Belem Barbosa, Alireza Shabani Shojaei and Hugo Miranda
This study analyzes the impact of packaging-free practices in food retail stores, particularly supermarkets, on customer loyalty.
Abstract
Purpose
This study analyzes the impact of packaging-free practices in food retail stores, particularly supermarkets, on customer loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the literature on the impacts of sustainable practices and corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies on consumer behavior, this study defined a set of seven hypotheses that were tested using data collected from 447 consumers that regularly buy food products at supermarkets. The data were subjected to structural equation modeling using SmartPLS.
Findings
This study confirmed that packaging-free practices positively influence brand image, brand trust, satisfaction and customer loyalty. The expected positive impacts of brand image and satisfaction on customer loyalty were also confirmed. However, the expected impact of brand trust on customer loyalty was not confirmed.
Practical implications
This article demonstrates how a competitive sector can reap benefits from implementing sustainable practices in the operational domain, particularly by offering packaging-free products at the point of purchase. Thus, as recommended, general retail stores (e.g. supermarkets) gradually increase the stores' offering of packaging-free food products, as this practice has been shown to have positive impacts not only on brand image, but also on customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature on the effects of sustainable practices on customer loyalty, by focusing on a specific practice. Furthermore, this study contributes to the advancement of research on packaging-free practices in retail by developing a research framework and providing evidence on the direct and indirect effects of this specific practice on customer loyalty.
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Sidratulmunthah, Saddam Hussain and Muhammad Imran Malik
Nowadays in the competitive economy, the field of entrepreneurship and particularly female entrepreneurship is rapidly advancing, and its contribution to the economy is…
Abstract
Purpose
Nowadays in the competitive economy, the field of entrepreneurship and particularly female entrepreneurship is rapidly advancing, and its contribution to the economy is imperative. Consequently, the female business students’ factors and university support factors are imperative to nurture the entrepreneurial intentions, but the literature does not address them at large. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of proactive personality, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and perceived university support factors on female student’s entrepreneurial intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The data from a total of 306 female students from the business schools of universities of Pakistan is collected through the personal physical-survey questionnaires. The data were then analyzed through Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique for results.
Findings
The results indicate that the proactive personality, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and university support factors are the significant predictors of entrepreneurial intentions of female students. Moreover, the results also support that entrepreneurial self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between proactive personality and entrepreneurial intentions of female students.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, the study originality lies in the testing of university support factors and individual personality factors (entrepreneurial self-efficacy and proactive personality) as the predictors of entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, the present study provides the useful insight for the policymakers in formulating, delivering and evaluating educational policies into the universities for female students.
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Abbas Ali Chandio, Yuansheng Jiang and Abdul Rehman
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of support price on wheat production in Pakistan during the period 1971–2016.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of support price on wheat production in Pakistan during the period 1971–2016.
Design/methodology/approach
To capture the effect of support price on wheat production, the authors estimated the long-run linkage by using the ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration.
Findings
This study confirmed the presence of a positive and long-term effect of area under cultivation, support price and fertilizer consumption on wheat production through ARDL bounds test. The results showed that both in the long run and short run, support price plays an important role in the enhancement of wheat production. The authors also found that the coefficients of the area under cultivation and fertilizer consumption variables were statistically significant and positive both in the long run and short run.
Originality/value
The use of the ARDL approach that examines the long-run and short-run effects of support price on wheat production in Pakistan makes the current study unique. An emerging economic literature suggests that only limited research has been conducted in this area.
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Lisanne Koers, Solveigh Steffens, Saskia Tamerus and Helena Forslund
Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) has the potential to enable closed-loop supply chains (CLSC) and decrease environmental impact, but it is only applied on a small scale. The purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) has the potential to enable closed-loop supply chains (CLSC) and decrease environmental impact, but it is only applied on a small scale. The purpose of this paper is to explore and develop a framework of challenges and corresponding mitigations encountered by Business-to-Consumer (B2C) retailers when transitioning to PaaS.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collection drew on a qualitative interview study with two industry experts and four PaaS B2C retailers from different Dutch industries.
Findings
A framework was developed linking 26 challenges in eight clusters—financial, product-related, supply chain-related, consumer-related, human resources, research and development/technology, regulatory and industry-related—to 24 mitigations. The mitigations were elaborated, and theoretical insights for matching challenges with mitigations were provided.
