Search results

Discourses on emerging markets have gained momentum in the literature as companies in slow‐growing developed economies are intensifying their entrepreneurship and search for new growth opportunities in emerging economies. Emerging markets are countries that are restructuring their economies along market‐oriented lines and offer a wealth of opportunities in trade, technology transfers and foreign direct investment (FDI). They serve as regional economic powerhouse, reminiscent of transitional societies undertaking political and economic reform, fast growing outward‐oriented economies with efficient production for the domestic and export markets, political economy oriented towards entrepreneurship and free enterprise, market transparency, among others. After decades of economic turmoil, many African countries have started to make steady progress towards creating market‐enabling institution. Based on a synthesis from the literature and using Nigeria as a context, this review paper argues that Nigeria has fallen short of most of the fundamental characteristics necessary to transition to an emerging economy categorization. This means that Nigeria is weakly adapted to the changed view of market‐led development. Although the country is considered a regional economic powerhouse, she is only listed as a “Frontier country” because of weak critical institutional characteristics, more evident in areas such as infrastructural development; privatization of state owned enterprises (SOEs); outward orientation; political and economic reforms and market transparency. The paper concludes, by arguing that for Nigeria to ascend a higher grade in the emerging market taxonomy, some important institutional refinements are necessary. These include: macro‐economic reform and development to drive exports; improved infrastructure, especially power supply; serious political reforms to ensure credible political leadership; and disciplined and ethical revolution to ensure credible corporate governance in both the private and public sectors of the economy.

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that help in building e-loyalty towards online retailers. Internet has brought the world market into a single platform. Marketers have started using Internet as a new and innovative way to interact and reach people all around the world. With the increase in the number of Internet users, the number of e-marketers has also increased. In the context of online retailing, the service quality being offered is increasingly being used as a tool for competitive advantage. E-tailers are embracing superior e-services to attract, retain and convert patrons into loyal customers.

The researchers in the present study have used a research instrument that consists of constructs of the modified eTailQ scale, hedonism and e-satisfaction that together result in the formation of e-loyalty. Researcher-controlled sampling was employed to collect data from 159 student respondents.

Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were applied for analysing the collected data. The results of the study demonstrate that major factors which help in the formation of e-loyalty are e-satisfaction, customer service, privacy and hedonism.

This study extends the understanding of the role of e-satisfaction, customer service, privacy and hedonism in the formation of loyal consumers. The researchers proposed a model to study the factors impacting the e-loyalty of the Internet shoppers in India. The findings of the study are expected to help both researchers and marketers.

This paper aims to analyze the adoption of social media platforms by tourists in Pakistan. Based on an adaptation of the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study assesses the factors that lead users to adopt these platforms.

A survey was administered to a convenience sample of 399 travelers who use social media in Pakistan. A Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using AMOS to evaluate convergent and discriminant validity as well as composite reliability. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the causal relationship among all proposed constructs.

The findings reveal that the perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEoU) of a social media platform positively impact the behavioral intention of its users. The proposed constructs of compatibility, enjoyment, user expertise and e-trust all demonstrated their crucial roles in the adoption of a social media platform for tourism-related activities by enhancing the platform's PEoU and usefulness.

This research validates the relationship between PEoU and PU of a social media platform in the hospitality industry. Interestingly, this study has expanded TAM by validating the addition of four more constructs, (1) compatibility, (2) enjoyment, (3) e-trust, and (4) expertise, to add worth to this model regarding the understanding of social media usage in this specific industry. The findings are valuable both for managers and policymakers in the tourism sector in Pakistan, as the latter can utilize the results to entice a larger segment of social media users to the tourism industry.

Second-hand/used goods channels compete with existing traditional channels to satisfy consumers’ needs that are unmet by traditional retail networks. However, most studies on online shopping have largely ignored online second-hand/used good purchases. This study aims to use Thaler’s mental accounting model, principal–agent perspective and contamination theory to highlight the differences in the value sought by online new goods and second-hand shoppers.

