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The Metaverse and Internet of Things (IoT) have emerged like a tidal wave, and it is creating a transformative impact on society and industry. The metaverse and IoT changed the way companies were operating earlier and customers were living their lives. On the other hand, Metaverse enriches the customer experience by offering a matchless virtual experience using augmented reality and state-of-the-art technology. The metaverse and the IoT can be used in various sectors such as manufacturing, transportation, retailing, health care, banking, and automobiles to make cities smart. Metaverse and IoT provide real-time data, reduces operational cost and errors, improves efficiency, and helps industries to make intelligent decisions. Although the IoT and Metaverse offer significant benefits, it is not free from limitations. Ethical dilemmas, privacy issues, data breaches, and difficulty in extracting relevant data impose serious challenges that need to be addressed. There is an urgent and dire need to create a trade-off between the interest of the business and the privacy and security of customers. This chapter aims to discover the potential of Metaverse and IoT in various sectors (e.g., healthcare, transportation, and electronics). This study will bring significant insights to researchers and policymakers by exploring the likely benefits of IoT and metaverse in diverse sectors to develop smart cities. This chapter will also explain the challenges of metaverse and IoT, which can be addressed by integrating data analytics tools optimally and efficiently.

The purpose of the paper is to present research trends in the food supply chain in the context of changes in food systems due to globalization, urbanization, environmental concerns, technological changes and changes in food consumption patterns in the world.

The present investigation was performed by bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer software, visualization software developed by Nees and Waltman (2020). In this work we performed co-citation, bibliographic coupling and keyword evolution analyses.

The results show that research in the food supply chain is rapidly changing and growing. By applying co-citation analysis, The authors found that the intellectual structure of the food supply chain has evolved around six clusters, namely, (a) collaboration and integration in the supply chain (b) sustainable supply chain management, (c) food supply chain management (FSCM), (d) models for decision-making in the food supply chain, (e) risk management in the supply chain and (g) quality and food logistics in the supply chain. However, based on bibliographic coupling analysis, The authors find that new or emerging research niches are moving toward food supply market access, innovation and technology, food waste management and halal FSCM. Nevertheless, the authors found that the existing research in each of the thematic clusters is not exhaustive.

The limitation of the research is that the analysis mainly relates only to the bibliometric approach and only one database, namely, Scopus. Broader inclusion of databases and deeper application of content analysis could expand the results of this research.

There are limited studies that have examined research trends in food supply chains in both developed and developing countries using bibliometric analysis. The present investigation is novel in identifying the thematic research clusters in the food supply chain, emerging issues and likely future research directions. This is important given the dynamics, consumer demand for quality food, technological changes and environmental sustainability issues in food systems.

This study aims to examine the role of price discounts and how to communite such discounts for masstige brands. While a price discount might encourage potential (first time) customers seeking higher status to buy a masstige brand, it might deter existing (repeat) customers from purchasing the brand due to a decline in perceived status. Such paradoxical effect of price discounts on masstige brand’s purchase requires a detail investigation into whether masstige brands should offer price discounts and if so, how to communicate such discounts. Current research investigates this phenomenon.

Four experimental studies were executed. Study 1 investigated the impact of monetary discount (absent vs. present) on the purchase intention of masstige brands for different customer types (potential vs. existing). Study 2 investigated the mediating role of perceived status. Study 3 examined the effectiveness of metaphoric communication of monetary discounts (absent vs present) on masstige brand’s purchase. Study 4 tested the moderating effect of customers’ need for cognition.

Overall, monetary discounts positively affect purchase intention of masstige brand; however, the effect is negative for existing customers and positive for potential customers owing to differences in perceived status these customer groups experience (positive for potential and negative for existing customers). Metaphoric communications of monetary discounts restrict the declining purchase intention and status perception of existing customers besides keeping the potential customers’ purchase intention intact.

This research is confined to a particular country limiting the gneralisability of the study’s findings. Furthermore, this research is cross-sectional in nature.

The findings of this research provide valuable insights and actionable recommendations for masstige brands to effectively leverage price discounts, especially in the emerging markets.

To date, a question of whether or not masstige brands should offer price discounts and if so, how to communicate such discounts remain opaque. This is the pioneering study exploring this phenomenon.

This article delves into a theoretical framework evaluating the outcomes of justice perception (JP) on post-complaint behaviors. In addition, this article intends to facilitate service strategists to tailor service recovery efforts to attain a competitive gain.

We explored the complex relationships between JP and positive word-of-mouth (PWOM), evaluating the role of recovery disconfirmation (RD) as a mediator and also exploring factors that work as moderators. Data were collected in three different studies (Study 1: survey in banking service, Study 2a: experiment in hotel service and Study 2b: experiment in banking service) and were evaluated through the regression-based analysis.

Findings show that the link between JP and PWOM is mediated by RD. Moreover, the attitude toward complaining, failure severity and cognitive reappraisal function as moderators in affecting the behavioral consequences of JP.

In contrast to existing research discussing similar topics, in this article, exclusive focus is given on the moderation and mediation impacts for hypotheses evaluation. Thus, the outcomes from our studies provide a strategic outline for managing service failures by enhancing customer interactions, creating opportunities for competitive gain.

