Kavita Sharma and Emmanuel Elioth Lulandala
COVID-19 preventive measures disrupted the media and entertainment business ecosystem, increased over the top (OTT) consumption, brought new OTT players, thus increased…
Abstract
Purpose
COVID-19 preventive measures disrupted the media and entertainment business ecosystem, increased over the top (OTT) consumption, brought new OTT players, thus increased competition, and shaped consumer behaviour and habits. Despite this knowledge, in-depth insights into OTT's consumer behaviour, new usage habit and strategies used by subscription-based OTT platforms to maintain resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic are unknown. This paper aims to fill the two gaps in the extant OTT literature.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used Eisenhardt's multiple case studies approach to derive the strategies used by the top-performing subscription-based OTT platforms in India. Moreover, a purposive semi-structured Google survey was used to explore consumers' OTT experience during the pandemic. This study analysed data using NVivo 12 (survey) and MS Excel 2010 (case studies).
Findings
This study derived seven resilient OTT strategies; competitive low pricing, enhancing customer experience, launching innovative service plans, content localisation, strategic collaboration, flexibility in technology adoption and proactive sales promotion. Consequent to adopting these strategies, consumers' usage of OTT evolved from occasional to habitual. Convenience, ease of accessibility, risk of contracting COVID-19, variety and quality of content, online reviews and affordability drive consumer preference for OTT. Also, this study revealed consumers' varied OTT experiences.
Originality/value
The contribution is two-fold; the derived strategies for maintaining resilience and the in-depth insights into habit formation and consumer behaviour during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is valuable for media and entertainment stakeholders like streaming service providers, OTT services, cable operators, etc.
Details
Keywords
Kavita Sharma and Monika Bansal
The paper attempts to investigate the term “environmental consciousness” and identify the underlying components of environmental consciousness and its antecedents. Also, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper attempts to investigate the term “environmental consciousness” and identify the underlying components of environmental consciousness and its antecedents. Also, to propose the framework explaining the linkage between environmental consciousness, its antecedents, components, and behavioral outcome, and also the variables, if any, that may intervene between environmental consciousness and environmentally conscious consumer behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews extant literature to bring conceptual clarity to the term environmental consciousness and its linkages with the related variables.
Findings
Environmental consciousness – a mental state variable – is found distinct from its antecedents and associated behaviors. It is a multi‐dimensional construct varying from low general level to high product‐specific level.
Research limitations/implications
This paper provides understanding for the term environmental consciousness and its relation with other variables and thus leaves the wide scope for research in the future.
Practical implications
The extent to which green marketing efforts can gainfully be taken to the market and given a required scale depends upon environmental consciousness of the consumers. According to levels of environmental consciousness, green consumer segments are obtained and “greener” consumer segments can be targeted to induce pro‐environmental purchase behavior.
Social implications
The proposed model in the study would allow the green marketers to support the whole idea of environment protection through appropriate marketing strategies.
Originality/value
Based on extant review of literature, the paper proposes the term environmental consciousness as a mental state variable, which is distinct from its antecedents and behavioural outcomes.
Details
Keywords
George Lodorfos, Ioannis Kostopoulos, Anastasia Konstantopoulou and Moade Shubita
Aishwarya Singh, Swati Sharma, Santoshi Sengupta and Kavita Goel
Responding to the radical changes in work practices and extensive virtual forms of interaction brought by COVID-19, this study aims to investigate the role played by authentic…
Abstract
Purpose
Responding to the radical changes in work practices and extensive virtual forms of interaction brought by COVID-19, this study aims to investigate the role played by authentic leadership and horizontal collectivism in helping the Indian startups sail through the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was gathered through standardized questionnaires from 300 leaders and 300 employees from Indian startups during the second phase of lockdown. Statistical analysis using AMOS 23.0 checks for the direct effect of authentic leadership on work engagement and the moderating effect of horizontal collectivism on the relationship between the two. This study also compares the results between self-ascribed and perceived authentic leadership.
Findings
Statistical analysis using AMOS 23.0 was done to check for the direct effect of authentic leadership on work engagement and the moderating effect of horizontal collectivism on the relationship between authentic leadership and work engagement. This study also compared the results between self-ascribed and perceived authentic leadership.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explores the role of authentic leadership in unlocking work engagement among employees serving in Indian startups during the pandemic. The lesson learned from this is when employees perceived their leaders to be authentic, the work culture to be nonhierarchical and felt collective responsibility toward work, it unlocked their high potential and made them soulfully engaged in their work.
Details
Keywords
Kavita Pandey, Surendra S. Yadav and Seema Sharma
The purpose of this paper is to validate the theoretical finding that digital MNEs avoid physical presence norms of permanent establishment and royalty characterization rules for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to validate the theoretical finding that digital MNEs avoid physical presence norms of permanent establishment and royalty characterization rules for business and royalty taxation, respectively, to escape tax incidence in the market economy, using information, communication and technology features and transfer pricing (TP) manipulations.
Design/methodology/approach
Multiple case studies of MNEs from technology sector, based on judicial decisions in 141 cases, over taxability of profits earned from Indian economic activities. Additional in-depth case study of the Uber Group to study the tax avoidance structures under platform economy, by routing of Indian profits through The Netherlands, a tax haven.
Findings
The study finds a significant number of digital MNEs earning profits from India and avoiding tax by defying physical presence and royalty characterization. In majority of the cases, demand-side business activities are discharged through incorporating and remunerating affiliates at cost plus low markup, thus avoiding tax incidence, using TP manipulations under the arm’s length principle applied by governments for benchmarking the intragroup transactions of the MNEs.
Research limitations/implications
The research findings validate the view that digital features promote tax avoidance in the market economy.
