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1 – 10 of 189
Article
Publication date: 24 November 2023

Mahvia Gull, Zartashia Kynat Javaid, Kamran Khan and Husnain Ali Chaudhry

Stigma is a major impediment to human rights in health care that causes discrimination, isolation and the exclusion of individuals from essential health-care services. It fosters…

Abstract

Purpose

Stigma is a major impediment to human rights in health care that causes discrimination, isolation and the exclusion of individuals from essential health-care services. It fosters fear, leading to negative stereotyping of individuals based on their social, cultural or health status and undermines their dignity and respect, consequently violating their right to health. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the moderating role of psychological flexibility in the relationship between stigma (enacted, anticipated and internalized), mental health and the quality of life of substance users.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was based on a cross-sectional design and included 200 male patients with an age range of 18–65 years from 23 rehabilitation centers in four cities in Pakistan. The purposive sampling technique was used, and the sample size ranged from 4 to 23 participants for each site. Four scales were used to measure stigma, general mental health, quality of life and psychological flexibility in substance users.

Findings

The data were analyzed using SPSS and Smart PLS, which showed that stigma (enacted, anticipated and internalized) had a detrimental effect on substance users’ mental health and quality of life. Additionally, psychological flexibility acts as an efficient moderator between them.

Originality/value

This research unveils the moderating role of psychological flexibility in mitigating stigma’s adverse effects on individuals with substance use disorders. Future investigations should prioritize interventions aimed at enhancing psychological flexibility to ameliorate the repercussions of stigma, ultimately enhancing the well-being and quality of life of substance users.

Details

International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2023

Graeme Ditchburn and Rachel Evangeline Koh

COVID-19 forced organizations to implement protective measures changing how employees worked; however, empirical evidence is needed to explore how employees responded. This study…

Abstract

Purpose

COVID-19 forced organizations to implement protective measures changing how employees worked; however, empirical evidence is needed to explore how employees responded. This study examines the impact of COVID-19-related organizational changes in Singapore on employees’ perceptions of work pressure, stress and mental well-being (MWB) and the mediating role of resilience.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a cross-sectional, anonymous online survey of 157 full-time employees who had worked for at least one year.

Findings

The results found that work pressure and stress had increased, and MWB had declined. Resilience acted as a buffer against increases in work pressure and stress while promoting the maintenance of MWB. Resilience significantly mediated the relationship between stress and MWB.

Research limitations/implications

The study does not allow for an assessment of causality but infers possible, albeit probable, casual relationships. Furthermore, stress and well-being could be influenced by a multitude of factors beyond organizational change. Future research should seek to account for additional factors and establish the generalisability of the findings beyond Singapore.

Practical implications

This study supports the engagement of resilience-based interventions to improve employees’ MWB during pandemic related organizational change.

Social implications

Policies that promote work-life balance, positive interpersonal relations and staying connected are some of the ways employers can bolster MWB and work-life balance to support employees who are engaged in remote work.

Originality/value

Given the unique context of COVID-19, this study allows for a better understanding of how a novel worldwide pandemic has transformed employees' experience of work and its associated impacts.

Details

Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-3983

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 March 2024

Faisal Al Reshaid, Petek Tosun and Merve Yanar Gürce

Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly attractive as alternatives to traditional currencies. Although many retailers accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in online…

Abstract

Purpose

Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly attractive as alternatives to traditional currencies. Although many retailers accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in online shopping, consumers’ cryptocurrency adoption intention in online shopping (CCAI) is still low. This study aims to investigate the influence of attitudes, subjective norms, consumer trust, financial literacy and fear of missing out (FOMO) on CCAI.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research approach was followed using a consumer survey. Hypothesized relationships were tested through regression and mediation analyses.

Findings

The results revealed that consumers could accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in online shopping. Attitudes, subjective norms, consumer trust and financial literacy directly and positively influence CCAI, while they indirectly affect CCAI through the mediating impact of FOMO.

Practical implications

Marketing managers should improve consumers’ knowledge about cryptocurrencies and trust in online shopping to increase CCAI. Social media marketing can be appropriate, while the advertising content can address keeping up with others and staying connected.

Originality/value

This study addresses a critical gap in the literature by empirically examining the antecedents of CCAI within an original conceptual model based on the theoretical framework provided by the theory of planned behavior. Attitudes, subjective norms, trust and financial literacy influence CCAI, where FOMO plays a significant role as a mediator.

