studies have examined the impacts of data breaches on customer perceptions of the breached firm, our study focuses on customer perceptions of the non-breached firms. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to provide empirical evidence for the negative spillover effects of a data breach from a consumer perspective. More importantly, this study empirically demonstrates that the non-breached competitor’s competitive response is effective in preventing unintended negative spillover in the context of the data breach.

Smartphone apps collect users' personal information, which triggers privacy concerns for app users. Consequently, app users restrict apps from accessing their personal information. This may impact the effectiveness of in-app advertising. However, research has not yet demonstrated what factors impact app users' decisions to use apps with restricted permissions. This study is aimed to bridge this gap.

Using a quantitative research method, the authors collected the data from 384 app users via a structured questionnaire. The data were analysed using AMOS and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

The findings suggest privacy concerns and risks have a significant positive effect on app usage with restricted permissions, whilst reputation, trust and perceived benefits have significant negative impact on it. Some app-related factors, such as the number of apps installed and type of apps, also impact app usage with restricted permissions.

Based on the findings, the authors provided several implications for app stores, app developers and app marketers.

This study examines the factors that influence smartphone users' decisions to use apps with restricted permission requests. By doing this, the authors' study contributes to the consumer behaviour literature in the context of smartphone app usage. Also, by explaining the underlying mechanisms through which the principles of communication privacy management theory operate in smartphone app context, the authors' research contributes to the communication privacy management theory.

This study embarks on a comprehensive investigation into the intricate relationship between consumer trust in e-commerce platforms and the adoption of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). It delves into a multifaceted analysis of how these dynamics influence the landscape of online shopping, with a specific focus on four critical dimensions: the efficiency of online purchasing processes, the fulfillment of product delivery commitments, the convenience associated with e-platform utilization, and the safeguarding of consumers' personal information.

This research employs sophisticated Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques, facilitated by SPSS and SmartPLS software, to meticulously analyze the amassed data and subject the formulated hypotheses to rigorous testing. The empirical foundation of this study draws from a sample of 377 randomly selected online shoppers, providing a robust basis for its insights.

At its core, this research is squarely focused on unraveling the dynamics of consumer trust within e-commerce platforms and highlighting the pivotal role played by GSCM in making online shopping more ecologically responsible and sustainable. Of paramount importance is the novel dimension introduced by this study the integration of trust in e-commerce platforms, GSCM practices, and the multifarious dimensions of online shopping all within a unified conceptual framework. Trust on e-commerce platforms leads to GSCM. GSCM determines online shopping satisfaction, i.e. efficiency, fulfillment, convenience, and privacy. Finally, GSCM mediates between trust on e-commerce platforms and online shopping satisfaction.

This holistic approach represents a ground-breaking contribution to the existing body of literature. It presents a fresh perspective on the intricate interactions that define the contemporary e-commerce landscape.

This initial research integrates trust in e-commerce platforms, GSCM, and online shopping in a single framework through UTAUT2.

This study aims to investigate the impact of the ethical management of data privacy on the overall reputation of businesses.

A conceptual model was proposed and tested. Data were collected from 208 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the textile industry in Valencia, Spain using a survey instrument. Partial least squares (PLS) allowed for the analysis of the data collected.

The theoretical model explains 46.1% of the variation in the organisational reputation variable. The findings indicate that ethical data privacy has a beneficial effect on an organisation's reputation and eco-innovation. The findings also demonstrate how eco-innovation drives the development of new knowledge and green skills that, in turn, communicate to stakeholders a company's ethical commitment. These results should encourage SMEs to invest in data privacy in order to meet the needs of the SMEs' increasingly technology- and environment-sensitive stakeholders and to improve their reputation.

This study provides the first empirical evidence that ethical data privacy management has a positive impact on the reputation of firms. Furthermore, the originality of the research derives from the analysis of the results from an environmental perspective. Indeed, this study shows that effective data privacy management can indirectly support organisational reputation through eco-innovation and green skills.

The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted the habits of customers as well as their shopping behavior. This study aims to critically examine the associated benefits and challenges of online shopping from the perspective of customers in the COVID-19 pandemic.

A systematic review of the relevant literature published between 2020 and 2022 was conducted via performing comprehensive search query in leading scholarly databases “Scopus and Web of Science” with the restriction of their predefined subject category of “Business.” Overall, 30 research studies were selected for the review and a significant number of studies were published in 2021 (n = 15).

