Search results

The expansion of online shopping aligned with challenging economic conditions has contributed to increasing fraudulent retail product returns. Retailers employ numerous interventions typically determined by embedded perspectives within the company (supply side) rather than consumer-based assessments of their effectiveness (demand side). This study aims to understand how customers evaluate counter-fraud measures on opportunistic returns fraud in the UK. Based on the fraud triangle and the theory of planned behaviour, we develop an empirically informed framework to assist retail practice.

We collected 485 valid survey responses about consumer attitudes regarding which interventions are effective against different types of returns fraud. First, a principal component section evaluates the policies' effectiveness to identify any policy grouping that could help prioritise specific sets of policies. Second, cluster analysis follows a two-stage approach, where cluster size is determined, and then survey respondents are partitioned into subgroups based on how similar their beliefs are regarding the effectiveness of anti-fraud policies.

We identify policies relating to perceived effectiveness of interventions and create customer profiles to assist retailers in conceptualising potential opportunistic fraudsters. Our product returns fraud framework adopts a consumer perspective to capture the perceived behavioural control of potential fraudsters. Results suggest effectiveness of different types of interventions vary between different types of consumers, which leads to the development of propositions to combat the fraud.

This study is unique in assessing the perceived effectiveness of a range of interventions based on data collection and advanced analytics to combat fraudulent product returns in omnichannel retail.

Brands increasingly coappear in television programs while research in product placement has primarily focused on the placements of a single brand. Building on research related to product placement and cobranding, this study aims to systematically examine the roles of product competitiveness and brand competitiveness on the effectiveness of brand coappearance on television programs.

Extensive pretesting and four experimental studies were conducted. Real stimuli that had been digitally manipulated with fictitious brands were used in Study 1 (laboratory experiment involved student samples) and Study 2 (online experiment with a national sample) to examine the short- and long-term impacts of product competitiveness on brand coappearance. Real stimuli incorporated actual brands were used in Study 3 (involved advertisers’ key demographic) and Study 4 (alterative television program with a national sample) to examine the impacts of brand competitiveness and its interaction effect with product competitiveness.

The study found that coappearing with a product of high competitiveness significantly enhanced attitudes and purchase intention toward the coappearing products both in the short and long term. Product competitiveness further interacts with brand competitiveness to influence attitudes and purchase intention toward the coappearing brands suggesting a coopetition pattern for brand coappearances. The effect of brand coappearances did not vary substantially for low or high involvement products with or without character interaction.

The study develops a useful framework for explaining and understanding the potential spillover effects in brand coappearances. It contributes to the existing literature on product placement and cobranding, while also paving the way for future research opportunities.

When introducing new brands, marketers are advised to consider coappearance deals with more competitive brands in highly competitive product categories. Conversely, coappearance deals with less competitive brands in less competitive product categories should be adopted to promote well-known brands. Advertisers may also consider product or brand exclusivity arrangements with broadcasters to enhance the effectiveness of the product placement.

Although brand coappearance in media content is likely to continue to proliferate, little is known about the phenomenon and its effects. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to systematically examine the perceptions toward brands coappeared in television programs.

This paper explores and analyses the major challenges faced by both customer-facing and office-based public transport employees during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic and the responses of their employers to their concerns.

Qualitative semi-structured interviews and focus groups were carried out, involving 39 employees and directors representing a wide range of professionals working in the transport sector in three European countries, Poland, Ireland and the UK. Data were analysed through thematic analysis and the emerging issues explored.

Major employee challenges included: access to resources for safe working; worker mental health and well-being; and the effects of changing working practices, particularly flexible working, on their wider household circumstances and work–life balance (especially combining childcare responsibilities with work). First, physical health safety measures (such as PPE) were put in place for all workers, although sometimes with delays. Second, concerning practical support for mental health and well-being at work, the findings highlight that their employers’ practical support was considered limited by some customer-facing participants. In contrast, participants working from home were offered considerably greater employer support for their well-being, including increased and regular communication regarding work and non-work-related topics to tackle isolation and lack of social interactions. Third, work–life balance, and especially childcare were significant issues for those working from home. To improve organisational resilience, employer support for workers needs to better reflect employees’ job role, work setting and location, as well as their household demands such as childcare.

