Fatemeh Khozaei, Mi Jeong Kim, Narges Nematipour and Asif Ali
COVID 19 has had a profound effect on peoples’ activities and the use of public spaces. Before the COVID 19 pandemic urban parks, as healthy places, were of the most favorable…
Abstract
Purpose
COVID 19 has had a profound effect on peoples’ activities and the use of public spaces. Before the COVID 19 pandemic urban parks, as healthy places, were of the most favorable places for urban citizens, but nowadays no vitality is found in urban parks due to the absence of people. The perceived risk seems to affect peoples’ decision-making for the visit to urban parks. This study aims to examine the impact of COVID 19 perceived severity and vulnerability on peoples’ visit to the urban parks and further exercise avoidance. It is expected that the result of this study would shed light on the people’s perception of healthy urban parks to exercise during COVID 19.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants were recruited from a neighborhood with the greenest and largest parks in Iran that were selected for the study. It was to assure that participants have access to the urban parks within their walkable distance. The mixed-method approach was applied to achieving the research goals. A total of 404 participants attended the survey. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine the strategies that reduce peoples’ worries about using urban parks during the COVID 19. Data were analyzed using SmartPLS.
Findings
The study hypothesized that peoples’ awareness of COVID 19 affects their perceived risk and disease prevention efficiency. Besides, it was hypothesized that perceived risk and efficacy effects outdoor activities worries exercise avoidance and behavioral avoidance in the urban parks. The result of the study supported the research hypothesis. The more knowledge people acquire of COVID 19 and the lack of efficacy of treatments, the higher they will avoid outdoor activities and exercise. The means of knowledge and perceived risk were higher than previously reported studies.
Originality/value
The result of this study is very important, as it statistically proves that peoples’ priorities and factors that affect their willingness to use public spaces are very much affected by their perception of a healthy environment. It also canonizes the role of facility managers in bringing peoples’ trust in the use of public spaces and more specifically urban parks during pandemic disease distributions.
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Sajjad Haider, Adnan Saeed Butt, Imran Syed Muhammad, Asif Ali, Yun-Zhang Li, Syed Muhammad Ali Naqvi and Muhammad Adnan Qaiser
The purpose of this study is to theoretically probe the shape impacts of nano-particle on boundary layer flow of nano-fluid toward a stretching cylinder with heat-transmission…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to theoretically probe the shape impacts of nano-particle on boundary layer flow of nano-fluid toward a stretching cylinder with heat-transmission effects. The base fluid used for this study is pure water, and aluminum oxide nano-particles are suspended in it. Four different shapes of nano-particle, namely, cylindrical, brick, platelets and blades, are considered to carry out the study.
Design/methodology/approach
The problem is modelled mathematically and the nonlinear system of equations is attained by using appropriate transmutations. The solution of transmuted equations is achieved by utilizing a shooting technique with Fourth-Fifth order Runge–Kutta Fehlberg scheme. Numerically attained results are elucidated through graphs and tables which are further compared under limiting cases with existing literature to check the validity of the results.
Findings
It is observed that fluid velocity and temperature of cylindrical shaped water nano-fluids are more than the nano-fluid having brick-shaped nano-particles. Moreover, it is seen that the nano-fluids suspended with platelets-shaped nano-particles have higher velocity and temperature than the nano-fluids containing blade-shaped nano-particles. The curvature parameter and nano-particles volume fraction have increasing effects on flow velocity and temperature of nano-fluids containing all types of nano-particle shapes.
Originality/value
Numerous authors have examined the impacts of nano-particle shapes on characteristics of heat transfer and fluid flow. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the shape impacts of nano-particles on boundary layer flow of nano-fluid toward a stretching cylinder with heat-transmission effects have not been discussed. So, to fulfill this gap, the present paper explicates the impacts of various nano-particle shapes on Al2O3–water-based nano-fluid flow past a stretching cylinder with heat-transfer effects.
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Wang Qing, Asif Ali Safeer and Muhammad Saqib Khan
This paper aims to examine the influence of social media communications, particularly firm-generated content (FGC) and consumer-generated content (CGC) on predicting consumer…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the influence of social media communications, particularly firm-generated content (FGC) and consumer-generated content (CGC) on predicting consumer purchase decisions (CPD) through the lens of perceived brand authenticity (PBA). This paper also investigates the moderating influence of brand prestige (BP) and brand familiarity in the luxury hotel sector.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected data from 390 consumers who were regularly using social media platforms, traveled frequently and stayed in luxury hotels. Following stringent data filtering, 371 responses were analyzed via structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings indicate that FGC and CGC significantly strengthened PBA. However, CGC was the effective driver that directly influenced CPD. Likewise, PBA directly and indirectly substantially impacted CPD. Finally, BP’s direct and moderating effects significantly influenced CPD in the luxury hotel sector.
Originality/value
This novel study contributes to signaling theory, social media communications and branding literature in the luxury hotel sector.