A conceptual framework linking perceived uncertainty, perceived acquisition value and e-loyalty was developed and tested using structural equation modelling. The moderating effects of product type (new vs second-hand) and frugality were also included.

The paper found strong support for the model. Results showed that online second-hand shoppers were more uncertain and perceived lesser levels of acquisition value when compared to new goods shoppers. They were also less frugal. Online shoppers are also more likely to buy products with sensory attributes (experience goods) in new goods websites and products with non-sensory attributes (search goods) from second-hand websites. The authors recommend various ways in which managers can increase perceived value for the online shopper.

Future studies can extend this investigation by including transaction value or other hedonic values to verify their impact on acquisition value and e-loyalty. While the authors found support for the notion that consumers who buy used goods online are less frugal, there is some research that could point to the opposite. Hence, research can investigate this topic in depth in more countries to throw more light on this.

To sustain themselves in a competitive online market, retailers need to understand the value sought by consumers. This study provides empirical evidence of the importance of acquisition value for new goods and second-hand shoppers.

No recent research has compared the value sought by online second-hand and new goods shoppers. This study contributes to the understanding of the acquisition value perceived by consumers in online new goods and second-hand shopping channels.

Online shoppers feel insecure due to the various unethical practices of e-tailers. It is, therefore, crucial for online retailers to alleviate customer concerns. Extant literature indicates that country-of-origin (COO) cues influence consumer perception. A relatively underexplored phenomenon in an emerging market context, the COO image of the online retailer, i.e. a foreign-origin online retailer (FOOR) or an Indian-origin online retailer (IOOR), needs validation. The current study investigates customer expectations of online retailers' ethical behaviour against the backdrop of online retailer-based signals in emerging markets.

The researchers floated an online questionnaire using a seven-point Likert scale. The authors sought recipient responses in Google Forms shared via e-mails and social media connections. The authors analysed 1,018 useable responses using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in Smart PLS 3.

The empirical study examined the influence of the consumer perception of ethics of online retailers (CPEOR) and COO on consumer purchase intention. It validated the proposed research model. The research findings inform that the CPEOR and the COO influence purchase intention through the mediation effects of trust and satisfaction. Results indicate that privacy, security, non-deception, fulfilment, customer service, FOOR and IOOR strongly predict consumer trust. In contrast, privacy, non-deception, fulfilment, customer service and FOOR strongly predict consumer satisfaction. However, security and IOOR did not influence consumer satisfaction.

The study results have theoretical and practical implications for academic researchers and online retailing managers. Future studies can validate the model in different geo-demographic scenarios and e-commerce settings.

The study enriches the extant literature on CPEOR in the Indian context. This study is pioneering work examining consumer purchase intention by adding the COO construct to the CPEOR model.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, the authors empirically examine the effect of the perceived values of mobile banking (MB) applications on customers’ e-trust, e-satisfaction and e-loyalty and second, the authors investigate the moderating role of customers’ age in the relationship between perceived value of MB and e-trust.

A survey was conducted on a sample of 361 Tunisian banks’ customers using mobile applications. Structural equation modeling method was performed to test the research hypotheses.

The results of this research revealed that quality, price and emotional perceived values’ dimensions of MB applications are predictors of customers’ e-trust. Within this spectrum, age acts as a moderator in these latter relationships. Findings also suggested that e-trust has positive effects on e-satisfaction and e-loyalty.

This paper presented a reading grid for bank marketers allowing them to identify the levers they must focus their efforts on so as to retain the customers using MB applications. It also permits them to identify the needs and values of three generation of customers, namely baby boomers, generation X and generation Y, so that they can offer better services for each group.

This paper sheds light on an innovative and unexplored topic in the literature. The authors broaden understanding of the relationship between the perceived values of MB applications, e-loyalty, e-trust and e-satisfaction. Research devoted to investigate these different links through an integrative model does exist, yet embryonic. This study also highlights differences between three group of customer, namely baby boomers, generation X and generation Y in terms of perceived values that builds their trust in the context of MB applications use.

