Dr Khan M.R. Taufique

Virtual avatar deployment has opened a new window for many industries in service personalization and customization, offering customers ‘anytime-anywhere’ services. It becomes increasingly essential for marketing practitioners and scholars to clearly understand how avatar attributes and traits are reshaping customer value perceptions in the digital world. Despite the exponential growth of research interest within this area in the last decade, the literature on avatar attributes and consumer-perceived values remains fragmented and isolated. Given this circumstance, this review draws on the theory-context-characteristics-methods framework and explores the extant literature to provide a collective and comprehensive insight into dominant theories, contexts, characteristics, and methodologies in the context of avatar-based marketing (ABM). A systematic literature review was applied to rigorously review 57 published articles on avatars and ABM from 2005 to 2023. Using in-depth content analysis, the current review sheds light on the opportunity to extend the theoretical foundations for the ABM literature. It also identifies gaps in understanding avatar attributes and the associated consumer values, with potential implications for consumer behavior. Finally, it sums up a comprehensive future research agenda.

Purpose – Acknowledging previous scholarly focus on functional attributes in understanding technology acceptance behaviour, the current study aims to offer a novel perspective by integrating eight different dimensions of utilitarian and hedonic attributes to examine their influence in delivering a holistic web-based retail shopping experience. Design/methodology/approach –The research model was tested and validated through data collected from 370 online shoppers across both hedonic and utilitarian product ranges. Hypotheses were tested using covariance-based structural equation modelling with multi-group analysis to examine the moderation effect. Findings – The findings strongly support the model confirming eight new utilitarian and hedonic dimensions that influence web-based retail shopping behaviour. The findings also confirm that hedonic attributes remain important even for utilitarian product purchasing. Practical implications – The key managerial implication is the demonstrated need to balance utilitarian and hedonic attributes in web-based retail platforms, where previously, there has been an overemphasis on functional features. Web-based retailers should consider the optimal blend of utilitarian (e.g. information quality) and hedonic (e.g. aesthetic) attributes in the design of a retail shopping site, irrespective of the product category. Originality/value – This study integrates multiple dimensions of utilitarian and hedonic attributes into a single model and highlights the interplay of these attributes, thus extending the technology acceptance model. This paper also advances scholarship through its identification of attribute impact across different product categories.

Purpose – This study aims to have a holistic understanding of psychological determinants of consumers’ e-waste recycling behavior to promote sustainable post-consumption behavior through end-of-life electronic products exchange (EEPE) program.

Design/methodology/approach – The study integrated additional cognitive and noncognitive factors within the Theory of Planned Behavior. Data were collected from 334 participants who were purposively recruited from well-known online retailers in an emerging market, with the data analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings – The results provide some fresh insights, such as the significant positive influence of recycling habits, economic benefits and attitudes toward nudging on EEPE, with a distinct serial mediation link from recycling habits to EEPE behavior.

Practical implications – This study highlights some relevant sustainable marketing strategies including the integration of nudging and habits as behavioral interventions for promoting e-waste recycling.

Originality/value –The originality of this study relates to (1) testing the significance of nudging in promoting sustainable postconsumption behavior and (2) revealing a serial mediation effect of recycling habits on EEPE behavior via attitude toward e-waste recycling and EEPE intention.

Carbon labelling systems can inform individual and organizational choices, which potentially reduce the carbon footprints of goods and services. We review the ways labelling is conceptualized and operationalized, and the available evidence on effectiveness. The literature focuses mainly on how labelling affects retail consumer behaviour, but much less on how labelling affects the behaviour of the organizations that produce, transport and sell products despite preliminary research suggesting that the effects on corporate behaviour may be substantial even without strong consumer responses. We consider key challenges for carbon labelling systems related to standard setting, data collection and use, and label design. We summarize the available knowledge, identify key research questions and identify steps towards achieving the promise of carbon labelling.

A lot remains unexplored regarding the antecedents and outcomes of telemedicine acceptance from health service marketing perspective. This study addresses this gap by integrating the Health Belief Model and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model in the context of generation Y and Z’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data collected from 293 respondents were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results confirm theoretical rigor of integrating two models examining the antecedents and user satisfaction as an outcome of telemedicine acceptance. The findings also suggest marketing strategies for implementing telemedicine during pandemic. Future research directions are highlighted.

