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The purpose of this study was to investigate consumer preference formation in presence of reviews coming from traditional and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) under different conditions of review valence.

Scenario-based experimental design was used for this study. A total of 172 respondents were randomly assigned across four experimental scenarios and a control group. Across-groups comparisons were conducted using post hoc Dunnett’s test for checking the hypothesis.

The study revealed that negativity bias impacted consumer judgement formation to such an extent that positive valence from higher credibility source (WOM) is over-powered by negative reviews from lesser trusted source (eWOM). Further, a negative valence review from higher credibility source (WOM) may not be countered even in presence of consensus of positive valence review coming from a higher number of positive eWOM.

This study contributes to existing literature by examining consumer preference behaviour in presence of reviews coming from traditional and eWOM under different conditions of review valence. While earlier studies have examined individual role of WOM and eWOM under differing valence conditions, this paper extends literature by studying combined effect of WOM and eWOM under different review valence.

This study aims to gain insights into the rise of virtual social media influencers and identify the significant theories governing virtual influencers’ (VIs) interaction with followers on social media platforms. Studies on VI being scarce in marketing literature, the authors attempt to propose a theoretical model to understand the acceptance of VIs by social media users (SMUs).

Using a structured literature review and a case study approach, a conceptual model is developed and propositions are offered.

Parasocial interaction (PSI) between the SMU and VIs builds up source credibility, thereby leading to the acceptance of VIs. Thus, the authors establish that PSI and source credibility theory combine to explain the acceptance of VIs by SMUs. Furthermore, similarity with the VI is another added dimension of source credibility, as suggested by this study. A comparative analysis of the growth of five major VIs elucidates that the fashion, electronic, tourism and health-care industries can use them for promotions and as influencers, especially for luxury products.

VIs are a potent tool to achieve improved brand awareness and to target young consumers (especially Gen Y and Gen Z – millennials).

The emergence of VIs being recent; little is comprehended about their interaction with SMUs. Hence, it becomes important to delineate the foundations of VI–SMU interaction. Thus, this study addresses the gap in identifying the theoretical background and proposes a conceptual model elucidating VI acceptance by SMUs.

This paper aims to examine the effect of social cynicism on consumer cynicism. The negative inferred motive is tested as a mediator between social cynicism and consumer cynicism; whereas, negative affectivity is tested as a moderator between social cynicism and negative inferred motive.

The study was carried out in India using a mixed-method approach. In the first stage, a survey was conducted to test the moderated mediation model, followed by in-depth interviews in the second stage. The survey was analysed using structural equation modelling, while themes were generated from the data collected through interviews.

The study established the effect of social cynicism on consumer cynicism. Negative inferred motive mediated the relationship between social cynicism and consumer cynicism. Negative affectivity moderated the influence of social cynicism on negative inferred motive.

With rising anti-consumption behaviours, it is imperative to understand why consumers turn cynical towards marketers. The study indicates that consumer cynicism is influenced by previous experiences of the consumer with the society and is not merely a reaction to arm-twisting by firms. As social cynicism cannot be changed drastically, understanding how it impacts consumer cynicism would help a firm handle its marketing efforts better.

The study empirically validates the relationship between social cynicism and consumer cynicism. The mediating effect of negative inferred motive on consumer cynicism was also validated. The study is also the first to point out the moderating role of negative affectivity on the relationship between social cynicism and negative inferred motive.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of whether more representation of gendered scholarship could enrich the traditional framework of consumer behaviour – a discipline that lacks consensus on epistemology and is also starved of theory building – by means of critical introspection leading to new managerial solutions, new methods and theory building.

The quantitative approach involved a content analysis of three leading journals in the consumer behaviour discipline from 2006 to 2010: the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Consumer Psychology and the Journal of Consumer Affairs, in order to ascertain how much research represents a gendered perspective. The qualitative approach involved analyzing the papers from a gendered perspective, to see if the papers were more conceptual or based on applied research, and to gauge the type of methodologies used.

From 2006 to 2010 it was found that only an average of 2.4 per cent of 369 abstracts in JCR, 4 per cent of 224 abstracts in JCP and 5.8 per cent of 138 abstracts in JCA are from a gendered perspective. Approximately 25 per cent of the papers are steeped in applied research, while 75 per cent verify existing theories or expand to them.

The authors’ qualitative analysis brings forward new results, namely that the very feministic perspective that has the potential to bring forth greater introspection in the consumer behavior research, namely feminist postmodernism, is in fact the least represented, with only one such paper out of 731, which is a possible wake‐up call for feminist scholars. The authors conclude that the scope of the traditional paradigm can be enlarged by gendered scholarship.

The paper represents a major effort to present the importance of including gendered perspective articles in marketing journals, to provide an analysis of the lack of a gendered perspective in papers published by three leading consumer‐based journals, and to determine whether a gendered perspective can enrich the traditional framework.

Movement of people from one retail trade area to another in search of better options and deals has been studied across the world owing to its large impact on trade flow. Studies have been done in various rural and urban settings. However, almost all except one fails to provide a comprehensive model of outshopping which has its own limitations with regard to its applicability’s across cultures and in various settings. Nonetheless findings from the literature provides necessary inputs to start studies in various other cultures and settings. Results are presented in form of various definitions, various types, methodologies used, factors identified (individual characteristics, market characteristics, product related variables and accessibility factors) and patterns across continents. Attempts have also been made to explain their applicability to Indian conditions along with various limitations and gaps.

