Issue #1 (Volume 18 2022)

Waiting involves both cognition and emotions. It has a bearing on the overall perception of retail service quality. The advancement in retailing has triggered scholarly conversations on the psychological impact of waiting at the retail checkout. Prior studies confirm customers being deeply involved in the passage of time and time estimation during the entire waiting period. This study investigates the customer idle time and its implication on emotional discomfort resulting from crowding stress. The study employed confirmatory sampling wherein specific sample elements are chosen since they are the key respondents to confirm hypotheses being tested. Accordingly, 385 respondents (shoppers) visiting the leading organized retailers located in major localities in Bengaluru were approached. The responses were analyzed using a Chi-squared test and Pearson correlation. The outcome reveals that irrespective of age and gender, customers visiting the offline retail outlets experience emotional discomfort. The young customers aged 18-30 dislike waiting in the queue at the checkout compared to older customers. In contrast, gender did not affect the inclination to wait. The idleness during the checkout waits causes emotional discomfort on most occasions. The findings supplement the growing research in psychology on the actual and perceived consumption of time, focusing on idleness. The study concludes that customers desire to avert an unproductive use of time, thus lowering their emotional discomfort.

The goal of this study is to ascertain the critical elements affecting public acceptance and readiness to advocate electronic government services in Vietnam. An online survey was conducted among Vietnamese citizens. The chosen respondents had experience with e-government services. The analysis was utilized with the data gathered from 316 clean and legitimate responses. PLS-SEM analytic techniques and the SmartPLS program were adopted to execute analyzing processes. The findings indicate that three essential factors influenced the adoption of e-government services: (i) perceived service value, (ii) citizen e-empowerment, and (iii) fear of Covid-19. The perceived value of services, fear of Covid-19, and acceptance of e-government services all have a beneficial effect on citizen intention to recommend e-public services. This study suggested three practical implications: (a) leveraging the challenges of Covid-19 pandemic is to promote e-government services; (b) enhancing public service quality and informational quality is critical and vital to adopting e-government services, and (c) promoting citizen e-empowerment, outcomes, values, self-responsibility, and working procedures of e-public services to all citizens is necessary.

With the rise of micro media, the library’s traditional knowledge services and its publicity and promotion methods have been challenged. This study investigates the marketing and promotion of knowledge services through micro media in university libraries. Based on the dynamic model of knowledge service marketing promotion in university libraries, this paper conducts network research and analysis on the library knowledge service microblog, WeChat, and microfilm marketing of 42 world-class universities in China. The results show that among 42 university libraries, microblog and WeChat have a high opening rate but do not attach importance to late marketing management and maintenance (microblogs’ opening rate is 83.3%, the proportion of people paying attention is 20%). The number of knowledge service outlay exceeds 1,000 accounts (28.6%). The rate of consultation feedback within one day is 17.14%. The official WeChat account number has 97.6% of libraries. The ratio of WeChat push at least once a week is 68.3%, and the rate of consultation feedback within one day is 17.07%. Microfilm marketing is not valued as a whole (the release rate of microfilms is only 9.5%). Successful microfilm marketing (such as Tsinghua University’s “falling in love with the library” series with 7,320 views/day) helps to improve the communication efficiency of knowledge services and brand awareness. This study confirms that micro media marketing has not been fully developed and utilized. University libraries should take user experience, media technology, resource reserve, service content, account publicity, and operation as the starting point to improve user viscosity.

This paper aims to discuss the adoption of information technology by retailers in Jordan and the impact on retail space, particularly in major urban areas of Jordan. Retailers such as Walmart, Amazon, and Metro are using advanced technologies to continue attracting and expanding consumers with the advent of internet of things (IoT), radio frequency identification (RFID) and point of sales (POS) hardware and software and retail.
The study relied on the explanatory approach to achieve these objectives. The study sample consisted of 134 stores that were chosen randomly and 480 customers of these stores, which were also chosen randomly. A questionnaire was designed based on previous studies and distributed among the respondents. The statistical analysis program (SPSS) was used to analyze the data obtained from the sample and test the hypotheses.
The study results showed that information technologies influence customer perceptions. However, RFID appears to have no impact on employee perception. Retailers’ attitudes and adoption of information technologies in the Jordanian retail sector are heavily influenced by external factors. RFID usage does not play a significant role in determining the retailers’ attitude towards adopting IT practices. The reason for such an outcome may be that sometimes the devices fail to read the various codes, and thus, it makes it difficult for the retailer to scan the products.