Sustaining employee green behavior (EGB) in the workplace requires an inclusive understanding of the factors that induce it. This study aims to bridge the gap of scarce research on task-related EGB by integrating both cognitive and non-cognitive factors as an extension to the theory of planned behavior. Task-related EGB refers to employees pro-environmental behaviors performed as part of routine tasks and roles. Using principal component analysis and structural equation modeling, the survey findings from 302 employee participants reveal that both cognitive and non-cognitive factors significantly influence the task-related EGB. In addition to this theoretical contribution, this study's findings suggest that creating positive environmental attitudes and habits via pro-environmental policies, procedures, and practices in the workplace can enhance employees' task-related EGB. The provision of access to information, training, and other resources regarding pro-environmental behavior in the workplace may also have an impact. Besides, the results validate the underexplored mediating role of environmental attitudes and pro-environmental habits between individual-level predictors and task-related EGB in the workplace. Lastly, this study's findings offer potential directions for further research in relation to EGB in the workplace.

Purpose – Rapid economic growth, urbanization, growing population and resulting overconsumption have led to the severe environmental vulnerability of some south Asian countries, further accelerated by the impact of climate change. Bangladesh is one such country that has been recognized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as one of the most environmentally vulnerable in the world. A significant amount of environmental deterioration is reportedly due to consumption-related activities. This
study, therefore, aims to understand the antecedents of green consumer behavior among young urban consumers, an emerging and environmentally promising market in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach – This study uses the theory of planned behavior to integrating environmental attitudes, subjective norms, perceived consumer effectiveness and behavioral intentions in its conceptual model to examine their influence on green consumer behavior. Data were collected from 206 young urban consumers (18–24 years of age) from the capital city of Bangladesh. Covariance based structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.
Findings – The subsequent results suggest that perceived consumer effectiveness and subjective norms have a direct positive influence on green consumer behavior, while the direct effect of environmental attitudes is insignificant.
Practical implications – Based on the key finding that one of the strongest antecedents is perceived consumer effectiveness, marketers could inspire young urban consumers by applying self-directed appeal to induce green consumer behavior.
Originality/value – This study is one of the first studies examining the antecedents of green consumption behavior using the framework of the theory of planned behavior that integrates both behavioral intention and reported behavior in the context of young urban consumers in South Asia. An insignificant direct influence of attitudes on green consumer behavior reinforces the attitude-behavior gap, specifically among young urban consumers in a collective society. The strong positive influence of perceived consumer effectiveness on green consumer behavior, on the other hand, extends the existing green consumer literature by empirically supporting the need for enhancing self-efficacy among young consumers to persuade them to practice green consumer behavior, especially where individuals face severe challenges of climate change and environmental deterioration. millennials

The rapid emergence of the online retail platform has captured a significant share of the overall retail market around the globe. Furthermore, many consumers now indulge in online impulse buying via E-commerce and other digital technologies. This study has aimed to understand such online impulse buying behavior among millennials across various product categories. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 335 of these younger consumers in an emerging South Asian market. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural models were used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that the level of influence of atmospheric cues on online impulse buying differs among product categories, which could be applied in target marketing for internet commerce. Limitations of this study are also acknowledged, along with a discussion on potential avenues for future research.

There are inconsistent research findings in relation to the antecedents of green consumer behaviour (GCB). This is well documented in the traditional attitude-behaviour relationship, which is partly due to the exclusion of affective factors in its predictive model. Yet, an inclusive understanding of the antecedents of GCB is critical for effective green marketing communications. This study integrates both affective factor (e.g., emotion) and cognitive factor (e.g., knowledge) to better understand the antecedents of GCB. Data were obtained from 381 Malaysian respondents in major cities, and were analyzed using principal component analysis and structural equation modeling. The key findings of the study suggest consumers’ emotional affinity towards nature and environmental values have a strong direct positive influence on GCB, while the direct impact of knowledge is insignificant. These findings are consistent across genders. Thus, the use of moral and emotional appeal in green communications (e.g., advertising, packaging) appears to induce GCB.

