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This study evaluates the impact of sales promotions that are featured in store flyers distributed by prominent retailers and their capacity to attract consumers to their establishments. A distinctive conceptual framework is introduced that scrutinizes the influence of ethically-minded consumer behavior, digital citizenship/literacy, and a retailer's orientation toward environmental sustainability and explicit ecological concerns. A quasi-experimental design was used to formulate four distinct scenarios from a possible set of eight, stemming from the combinations of three variables: 2 Retailer Positioning (green vs. without explicit ecological claims) × 2 Flyer Mediums (paper vs. digital) × 2 Discount Levels (5% discount vs. 30% discount). Through an online survey, a sample of 269 responses was garnered to gauge consumer reactions to these store flyers, evaluating their attitudes and receptiveness. The findings suggest that attitudes toward paper flyers were more favorable when presented by non-green retailers compared to their green counterparts. This can be attributed to a perceived inconsistency between a green brand positioning and the use of paper flyers. Furthermore, the propensity to transition to digital flyers was notably stronger for green retailers compared to non-green retailers, but this inclination was most pronounced when higher discounts were offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background : The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had increased population-level anxiety and had elicited panic buying behaviour across the world. The over-hoarding of toilet paper has received a lot of negative public attention. In this work, we used Twitter data to qualitatively analyse tweets related to panic buying of toilet paper during the crisis. Methods : A total of 255,171 tweets were collected. Of these 4081 met our inclusion criteria and 100 tweets were randomly selected to develop a coding scheme in the initial phase. Random samples of tweets in folds of 100 were then qualitatively analysed in the focused coding phase until saturation was met at 500 tweets analysed. Results : Five key themes emerged: (1) humour or sarcasm, (2) marketing or profiteering, (3) opinion and emotions, (4) personal experience, and (5) support or information. About half of the tweets carried negative sentiments, expressing anger or frustration towards the deficiency of toilet paper and the frantic situation of toilet paper hoarding, which were among the most influential tweets. Discussion : Panic buying of toilet paper was seen during the 2020 pandemic period with a mass amount of related content spread across social media. The spontaneous contagion of fear and panic through social media could fuel psychological reactions in midst of crises. The high level of negative social media posts regarding the toilet paper crisis acts as an emotional trigger of public anxiety and panic. Conclusions : Social media data can provide rapid infodemiology of public mental health. In a pandemic or crisis situation, real-time data could be monitored and content-analysed for authorities to promptly address public concerns.

The financial motivation to earn advertising revenue has been widely conjectured to be pivotal for the production of online misinformation 1-4 . Research aimed at mitigating misinformation has so far focused on interventions at the user level 5-8 , with little emphasis on how the supply of misinformation can itself be countered. Here we show how online misinformation is largely financed by advertising, examine how financing misinformation affects the companies involved, and outline interventions for reducing the financing of misinformation. First, we find that advertising on websites that publish misinformation is pervasive for companies across several industries and is amplified by digital advertising platforms that algorithmically distribute advertising across the web. Using an information-provision experiment 9 , we find that companies that advertise on websites that publish misinformation can face substantial backlash from their consumers. To examine why misinformation continues to be monetized despite the potential backlash for the advertisers involved, we survey decision-makers at companies. We find that most decision-makers are unaware that their companies' advertising appears on misinformation websites but have a strong preference to avoid doing so. Moreover, those who are unaware and uncertain about their company's role in financing misinformation increase their demand for a platform-based solution to reduce monetizing misinformation when informed about how platforms amplify advertising placement on misinformation websites. We identify low-cost, scalable information-based interventions to reduce the financial incentive to misinform and counter the supply of misinformation online., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Amidst the intensive cola war in the Indian market, Hector Beverages Private Limited introduced ethnic drink as a competitive strategy to attract Indian consumers. This move aims to attract Indian consumers by not only offering health benefits and nutritional value but also providing a sense of connection to the past and emotional satisfaction through old memories. Paper Boat, an ethnic and nostalgic beverage brand of Hector Beverages, has disrupted the Indian beverage industry, challenging market leaders to provide innovative and nutritional drinks. The case study highlights Paper Boat's innovative value proposition and nostalgia marketing campaigns, while also examining the competitive strategies of major players in the Indian beverage industry. The case study also raises important questions that Hector Beverages must consider remaining relevant in a changing market and retaining its competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors used time-series data from 1975 to 2020 on combustible renewables and waste production and recycling. References 1 Ben Yahya T., Jamal N.M., Sundarakani B., Omain S.Z. The Effects of Data Security and Perceived Benefits on Mobile Phone Recycling Behaviour and the Recycling Intention Mediation Role. This Special Issue aimed to collect high-quality papers (original research articles or comprehensive review papers) published during 2022 on the subject of waste recycling. Waste Management Analyses Efficient waste management systems are crucial in order to match the high recycling goals set by European Union by 2030. [Extracted from the article]