Acknowledgment
This paper is supported with a generous fund of the faculty of scientific research and graduate studies, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University. Fund decision number – 47/2021.

The evolving needs of the consumers in the luxury cosmetic segment require the firms to pique consumer interest. This forces the firms to keep their focus on providing superior quality products and, at the same time, creating a memorable experience. The study is undertaken to provide a better understanding of experience through emotions. This study aims to investigate the strategies of experiential marketing used by luxury cosmetics companies for influencing consumer perception. Thus, the current study examines empirical studies selected using PRISMA guidelines to formulate a critical review of prevailing literature to arrive at the findings of the study. The results show that strategies such as free samples and exclusive distribution influence the probability of usage of products and cater to consumer expectations of exclusive approaches. In addition, the strategies of the online community, gift promotion, flagship stores, service from experts, and showbiz marketing can be used to create a meaningful brand experience. The brand image creation, stories associated with design, innovativeness, and product exclusivity enable the impactful contribution of experiential marketing. Thus, companies using immersive experience through technology should implement strategies like virtual shopping or event marketing for targeting consumers. In conclusion, the strategy of e-word of mouth using various social media platforms, event marketing, and storytelling have been identified to shape the feeling and experience of a consumer to influence attitude towards online shopping and maintain their engagement after a purchase.

The Covid-19 epidemic has resulted in a dramatic decline in hotel public consumption. Hotel performance must be enhanced through the use of a hotel marketing strategy to compete with others. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the innovation of the brand, dynamic capability of marketing, brand communication, brand experience, and brand performance in Indonesian 3-5 star international hotels. The data for this study were acquired using an electronic questionnaire on Google Forms from 530 customers who stayed in hotels throughout Indonesia prior to and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Smart-PLS 3.2.9 was used to analyze the data using the outer model and the inner model. The findings indicated as follows: brand innovation has a positive effect on brand communication; dynamic marketing capability has a positive influence on brand communication; brand communication directly has a positive effect on brand experience; brand experience significantly has a positive effect on brand performance; brand communication directly has a positive effect on brand performance; brand innovation has a positive influence on brand performance, and dynamic marketing capability has a positive effect on brand performance. This study contributes to the worldwide hotel strategy’s global marketing efforts in order to compete and improve performance in an increasingly competitive hotel business.

Understanding the mechanisms through which social groups impact consumers’ purchase decisions is of particular interest to scholars and practitioners. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the cognitive-affective model by examining the roles of the subjective norm and its contingency factors in the cognitive-affective model and the indigenous consumers’ purchase intention towards a foreign footwear brand. The validity of the model is tested using data collected from 257 Vietnamese consumers. The results of PLS-SEM and SPSS Macro PROCESS reveal that subjective norm positively influences the emotional value (β = 0.219, p = 0.002) and perceived quality (β = 0.239, p = 0.000) for the foreign brand. In addition, face consciousness positively moderates the indirect effects of subjective norm on purchase intention through emotional value (β = 0.08; LLCI = 0.02; ULCI = 0.13) while the moderating effect of perceived behavioral control is significantly negative (β = –0.1074; LLCI = -0.182; ULCI = –0.05). In conclusion, this study can offer insight into the roles of social groups and their contingency factors in the cognitive-affective model and purchase intention. On this ground, managers of foreign brands are advised to focus on the impacts of social groups in their marketing campaigns, together with underlining the social status and superbness of their offerings to attract new consumers.

Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the University of Finance-Marketing for their funding.

The paper strives to investigate the influential factors that might significantly affect consumers’ intention to shop from online websites. On this premise, this paper aims to examine the impact of perceived trust (PT), convenience (CONV), perceived website quality (PWQ), and subjective norm (SN) on individuals’ intention towards online shopping (ITOS). The paper proposed a study framework based on previous relevant literature. The study has drawn samples from private university students of Bangladesh. A quantitative research approach was adopted, followed by a survey method. Only undergraduate and postgraduate students of two Bangladeshi universities were considered as respondents as it is believed that they were the primary online shoppers in Bangladesh perspective. The sample size in this paper is 339, which was deemed adequate to run regression analysis. SPSS software has been utilized to conduct correlation and regression analysis. The convenience sampling method was applied in the study as the population is not known. This paper applied a 95% confidence interval to accept the hypotheses. Correlation results confirm that all independent variables correlated with ITOS. The findings of the paper report that PT, CONV, PWQ, and SN have a significant impact on students’ intention towards online shopping (ITOS). Henceforth, the online business managers can utilize the findings of this paper to understand the young consumer behaviors and develop a solid and effective online marketing plan for sustainable business performance.