Originality/value
The originality of the study lies in the validation of profit shifting through digital features from the developing market economy and portending that digital MNEs defy physical presence to avoid business taxation through TP manipulations.
Details
Keywords
Kavita Pandey, Surendra S. Yadav and Seema Sharma
The present research identifies a total of nine factors influencing tax avoidance under the international taxation regime of the developing countries and establishes a…
Abstract
Purpose
The present research identifies a total of nine factors influencing tax avoidance under the international taxation regime of the developing countries and establishes a hierarchical relationship through modeling of the identified factors using modified-total interpretive structural modeling (M-TISM).
Design/methodology/approach
Due to “scale without mass” properties of the digital economy, businesses reduce their physical presence in the countries of economic activities. Aided with digital features, multinational enterprises (MNEs) avoid, abolish, or adopt flexible tax burden in the developing nations through by-passing the permanent establishment condition for company taxes or the income characterization prerequisite for royalty taxation. The present research endeavors to identify the drivers of tax avoidance in the developing countries, especially exacerbated due to digital technologies (economy). In addition, the authors also examine the hierarchical relation between the extracted drivers of tax avoidance.
Findings
This research presents a considerable driving force of elements like historical foundation of tax-treaties, dominance of the developed countries, influence of trade bodies in policy matters and finally information and communications technologies (ICTs).
Originality/value
Identified elements drive the actors like professional enablers, tax havens, international organizations, and intangible assets in the form of intellectual properties (IPs) which act upon tax arbitrage situations both under the domestic and treaty regulations, finally culminating into profit shifting, tax manipulations or avoidance.
Details
Keywords
Kavita Srivastava and Narendra K. Sharma
The present study aims to investigate the impact of perceived quality, brand extension incongruity, involvement and perceived risk on consumer attitude towards brand extension…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to investigate the impact of perceived quality, brand extension incongruity, involvement and perceived risk on consumer attitude towards brand extension across three product types, namely, FMCG, durable goods and service (FDS) sectors. More importantly, the study seeks to explore the importance of involvement profile comprising relevance, pleasure, sign‐value, risk importance and risk probability and perceived risk facets (financial, psychological and performance) in acceptance of brand extension across FDS.
Design/methodology/approach
Three questionnaire‐based surveys were conducted to collect the data for FMCG, durable and service brand extensions. Regression analyses and Chow test were computed to investigate differences in consumer evaluation across FDS.
Findings
Results revealed significant different effects of variables across the three product types. The impact of perceived quality was greater in the case of services than FMCG and durables. On the other hand, perceived risk and involvement had stronger influence on evaluation of durables and service than FMCG brand extensions.
Research limitations/implications
The present study gives a comprehensive view of how consumers evaluate the service and non‐service brand extensions.
Originality/value
The major contributions of this study are: generalization of the findings related to brand extension incongruity in the service area; examination of the multidimensional role of involvement in terms of relevance, pleasure, sign value, risk importance and risk probability in brand extension context across FMCG, durables and service product types; and exploration of the role of risk facets, namely, financial, performance and psychological in determining consumers' attitude towards brand extension.
Details
Keywords
Harindranath R.M., George Alex Johan and Kavita Chavali
Our study aims to investigate how the fear of COVID-19 affects job satisfaction and mental well-being. Additionally, we will explore the moderating role of on-the-job embeddedness…
Abstract
Purpose
Our study aims to investigate how the fear of COVID-19 affects job satisfaction and mental well-being. Additionally, we will explore the moderating role of on-the-job embeddedness in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The study surveyed 358 Indian-origin IT professionals through Amazon Mechanical Turk. It used confirmatory factor analysis to analyze the measurement model and hierarchical linear regression in SPSS 21 software to examine the structural relationships between variables. A robustness check was conducted using the MODLR macro in SPSS to identify any spurious moderation.
Findings
The results reveal a curvilinear (or U-shaped) relationship between COVID-19 fear, job satisfaction and mental well-being. Further, on-the-job embeddedness linearly moderates the relationship between COVID-19 fear and job satisfaction and COVID-19 fear and mental well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The research design is cross-sectional, so results reported about causal relationships are considered cautiously. The relationships involving the variables and their direction are because of the theory’s assumptions rather than the test of causal relationships between variables.
Originality/value
This is the first study to show that the relationship between COVID-19 fear and job satisfaction and COVID-19 fear and mental well-being is curvilinear (or U-shaped). Further, we are again the first to show that on-the-job embeddedness positively moderates the two relationships: COVID-19 fear – job satisfaction and COVID-19 fear – mental well-being. This is one of the few studies that employed MODLR macro to check for spurious moderation.
Details
Keywords
Kavita Srivastava and Narendra K. Sharma
The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a conceptual framework specifying the multidimensional role of involvement and perceived risk in brand extension domain.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a conceptual framework specifying the multidimensional role of involvement and perceived risk in brand extension domain.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey research design was applied to test the proposed hypotheses. Three hypothetical extensions of a real brand were selected. A total of 101 respondents participated in the study. Regression analyses was conducted to examine the role of involvement and perceived risk dimensions in brand extension evaluation.
Findings
Results indicate that consumers evaluate brand extension more favorably when it is highly relevant, more pleasurable, and associated with less risk probability. In addition, each facet of perceived risk, namely, financial, performance and psychological, are found to be equally important in making decisions about brand extension.
Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes to the growing body of literature of brand extension. The study provides a new direction to brand managers and marketers to understand the full dynamics of the relationship of consumers with brand extensions. To get more benefit from brand extension strategies, managers should pay attention to involvement and perceived risk associated with extension categories.
Originality/value
This paper is unique in that it identifies the importance of multidimensional nature of involvement and perceived risk to study consumer evaluation of brand extension.