Local foods from the perspective of tourism play a significant role to attract tourists. Surprisingly, empirical evidence on food tourism is quite scarce. The purpose of this paper is to develop and investigate a conceptual framework on tourist satisfaction, loyalty and word of mouth (WOM) to select local foods in Pakistan.

The study uses a quantitative approach while convenience (non-probability) sampling is used to collect a sample of 286 final responses using a survey-based questionnaire. The study employed exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to stabilize the factor structure. The conceptual model is then tested under the assumptions of structural equation modeling.

The findings indicate that food quality, perceived environmental quality, perceived value and service quality has a significant impact on the tourist’s satisfaction. However, interpersonal interaction quality shows an insignificant influence on satisfaction. Moreover, satisfaction has a significant impact on loyalty while loyalty further shows a significant effect on tourist WOM. Overall, the authors found satisfaction and loyalty are the major contributors to the hypothesized model.

The conceptual framework and study findings will support practitioners and researchers to understand the factors that influence a tourist’s selection of local foods. Additionally, the study provides a useful policy to gain long-term economic benefits for the tourism sector in Pakistan.

To the authors’ best knowledge, this study is the first attempt to explore WOM behavior in tourism research focusing on the critical role of satisfaction and loyalty. The authors are certain that the findings will contribute significantly to the existing body of knowledge.

This study aims to investigate the process of developing loyalty in the Chinese mobile health community from the information seeking perspective.

A covariance-based structural equation model was developed to explore the mobile health community loyalty development process from information seeking perspective and tested with LISREL 9.30 for the 191 mobile health platform user samples.

The empirical results demonstrate that the information seeking perspective offers an interesting explanation for the mobile health community loyalty development process. All hypotheses in the proposed research model are supported except the relationship between privacy and trust. The two types of mobile health community loyalty—attitudal loyalty and behavioral loyalty are explained with 58 and 37% variance.

This paper has brought out the information seeking perspective in the loyalty formation process in mobile health community and identified several important constructs for this perspective for the loyalty formation process including information quality, communication with doctors and communication with patients.

This study aims to investigate the role of e-service quality and e-trust for achieving e-loyalty among digital library users in the digital economy. The current study examined the mediation effect of e-trust in the connection between e-service quality and e-loyalty.

Cross-sectional design was applied for the purpose of data collection and empirical findings of the study. Survey method was used for the purpose of data collection from 783 online digital libraries users.

Results reveal that e-service quality positively predicts e-trust in digital economy. Moreover, in digital economy e-trust predicts the e-loyalty. The findings also reveal that e-trust mediates the relationship between e-service quality and e-loyalty links.

The finding of study suggested that individual level e-trust have a strong effect on e-loyalty in digital economy. Individual level aspects in term of e-service quality have a direct effect on e-trust to improve their e-loyalty. The finding indicated that digital libraries users in future will be more loyal toward e-service quality providers. The results are useful for the management of digital libraries and academia for future. This is the first study that includes e-service quality, e-trust and e-loyalty in the context of digital economy.

The aim of the study is to examine the impact of financial inclusion on poverty, income inequality and financial stability using panel data of 54 African countries.

To achieve this objective, the current study used multiple regressions across an unbalanced panel data of 54 African countries which are based on the four years mean value for the period 2001–2019.

The results show that financial inclusion (FI) is a valuable indicator; it reduces poverty, income inequality and improves financial stability.

The study invokes the attention of government and policymakers to build up a financially inclusive system which, in turn, leads to improve financial stability and lower poverty and income inequality. They should focus on quality and sustainable financial products and services in terms of financial inclusion to avoid dominant accounts and ensure consumer protection.

This adds to the scarce literature on the impact of financial inclusion on poverty, income inequality and financial stability in the context of African countries. The study contributes to the literature on the issue of financial inclusion and poverty, income inequality and financial stability by reconfirming (or otherwise) findings of previous studies.