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The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the big five personality traits and personal financial planning (PFP) by focusing on the mediating role of mental accounting among Indian service sector employees.

The present study used a data set comprising 649 valid responses obtained through the structured questionnaire that was specifically disseminated to employees working in the Indian service sector. Further, the study used a quantitative approach, partial least squares structural equation modeling, to examine the hypothesized relationship.

The study’s outcomes reveal that mental accounting completely mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and PFP. In addition, extraversion and neuroticism traits have directly influenced the PFP, but in the presence of mental accounting, these traits have partially influenced the PFP. Furthermore, the results suggest that agreeableness directly affects PFP, whereas openness does not demonstrate any significant influence.

The existing literature within the field of PFP has primarily focused on exploring various variables associated with mental accounting, such as monetary and time costs, mental budgeting process and tax liabilities. However, it has overlooked the potential mediating effect of mental accounting. This study bridges this gap by investigating the impact of mental accounting as a mediator in the relationship between personality traits and PFP. Moreover, recently, the Indian economy has undergone major overhauls especially due to enactment of Goods and Services Tax and the profound impact of COVID-19, leading to changes in financial behavior of individuals. Therefore, this study endeavors to shed light on the emerging dynamics within the PFP domain, particularly within the context of the newly accustomed economic circumstances in India.

Brands are seizing their latitude in the metaverse – this study conceptualizes a digital doppelgänger as the sense of embodiment of the physical person and unpacks their effect on consumer brand engagement by examining the mediating role of digital doppelgänger’s brand interactions.

Data was collected through an online self-administered questionnaire employing criterion-based judgment sampling, resulting in 475 qualified responses. The data was validated through a two-step SEM (structural equation modeling) application of Hayes’s Process in the SmartPLS4 package. The IMPA analysis technique identified the most important and influential factor driving brand performance in the metaverse.

The study reveals that digital doppelgänger’s brand interactions mediate the relationship between the digital doppelgänger (embodiment of the person) and consumer brand engagement. Brand interaction manifests enjoyment, relaxation and reputation felt by the physical person. The result indicates that digital doppelgänger’s brand interaction drives brand performance in the metaverse.

Our study is an original attempt to conceptualize a digital doppelgänger as the sense of embodiment of the physical person and their brand interactions in the metaverse influence consumer brand engagement to produce enjoyment, relaxation and reputation – this is a novel contribution to interactive marketing literature.

The objective of the research is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the conceptual structure underlying global trends in the utilization of VR/AR for learning purposes among autistic children and adolescents.

With a sample of 57 documents obtained from different databases in the period 2010–2022, a scientific mapping was developed using the bibliometrix library designed in R.

It has been found that there are three main lines of work. The first with VR/AR with emotion recognition and theory of mind. Another line focused on “young children” that works on visual attention, simulation play and social communication. The third line is focused on adolescents with subthemes such as executive function, attention, social skills and learning environments.

The research allows the authors to design activities in those areas where the use of VR/AR has been successful. In this way, future implementation of these tools in the classroom is encouraged.

Of all the deaths associated with disasters, bushfires account for 40% of these fatalities. The resulting fatalities are consequent upon householders’ decision-making, leading to late or non-evacuation from at-risk communities. However, while decision-making is a function of risk perception, this paper aims to investigate householders’ perceptions of bushfire risks following the catastrophic Black Summer bushfires of 2019/2020.

An inductive research approach was adopted. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit qualitative data from southeastern NSW, Australia householders. The data were collected via face-to-face and online Zoom. Each interview was recorded, transcribed using Otter.AI and thematically analyzed with NVivo 12 Pro (Braun and Clarke, 2006, 2019). In addition, inter-rater reliability was done by engaging an independent researcher to code the de-identified data independently. The codes were cross-checked for reliability and adjusted where necessary.

It was found that bushfire risk perceptions were high among the householders in bushfire at-risk communities following the 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires. High levels of perceptions were recorded among the participants regarding the likelihood of bushfire occurrence, concern for bushfires, severity of bushfires and vulnerability to bushfire threats.

The study’s results do not reflect all householders in the southeastern part of NSW. It was limited to 30 householders who indicated their intentions to participate and are living in the study area. Therefore, future studies should be undertaken with more participants from broader geographical areas, including emergency responders like firefighters, recovery officers and non-government organizations in charge of recovery operations. This study will add to the prioritization of risk perceptions.

All else being equal, elevated bushfire risk perceptions among participants can potentially decrease the fatalities linked with bushfires and their subsequent ripple effects. This holds particularly true when residents opt for early self-evacuation from at-risk communities.

The paper contributes to developing a better understanding of the bushfire risk perceptions underlying the evacuation decision-making of the residents in bushfire at-risk communities in south-eastern NSW of Australia.

The paper contributes to the existing knowledge on bushfire risks by providing insights into residents’ perceptions after the catastrophic 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires. As a qualitative study, it describes bushfire risk perceptions on four themes: likelihood, concern, severity and vulnerability, which is uncommon in many bushfire studies.