Vehicles are classified as a mobile source of pollution worldwide. This problem is compounded in countries like India, where the population is enormous, and the number of automobiles increases quickly. To overcome this issue, governments and individuals must adopt electric vehicles and maximize the use of eco-friendly vehicles. However, the adoption of electric vehicles in India is gradual. One of the reasons is the attitude towards traditional and electric vehicles. This study’s primary objective is to determine how attitude influences the adoption of electric vehicles. The topic is vital since the attitude provided by numerous studies influences the intention to buy anything. This study considered one dependent variable (electric vehicle adoption) and one mediating variable (attitude) along with five independent variables. The data collection method was straightforward, and the sample size was 366 respondents. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), structural equation modeling (SEM), and mediation analysis were used to analyze the data. All adopted constructs were trustworthy, with average variance extracted exceeding 0.55, composite reliability exceeding 0.75, and factor loadings exceeding 0.70 for most. The model fit indices were also found to be significant on several parameters. Among all other variables, only financial incentives affect electric vehicle adoption. In other circumstances, opinions did not influence customer uptake of electric vehicles.

The study focuses on identifying and describing the layout models of leading Ukrainian TV channels, which were formed in 2004–2020 in connection with changes in audience demands, transformations of business models, and mastering the latest technologies. The news release is a marketing narrative about current events, mediated by narrators and language as a sign system. This paper aims to emotionally engage viewers and further communicate with them (including the consumption of television commercials). In 2019–2021, a rhetorical analysis of 531 news issues of the previously created sample of TV channels was performed. The semantic, structural, technological regularities and differences in the news layout are revealed. Based on a set of criteria (principles of selection and ranking of topics, methods of presenting information, broadcasting methods), the layout of the sample news is classified. Then a general description of TV news layout models is made. Five narrative models of the leading Ukrainian TV channels are substantiated: 1) hierarchical layout; 2) standard layout; 3) social layout; 4) stress layout; and 5) mixed layout. These models are related to the implementation of marketing tasks. Their understanding allows deepening the understanding of working with the audience, as well as improving news production in the television business.

Since several commercial activities such as banking, shopping, transfers, and payments had been conducted online, many banks in Cambodia provided e-banking services to their customers to support these activities. Meanwhile, if the banks could provide such e-banking services to satisfy their customers’ needs, they could maintain their customers and profits. Thus, finding the main factors influencing customer satisfaction in the e-banking service industry is significant. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to investigate how customer satisfaction develops through examining the impacts of perceived risk (financial risk and performance risk) and perceived value on customer satisfaction in the e-banking. This study applied convenience sampling to get data from the respondents at convenient locations (near banks, markets, supermarkets, universities, and workplaces). 700 respondents who were currently using mobile banking or internet banking services at either commercial or retail banks in Cambodia were invited to fill in the questionnaires. In addition, the results of this study were generated through structural equation model (SEM) analysis based on 546 valid responses. The results revealed that perceived value was mainly influenced by performance risk, whereas financial risk did not significantly affect perceived value. Finally, perceived value and performance risk significantly influenced customer satisfaction, except financial risk. In addition, despite both perceived value and performance risk significantly influencing customer satisfaction, promoting customer satisfaction through increasing perceived value was far more effective than minimizing performance risk.

This study sought to diagnose the factors leading to the mass uptake of unregulated pyramid schemes in South Africa. The study adopted an exploratory and qualitative research design. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 20 respondents using a non-probability sampling technique known as purposive sampling. The respondents were drawn from the target population of individuals who have previously used unregulated pyramid schemes. Data were analyzed using the Nvivo framework matrix. The findings of this study show that individuals are motivated to join pyramid schemes because of the expected benefit or return, accounting for 40%, followed by current economic conditions (30%), friends and family recommendation (15%), desire to get rich quickly (10%), and past performance of the scheme (5%). This study has contributed to the literature on multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes in South Africa and the developing world in general. It will further act as a launchpad for designing policies in the financial services sector.