Details

Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5038

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2023

Jessica Lichy, Daniella Ryding, Edyta Rudawska and Gianpaolo Vignali

The purpose of this study is to draw from sustainable social innovation theory and the Consumer styles inventory (CSI) instrument to examine secondhand clothing consumption habits…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to draw from sustainable social innovation theory and the Consumer styles inventory (CSI) instrument to examine secondhand clothing consumption habits for Russia. The secondhand market is the logical outcome of efforts to adopt resale as a facet of sustainable social innovation, with which to drive sustainable decision-making and socially responsible marketing in the secondhand high-end clothing market. Resale represents the cornerstone of business model innovation (BMi) for the retail sector, offering substantial opportunities for retailers who understand changes in consumption behaviour. More cost-effective and arguably greener, the sale of secondhand clothing is expected to be double the volume of fast fashion by 2030 but it remains an understudied field of research in the literature relating to the fashion industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses are developed from the existing literature. Survey methodology is used to collect data from 250 Russian consumers in the city of Petersburg. The objective is to test the veracity of CSI shopper orientations, focusing on nascent motivations for high-end branded secondhand clothing, to examine sustainable social innovation and resale in an emerging market.

Findings

Four new shopping orientations are identified. Based on the empirical data, the authors suggest that five (out of the original eight CSI shopping orientations) are of internal statistical relevance, and that our new orientations are relevant for not only this market, but for neighbouring Eastern European countries too. The findings reflect postmodern evolution in behavioural motivations for Russian consumers, that can inform retail strategy in terms of BMi consumer for harnessing opportunities offered by sustainable social innovation and resale.

Originality/value

Whilst the CSI has been widely used, research for Eastern Europe is limited. Understanding the shopping orientations for sustainable alternatives to newly produced clothing has theoretical and practical implications for improving circularity, post-war entry strategies and countries facing economic downturn. This study contributes novel insights by examining consumer decision-making and shopping orientations in an emerging market.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 December 2023

Qian Chen, Changqin Yin and Yeming Gong

This study investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots persuade customers to accept their recommendations in the online shopping context.

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots persuade customers to accept their recommendations in the online shopping context.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the elaboration likelihood model, this study establishes a research model to reveal the antecedents and internal mechanisms of customers' adoption of AI chatbot recommendations. The authors tested the model with survey data from 530 AI chatbot users.

Findings

The results show that in the AI chatbot recommendation adoption process, central and peripheral cues significantly affected a customer's intention to adopt an AI chatbot's recommendation, and a customer's cognitive and emotional trust in the AI chatbot mediated the relationships. Moreover, a customer's mind perception of the AI chatbot, including perceived agency and perceived experience, moderated the central and peripheral paths, respectively.

Originality/value

This study has theoretical and practical implications for AI chatbot designers and provides management insights for practitioners to enhance a customer's intention to adopt an AI chatbot's recommendation.

Research highlights

  1. The study investigates customers' adoption of AI chatbots' recommendation.

  2. The authors develop research model based on ELM theory to reveal central and peripheral cues and paths.

  3. The central and peripheral cues are generalized according to cooperative principle theory.

  4. Central cues include recommendation reliability and accuracy, and peripheral cues include human-like empathy and recommendation choice.

  5. Central and peripheral cues affect customers' adoption to recommendation through trust in AI.

  6. Customers' mind perception positively moderates the central and peripheral paths.

The study investigates customers' adoption of AI chatbots' recommendation.

The authors develop research model based on ELM theory to reveal central and peripheral cues and paths.

The central and peripheral cues are generalized according to cooperative principle theory.

Central cues include recommendation reliability and accuracy, and peripheral cues include human-like empathy and recommendation choice.

Central and peripheral cues affect customers' adoption to recommendation through trust in AI.

Customers' mind perception positively moderates the central and peripheral paths.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 September 2023

Philip Tin Yun Lee, Aki Pui Yi Hui, Richard Wing Cheung Lui and Michael Chau

This paper aims to examine why retail firms seldom achieve full integration of online and offline channels as prescribed in omni-channel literature. It examines the intermediate…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine why retail firms seldom achieve full integration of online and offline channels as prescribed in omni-channel literature. It examines the intermediate process of channel integration from an internal, operational perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is composed of two parts. In the first part, the authors interviewed informants from nine firms that were engaged in channel integration. In the second part, the authors conducted case studies with three firms from the cosmetics and skincare industry against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic to find evidence to support or negate the propositions made in the first part.

Findings

The first part identified six operational challenges to channel integration. The authors categorized these challenges into two groups: inter-channel communication and inter-channel competition. Inter-channel competition carries more weight at the latter stage of integration. The authors also identified two antecedents that affect the seriousness of these challenges: heterogeneity among channels in business operation and external competitive pressure. In the second part, the authors found that both inter-channel communication and inter-channel competition were improved because of the external competitive pressure exerted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the heterogeneity of offline channels against online channels in business operation is a double-edged sword.

