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This paper aims to examine the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on customer orientation and competitive advantage.

Data were collected from 368 retail banking customers in Pakistan and analysed using partial least squares-based structural equation modelling.

Firstly, the research findings indicate that CSR has a positive and significant effect on customer orientation. Secondly, CSR and customer orientation were found to be the antecedents of competitive advantage.

Managers can use CSR activities strategically to enhance the perceptions of a firm’s customer orientation in their minds. This can then lead towards achieving a competitive advantage over rivals. The trend of being socially responsible, as well as customer-orientated, can lead to a healthy ecosystem within the industry, which in turn will benefit its stakeholders.

Firstly, this is one of the pioneering studies that investigate the relationship between CSR and customer orientation. Secondly, it examines the under-explored roles of CSR and customer orientation as antecedents of competitive advantage.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of customers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on affective and continuance commitment. It analyses the moderation effect of relationship age on the CSR-commitment relationships in the banking industry of an emerging economy.

Partial least squares based structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses in a sample of 360 respondents collected from the retail banking sector of Pakistan.

Customers’ CSR perceptions directly and positively influence affective and continuance commitment. The findings also confirm that relationship age is a positive moderator of the CSR-continuance commitment relationship, but does not influence the CSR-affective commitment relationship.

Marketers should use CSR activities to enhance customers’ commitment. Given the moderating role of relationship age, marketers should devise different strategies for new and long-term customers. The results clearly show that relationship age affects the CSR-continuance commitment relationship. Long-term banking customers will more likely be in a binding relationship when their banks do CSR activities and disseminate those activities to long-term customers. The study explicitly indicates that maintaining long-term customers’ base through CSR activities helps the marketers in achieving sustainable competitive advantage.

First, it is the pioneering study to empirically investigate the understudied relationship between CSR and continuance commitment. Second, it examines the moderation effect of relationship age on CSR-commitment relationships in the banking industry of an emerging economy.

This study investigates the mediating role of brand love in two important relationships: first, corporate social responsibility (CSR)–word-of-mouth (WoM) intentions and second, corporate ability (CA)–WoM relationships.

Data were collected with a sample of 359 respondents, and partial least squares-based structural equation modeling was utilized for data analysis.

The research reveals interesting findings as brand love fully mediates the CSR–WoM relationship, whilst it partially mediates the CA–WoM relationship.

The results demonstrate that cellular service firms should strive to create brand love. This is because CSR investments can be diligently translated into WoM intentions through brand love.

The proposal and validation of brand love as a mediator in CSR–WoM and CA–WoM relationships in the cellular service context of a South Asian market is the key contribution of this research.

This study aims to highlight important marketing strategies within the context of a highly competitive emerging market with few points of difference because of service homogeneity. Drawing upon the social identity and self-expansion theories, this research explores the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and discounts and packages offers (DPO) as determinants of purchase intentions. The understudied mediating role of brand love is investigated in the CSR–purchase intentions and DPO–purchase intentions relationships, with relationship age as a moderating variable for the two relationships.

Data from 359 valid responses from customers of cellular service firms in Pakistan were analyzed using partial least squares-based structural equation modeling.

The findings show that brand love partially (albeit a weaker relationship) mediates the CSR–purchase intentions relationship. Brand love also partially (albeit a stronger relationship) mediates the DPO–purchase intentions relationship. The moderating role of relationship age is not established.

Cellular firms in emerging markets experience high volatility. Therefore, understanding of the volatile behavior alongside devising strategies is of the utmost importance. This research shows that customers continue their business with the firms they love. Interestingly, the non-significance of relationship age as a moderator for both CSR–purchase intentions and DPO–purchase intentions indicates that garnering customers' purchase intentions with respect to relationship age will be very difficult for cellular firms under fierce competition. CSR and DPO should be strategically used to increase brand love to boost purchase intentions.

This study makes two important contributions to the literature of emerging markets. The first contribution of this research is the proposal and validation of brand love as a mediating variable in CSR–purchase intentions and DPO–purchase intentions relationships. Evaluation of the moderating role of relationship age in CSR–purchase intentions and DPO–purchase intentions relationships is the second contribution.

This study aims to examine the factors that lead to loyalty in bank customers. It establishes a relationship of service quality (SQ) with satisfaction and attitude that leads to customer loyalty. The impact of SQ along with satisfaction and attitude on customer loyalty is explored.

Primary data was collected from 1,097 customers of the banking service. Structural equation modelling (SEM) and multiple regression analyses was used to analyse the data. The adaption of multiple regression and SEM for the analysis authenticates the similar findings in both the methods of analysis.

All the factors contribute to the formation of SQ. There exists a linear relationship of SQ, satisfaction and attitude in the formation of customer loyalty.

Sample can be more diverse and collected from different cities as well. Similar studies are possible for diverse demographic groups such as gender, age, education and others.

The results of this study have significant implications for understanding customer loyalty for banks of Saudi Arabia.

This research attempts to explore the factors responsible for the SQ in banks of Saudi Arabia so as to establish a relationship between SQ, satisfaction, attitude and loyalty.