Interactions and on‐going relationships are crucial for organizations to create satisfactory value propositions for customers and meet their evolving needs. Understanding the behavioural and temporal aspects of value creation from a customer's perspective is crucial as customer perceived value (CPV) is dynamic and contextual, and evolves over time. This enables firms to develop value laden offerings and bind customers through interdependent relationships. This paper aims to focus on these issues.

Extant literature review on CPV and relationship marketing (RM) reveals the behavioural and temporal aspects of relationship building and the role of CPV in generating desirable relationship outcomes.

A conceptual model explains how components of CPV, episodal value can be transformed into total relationship value mediated by satisfaction, value added services, loyalty, commitment, trust and relationship quality.

The model describes changing customer expectations and how sellers can create value as exchanges mature into relations, but it does not include empirical testing of the model, which would validate the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Meeting customer needs through relation specific investments by suppliers creates value for customers and develops interdependent relationships. Such relationships are long lasting and benefit both parties.

Based on extant literature review and combining emerging paradigms enables theory generation centred on customer's perspective. This not only ensures organization profitability, but also provides higher returns on customer equity.

Fog computing is a new field of research and has emerged as a complement to the cloud which can mitigate the problems inherent to the cloud computing model such as unreliable latency, bandwidth constraints, security and mobility. This paper aims to provide detailed survey in the field of fog computing covering the current state-of-the-art in fog computing.

Cloud was developed for IT and not for Internet of Things (IoT); as a result, cloud is unable to meet the computing, storage, control and networking demands of the IoT applications. Fog is a companion for the cloud and aims to extend the cloud capabilities to the edge of the network.

Lack of survey papers in the area of fog computing was an important motivational factor for writing this paper. This paper highlights the capabilities of the fog computing and where it fits in between IoT and cloud. This paper has also presented architecture of the fog computing model and its characteristics. Finally, the challenges in the field of fog computing have been discussed in detail which need to be overcome to realize its full potential.

This paper presents the current state-of-the-art in fog computing. Lack of such papers increases the importance of this paper. It also includes challenges and opportunities in the fog computing and various possible solutions to overcome those challenges.

After completion of the case study, the students will learn about the blue ocean strategies that are adopted by entrepreneurs when they are entering into a new business territory and be able to perform an industry analysis and understand the competitive advantage that a firm possesses in a new market using Porter’s five forces framework.

This case study is about Sushant, an entrepreneur, who started his entrepreneurial venture in water sports tourism along the coastlines of India. His core business was into offering kayaking and camping activities. However, he planned to scale up his business by expanding its geographical reach. To fulfill this, he was also planning to manufacture his own kayaks, which would increase economies of scale in the long run. This case study investigates the dilemma of whether he should first increase his service offerings before expanding geographically or focus on geographical expansion and then increase service offerings.

This case is designed to be taught at the post-graduate level (Master of Business Administration) for an entrepreneurship course.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS3: Entrepreneurship.

With the ever-expanding online shopping, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has become a significant factor affecting the consumer decision-making behaviour. This is specially the case when considering Generation Y (Millennials), who are old enough to be independent buyers and young to be almost immersed in online living. This article aims to assess the impact of eWOM on purchase intention by developing a conceptual model of hypotheses encompassing a multitude of factors that may be associated with this relationship.

The researcher investigates what factors impact eWOM credibility and make the consumer may adopt it when making a purchase. To examine our research model, a quantitative approach is employed for this purpose using a sample through online survey from Thailand – where there is a large number portion Generation Y consumer base.

It was found that source style as a visual attribute information is the most significant factor that may impact eWOM credibility in addition to source credibility, argument quality and source homophily, respectively.

From a practical point of view, it helps firms to understand what needs to be taken into consideration when building their marketing strategy.

This is believed to add significant insights into the eWOM literature by identifying its route of impact toward the purchase intention on Generation Y.

COVID-19 pandemic-related Government restrictions on the movement of people resulted in consumers moving away from retail outlets. However, sporadic instances of an unexpected surge in retail buying happened across the world immediately after the lifting of such restrictions. This uncommon phenomenon, termed revenge buying, offered an opportunity to revive retail businesses. This paper applies Reactance Theory (RCT) and Self-determination Theory (SDT) to model consumers' revenge buying intentions.

Data was collected from 384 respondents in India using validated scales. The study used structural equation modelling for model testing.

COVID-19 restrictions resulted in autonomy need frustration in consumers, which induced psychological reactance and perceived stress. Psychological reactance positively impacted, while perceived stress negatively impacted revenge buying intentions. Thus, revenge buying was observed only when the psychological reactance was more than perceived stress.

This study, conducted in only one country with a limited convenience sample, limits the generalizability of findings.

This research model the psychological consequences of need frustration to explain the sporadic incidences of revenge buying in retail outlets. Further, it proposes sales recovery strategies for retailers in the immediate post-pandemic market scenarios. Retailers' strategies should focus on alleviating stress and anxiety because of health concerns, highlighting the retail buying experience to stimulate the need to visit the outlet and positioning retail buying as a potential reactance response by consumers.