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The purpose of this paper is to include investigation on extreme pressure lubrication behaviour of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles suspended in SAE20W40 lubricating oil. Effects of nanoparticles size (40-80 nm) and its concentration (0-1 per cent) on the coefficient of friction is studied using pin-on-disc tribotester.

Taguchi technique is used to optimize the process parameters for lower coefficient of friction. L18 orthogonal array involving six levels for one factor and three levels for remaining three factors is selected for the experimentation. The parameters selected for the study are sliding speed, normal load, nanoparticles size and its concentration in base oil.

It has been found that the presence of nanoparticles in proper concentration shows excellent tribological improvement in frictional characteristics compared to the base oil. The optimal combination of the parameters for minimum coefficient of friction is found to be 0.8 per cent concentration of 60 nm sized Al₂O₃ nanoparticles, 1,200 rpm sliding speed and 160 N of normal load. The mechanism of friction reduction in presence of nanoparticles is investigated using scanning electron microscopy.

This is the original work.

Students will have the opportunity to learn about differentiation strategy, business plans, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. The primary objective is to allow students to evaluate Abhishek Singh’s decisions. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to: understand the competitive landscapes in the Indian insurance broking market. Differentiate between selling and marketing. Understand the importance and application of differentiation strategy in the Indian insurance broking market. Emphasize the importance of value proposition in developing a competitive advantage for insurance broking organization. Critically analyze the internal strength and weaknesses of an insurance broking company.

RHIBPL, one of India’s largest insurance broking companies, operating for more than 12 years and has had a strong presence in eight major cities of India. RHIBPL had been known for life insurance, non-life insurance like cars, two-wheelers, Mediclaim and health. RHIBPL’s unique selling proposition was the best fit for each product and service after understanding the customer’s need. On October 16, 2020, Abhishek Singh, CDO at RHIBPL, was preparing for an upcoming management meeting on the company’s vision “to be the largest insurance provider in the country and to reach US$ 140 million by 2025,” which was communicated by the Ajay Bansal, founder and chief executive officer of RHIBPL. Singh had to prepare an action plan to achieve the RHIBPL’s vision. He had to develop and implement a differentiation strategy to achieve the RHIBPL’s vision from the available resources. How can he create a competitive advantage for RHIBPL in the highly competitive insurance broking market?

The case delineates the challenges facing an insurance broker company to achieve its new corporate vision. This case can be discussed in undergraduate and postgraduate courses (at the introductory level) in the business management discipline to understand the importance and application of differentiation strategy and competitive advantage. This case can also be significant for insurance-related courses for postgraduates and executives working in the insurance industry. The case can be useful for the courses on services marketing, strategic management, strategic marketing management and marketing management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of perceived benefits, i.e. utilitarian value, hedonic value and social value, as well as perceived risk, on purchase intention in social commerce context.

To cast light on the factors motivating users’ intention to purchase in the context of social commerce, data of 277 users of social commerce in China were collected via an online survey.

Results show that satisfaction significantly and positively affects users’ purchase intention in social commerce context. In addition, utilitarian, hedonic and social values have significant and positive impacts on satisfaction and purchase intention; and utilitarian value is found to be the most salient factor influencing purchase intention, while hedonic value has the greatest effect on satisfaction. Moreover, perceived risk significantly and negatively affects satisfaction.

Extant research on social commerce has mainly focused on investigating how the general perceived value affects user behavior, but has less considered different dimensions of perceived value. Moreover, prior studies have explored the roles of utilitarian and hedonic values on user behavior; however, there is a lack of research on the effect of social value. The current study attempts to fill these research gaps.

Throughout 2020, especially under the lockdown measures, there was a significant surge in e-commerce and social commerce (s-commerce), with numerous people all over the world adopting and using commerce platforms on social media and other websites to buy desired products and services quickly and easily. Instagram Commerce is a new, cutting-edge social commerce platform. This research aims to explore the positive influence of the measures adopted during summer 2020 on Spanish s-commerce users' urge to buy impulsively.

Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) theoretical framework, this study postulates and tests a model to help understand the behaviour of Spanish users towards social commerce, specifically Instagram Commerce. To accomplish this purpose, an SEM analysis is performed using a sample of 251 respondents.

Generally speaking, the findings obtained in the present study serve to expand and enhance the scientific literature on one of the latest determinants affecting social networks and online commerce.

This research is innovative due to the research background study that is carried out to analyse the urge to buy impulsively.