Search results

Wearable medical devices (WMDs) are improving people’s health and well-being in a noble way, as these aid in effective personal health monitoring, remote surveillance and overall illness management. Despite its wider applicability and usage, it is prevalent that users discontinue its usage, which presents an obstacle in the proliferation of such vital innovations among the masses. Therefore, relying on the expectation-confirmation model (ECM), this study aims to delve deeper to explain the factors that motivate users to continually use WMDs by incorporating novel variables, namely, health belief, health information accuracy and privacy protection.

The study proposes and tests an extended ECM perspective to predict the continuance intention (CI) of WMDs among users. By using structural equation modelling using SmartPLS, the authors tested the model on Indian people (n = 451) who had an erstwhile experience of using WMDs.

The study results show that confirmation of users’ expectations positively impacts their usefulness and satisfaction towards WMDs. Moreover, satisfaction towards WMDs is the strongest predictor of users’ CI, followed by perceived usefulness. Interestingly, personal factor such as health beliefs reveals a greater influence on perceived usefulness than technological factors like health information accuracy and privacy protection.

The study findings demonstrate the significance of using the expectation-confirmation perspective in technology-based studies in general and WMDs, in particular. This study aids by offering an integrated model of WMD’s continued usage intention for the users, in addition to practical implications for marketers and policymakers.

A paucity of research exists when understanding the predictors of CI for WMDs. This study fills this gap and adds to behavioural literature by offering a noble viewpoint involving an extended ECM perspective.

This study aims to investigate the effects of peers on corporate payout policies in one of the largest emerging markets – India. It also examines the motives for mimicking payout decisions.

The sample is composed of 3,024 non-financial and non-government firms listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) for the period 1995 to 2020. To encounter the endogeneity problem, the instrumental variable technique based on peer firms' idiosyncratic risk is used to estimate the effects of peers on firms' payout policy. To define peer reference groups, the authors use the basic industry classification of the firms.

The results indicate a significant positive impact of peers on firms' dividend policies in India. A firm with all dividend-paying peers is more likely to declare dividends than the one with no dividend-paying peers. Further, peer effects are found to be more pronounced amongst larger and older firms, thus supporting the rivalry theory of mimicking.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, the present study is the first of its kind that attempts to understand peer effects on payout decisions in an emerging market India, that offers a unique institutional setting. Moreover, the authors extend the existing literature by investigating the peer effects on a firm's payout policies considering various firm-level characteristics, such as growth opportunity, cash holding, financial constraint and profitability, which previous studies have not taken into consideration. These results provide additional insights into the heterogeneity and motives behind peer effects.