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Social media marketing has become a powerful strategic tool for many brands, but scholarly research in this domain is still in its infancy. This study aims to examine the effects…
Abstract
Purpose
Social media marketing has become a powerful strategic tool for many brands, but scholarly research in this domain is still in its infancy. This study aims to examine the effects of social media marketing activities on consumer online impulse buying intentions via brand resonance and emotional responses by incorporating the direct and moderating effects of social network proneness toward fashion retail brands.
Design/methodology/approach
By using snowball sampling, this study recruited 441 netizens (who were using fashion retail brands) and obtained their responses through an online survey. Structural equation modeling was applied to 394 responses for analysis.
Findings
The findings discovered that social media marketing activities significantly influenced brand resonance, consumer emotional responses and online impulse buying intentions. Likewise, brand resonance and emotional responses were positively associated with online impulse buying intentions and acted as decisive mediators. Social network proneness’s direct and moderating effects significantly increased consumer online impulse-buying intentions toward fashion retail brands.
Practical implications
This study provides recommendations to retail managers for creating and executing brand positioning, segmenting and targeting strategies to enhance consumers’ intentions for engaging in online impulsive purchases for fashion brands.
Originality/value
This original research contributes to the branding literature and stimulus–organism–response theory by focusing on social media marketing activities, brand resonance, emotional responses, social network proneness and consumer online impulse buying intentions toward fashion retail brands.
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Asif Ali Safeer and Thanh Tiep Le
Customer relationships and transforming customers into evangelists are imperative in today's world. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the influence of online brand experience…
Abstract
Purpose
Customer relationships and transforming customers into evangelists are imperative in today's world. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the influence of online brand experience (OBE) on brand evangelism (BEM) via relationship quality (trust-TRT, satisfaction-SAT, and commitment-CMT) by integrating the moderating effects of brand reputation (BR), particularly in the Vietnamese banking sector.
Design/methodology/approach
This research obtained data from 486 Vietnamese customers who routinely used online banking services. The analysis was performed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that OBE directly/indirectly positively affects BEM via relationship quality (TRT, SAT, CMT). Likewise, this study identified relationship quality (TRT, SAT, CMT) as an important mediator. Finally, the findings demonstrate that the moderation effects of BR significantly improved relationship quality (TRT, SAT, CMT) in the banking industry.
Practical implications
This study showcases the significance of OBE in increasing brand evangelists in the financial sector. Thus, this study assists Vietnamese bank managers in creating new branding strategies to foster long-lasting customer relationships.
Originality/value
This original study contributes to the commitment-trust theory and signaling theory by examining the impact of the OBE on brand evangelism via relationship quality by considering the moderating effect of brand reputation in the Vietnamese banking sector.
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Asif Ali Safeer, He Yuanqiong, Muhammad Abrar, Rizwan Shabbir and Hafiz Muhammad Wasif Rasheed
This study investigated the role of brand experience dimensions (behavioral, intellectual, sensory and affective) to predict consumer loyalty (repurchase intention (RPI), word of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigated the role of brand experience dimensions (behavioral, intellectual, sensory and affective) to predict consumer loyalty (repurchase intention (RPI), word of mouth (WOM) and willingness to pay more (WPM)) through the mediating role of perceived brand authenticity (PBA) in the global branding context.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 422 consumers participated in this study and provided feedback on top authentic global brands after completing a self-administered online survey. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to conduct the data analysis.
Findings
This study discovered that brand experience dimensions positively influenced PBA (predominantly sensory and intellectual experiences), which significantly predicted consumer loyalty (RPI, WOM and WPM).
Research limitations/implications
This research uncovered some limitations that can be used to investigate new research possibilities. From a theoretical standpoint, this study offers new insights into brand experience dimensions (BEDs), PBA and consumer loyalty in order to develop consumer-brand relationships.
Practical implications
This study offered several managerial recommendations. By considering brand authenticity as a positioning tool, global managers can effectively develop and implement various experiential marketing strategies to develop long-term relationships with consumers to attain their loyalty.
Originality/value
This is a new study that uses Fournier's relationship theory to investigate BEDs on PBA to predict consumer loyalty in the context of authentic global brands.
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Asif Ali Safeer, Yuanqiong He and Muhammad Abrar
This research investigates the effects of multidimensional brand experiences (i.e. behavioral, intellectual, affective and sensory) on brand authenticity and brand love from the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research investigates the effects of multidimensional brand experiences (i.e. behavioral, intellectual, affective and sensory) on brand authenticity and brand love from the Asian consumers' perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This research collected primary data from 418 consumers on global brands, and it tested the proposed hypotheses by using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The findings indicate that sensory and affective experiences have direct significant impacts on brand love, while intellectual and behavioral experiences have nonsignificant impacts on brand love. Overall, intellectual, behavioral, affective and sensory experiences positively influence brand authenticity, which in turn have substantial positive impacts on brand love.
