Mohammad Rishad Faridi

Higher education needs to respond to ever changing demands and expectations of present and future potential students. In order to amplify access to educational materials for students who endeavor to learn, various methodologies are used with the help of technology. Education is redefined and democratized by enabling anyone to learn from the world’s experts by a click of a mouse. Higher education institutions are venturing to gain better understanding of the phenomenon of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and its paradigm shift towards open global education. This study endeavors to study how MOOCs can be seamlessly integrated into the present scenario of traditional and learning environment. The commercialization with marketing of MOOCs in KSA’s higher education sector is also discussed. Finally, this study recommends adaptive home grown organic introduction of blended learning with the MOOC platform. With the advent of internet technology, students are now able to access diversified and latest courses which are participatory, collaborative with digital skills, well distributed, engaging and self-paced. This concept enables them to attain lifelong learning and brings scalability at a virtual zero cost to the students. The overall impact of technology on the learning management system will be explored. An attempt is made to introduce and accelerate learning and teaching strategies and tools to enhance student employability with their present usage of technology. The objective of the study is to comprehend the readiness level of learners by incorporating open learning platform, build an innovation model, which involves stakeholders with a holistic perspective that will enable a congenial learning management system, how the deanship of information technology and distance learning change course from a support-based deanship to a strategic-based deanship.

The paradigm shift caused by disruption of traditional business models and innovation is among some factors which have propelled marketers forward-thinking in emphasizing brand fidelity. It is a novel idea and an innovative approach to understanding the impact of consumers while they demonstrate love and commitment through engagement, subconsciously or otherwise, with respect to cognition and behavior. The current study tested the components/factors of brand fidelity among Saudi consumers. The primary data for the study were collected based on the survey instrument among Saudi consumers. Overall, 446 responses were used to analyze the results. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) coupled with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using IBM SPSS and AMOS were used to analyze the data. All the factors of brand fidelity, namely “accommodation/price”, “accommodation/performance”, “cognitive interdependence”, and “derogation of alternatives”, hold valid in the Saudi context with exploratory factor analysis with a factor loading of each factor above the threshold value of 0.50, and with confirmatory factor analysis with a threshold value of more than or equal to 0.60 for all the factor loadings. The result thus obtained suggests that the brand fidelity scale is valid in the Saudi context. Saudi consumers were found to be highly loyal to their favorite brands. The findings of the study will provide inputs to the companies operating in the Saudi market for their brand-related strategy formulation. Moreover, the paper indicates undermining the power of brand fidelity in improving the bottom line through experience management.

Acknowledgment
This paper was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia, under the Specialized Research Grant program with Grant No. 2020/02/17342.

This study analyses the comparative effects between E-WOM on online shopping platforms and social networking platforms on consumers’ purchase intention of smartphones in India. The E-WOM effect on buying intention has become an important context for many researchers due to its increasing importance in today’s world of digitalization. This study aims to assess the influence of E-WOM factors on these two platforms, including E-WOM credibility, E-WOM attitude, E-WOM quantity, and E-WOM format, on purchase decisions of smartphones. The data were collected using a questionnaire from 361 respondents in Uttar Pradesh, India. Multiple regression has been applied to empirically measure the influence of independent factors (E-WOM credibility, E-WOM attitude, E-WOM quantity, and E-WOM format) on the dependent factor (consumers’ purchase intention). The result indicates that E-WOM credibility, E-WOM quantity, and E-WOM format on online shopping platforms have more impact than E-WOM on social media on the purchase intention of smartphones. This study aids online companies in understanding the purchase patterns of consumers, and E-WOM on online shopping platforms is more effective in terms of credibility, quantity, and format as compared to E-WOM on social networking platforms toward buying intention of smartphones.