The use of “eco-labels” by businesses, both as communication and positioning strategies, is increasing. For these eco-labels to be effective, however, it requires consumers to understand and value what eco-labels are communicating. Research suggests that there are many factors impeding consumers’ understanding of eco-labels. Most of these studies have focused on single dimensions of a complex phenomenon and in doing so they have ignored the multifaceted aspects of the construct, suggesting that a more integrated representation is warranted. The work herein undertakes four studies to empirically test and validate a multidimensional measure that can be used to assess how consumers psychometrically understand and perceive eco-labelling. The four-study process involves qualitative interviews to extend the issues identified within the literature, followed by two studies using principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling analysis, each using separate samples, to test the reliability and validity of the proposed eight-dimensional 27-item ECOLSCALE. Another study is then undertaken to assess the nomological validity of the scale regarding to consumers’ environmental orientation. The ECOLSCALE developed in this work can be used to assist marketers, policy makers and researchers to evaluate the impact of eco-labelling schemes on consumers’ understanding of eco-labels, thereby enabling consumers to make more environmentally informed decisions.

Rapid economic growth and resulting overconsumption have accelerated environmental deterioration worldwide, prompting escalated consumption-related environmental concerns. This study attempts to explore the antecedents of ecologically conscious consumer behavior (ECCB) among young urban consumers in India – an emerging market experiencing rapid economic growth with increased urbanization and changes in consumption patterns that are contributing to environmental hazard. The empirical study including a literature review uses Theory of Planned Behavior integrating environmental attitudes, subjective norms, perceived consumer effectiveness, and behavioral intention in the model to investigate their influence on ECCB. The results suggest that attitudes and perceived consumer effectiveness both have a significant direct and indirect positive influence on ECCB. In addition, it would appear that the subjective norm, a measure of social demand, does not have any significant influence on behavioral intention leading to ECCB – contrary to established findings in a collective society considered in this study. This paper concludes with policy implications of the findings for marketers and policymakers, as well as potential directions for further research.

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the negative environmental implications of purchasing goods, which in turn shape their behaviour. Yet, there are indications that consumers do not always act on these concerns, causing an attitude–behaviour gap. For consumers to make ecologically responsible purchases, they need relevant product environmental information. Therefore, marketers and firms are increasingly integrating more detailed environmental information in their offerings, including eco-labels with externally validated information. This study integrates consumers’ knowledge and trust in eco-labels with their environmental knowledge to determine how these affect pro-environmental consumer behaviour (PECB). The findings suggest environmental and eco-label knowledge is positively associated with attitudes towards the environment, and that positive environmental attitudes and trust in eco-labels affect PECB. This implies that firms, policy-makers and accreditation organisations (i.e. labelling) can educate consumers about eco-labels and the environment to increase PECB. Such strategies will also build consumer knowledge and trust in eco-labels, necessary for facilitating PECB.

Changes in climatic factors have different impacts on different social groups. Farmers are considered to be the most vulnerable group because of their direct and indirect dependency on climatic factors. This study aims to understand the nature of socioeconomic impacts of climatic changes on the farmers in Malaysia. A questionnaire survey was conducted on a sample of 198 paddy farmers in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area at North-West Selangor of Malaysia in 2009. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, ordinal scale, and percentile. The study reveals that climatic changes have adverse impacts on agricultural productivity, profitability, income equality, employment, farmer's health, and government subsidy policy. The study also finds considerable unequal income distribution among farmers. The study suggests that climatic changes contribute to the widening of income inequality, because poor farmers are affected more by the adverse effects of climatic changes. The paper ends up with recommending some policy guidelines to counter adverse effects of climate change on income of paddy farmers in Malaysia.

Global warming and climate change have become emerging issues for marketing to promote ecologically conscious consumer behavior. Past studies investigated the role of general environmental knowledge in attitude-behavior relationship of pro-environmental consumer behavior. Using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as a guiding framework, this study takes a fresh look at attitude-behavior relationship that integrates both general environmental knowledge and knowledge of eco-labels in the model to investigate their role in predicting ecologically conscious consumer behavior. The study finds that both general environmental knowledge and eco-label knowledge positively influence consumer attitudes towards environment in driving ecologically conscious consumer behavior. The findings suggest that marketing strategy, specifically communication strategy, needs to focus on educating consumers about issue-specific environmental knowledge (e.g., eco-label knowledge) along with general environmental knowledge. Further research should integrate more issue-specific dimensions to investigate pro-environmental consumer behavior.

