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Masstige (mass-produced and affordable luxury) goods are receiving increasing literature-based attention. However, despite existing advances, insight into how different cultural backgrounds shape consumer perceptions, attitudes and behaviors toward masstige goods remains tenuous. Correspondingly, this study aims to examine the association of masstige luxury with customers’ love for and brand engagement with masstige products across cultures.

This study used a sample comprising 342 Indian and 354 Canadian masstige customers. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

The results corroborate brand prestige and identification as key antecedents to customers’ love for masstige brands, which in turn impact their brand engagement. Surprisingly, the authors find that the effects of brand prestige and brand identification on brand love and customer brand engagement do not significantly differ between Indian and Canadian customers. However, the positive effect of brand identification and brand love on customer brand engagement is stronger for Indian customers than for Canadian customers.

This study addresses an important literature-based gap in understanding how cultural backgrounds shape consumer perceptions of masstige brands. It offers key theoretical and practical implications for masstige marketing.

Identifying differential effects among Indian and Canadian customers provides a foundation for tailoring marketing approaches in the masstige sector.

This study addresses a critical literature-based gap in understanding how cultural backgrounds shape consumer perceptions of masstige brands, offering key theoretical and practical implications for masstige marketing.

This study aims to delve into the cultural differences between developing and developed countries pertaining to the negative behavioral fallouts of adopting anthropomorphized humanoids or robots. The underlying motivation (for the study) lies in the fact that these countries are at the vanguard of artificial intelligence development and deployment, albeit with varying levels of development and acceptance.

The research framework used in this study is guided by the computers as social actors framework, expectancy disconfirmation theory and is supported by the uncanny valley theory. The data was collected in two contexts using probabilistic sampling technique, N= = 782 (n₁ = 393 respondents: developed country i.e. USA and n₂ = 389 respondents: developing country i.e. India). The partial least square analysis was carried out for the proposed model’s validation and hypotheses testing.

This study shows that in developed countries, the consumers have high preinteraction expectations while they express comparatively more dark behavior than respondents from developing countries. Consumers in developed countries focus on anthropomorphic knowledge and design cues, while in developing countries, they pay attention to utility and functionality. Finally, the results also suggest that female respondents from developed countries exhibit more resilience toward anthropomorphized agents in adopting and expressing dark behavior.

The present research makes essential contributions to anthropomorphism literature. First, this study explored impact of the interaction effect on the dark side, a rather under-explored domain in regret literature. Second, this study provides evidence for cross-cultural variations pertaining to the dark side impacts. Finally, this study adds to impact of demographic variables, showing that gender played a significant role in moderating relationships in the proposed model.

This study aims to identify the present research trends and streamline future research possibilities in luxury brands by a systematic review of the existing literature.

A portfolio of 552 articles published between 1996 and 2020 in the luxury brands domain is collected from the Scopus database and analyzed using an integrated approach comprising bibliometric and content analyses.

A comprehensive review of the available literature was done by identifying emerging topics, keywords and research themes. The study's findings indicate that the luxury brand is an exponentially growing theme; seven representative research clusters are identified and analyzed.

This study enriches the literature of luxury brand by presenting a holistic view of the academic literature using an integrated research methodology comprising bibliometric and content analysis techniques.

This study aims to explore the strategic integration of Sharia-compliant and environmental, social and governance (ESG)-focused investments within global equity portfolio optimization frameworks, with a particular emphasis on variance minimization and dynamic rebalancing techniques.

The research uses historical data from Sharia-compliant, ESG-focused and conventional equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Advanced mean-variance optimization methodologies via quadratic programming are employed, encompassing static optimization with and without a 50% cap on individual asset weights, dynamic optimization with monthly rebalancing and rolling window optimization.

