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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a big impact on organisations globally, leaving organisations with no choice but to adapt to the new reality of remote work to ensure business continuity. Such an unexpected reality created the conditions for testing new applications of smart home technology whilst working from home. Given the potential implications of such applications to improve the working environment, and a lack of research on that front, this paper pursued two objectives. First, the paper explored the impact of smart home applications by examining the factors that could contribute to perceived productivity and well-being whilst working from home. Second, the study investigated the role of productivity and well-being in motivating the intention of remote workers to use smart home technologies in a home-work environment in the future.

The study adopted a cross-sectional research design. For data collection, 528 smart home users working from home during the pandemic were recruited. Collected data were analysed using a structural equation modelling approach.

The results of the research confirmed that perceived productivity is dependent on service relevance, perceived usefulness, innovativeness, hedonic beliefs and control over environmental conditions. Perceived well-being correlates with task-technology fit, service relevance, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude to smart homes, innovativeness, hedonic beliefs and control over environmental conditions. Intention to work from a smart home-office in the future is dependent on perceived well-being.

The findings of the research contribute to the organisational and smart home literature, by providing missing evidence about the implications of the application of smart home technologies for employees' perceived productivity and well-being. The paper considers the conditions that facilitate better outcomes during remote work and could potentially be used to improve the work environment in offices after the pandemic. Also, the findings inform smart home developers about the features of technology which could improve the developers' application in contexts beyond home settings.

During emergencies and times of widespread social fear, such as wars and epidemics, society witnesses many instances of consumer misbehaviour (e.g. panic buying). Therefore, this study aims to understand what drives consumers to enact socially irresponsible while shopping during emergencies.

This study employs a quantitative approach with 400 responses from consumers who shopped during the pandemic.

Results show a positive relationship between consumers' awareness of the negative social consequences of shopping misbehaviour and their ascription of responsibility, which is positively moderated by death-by-emergency-related anxiety. Ascription of responsibility, in turn, has a positive impact on socially responsible behaviour.

This research is the first to examine new applications of norm activation theory in retailing. Furthermore, this research is the first to extend the theory by examining psychological factors that may regulate socially irresponsible behaviour. The research demonstrates the significant role of anxiety and attachment in facilitating the impact of awareness of negative consequences and aspirations of responsibility in the retailing during emergencies.

Long sales periods (i.e. Christmas time, Black Friday, etc.) and the risk of contagion while shopping (i.e. during pandemics like COVID-19) showed the extent to which crowded shopping environments have negative effects on consumers’ behavior. Hence, using terror management theory (TMT) and stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) approach, the authors aims to develop a new model to investigate the effect of crowd-checking technology on shopping anxiety, the perceived value of shopping experience and willingness to pay.

Using a cross-sectional research design and with a help of an independent research company, the authors collected 1,000 valid responses from individuals residing in the UK.

Results showed that crowd-checking technology cues reduce shopping anxiety, improve value perceptions and increase willingness to pay. In addition, the efficacy of technology in reducing shopping anxiety is moderated by customers’ shopping orientation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first one investigating crowd monitoring systems used at the initial stage of consumers’ journey to show the number of consumers in-store in real-time. It contributes to the literature on technology applications in retailing by providing evidence that technology cues reduce shopping anxiety, which in turn enhances customer-perceived value from the shopping experience and increases the willingness to pay in stores with embedded crowd-checker technology. The study also extends the application of TMT in a new context.

Los largos periodos de rebajas (ej. Navidades, Black Friday, etc.) y el riesgo de contagio durante las compras (ej. durante pandemias como la COVID-19) mostraron hasta qué punto los entornos de compras abarrotados tienen efectos negativos en el comportamiento de los consumidores. Utilizando la Teoría de la Gestión del Terror (TMT) y el enfoque Estímulo-Organismo-Respuesta (S-O-R), desarrollamos un nuevo modelo para investigar el efecto de la tecnología de control de multitudes sobre la ansiedad en las compras, el valor percibido de la experiencia de compra y la disposición a pagar.

Utilizando un diseño de investigación transversal y con la ayuda de una empresa de investigación independiente, recogimos 1.000 respuestas válidas de personas residentes en el Reino Unido.

Los resultados mostraron que las señales de la tecnología de comprobación de multitudes reducen la ansiedad en las compras, mejoran la percepción del valor y aumentan la disposición a pagar. Además, la eficacia de la tecnología en la reducción de la ansiedad de compra está moderada por la orientación de compra de los clientes.

Esta investigación es la primera que estudia los sistemas de seguimiento de multitudes utilizados en la fase inicial del viaje de los consumidores para mostrar el número de consumidores en la tienda en tiempo real. Contribuye a la literatura sobre aplicaciones tecnológicas en el comercio minorista aportando pruebas de que las señales tecnológicas reducen la ansiedad de compra, lo que a su vez mejora el valor percibido por el cliente de la experiencia de compra y aumenta la disposición a pagar en tiendas con tecnología de control de multitudes integrada. El estudio también amplía la aplicación de la Teoría de la Gestión del Terror en un nuevo contexto.

漫长的销售期（即圣诞节时间、黑色星期五等）和购物时的传染风险（即在COVID-19等大流行病期间）显示了拥挤的购物环境对消费者行为的负面影响程度。 因此, 利用恐怖管理理论（TMT）和刺激-组织-反应（S-O-R）方法, 我们建立了一个新的模型来研究人群检查技术对购物焦虑、购物体验的感知价值和支付意愿的影响。

在一家独立研究公司的帮助下, 我们采用横断面研究设计, 从居住在英国的个人中收集了1000份有效的答复。

结果显示, 人群检查技术提示减少了购物焦虑, 改善了价值认知, 并提高了支付意愿。此外, 技术在减少购物焦虑方面的功效受到顾客购物取向的调节。

这项研究是第一个调查在消费者旅程的初始阶段使用的人群监测系统, 以实时显示店内消费者的数量。它为零售业技术应用的文献做出了贡献, 提供了技术线索减少购物焦虑的证据, 这反过来又提高了顾客从购物体验中感知到的价值, 并增加了在有嵌入式人群检查器技术的商店中的支付意愿。该研究还扩展了恐怖管理理论在新环境中的应用。