This paper aims to develop and propose an all-inclusive framework for assessing consumers’ environmental responsibility and understanding of eco-labels. One of the preparatory issues regarding green marketing is to understand consumers’ environmental concerns and to take action accordingly. Another operational vehicle for green marketing is the use of eco-labels. Although some studies ‘criticised’ these two vital issues, no study has so far been found to be comprehensive theoretically and methodologically and sound in content. Yet the government of Malaysia and other organisations are undertaking various initiatives in order to ‘green’ the economy. The number of eco-labels is also increasing. Apparently uncovering consumers’ environmental concerns and their understanding and perception of eco-labels are called for. The proposed framework incorporates six constructs for measuring consumers’ environmental responsibility and ten constructs for assessing consumers’ understanding of eco-labels. This study is exploratory in nature in that it relies solely on surveying available published literature.

The term ‘sustainable’ has become a buzz word in today’s business world. Consumption of green food is just one facet or ‘trip’ to the whole journey of sustainable development. This paper explores and synthesizes the findings of research on green food consumption in Malaysia. The already conducted studies in Malaysia have revealed various demographic and psychographic factors contributing to consumers’ intension to buy green food. This study revealed that majority of Malaysians consider food safety and health issue to be their prime reason for buying green food. To ensure the long term sustainability, the green food as well as the broad food industry in Malaysia must evidently understand the consumers’ buying motives of green food. Although mentionable limitation of the paper is the reliance on only published literature, this can be used as input for further large scale empirical research. The paper concludes with implications and suggestions for further research.

The term “eco-labeling” has become a buzzword in today’s sustainable business world. The use of eco-labeling in various forms has been increasing notably for past many years, sometimes as an environmental “requirement” and sometimes merely as a marketing tool. Questions arise about how well these eco-labels are attended and understood by consumers. However, though mentionable studies are found on various aspects of eco-labels, gaps exist in exploring an inclusive set of parameters for investigating consumer perceptions of eco-labels. This paper aims at preparing a synthesis of all the possible factors to be incorporated for measuring consumer perceptions of eco-labeling of products. For making such synthesis, all major works in the field have been thoroughly reviewed. The paper comes up with a total of 10 parameters that include consumer awareness, consumer knowledge, consumer involvement, consumer trust, design and visibility, credibility of the source, type and level of information, clarity of meaning, persuasiveness, and private benefits. This tentative, yet inclusive, set of parameters is thought to be useful for designing large scale future empirical researches for developing a dependable inclusive set of parameters to test consumer understanding and perceptions of eco-label. A framework is proposed for further empirical research.

Few but mentionable studies have been conducted in typifying the Online Social Media (OSM) users. Studies on innovations taking place within the OSM environment are also very much found. But gaps are present in linking OSM innovations and adoption of innovations by the OSM users. Precise and objective studies to put the OSM users in an adoption spectrum are close to nil, though such studies might carry great significance in this new but exploding field of business and marketing. This study focuses on proposing an ‘Adoption Spectrum’ for OSM innovations by the users by proliferating Rogers’s ‘Adoption of Innovation’ with the ‘Typology of OSM Users’. Absolutely conceptual and qualitative in nature, the study concentrates on assessing the speed and magnitude of adoption of OSM innovations by the users. The proposed spectrum is an alignment between Rogers’s work and the OSM user typology. Mentionable limitation of this piece of work may be forwarding the empirical justifications for further study. However, the study may be used as input for managing innovations by the firms that venture through OSM.

‘Buzz Marketing’ is an alternative strategy of creating preference and demand among prospective customers. Though given caution, this geometrically progressive marketing strategy offers significant opportunities for firms. The popularity of online social media adds a new dimension of buzz marketing, as these social networking sites accommodate a massive exchange of views among the users. Companies planning to use online social media as a driver of their buzz marketing efforts inevitably face the challenge of acquiring favorable response from a versatile and almost uncontrollable mass of users. Hence, profiling the users of social media is valuable. This paper examines the users of online social media and creates profiles of these “buzz riders.” Qualitative in nature, this study also proposes strategic implications for the different categories of online social media users to elicit positive responses of the buzz marketing efforts of the companies.