Issue #3 (Volume 17 2021)

This study aims to expand the knowledge on consumer experiences and values from an innovative marketing perspective in the context of shopping centers of inland towns in the Brazilian Northeast region. A qualitative approach was adopted using 50 in-depth interviews of shopping center visitors to collect data. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to evaluate the data. The results revealed two main categories: unpleasant and pleasant experiences. In terms of main results, 23 participants have a mix of pleasant and unpleasant experiences, while 24 report only pleasant, and 3 – unpleasant experiences. The unpleasant experiences are mostly related to the excess of people (n = 19). In what refers to pleasant experiences, functionality (n = 43), and sensory (n = 33) are the two most mentioned values, being functionality the top value to consumers regardless the purpose they have in going to the Shopping Centre. The results can be relevant inputs to design and manage Shopping Centers regarding cultural adjustment by considering consumers’ experiences and values and the importance of joining competing values behind pleasant and unpleasant experiences. The study contributes to the experiential marketing literature by highlighting the importance of cultural contexts in consumer experiences and behavior research.

Acknowledgment
Maria Raquel Lucas and Andreia Dionísio are pleased to acknowledge financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (grant UIDB/04007/2020).

The risk of virus contracting during the COVID-19 pandemic has changed consumer preference for online shopping to meet their daily needs than shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. Online shopping presents a different environment, atmosphere, and experience. The possibility of ethical violations is higher during online than face-to-face transactions. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the influence of perceived health risk and customer perception of online retail ethics on consumer online shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, involving seven variables, namely perceived health risk, security, privacy, non-deception, reliability fulfillment, service recovery, and online shopping behavior. The data were collected through an online survey by employing the purposive sampling technique to a consumer who has shopped online during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. 315 valid responses were obtained and analyzed through quantitative method using SEM-Amos. The results showed that perceived health risk and four variables of online retail ethics including security, privacy, reliability fulfillment, and service recovery affected online shopping behavior. Meanwhile, non-deception was found to have an insignificant effect. The coefficient value proved perceived health risk to be more dominant in influencing online shopping behavior than the variables of online retail ethics. Thus, consumers pay more concern for their health during online shopping. However, positive consumer perceptions of the behavior of online retail websites in providing services also can encourage consumers to shop online during this pandemic.

The main aim of this study is to examine the antecedents and consequences of consumer engagement in the Saudi airline industry. In total, 403 usable responses were collected using an electronic survey. The study respondents include airline travelers who are living in Saudi Arabia. The survey data were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify the theoretical model. The major study findings suggest that a positive correlation is found between online brand experience, brand love, and customer engagement. Moreover, customer engagement is positively associated with repatronage intention. In addition, the moderating results show that service quality has a moderating influence on the relationship between customer engagement and repatronage intention. As a consequence, the findings indicate the existence of service quality and its role in determining customer behavior intentions. This study also offers a great understanding of the interaction between the important factors. Thus, they may be utilized as a guideline for managing air traveling and improving airline sales in the country.

This paper discusses the trade of counterfeit luxury brands, which has grown at an alarming rate and is becoming a pertinent topic. The objective of this study is to specify the factors that influence purchase intention of counterfeit products. A questionnaire was applied to a group of Portuguese consumers, wherein 43% male and 57% female, with an average age of 32.59 years (SD = 9.78). The middle class registered the highest number of responses (86%), followed by the upper class (11%). Most respondents had higher education (76%). This group agreed to declare that they purchase counterfeit luxury products. Qualtrics software was used to validate one hundred responses. Data analysis was performed using SPSS.
The results show that the three most popular counterfeit products are bags, clothes, and watches; the three brands that are most easily for sale are Louis Vuitton, Ray-Ban, and Nike; the main motivation associated with counterfeit goods is lower price (44%). The main sources are street vendors and online shopping. The intention to re-purchase a counterfeit product obtained low median results.
The most desired counterfeit products are bags and clothes that are sold by street vendors (28%) or in the Internet (26%). The main factors that lead to the acquisition of counterfeit products are lower prices (44%) and product design (11%). 130 consumers declared the highest price satisfaction than a personal satisfaction from the purchase of counterfeit products. Portuguese consumers are also aware of ethical issues and agree with the enforcement of severe measures.