The lessons learned from this study contribute to future employer responses and practices and their organisational resilience, both in times of major crises and also for improving mental-health and childcare support in normal times.

The study considers the role of employee perspectives on organisational resilience and service continuity in public transport during a crisis and in three countries. Importantly, the data were gathered contemporaneously during the early stages of the pandemic, and so are not influenced by retrospective rationalisation or uncertain recollections.

This paper aims to analyze the relationship between watching dance and mood enhancement considering potential differences across gender and age brackets.

Exploratory research was undertaken through a personal survey, using a structured questionnaire on a large sample of young participants between 18 and 35 years old, split into generational cohorts (Millennials or Generation Y and Centennials or Generation Z). Quota sampling (gender and age) was the method used to select respondents.

Results show that after watching dance, more positive mood changes were observed in general. However, they were stronger among women and younger Millennials. These findings are important as they open a new area of study; show the effects of culture on people; and help design programming strategies to enlarge audiences.

The effects of specific forms of arts and cultural participation on people’s moods have been analyzed from a diversity of disciplines. In the case of dance, studies have tested this relation among practitioners (active participants) but not among viewers (attendees) as this paper does.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) offers a level playing field to all ethnic entrepreneurs (EE’s) operating from within it. The purpose of this qualitative research case study is to explore the reasons underpinning the relatively greater success that Indian-origin EE’s in the UAE have been enjoying for sustained periods – and across diverse industries – relative to their counterparts belonging to several other nations.

Qualitative research case study that draws from data gathered through 30 interviews of participants identified through expert sampling.

Whereas the UAE treats all its ethnic entrepreneurs (EE’s) alike and provides them with a level platform to operate from, the EE’s from India have consistently been outperforming those from all other nations, particularly within the context of the UAE’s large businesses spanning diverse industries. Three features seem to explain their success: their high tolerance for ambiguity; thriftiness; and intercultural competence.

Two key limitations were faced: firstly, the negligible research literature on ethnic entrepreneurship in the UAE, and related official statistics such as details (by ethnicity/nationality) of EE-owned businesses, and secondly, the industry-wise break down of such businesses and their performance, as available in other developed nations hosting EE’s. Resultantly, alternate sources of data have been used to complete this research.

Given the UAE’s national-level institutionalised efforts to promote entrepreneurship amongst its citizens and wider populace, there are many implications that this study holds for existing and future entrepreneurs.

While on the one hand, the UAE and the wider Gulf Cooperation Council region have been witnessing frenetic ethnic entrepreneurial activity in the past decade, the research literature on the regions’ ethnic entrepreneurship is extremely patchy. This case study serves to significantly bridge this gap, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work, that extensively explores the entrepreneurial trajectory of Indian EE’s in the UAE, and the factors driving their success.

This research investigates the effect of audit report lag on the cost of equity capital. We argue that an extended audit report lag reduces the value of information and raises concerns for investors, resulting in an increased cost of equity capital.

We hypothesize that audit report lag increases the firm cost of equity capital. We conduct ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses to examine our hypothesis. Finally, we also perform a range of sensitivity tests to examine the hypothesis and robustness of findings.

Using a sample of the listed US firms from 2003 to 2018, we find that firms with higher audit report lag have a higher cost of equity capital. Our findings are economically significant as one standard deviation increase in audit report lag raises 3.82 basis points of cost of equity capital. Furthermore, our results remain robust to endogeneity concerns and alternative proxies for the cost of equity capital measures. Finally, we confirm that audit report lag increases the firm cost of equity capital through increasing information asymmetry and future financial restatement as a mediating channel.

We contribute to the theoretical discussion about the role of audit report lag and investors' perceptions. Overall, our results suggest that audit report lag affects a firm cost of equity capital.