The research findings revealed that customers are motivated to shop online because of perceived benefits such as time-saving, convenience, 24/7 accessibility, interactive services without physical boundaries, trust, website attractiveness and cost-saving. However, challenging factors such as financial scams, privacy concerns, poor quality of products and services, fake promotions and reduced social interaction have hindered the growth of online shopping. The recommendations regarding designing marketing strategies, secured transaction, multiple payment options, trust building, protection of privacy, promotion via social media, effective mechanism to secure and timely delivery of product are helpful to improve the service quality of online shopping.

The outcomes of this research are valuable to online retailers and policymakers, as it highlights how the benefits can enhance customers’ shopping intentions and minimize the impact of associated challenges. This study also recommends the redesigning of user-friendly interfaces of online shopping websites and ensures their privacy, security and performance on a regular basis.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly applied by businesses to optimize their processes and decision-making, develop effective and efficient strategies, and positively influence customer behaviors. Businesses use AI to generate behaviors such as customer retention (CR). The existing literature on “AI and CR” is vastly scattered. The paper aims to review the present research on AI in CR systematically and suggest future research directions to further develop the field.

The Scopus database is used to collect the data for systematic review and bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer tool. The paper performs the following analysis: (1) year-wise publications and citations, (2) co-authorship analysis of authors, countries, and affiliations, (3) citation analysis of articles and journals, (4) co-occurrence visualization of binding terms, and (5) bibliographic coupling of articles.

Five research themes are identified, namely, (1) AI and customer churn prediction in CR, (2) AI and customer service experience in CR, (3) AI and customer sentiment analysis in CR, (4) AI and customer (big data) analytics in CR, and (5) AI privacy and ethical concerns in CR. Based on the research themes, fifteen future research objectives and a future research framework are suggested.

The paper has important implications for researchers and managers as it reveals vital insights into the latest trends and paths in AI-CR research and practices. It focuses on privacy and ethical issues of AI; hence, it will help the government develop policies for sustainable AI adoption for CR.

To the author's best knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to comprehensively review the existing research on “AI and CR” using bibliometric analysis.

This paper aims to increase understanding of pertinent exogenous and endogenous antecedents that can reduce data privacy breaches.

A cross-sectional survey was used to source participants' perceptions of relevant exogenous and endogenous antecedents developed from the Antecedents-Privacy Concerns-Outcomes (APCO) model and Social Cognitive Theory. A research model was proposed and tested with empirical data collected from 213 participants based in Canada.

The exogenous factors of external privacy training and external privacy self-assessment tool significantly and positively impact the study's endogenous factors of individual privacy awareness, organizational resources allocated to privacy concerns, and group behavior concerning privacy laws. Further, the proximal determinants of data privacy breaches (dependent construct) are negatively influenced by individual privacy awareness, group behavior related to privacy laws, and organizational resources allocated to privacy concerns. The endogenous factors fully mediated the relationships between the exogenous factors and the dependent construct.

This study contributes to the budding data privacy breach literature by highlighting the impacts of personal and environmental factors in the discourse.

The results offer management insights on mitigating data privacy breach incidents arising from employees' actions. Roles of external privacy training and privacy self-assessment tools are signified.

Antecedents of data privacy breaches have been underexplored. This paper is among the first to elucidate the roles of select exogenous and endogenous antecedents encompassing personal and environmental imperatives on data privacy breaches.

In the online environment, consumers increasingly feel vulnerable due to firms’ expanding capabilities of collecting and using their data in an unsanctioned manner. Drawing from gossip theory, this research focuses on two key suppressors of consumer vulnerability: transparency and control. Previous studies conceptualize transparency and control from rationalistic approaches that overlook individual experiences and present a unidimensional conceptualization. This research aims to understand how individuals interpret transparency and control concerning privacy vulnerability in the online environment. Additionally, it explores strategic approaches to communicating the value of transparency and control.

An interpretivism paradigm and phenomenology were adopted in the research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 41 participants, including consumers and experts, and analyzed through thematic analysis.

The findings identify key conceptual dimensions of transparency and control by adapting justice theory. They also reveal that firms can communicate assurance, functional, technical and social values of transparency and control to address consumer vulnerability.

This research makes the following contributions to the data privacy literature. The findings exhibit multidimensional and comprehensive conceptualizations of transparency and control, including user, firm and information perspectives. Additionally, the conceptual framework combines empirical insights from both experiencers and observers to offer an understanding of how transparency and control serve as justice mechanisms to effectively tackle the issue of unsanctioned transmission of personal information and subsequently address vulnerability. Lastly, the findings provide strategic approaches to communicating the value of transparency and control.