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This study aims to investigate the factors that influence South African customers to potentially switch from one bank to another. Instead of using established models and survey techniques, the research measured social media sentiment to measure threats to switch.

The research involved a 12-month analysis of social media sentiment, specifically customer threats to switch banks (churn). These threats were then analysed for co-occurring themes to provide data on the reasons customers were making these threats. The study used over 1.7 million social media posts and focused on all five major South African retail banks (essentially the entire sector).

This study concluded that seven factors are most significant in understanding the underlying causes of churn. These are turnaround time, accusations of unethical behaviour, billing or payments, telephonic interactions, branches or stores, fraud or scams and unresponsiveness.

This study is unique in its measurement of unsolicited social media sentiment as opposed to most churn-related research that uses survey- or customer-data-based methods. In addition, this study observed the sentiment of customers from all major retail banks across 12 months. To date, no studies on retail bank churn theory have provided such an extensive perspective. The findings contribute to Susan Keaveney’s churn theory and provide a new measurement of switching threat through social media sentiment analysis.

This paper aims to analyse systematically previous literature that sought to understand the formation of circular supply chains (CSCs) and propose a research agenda for implementing circular economy 4.0 in the wholesale industry.

The research is based on a systematic literature review.

There is a prevalence of research related to manufacturing and how industrial complexes can establish practices linked to the circular economy. The reviewed papers in this study can be classified into three perspectives: systemic analysis, institutional perspective and operational perspective. Considering these categories and the wholesaler perspective, there is a scope to explore Industry 4.0 technologies applications with wholesale distributors and their contributions to the reverse flow of waste along the CSC. In addition, it is interesting to examine the interpretation of wholesale distributors on circularity, and how these members can contribute to filling the information gaps between industries and retailers based on the concepts of circular economy and Industry 4.0, and how they can contribute to establishing public policies for proper waste recycling methods.

First, this research considers the wholesaler the exclusive supply chain member under the influence of Industry 4.0 and highlights its importance in firms' circular operations. Second, it provides an inclusive plan for the other stakeholders to interact with the wholesaler echelon to design and operate under 4.0 technologies to consolidate effective CSCs.

We study five exogenous shocks: climate, violence, price hikes, spoilage and the COVID-19 lockdown. We analyze the association between these shocks and trader characteristics, reflecting trader vulnerability.

Using primary survey data on 1,100 Nigerian maize traders for 2021 (controlling for shocks in 2017), we use probit models to estimate the probabilities of experiencing climate, violence, disease and cost shocks associated with trader characteristics (gender, size and region) and to estimate the probability of vulnerability (experiencing severe impacts).

Traders are prone to experiencing more than one shock, which increases the intensity of the shocks. Price shocks are often accompanied by violence, climate and COVID-19 shocks. The poorer northern region is disproportionately affected by shocks. Northern traders experience more price shocks while Southern traders are more affected by violence shocks given their dependence on long supply chains from the north for their maize. Female traders are more likely to experience violent events than men who tend to be more exposed to climate shocks.

The data only permit analysis of the general degree of impact of a shock rather than quantifying lost income.

This paper is the first to analyze the incidence of multiple shocks on grain traders and the unequal distribution of negative impacts. It is the first such in Africa based on a large sample of grain traders from a primary survey.

Coastal cities offer great ecological, cultural and economic benefits due to their tourism potential. The objective of this research is to (1) identify tourists' post-pandemic motivations, (2) establish a post-pandemic demand segmentation and (3) determine the relationship between post-pandemic segments and loyalty.

This study was carried out in Lima, Peru, a tourist destination on the Pacific Ocean coast. The sample was collected between June and July 2020, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In total, 354 valid questionnaires represented the sample size of this quantitative study. For data analysis, factor analysis and K-means non-hierarchical clustering were used.

The results show four post-pandemic motivational dimensions in coastal cities: “novelty and escape,” “learning and culture,” “destination safety” and “service safety.” Likewise, there are two post-pandemic segments in coastal cities: “safety seekers” who want to feel safe at the destination and with its services, and “multiple motives,” motivated by several reasons simultaneously, such as safety, novelty and escape, and learning and culture. The multiple motives group shows higher return intentions, making it a crucial post-pandemic segment in coastal cities.

The limitations of the present study were the online sampling and the timing when collecting the data since the demand can vary due to seasonal reasons.

Since coastal cities have natural and cultural attractions appealing to many travelers, they should adopt the necessary biosecurity measures to attract the safety seekers’ segment, who wants to feel safe at the destination and with its services. Similarly, the multiple motives’ segment favors safety over other recreational activities in the coastal area, so it is necessary that activities such as sports on the beach, walks, observation of flora and fauna, navigation and interaction with the community, meet the required biosecurity standards.

The results will be used to plan the following actions in coastal destinations and meet the tourists’ demands when this health crisis ends.

In this context, up to date, demand segmentation by motivations in coastal cities during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been investigated. Such a study will help to obtain post-pandemic results regarding the tourism demand for these destinations. To date, there are no studies in coastal cities that analyze demand segmentation and its motivations for the post-COVID-2019 pandemic.

Using the theory, construct, method, moderator (TCMM) format, this framework-based review critically analyses the mobile financial services (MFSs) field through a detailed synthesis and analysis of a sample of mainstream empirical research published in various scientific journals within the period 2009–2020.