Technological start-ups are significant contributor to the innovation and employment provider in an economy. Numerous technological start-ups are established every year; however, only a miniscule percentage of these technological start-ups sustain and scale up in the long run. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect Indian technological start-ups’ competitiveness.

Case study analysis of two technological start-ups (namely, WayCool and Moglix) is undertaken to study the factors affecting the competitiveness of technological start-ups in India. Being a relatively underexplored theme of study in entrepreneurship and strategy, case analysis facilitates exploration and validation of factors influencing competitiveness. Information for case study analysis is drawn from secondary sources of information. The collected data undergoes deductive thematic analysis to systematically identify and examine recurring themes and patterns relevant to the competitiveness of Indian technological start-ups.

Case analysis reveals that innovation intensity, organisational agility and internationalisation influence competitiveness of technological start-ups. The importance of the role of each of these factors for entrepreneurial ventures has been highlighted in literature; however, their effect on competitiveness has not been examined in extant literature.

Being among the few studies on the competitiveness of technological start-ups in specific and start-ups in general, this study highlights the gap in the literature and suggests the need for examining the competitiveness of technological start-ups.

For the practitioners, this study reinforces the need for entrepreneurs to emphasise fundamental factors that build competitiveness. Subsequently, the sources of competitiveness shall enable the start-up to gain a competitive advantage.

This is among the few studies to have explored the competitiveness of technological start-ups in the Indian context.

Credible influencers play a key role in shaping the views and preferences of social media users. However, many influencers intentionally use disinformation (e.g. false narratives) to deceive users and gain their trust. This can have serious repercussions, not only for the firms that associate with these influencers but also for users. Further, and alarmingly, many influencers who use disinformation can sustain their credibility over time. This research explores how influencers use disinformation to establish long-term credibility on social media.

Drawing on self-presentation theory, we use an in-depth qualitative case study to address our research question, primarily relying on archival data obtained from multiple sources.

Our findings suggest that three stages of self-presentation are required to establish influencer credibility based on disinformation: backstage (preparing to deceive), experimentation (testing deception), and frontstage (launching deceptive ideas on a large scale). We also find that when fraudulent influencers simultaneously weaponise a counterculture and mindfully encase disinformation, users view them as highly credible.

We offer practical suggestions for regulating fraudulent influencers, including enacting fact-checking procedures, using IT artefacts as reliability signals, and building awareness programmes to develop vigilance in social media communities.

We contribute to self-presentation theory by adding experimentation as a critical stage in developing disinformation that works for long periods. We also contribute to the literature at the intersection of social media influencers and disinformation research by revealing why social media users believe in fraudulent influencers.

This chapter examines the world of risk management within fintech. It initiates by emphasizing the crucial role of technology and risk assessment in shaping the fintech landscape. It discusses various risk categories prevalent in fintech operations, elucidating the nuances of technology, operational, compliance, strategic, and reputational risks. A comparative analysis across different fintech sub-sectors unveils their distinct risk profiles. The narrative extends to proactive risk management frameworks, contrasting prominent models like the COSO ERM, FAIR Risk Quantification, and NIST Cybersecurity Frameworks. Integral defense measures are scrutinized, encompassing data encryption, access controls, vulnerability assessments, and incident response plans. This chapter underscores the significance of building operational resilience through robust technology infrastructure, regular system updates, disaster recovery planning, and business continuity measures. Ultimately, this chapter culminates in a comprehensive summary, offering pragmatic recommendations to fortify technology risk management in fintech.

Previous research suggests that the compensation offered to customers after a service failure has to be substantial to make customer satisfaction surpass that of an error-free service. However, with the right service recovery strategy, it might be possible to reduce compensation size while maintaining happy customers. The aim of the current study is to test whether an anchoring technique can be used to achieve this goal.

After experiencing a service failure, participants were told that there is a standard size of the compensation for service failures. The size of this standard was different depending on condition. Thereafter, participants were asked how much they would demand to be satisfied with their customer experience.

The compensation demand was relatively high on average (1,000–1,400 SEK, ≈ $120). However, telling the participants that customers typically receive 200 SEK as compensation reduced their demand to about 800 SEK (Experiment 1)—an anchoring effect. Moreover, a precise anchoring point (a typical compensation of 247 SEK) generated a lower demand than rounded anchoring points, even when the rounded anchoring point was lower (200 SEK) than the precise counterpart (Experiment 2)—a precision effect.

Setting a low compensation standard—yet allowing customers to actually receive compensations above the standard—can make customers more satisfied while also saving resources in demand-what-you-want service recovery situations, in particular when the compensation standard is a precise value.

The contribution of this study is two-fold. First, we draw on attribution theory to develop a model for predicting how the knowledge, emotions, and satisfaction that consumers have regarding halal cosmetics can influence their willingness to pay more and recommend the products to others.

Survey data from 278 Indonesian and 163 Malaysian female consumers were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. Second, we test the moderation role of sign value using metric invariance across the two different source markets.

The results obtained confirm that consumers exhibit positive emotions when they possess knowledge about halal cosmetics and their quality. Testing the double moderation further reveals that consumers with a high sign value behave differently from those with a low sign value.

These findings present practical insights that can be used by retailers and marketers in their strategies to boost the sale of halal cosmetics.