Portfolios integrating Sharia-compliant investments frequently outperform those composed solely of conventional equity ETFs. Dynamic optimization with monthly rebalancing achieved the highest Sharpe ratio (1.3708) and demonstrated enhanced portfolio resilience during market turbulence, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharia-compliant investments showed substantial allocations during key periods, with weights reaching up to 100% in the first half of 2020. In contrast, ESG-focused investments exhibited more limited and sporadic allocations, reflecting a more opportunistic role in the portfolio.

The findings reaffirm the critical role of Sharia-compliant investments in well-diversified, risk-conscious portfolios while also providing nuanced insights into the more selective integration of ESG-focused assets. The results offer practical guidance for portfolio managers seeking to integrate ethical and sustainable investment principles within advanced portfolio optimization frameworks, particularly when focusing on minimizing variance and dynamically responding to evolving market conditions.

The study contributes to the growing body of literature on ethical and sustainable investments, demonstrating that it is possible to balance ethical considerations with robust financial performance. The research underscores the potential for Sharia-compliant investments to play a significant role in global portfolios, potentially fostering greater financial inclusion and cross-cultural understanding in the investment community.

This research provides novel insights by focusing on Sharia-compliant investments within non-Muslim countries, an area that has been relatively underexplored. It also compares the outcomes of static, dynamic and rolling optimizations, highlighting the dynamic interplay between ethical investment principles and financial performance.

This paper proposes an integrated methodology for process design to guide decision making under uncertainty by combining life cycle assessment (LCA) with multi‐criteria decision‐making tools.

Cleaner and greener technologies for process and product selection and design have gained popularity in recent years. The LCA is a systematic approach that enables selection of cleaner and greener products and processes. Recently, significant progress has been made for the use of LCA for product/process evaluation and selection. However, its use in process design and environmental decision making has not been fully exploited. The proposed methodology GreenPro‐I is a systematic approach to estimate environmental risks/impacts associated with life cycle of products, processes and services. It evaluates environmental burdens by quantifying energy and materials used and waste released into the environment. It identifies and evaluates opportunities, which affect environmental improvements. The assessment includes the extraction/excavation and processing of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation and distribution, use, recycle, and final disposal.

GreenPro‐I overcomes many of the problems faced in the conventional approaches and establishes a link between the environmental risks/impacts, cost, and technical feasibility of processes.

GreenPro‐I provides a comprehensive decision‐making tool for designers, regulatory agencies, business organizations and other stakeholders.

The aim of this paper is to propose a robust robot fuzzy logic proportional-derivative (PD) controller for trajectory tracking of autonomous nonholonomic differential drive wheeled mobile robot (WMR) of the type Quanser Qbot.

Fuzzy robot control approach is used for developing a robust fuzzy PD controller for trajectory tracking of a nonholonomic differential drive WMR. The linear/angular velocity of the differential drive mobile robot are formulated such that the tracking errors between the robot’s trajectory and the reference path converge asymptotically to zero. Here, a new controller zero-order Takagy–Sugeno trajectory tracking (ZTS-TT) controller is deduced for robot’s speed regulation based on the fuzzy PD controller. The WMR used for the experimental implementation is Quanser Qbot which has two differential drive wheels; therefore, the right/left wheel velocity of the differential wheels of the robot are worked out using inverse kinematics model. The controller is implemented using MATLAB Simulink with QUARC framework, downloaded and compiled into executable (.exe) on the robot based on the WIFI TCP/IP connection.

Compared to other fuzzy proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers, the proposed fuzzy PD controller was found to be robust, stable and consuming less resources on the robot. The comparative results of the proposed ZTS-TT controller and the conventional PD controller demonstrated clearly that the proposed ZTS-TT controller provides better tracking performances, flexibility, robustness and stability for the WMR.

The proposed fuzzy PD controller can be improved using hybrid techniques. The proposed approach can be developed for obstacle detection and collision avoidance in combination with trajectory tracking for use in environments with obstacles.

A robust fuzzy logic PD is developed and its performances are compared to the existing fuzzy PID controller. A ZTS-TT controller is deduced for trajectory tracking of an autonomous nonholonomic differential drive mobile robot (i.e. Quanser Qbot).