Originality/value

The study identifies the changing effects of the challenges of channel integration and their antecedents in the midst of integration. The positive influence of a specific dimension of channel heterogeneity against other channels increases and then decreases along channel integration. The identification of the changing effects lays the foundation for a finer stage model of channel integration.

Details

Internet Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2023

İlkay Baliç

This article tackles the intersection of mothering and labor through the author's own experience as a feminist mother/manager from Istanbul, Turkey. It aims to revisit the first…

Abstract

Purpose

This article tackles the intersection of mothering and labor through the author's own experience as a feminist mother/manager from Istanbul, Turkey. It aims to revisit the first years of motherhood, exploring the struggle to invent a peculiar maternal subjectivity in opposition and negotiation with the patriarchal institution of motherhood, the new definition of maternal labor in a highly digital, neoliberal context and the issue of marital fairness in a dual-income heterosexual marriage.

Design/methodology/approach

The article presents an autoethnographic, retrospective and introspective inquiry into the first seven years of the author's mothering experience in order to offer an in-depth exploration of the various aspects of contemporary maternal labor.

Findings

The article shows how maternal labor has shifted in nature and expanded in scope in a contemporary non-Western context. It investigates the dissolution of the spatial, temporal and sensorial boundaries between the managerial labor dedicated to the workplace, and to the family. Highlighting the similarities of the two forms of labor, the article manifests the materiality, tangibility and visibility of maternal labor.

Research limitations/implications

Further intersectional studies shall be beneficial to redefine maternal labor in different contexts.

Practical implications

Departing and diverting from the terms “invisible labor” and “mental load”, the article suggests a shift in terminology to stress the multifaceted medley of managerial tasks mothers undertake today.

Originality/value

The article provides an original take on maternal labor through the first-hand experience of a middle-class, professional mother from Istanbul, Turkey.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2024

Archana Shrivastava and Ashish Shrivastava

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…

Abstract

Purpose

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.

Design/methodology/approach

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.

Findings

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.

Practical implications

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.

Originality/value

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.

Details

International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6123

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 August 2023

Mehrgan Malekpour, Mohammadbashir Sedighi, Federica Caboni, Vincenzo Basile and Ciro Troise

This research aims to fill the research gaps regarding customer preferences for digitalisation to create value for retailers and customers, as well as focus on retail change and…

1592

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to fill the research gaps regarding customer preferences for digitalisation to create value for retailers and customers, as well as focus on retail change and shopping behaviour in grocery retail stores in the emerging market.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper contributes to the research in this area by evaluating customers' and retailers' attitudes towards digital transformation in retailing through interviews. Methodologically, 200 questionnaires were gathered, and data were analysed with the partial least squared structural equation modelling method.

Findings

The findings of this study reveal that the effect of digital transformation in the retail industry will be more apparent in an emerging market.

Originality/value

The paper's originality consists in understanding the future retail structure in an emerging market. Notably, focussing on business-to-consumer businesses appears helpful in distinguishing between behavioural (buying) intention and online buying behaviour (actual usage) in an emerging market.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2024

Xiaoyong Wei, Anwei Huang, Ruoyi Chen and Jiyue Yang

Retailers have recently leveraged store-loyal customers’ store attachment to maintain customer relationships and motivate patronage intentions. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has…

Abstract

Purpose

Retailers have recently leveraged store-loyal customers’ store attachment to maintain customer relationships and motivate patronage intentions. However, the COVID-19 outbreak has driven customer migration from offline to mobile channels. Mobile retail applications (APPs) have been used by numerous retailers to reach their customers. Nonetheless, it has yet to be determined (1) whether store attachment can facilitate (or impede) the adoption of mobile retail APPs and (2) whether store-loyal customers will continue visiting offline stores in the post-pandemic era. To address these questions, we propose a theoretical account using integrated theories on trust transfer and store attachment.

Design/methodology/approach

We conducted multi-stage, longitudinal field surveys in two cities of mainland China: Beijing and Guangzhou. From two rounds of data collection, 237 and 103 responses were obtained in March 2022. Hypotheses were tested by partial least squares – structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM).

Findings

Results showed that customer trust in an offline retailer can be transferred to the retailer’s mobile APP at the pre-adoption stage, facilitating APP adoption. Notably, store-loyal customers who exhibited a strong attachment to the physical store of a retailer were more inclined to transfer their trust to the mobile APP of the retailer. This occurrence leads to an increased adoption rate, enhanced post-adoption satisfaction and increased inclination to continue (rather than discontinue) usage.

Originality/value

This study is the first to investigate the changes in store-loyal customers' shopping behaviour in the mobile retail era and in the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Our findings elucidate the role of physical store attachment in the trust-transfer mechanism. Furthermore, store attachment may not prevent customers’ channel migration behaviour. Retailers may have to re-consider how to manage channel cannibalisation issues in the post-pandemic recovery.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

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