Milk consumption is a very important part of consumers’ daily diet due to its positive health effect. The purpose of the paper is to evaluate the market of milk and dairy products. The paper analyzes the development of milk consumption in V4 countries, which was described by using regression functions. The data were obtained from the statistical offices of chosen countries. Based on the achieved results it was found that in Slovakia and Hungary milk consumption is very low, but in the Czech Republic and Poland consumption is recorded in the range of recommended doses and is sufficient. Looking to the future, based on the described trend of consumption, it is possible to assume that the situation in the Slovak Republic will be accompanied by unfavorable developments and in comparison with other V4 countries, Slovakia will consume the least milk and dairy products per capita. Moreover, a questionnaire survey orientated on the level of milk consumption and consumer behavior was conducted on the sample of 518 respondents. Average Slovak consumers consume daily 1 glass of milk, 20 g of cheese, 70 g of curds, and 250 g of sour-milk or other dairy product. Depending on the level of consumption, 3 consumer segments were defined for which different consumer behavior was identified, especially in the issue of factor assessment. In general, however, it is concluded that the quality and price of milk and dairy products are crucial for consumers to make their choice.

Acknowledgment
This paper is supported by the Operational Program Integrated Infrastructure within the project: Demand-driven research for the sustainable and innovative food, Drive4SIFood 313011V336, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

The objective of this study was to validate three independent variables, namely market sensing, learning, targeting and positioning, as to dimensions of dynamic marketing capability (DMC). By developing a theoretical framework, this study demonstrates the importance of three dimensions of DMC. This study collected 530 valid samples through an online questionnaire survey in major cities in Indonesia. Respondents are Indonesian citizens aged over 15 years who have stayed at three to five-star international hotels in Indonesia during the Covid-19 period in 2020. This study used a combination of Smart-PLS and SPSS to examine the outer model and inner model. The outcome of this study demonstrated that market sensing had a significant effect on DMC. Then, market learning also had a significant effect on DMC. Next, market targeting and positioning had a significant effect on DMC from the perspective of the customer in international hotels in Indonesia. The outcome of this study is to support the development of a conceptual framework and conduct an empirical evaluation of the relationship between market sensing, market learning, market targeting and positioning, which are DMC dimensions in global marketing. In general, this study contributes to the international hotel industry in developing the marketing area in the context of DMC.

The tourism sector has become a truly global force for promoting economic growth and development. Therefore, the study of tourism has become an interesting topic for researchers lately. On the other hand, local tourism, generally in developing countries, is often neglected by academics and policymakers. For this reason, this study aims to examine and analyze the role of tourist motivation in mediating accessibility, amenities, and attractions on visiting decisions. This study is a survey research with an explanatory method. The population is tourists who visit the tourism village of Bumiaji, Indonesia, in the low and busy seasons. The population is infinite and the number of respondents who were interviewed is 100 respondents; data were collected by distributing questionnaires to domestic tourists who came from outside the tourist village of Bumiaji, then the data were processed and analyzed using Warp Partial Least Squares. The findings indicate that the effect of accessibility on visiting decisions is not mediated by tourist motivation. This shows that the decision of tourists to visit can be directly influenced by the time and means of transportation available. Meanwhile, the influence of amenities and attractions on the decision to visit is mediated by the motivation of tourists. This means that amenities and attractions can influence a tourist’s decision to visit if there is an urge from tourist to relax or make friends or enjoy the culture at tourist attractions, etc.

As informal workers struggle to survive the current crisis, there is reason to believe that more strain would also be exerted on the already fragile sector in the post-crisis era. The implications of the COVID-19 outbreak for the informal economy will continue. Faced with a long crisis, the global economy would likely shrink demand for informal goods and services. The primary goal of this paper is to study consumer behavior during the pandemic, investigate government-implemented Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the unorganized retail sector, and determine if consumers prefer to have goods delivered to their homes rather than visit retail stores. This paper collected information from a number of Indian customers who made unorganized retail transactions in New Delhi and NCR Region. The sample was taken from 700 citizens of New Delhi, India. The study found that product variety, digital payment, scheduling, free delivery and lower speed have a significant effect on customer behavior. In addition, SOPs do not influence consumer behavior. The main reasons for choosing a specific channel are simple availability, security, less hassle, and compliance with all laws. The pandemic led to a renewed trust in the local Kirana shop, with new clients visiting metro and non-metro shops locally. The system in Kirana has changed from physical sales to digital aviation because of the pandemic.