Research limitations/implications
This study investigated consumer behavior in a broader sense, and consumers from 13 Asian countries participated in this research. Future research may collect data on a larger scale from Asian countries to generalize the results.
Practical implications
By following brand authenticity as an essential positioning tool and implementing several experiential marketing strategies, global managers can develop brand-loving consumers in Asia.
Originality/value
Under the parasol of attribution theory, this research explores the relationships among the multidimensional brand experiences, brand authenticity and brand love from the Asian perspective.
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Asif Ali Safeer and Yewang Zhou
The purpose of this study is to examine the role of perceived brand globalness (PBG) and perceived brand localness (PBL) in developing consumer word-of-mouth (CWOM) via brand…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the role of perceived brand globalness (PBG) and perceived brand localness (PBL) in developing consumer word-of-mouth (CWOM) via brand attitude (BATT) by incorporating the moderating role of consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and perceived brand origin (PBO) as well as considering brand familiarity (BF) as a covariate in the context of global and local quick-service restaurant (QSR) brands in emerging markets.
Design/methodology/approach
This study obtained 764 responses from Chinese consumers through an online survey and analyzed the data using the maximum-likelihood estimation technique with structural equation modeling.
Findings
After controlling brand familiarity, this study revealed that PBG and PBL are critical components that drive brand attitude, which positively improves CWOM toward global and local QSR brands. Similarly, PBG and PBL are important brand attributes that directly influence CWOM. Importantly, this research found the significant role of PBO on brand attitude toward perceived local brands compared to global QSR brands. Although this study did not discover the influence of CET as expected. However, these insights may assist global and local managers to rethink their strategies in emerging markets.
Research limitations/implications
This study was conducted exclusively in China. However, additional studies may be considered in other countries, such as comparing Asian vs European consumers.
Practical implications
This study provides recommendations to global and local managers to support them in designing and executing several brand positioning strategies in the QSR industry.
Originality/value
This novel study contributes to the accessibility–diagnosticity theory and signaling theory by examining consumers' perceptions of global and local QSR brands.
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Ashwini Kumar Aggarwal, Asif Ali Syed and Sandeep Garg
The solar energy sector has been growing with dramatic reduction in commercial pricing, improved efficiencies and improved deployments/usage conveniences. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
The solar energy sector has been growing with dramatic reduction in commercial pricing, improved efficiencies and improved deployments/usage conveniences. The purpose of this study is to understand the drivers of the purchase intent for rooftop (RT) solar. This will enable policymakers to improve the penetration of this new and promising green technology.
Design/methodology/approach
This research leverages the framework of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) to identify and build a quantitative approach to identify factors (and their relative impact on) the purchase intent of a domestic RT solar buyer. The 400 respondents’ field data were collected in Bangalore (a high RT solar penetration region) and Delhi NCR (relatively lower RT solar penetration region).
Findings
The exploratory factor analysis study revealed that the consumers’ purchase intention of RT Solar is shaped by seven main factors, namely, environmental concerns, social beliefs, hedonic motivation, performance expectancy, price value, self-efficacy and effort expectancy, and that these factors explain 79.2 per cent of the field data. This study finds that social beliefs followed by effort expectance concerns are key factors explaining approximately 20 per cent of the purchase intent each, while unit change in price value beliefs explain about 18 per cent of the purchase intent.
Practical implications
Suggested policy measures include building on strengthening emergence of local solar evangelist groups in the communities and easing effort expectance items (e.g. building legal, regulatory frameworks and financial tools for solar penetration models such as renewable energy services companies).
Originality/value
This paper is the first attempt to model the consumer behavior of the Indian RT solar photovoltaic buyer leveraging the UTAUT2.
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Asif Ali Safeer and Mehrab Nazir
This study seeks to examine the effects of perceived brand localness and foreignness on brand love via perceived brand coolness by incorporating the moderating impacts of local…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to examine the effects of perceived brand localness and foreignness on brand love via perceived brand coolness by incorporating the moderating impacts of local and global consumer identities on brand love while controlling the confounding effects of brand familiarity in the context of local and foreign digital retail banks.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected 1,960 online responses (on local and foreign banks) from 980 consumers who often used local and foreign digital retail banking services. The analysis was performed on 1,766 responses through co-variance-based structural equation modeling.
Findings
This study discovered that perceived brand localness and foreignness were essential factors for driving brand love and perceived brand coolness toward local and foreign digital retail banks. However, perceived brand foreignness was a more effective driver than perceived brand localness. Importantly, perceived brand coolness emerged as a key mediator for shaping brand perceptions and love. Additionally, local and global consumer identities were effective moderators and brand familiarity was significant in enhancing brand love for local and foreign digital retail banks.
Practical implications
This study gives managers essential knowledge about crafting positioning, relationships and segmentation strategies to boost brand love and perceived coolness for local and foreign digital retail banks.
Originality/value
This novel study contributes new insights to the stimulus-organism-response and cultural identity theories by examining consumers’ brand perceptions and their impacts on consumer behavior in digital retail banking.