The authors followed a three-step structured approach suggested by Webster and Watson (2002) to search for the literature to synthesise the global perspectives on MFSs and their associated applications and systems. The literature research resulted in the identification of 115 most relevant articles.

The authors identified three major categories or domains within the MFSs comprising the entire spectrum of digital financial services. To facilitate the literature analysis, TCMM is developed and proposed as an organising framework. Moreover, the authors also developed and presented the comprehensive framework of MFS domains and explicitly identified 14 different research themes for future research in MFSs.

Prior attempts to synthesise and analyse mainstream academic research in MFSs have been scant and limited to a specific MFS domain: mobile banking or mobile payment. The authors synthesised a more extensive body of knowledge and provided a global perspective on the MFS field. Unlike the past literature reviews which followed traditional frameworks such as antecedents, decisions and outcome (ADO); TCCM; and 6 W Framework (who, when, where, how, what and why), the authors developed and proposed TCMM as organising framework.

The goal of this research is to analyse the obstacles to the implementation of mobile health (mHealth) in India and to gain an understanding of the contextual inter-relationships that exist amongst those obstacles.

Potential barriers and their interrelationships in their respective contexts have been uncovered. Using MICMAC analysis, the categorization of these barriers was done based on their degree of reliance and driving power (DP). Furthermore, an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) framework for the barriers to mHealth activities in India has been proposed.

The study explores a total of 15 factors that reduce the efficiency of mHealth adoption in India. The findings of the Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) investigation show that the economic situation of the government, concerns regarding the safety of intellectual technologies and privacy issues are the primary obstacles because of the significant driving power they have in mHealth applications.

Promoters of mHealth practices may be able to make better plans if they understand the social barriers and how they affect each other; this leads to easier adoption of these practices. The findings of this study might be helpful for governments of developing nations to produce standards relating to the deployment of mHealth; this will increase the efficiency with which it is adopted.

At this time, there is no comprehensive analysis of the factors that influence the adoption of mobile health care with social cognitive theory in developing nations like India. In addition, there is a lack of research in investigating how each of these elements affects the success of mHealth activities and how the others interact with them. Because developed nations learnt the value of mHealth practices during the recent pandemic, this study, by investigating the obstacles to the adoption of mHealth and their inter-relationships, makes an important addition to both theory and practice.

This research work aims to arise from developing new communication channels for customer service in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), such as chatbots. In particular, the results of the usability testing of three chatbots implemented in MSMEs are presented.

The methodology employed includes participants, chatbot development platform, research methodology, software development methodology and usability test to contextualize the study's results.

Based on the results obtained from the System Usability Scale (SUS) and considering the accuracy of the chatbot's responses, it is concluded that the level of satisfaction in using chatbots is high; therefore, if the chatbot is well integrated with the communication systems/channels of the MSMEs, the client receives an excellent, fast and efficient service.

The paper analyzes chatbots for customer service and presents the usability testing results of three chatbots implemented in MSMEs.

This paper examines the socio-political affordances of metrics in research evaluation and the consequences of epistemic injustice in research practices and recorded knowledge.

First, the use of metrics is examined as a mechanism that promotes competition and social acceleration. Second, it is argued that the use of metrics in a competitive research culture reproduces systemic inequalities and leads to epistemic injustice. The conceptual analysis draws on works of Hartmut Rosa and Miranda Fricker, amongst others.

The use of metrics is largely driven by competition such as university rankings and league tables. Not only that metrics are not designed to enrich academic and research culture, they also suppress the visibility and credibility of works by minorities. As such, metrics perpetuate epistemic injustice in knowledge practices; at the same time, the reliability of metrics for bibliometric and scientometric studies is put into question.

As metrics leverage who can speak and who will be heard, epistemic injustice is reflected in recorded knowledge and what we consider to be information.

This paper contributes to the discussion of metrics beyond bibliometric studies and research evaluation. It argues that metrics-induced competition is antithetical to equality and diversity in research practices.

This study aims to provide more insight into how customer voice is captured and used in managerial decision-making at the marketing-finance interface. This study’s focus is on understanding how the customer voice, often communicated through online and social media platforms, is used in high-performing hotels.

This research is based on a case study of four high-performing Irish hotels. For each case, multiple informants, including marketing managers, general managers and finance managers, were interviewed and shadowed. Twenty seven decisions across the four cases were analysed to assess the use of customer voice in managerial decision-making.

Social media provides a stage that has empowered the customer voice because of the public nature of the interaction and the network effect. Customer voice is incorporated in managerial decision-making in three distinct ways – symbolically as part of an early warning system, for action-oriented operational decisions and to some extent in the knowledge-enhancing role for tactical decisions. While there is a greater appreciation among senior managers and the finance and accounting managers of the importance of customer voice, this study finds clear limits in its utilisation and more reliance on traditional finance and accounting data, especially in strategic decision-making.

The cases belong to a highly visible open environment of hotels in an industry where customer voice has immediate and strong effects. The findings may not directly apply to industries characterised by a relatively more closed context such as banking or insurance. Moreover, the findings reflect the practices of high-performing hotels and do not necessarily capture the practices used in less successfully operating hotels.

While marketers need to enhance their ability to create a narrative that links the customer voice to revenue generation, finance managers also need to develop a skillset and adopt a mindset that appropriately reflects the influential role for customer voice in managerial decision-making.

Despite the linkage of marketing performance to business performance, there is limited research on the impact of customer information on managerial decision-making. This research provides insight into how customer voice is considered at the critical marketing-finance interface.