This study empirically investigated the marketing perspectives of behavioral intention and the actual use of digital payment solutions as electronic innovation for retail purchases in Thailand. This is important as leveraging digital innovation can be applied to minimize physical contact between retailers and customers, especially in the COVID-19 era. The UTAUT model was used and extended to include attitude, social distancing, and perceived risk variables. The study was conducted using primary data collected from 467 Thai respondents who used digital payment systems as a means of payment in retail purchases. The study data were collected employing a structured questionnaire. Techniques used in data analysis include Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. The results from the data analysis highlighted that behavioral intention to use digital payment innovation in Thailand was influenced by Perceived Risk (PR), Facilitating Condition (FC), Performance Expectancy (PE), and Attitudes (AT) of people. The study also revealed that exploring the marketing perspectives, Behavioral Intention (BI) significantly influenced the Actual Use (AU) of digital payment systems. The implication is that stakeholders in retail and financial sectors, such as banks and other digital payment providers, should consider aspects of people’s attitudes and perceived risk as they influence the use and adoption of innovative digital payment solutions. Thus, it is, appropriate to propose policies and regulations that promote the effective use of digital payment systems in the Thai retail sector.

Acknowledgment
This work is supported by King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang.

As an online and offline integrated service of refund, replacement, and after-sales service, omnichannel is placing itself as a major service used in the online shopping market, as efficiency and an integrated operation system develop according to channel integration due to ICT development. Centered on young people who have recently put importance on in-store experience and direct experience, offline pickup service is reinforced beyond online delivery. This study aims to analyze the effects of a distribution company’s brand factors on customer consumption value and satisfaction targeting the omnichannel-based pickup service. The research model was designed to find out whether brand image, identity, attachment, and trust factors affect consumption satisfaction factors through the intervention of emotional and functional consumption value factors. This study targeted 324 consumers using Korea’s omnichannel-based pickup service and carried out a questionnaire survey. According to the analysis result, the brand image and brand identity had a positive (+) effect on the emotional value and functional value. Brand attachment and brand trust positively affected emotional value but the hypothesis on functional value was rejected. Hence, brand factors were confirmed to work on improving a consumer’s emotional value effectively.

Literature suggests that achieving adequate customer loyalty is a significant determinant of growth and profitability. However, in South Africa, there is no evidence of a validated customer-loyalty-in-retail-banking scale. Thus, this study aimed to contribute to the literature by validating customer loyalty in retail banking as a six-factor structure comprising customer loyalty, service quality, customer commitment, trust, switching cost and customer satisfaction, which practitioners can use as a marketing guide to better understand customer loyalty. Data was collected from one sample only once, and the sample size was selected (N = 400). Descriptive and confirmatory factor analyses were undertaken to achieve the study’s objective. Confirmatory factor analysis results validated customer loyalty in retail banking as a six-factor structure that includes customer loyalty, service quality, customer commitment, trust, switching cost and customer satisfaction. The results show no serious multicollinearity between the latent factors and that acceptable internal-consistency reliability was returned for each factor. Moreover, the measurement model returned acceptable composite reliability together with construct, convergent and discriminant validity. Moreover, IFI, TLI, CFI, SRMR and RMSEA model fit index values suggest a good fitting model. Thus, the results concluded that this six-factor model is a reliable and valid instrument of customer loyalty in retail banking and is the first validated customer loyalty scale within the retail-banking context of South Africa. Retail banks are encouraged to use this instrument as a marketing guide in their quest to provide excellent banking services to their market segments, as well as build solid bank-customer relationships.