This paper aims to examine the mediating role of environmental concern in the relationship of green purchase awareness and purchasing behavior of fast food consumers keeping in view the theory of planned behavior.

A quantitative, cross-sectional design is used by collecting primary responses through a validated questionnaire. In all, 1,008 male and female buyers of fast food were sampled. Structural equation modeling is applied.

The results revealed that green purchase awareness has a positive relationship with green purchase behavior, and environmental concern has no mediation in the relationship. Upon having awareness, the respondents adopted green or pro-environmental behavior, but at the same time, they were found having least concern for the protection of environment.

This is a cross-sectional study with questionnaire. Multiple sources of data collection results in weakening self-reporting bias.

Implications count toward individuals, enterprises and society at general.

The study highlights the issue of not having concern for the protection of the environment even after having green purchase awareness. This is the first time the environmental concern is examined as a mediator in the selected relationship. The contradictory results of having no environmental concern differentiate this study from others.

The purpose of this paper is to formulate a benchmark to increase the tyre curing press production rate while minimizing tyre curing press downtime and maintenance cost with the help of a maintenance management technique based on overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

The methodology is based on determining the OEE of tyre curing press before and after rectifying the causes of failures. The failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) technique is used to find out the root causes of repetitive failures in tyre curing press by using the risk priority number.

A significant change in the value of OEE is observed after rectifying the repetitive failures, which were determined using the FMEA technique. Thus, it is concluded that the OEE and FMEA assist in improving the industrial performance and competitiveness of the production equipment studied.

This study is limited to determining the OEE of single equipment only, not the whole production system. Manufacturing facilities are dependent on the operating environment; therefore a comparison of two different manufacturing plants based on the OEE value would not be justified.

This study can be applied in any tyre manufacturing industry in order to take competitive benefits, such as reduction in equipment downtime, increased production and reduction in maintenance cost.

The angle from which the paper approaches the bottleneck problem in a tyre production line is original for the studied company and shows positives results. It allows the company to apply the same approach in its other production equipment, lines and factories to achieve improvement in industrial performance and competitiveness.

This study aims to explore the factors responsible for influencing the service quality (SQ) of department stores in Albaha region, Saudi Arabia. This study also examines the level of influence on SQ.

Primary data was collected from 600 customers out of which 508 questionnaires were included for analysis using retail service quality scale (RSQS). Quota sampling technique was adapted for data collection from different cities of Albaha province. SPSS software was used to analyse the data using multiple linear regression analysis.

Three dimensions have a positive significant impact on SQ (physical aspect, problem-solving and reliability), whereas one dimension (personal interactions) has a negative significant influence and one dimension (policy) is found to be a highly insignificant factor.

Further investigation is required for the negative but significant behaviour of personal interaction and insignificant impact of policy as factors.

This study outlines the dimensions having positive and significant influence of SQ on the department stores.

This study suggests socially and culturally acceptable methods to improve SQ in Albaha.

The research suggests that personal interaction has a negative influence on SQ; this deviation of results from the literature may be due to the cultural variances in KSA which needs to be further investigated, as customers in Albaha are not willing to converse and interact with the seller.

This study explores the factors responsible for influencing online classes for business school during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study also examines the level of influence of these factors on online classes.

Primary data were collected online from 716 business school students using a questionnaire developed by the researcher. Smart PLS3 software was used to analyze the data.

Attitude, curriculum, motivation, technology and training were found to have an impact on online classes. Three variables (attitude, motivation and training) have a positive impact on online classes, whereas two variables (curriculum and technology) have a negative impact on the online classes. All the factors have been found to be significant except technology which is found to have an insignificant impact (p = 0.356) on online classes.

Only one university’s students were surveyed.

Outlines the factors which have a positive and significant impact on online classes during COVID-19 pandemic. This study can be generalized through a student's community across the world as the students face similar problems associated with online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggest factors that can be considered while COVID-19 pandemic during social distancing to make online classes more effective and to reduce the impact of this pandemic.

No study has documented the factors associated to impact the online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aims to, first, propose a valid and reliable scale to document the COVID-19 Pandemic Shopping Experience (CPSE) and, second, determine the impact of its variables on the postpurchase shopping experience (PPSE).

For scale development, published studies were scanned and the variables were shortlisted. These shortlisted variables were validated by 52 faculties from four universities in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from 318 respondents to purify the CPSE Scale. In Study 2, a path analysis was performed on a sample of 354 respondents to determine the individual impact of each variable on PPSE.

A total of 14 items were found to be aligned under four variables, social distance (SD), shop hygiene, operational time and entertainment venues. SD was found to have the greatest influence on PPSE, followed by operational time and shop hygiene.

This research has important implications for retailers to initiate changes in store layout so that they can implement social distancing by physically marking stickers on the floors and by placing barricading on billing counters. Store hygiene can be ensured by making sanitizers and hand gloves available at the entry points, periodically cleaning the floor and sanitizing the premises. Rationing the operating time proved to be an effective tool to minimize the exposure time, thereby limiting consumers' time inside the store.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to propose a full-scale measure of the customer shopping experience (SE) during a pandemic. This scale can be generalized to measure SE in similar situations.