Research limitations/implications
This study expands PaaS literature to the generally under-researched retail context. It contributes to CLSC literature by applying it to a less-studied context, thereby revealing many supply chain-related challenges and mitigations encountered by B2C retailers.
Practical implications
The framework offers practical guidance to retail managers for overcoming or preventing challenges in PaaS, in their endeavours toward adopting environmentally sustainable practices.
Social implications
The study creates awareness about environmental sustainability and the potential to reduce societal impact, in which a PaaS-enabled CLSC is one step.
Originality/value
Studying PaaS and CLSC in a retail context is timely and novel.
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Gonzalo Maldonado-Guzmán, Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes and Sandra Yesenia Pinzón-Castro
Green innovation and sustainability are two contemporary initiatives that are gaining more and more attention from researchers, academics and industry professionals as they are…
Abstract
Purpose
Green innovation and sustainability are two contemporary initiatives that are gaining more and more attention from researchers, academics and industry professionals as they are considered important business strategies to improve environmental conditions and obtain better organizational performance. Besides, the growth of uncontrolled economic activities leads to an imbalance of economic, social and environmental values in different sectors. However, little is known about the mediating role that economic, social and environmental sustainability has in the relationship between green innovation and firm performance. Previous literature has focused on developed economies, but not on a developing economy such as that of Mexico. Therefore, this research aims to fill this existing gap by exploring the mediating effects of sustainability in the relationship between green innovation and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical research model that theorizes, through ten hypotheses, the antecedents and consequences of the mediating effect of economic, social and environmental sustainability and the occurrence between green innovation and firm performance is proposed. The model is tested through PLS-SEM using data that were collected using a questionnaire survey that was distributed among companies in the automotive industry in Mexico. In total, a sample of 460 responses was obtained.
Findings
The results suggest that green innovation has significant positive effects on economic and environmental sustainability, as well as on firm performance, but not on social sustainability. The results also indicate that the relationship between green innovation and firm performance improves considerably with the mediation of economic, social and environmental sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
Despite the present study focused on an industrial sector that is commonly at the forefront of technological development, it was limited to a specific region of Mexico. Thus, its results must be taken with caution as more extensive results including other regions and nations will be required to further validate the results obtained from the present study.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have important implications for both policymakers and managers of manufacturing firms in the automotive industry as they can be used as a basis to formulate better strategies and policies to enhance the capabilities of companies to develop innovations that could reduce environmental risks and other consequences of climate change.
Originality/value
The present study adds to the innovation and sustainability body of knowledge by analyzing and discussing the mediating role of sustainability in the relationship between green innovation and firm performance. It also generates new knowledge about the mediating effect that sustainability has on the relationship between green innovation and firm performance, particularly in the context of a developing economy such as that of Mexico.
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Kassim Alinda, Sulait Tumwine, Twaha Kigongo Kaawaase, Ståle Navrud, Arthur Sserwanga and Irene Nalukenge
The primary objective of this study is to investigate the association between the dimensions of intellectual capital (IC) and sustainability practices (SP) within the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary objective of this study is to investigate the association between the dimensions of intellectual capital (IC) and sustainability practices (SP) within the context of manufacturing medium and large (ML) firms in Uganda. The study aims to shed light on whether and how different dimensions of IC contribute to the adoption and implementation of SP by these firms.
Design/methodology/approach
This study utilized a cross-sectional and quantitative approach, collecting data through a questionnaire survey from a sample of manufacturing ML firms. The collected data underwent analysis to identify patterns and relationships using the SmartPLS structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.
Findings
The findings demonstrated that the three categories of IC (human, structural and relational capital) influence the SP of ML manufacturing enterprises in Uganda. This suggests that IC is a critical component of SP.
Practical implications
Manufacturing enterprises should use their IC to create strategies for sustainable solutions, such as creating new, ecologically and socially responsible products and services and improving current ones to lessen their environmental effect.
Originality/value
This research advances knowledge of SP by revealing if all aspects of IC are significant for the SP of manufacturing enterprises in Uganda.
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Suraksha Gupta, Prikshat Verma, Parth Patel and Rama Kanungo