In recent years, the concept of sustainable consumption behavior (SCB) is largely introduced and changed continuously to be discussed with industries such as energy sector, agriculture, transportation, sharing economy, and tourism. However, the study of sustainable consumption behavior in the online education industry (SCBOEI) remains a research gap. Thus, this paper aims to identify the significance of sustainable consumption behavior and theoretically conceptualize SCBOEI. This study employs content and text analysis to reconceptualize the major theories that contribute to the research of SCB. The findings in this study show that SCBOEI is contributed of great significance to promote sustainable development. In addition, this study introduces a model of SCBOEI, in which the consumer value theory, social exchange theory, and planned behavior theory are integrated. Additionally, this paper suggests that value, environmental attitude, identity, consumer engagement, and contextual factors (government behavior, market conditions, and environmental education) are highly important to extend the research on SCBOEI. In conclusion, this study strongly recommends that SCB research shall be directed to the online education industry. Furthermore, future studies shall emphasize the empirical effects of psychological factors, activity factors, and contextual factors for SCBOEI to find the correlation.

The threat of online shopping propels brick-and-mortar retailers to innovate and design their retail atmosphere to create unforgettable shopping experiences to compete effectively and retain customers. The study firstly identifies store atmospherics factors that enhance the shopping experience and secondly explores the hypothesized relationships between store atmospherics dimensions (lighting, music, layout, and employee interaction) and customer experience. Furthermore, the effect of customer experience and repurchase intention is also explored. A self-administered survey was used, and data were collected from 390 respondents who visit physical clothing stores regularly in the City of Johannesburg in South Africa. The survey results were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for descriptive statistics. Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modelling (CB-SEM) was utilized for the path analysis. The findings reveal that only store layout, lighting, and employee interaction are essential elements in creating pleasurable customer in-store experiences (β = 0.163, p = 0.05; β = 0.207, p = 0.01; β = 0.293, p = 0.001). It is also evident that consumers perceive music to be less effective in enhancing their shopping experiences (β = 0.048, p = ns). Moreover, the results show that enriching customer experiences stimulate repeat purchases (β = 0.745, p = 0.001). The findings demonstrate that innovating the store environment should be based on shop layout, illumination, and employee contact to create appealing experiences. This study contributes to consumer and retailing services literature.

Acknowledgment
This study is based on the research supported partly by the University of the Witwatersrand Chancellor’s Female Academic Leaders Fellowship.

Currently, Internet penetration is accelerating across the country in Bangladesh, which, in particular, has led to the simultaneous development and growth of online businesses. Due to increased internet availability and accessibility, a number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) continue to operate using an Internet-driven online platform. This context requires a research effort to investigate the underlying factors that might influence the business performance of online SMEs. Thus, the aim of the study is to examine the impact of e-marketing orientation (EMO), technology orientation (TO), and learning capability (LC) on online SME performance in the context of Bangladesh. In this study, the dependent variable is online SME performance, whereas the independent variables are EMO, TO and LC. To achieve this objective, the study developed a questionnaire based on past literature. Following a non-probability random sampling approach, 320 survey forms were distributed among online SME owners using the online survey system (Google form), and finally 156 responses were realized as fully complete responses. Hence, the study sample size is n = 156. SPSS version no. 26 was used to analyze the correlation among independent and dependent variables and to test the hypotheses. During statistical analysis, the 5% significance level is used as a threshold value to accept hypotheses. The study results show that EMO, TO and LC have a statistical and significant impact on online SME performance. Finally, this paper seeks to outline several important implications for online SME owners, as well as suggest several directions for future research.

The improvement of global Internet access and the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated mass testing of online teaching methods, have forwarded the competition between higher education institutions from the regional level and the struggle for the rich student into the competition for students in all countries. The paper aims to determine the influence of the rating of higher education institutions on the interest of Internet users by conducting a comparative analysis of the popularity of the official names of higher education institutions in search queries in Ukraine and Poland. To do this, a comparative analysis of the change in the interest in leading higher education institutions in Ukraine and Poland in search queries in the Google search engine is carried out. The analysis is performed using the Google Trends web application. As a result, it is found that a high position of the university in the national ranking does not guarantee more search queries about it on the Internet by both national Internet users and users from the neighboring country. In general, Internet users continue to be most interested in universities located in their region at the time of the search.