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is an effective marketing practice in the age of social media. IMC builds customer relationships and enhances brand value by integrating information from multiple channels and strengthening user interaction. The purpose of this study is to present the development process, current hotspots, and future trends of IMC research. Moreover, it explores the characteristics and patterns of IMC research. First, this paper shows the annual literature volume, leading countries, journals, and authors in IMC research through bibliometrics. Then, five hot research topics are identified through keyword co-occurrence analysis, namely IMC theory and models, brand communication, media research, customer research, and marketing strategy. From 1991 to 2020, IMC research is divided into five phases, each of which is related to the enhancement of user interaction. Future IMC research will continue to be user-centered, and IMC research will continue with social media and branding, as well as research on other topics that can further enhance user interactions. This paper also finds that the characteristics of the concept of IMC itself lead to a constant renewal of its connotations, which is one of the reasons why scholars cannot reach a consensus on the concept of IMC.

Acknowledgments
We thank Associate Professor Zhenkun Cui of Henan Institute of Science and Technology for his valuable comments during the writing and revision of this paper. The following research projects supported this study: (1) Henan Provincial University Humanities and Social Sciences Research Project No.2022-ZDJH-0099; (2) Henan Provincial University Humanities and Social Sciences Research Project No.2022-ZZJH-158; (3) Henan Province Social Science Planning Project No. 2021BZZ004; and (4) Xinxiang Social Science Federation Research Project No. 2021-167.

The emerging market of over the top (OTT) streaming platform has evolved the movie industry to a new challenge. Providing moviegoers with a good viewing experience is critical for success in the highly competitive OTT market. This study aimed to examine the antecedent of the viewing experience in the context of the OTT platform and the mediating role of viewing experience toward behavioral intentions in Indonesia. In conjunction with the viewing experience, this study also includes social media exposure and fear of missing out (FOMO) to predict behavioral intentions. PLS-SEM method was used to analyze the empirical data gathered through purposive sampling. A total of 438 eligible samples were obtained through a questionnaire distributed online. The results indicate that viewing experience is mainly influenced by movie attributes. Viewing experience also mediates behavioral intentions with an R-squared value of 0.629, indicating a strong effect. The theoretical and managerial implications of the study results are discussed. The study also aimed to ascertain how sound viewing experience, social media exposure, and fear of missing out predicts the intention to recommend movies, intention to recommend platforms, and intention to continue subscribing. Lastly, this study assessed which antecedent of viewing experience has the most significant impact on forming a good viewing experience.

During COVID-19, consumers of skincare products pay more attention to safety and comfort. In such a crisis, consumers seek skincare products with brand effectiveness, high quality, and persuasive reviews by social media influencers. This study investigates the influence of brand effectiveness, product quality, and celebrity endorsers on purchase intention of halal skincare products in the pandemic. The study employed a survey of halal skincare users in East Java, Indonesia. A purposive sampling of 180 female respondents was analyzed; they were followers of Safi-Skincare Instagram and aged 18 and over. Descriptive statistics indicated that religious background strengthened the factors influencing the purchase intention towards a skincare product. The data were then analyzed using multiple linear regression with a statistical level of confidence of 95%. The result showed that brand effectiveness, product quality, and celebrity endorsers significantly affect purchase intention in Indonesia during the pandemic. The study concludes that Muslim standards reinforce rigid standards applied to skincare products with a halal logo, supporting good quality performance and encouraging stronger purchase intention. This study contributes to understanding consumer behavior in the pandemic using a purchase intention framework that can be applied to the safety and comfort of other consumer products.

Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Universitas Jember, East Java, Indonesia, for providing partial publication funding.

Nowadays, the top-10 products exported from Georgia are dominated by agri-food products; thus, it is important to increase the competitiveness of locally produced products based on relevant characteristics. The world is changing rapidly, and identifying consumer preferences in such conditions can be vital for an entrepreneur. The purpose of this study is to identify the main characteristics that determine the competitiveness of the agri-food product for Georgian consumers. For this purpose, 1,200 adult individuals from different regions of Georgia who have a stable monthly income were surveyed. The survey was conducted by sending a questionnaire through online channels. The results were processed using data analysis, quantitative research methods. Both simple and complex statistical analysis methods were used: descriptive, frequency, consumer table analysis, analysis of group differences, graphical analysis. As predicted for the majority, 74% of respondents to be exact, quality took the first place. The price comes only in second, and it is chosen by 21% of consumers. With increasing age and income, the importance of quality increases. It was found out that service and packaging are not crucial for consumers in the process of selecting agri-food products. In addition, it should be noted that 42% of respondents are more or less impacted by advertising for agri-food products. Thus, producers need to devote a large portion of their resources to quality improvement, while the state should create a favorable environment for this.