The high uncertainty around the COVID‐19 pandemic elicited an unprecedented level of panic buying during the early months. Using the framework of stress and coping, the current study conceptualized and tested a theoretical model that predicts individuals' panic buying in two countries. A survey of US (n = 311) and Korean consumers (n = 347) revealed that negative emotions (loneliness and anxiety) contributed to panic buying, yet two important coping resources, resilience and social support, were effective in protecting consumers from engaging in a maladaptive coping strategy. The hypothesis that collectivism (vs. individualism) would make consumers rely on social (vs. personal) coping resources was partially supported. The results highlight the unique circumstance of the global pandemic in which social support works as both a resource for healthy coping and a source to increase negative emotions, and call for future investigation of the complex role of social support in the context of stress and coping theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to show the added value of using tools such as eyetracking, galvanic skin response, facial coding and others in the field of market research and user experience research. We will present 3 case studies in which these tools have been used successfully. We will give an overview of the background, the objectives, methods and results and how the neuro-tools provided additional insights into consumer behaviour, which would otherwise not have been possible. In this paper we will specifically show cases from packaging design, advertising research and user experience research thus only covering a small part of possible application areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surging environmental issues confiscate stakeholders' attention due to growing competition. Sustainable performance in this regard is viewed as a suitable tool because it not only gauges firm's financial performance but also covers social and environmental areas. However, sustainable performance cannot be achieved without creating sustainable business advantage. Green supply chain practices are known to be implemented in terms of sustainability as they are cross-looped as well as cross-organizational. The practices help in the reduction of environmental impact of business activities without compromising on quality, performance, cost, and energy usage efficiency. The reason encourages the authors to explore the role of selected green supply chain factors, customer preference, and leadership factors in shaping sustainable business advantage. The study has examined the association by adopting the quantitative research method. The researcher has gathered data from 530 employees in the purchasing department, logistics, import/export officers, and packing staff. The data was analyzed statistically by employing SPSS for preliminary analysis and AMOS for testing the structural model and the hypotheses of the study. Using confirmatory factors analysis and structural equational modeling, the researcher has analyzed the study's measurement model and the hypotheses of the study. The findings of the research have depicted that there is a significant positive impact of lean management and green product design with sustainable business advantage. Moreover, there exists a mediation of customer preferences and leadership factors between green product design and sustainable business advantage. The study has a few limitations as well and uses a quantitative method; therefore, the study has recommended that future researchers utilize qualitative or mixed methods. The study has several theoretical and practical implications., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study investigated the impact of efficiency, reliability, responsiveness, safety, and security on customer satisfaction with sustainable e-banking. The study used a quantitative methodology, with data collected from customers of commercial banks in South Punjab, Pakistan. A Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect cross-sectional data. A sample of 350 was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for testing descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression results. The study's results revealed that efficiency, reliability, responsiveness, safety, and security significantly impacted customer satisfaction with e-banking services. Efficiency and reliability were the most crucial factors influencing customer satisfaction, followed by safety, security, and responsiveness. The research findings have important implications for commercial banks, as they highlight the critical role of these factors in the development of sustainable e-banking practices. Overall, the study provides valuable insights for commercial banks seeking to improve their e-banking services and ensure customer satisfaction. Commercial banks can enhance their competitiveness and achieve sustainable growth in the highly competitive e-banking sector by prioritizing efficiency, reliability, responsiveness, and safety and security., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: The relevance of several characteristics for the acceptability of steamed East Africa bananas (matooke) was assessed using consumer-preferred characteristics, the overall liking scores, check-all-that-apply (CATA) and the Just About Right scale. The study was conducted in rural and urban locations in three banana growing regions of Uganda. Two landraces and two hybrids were processed into matooke. Twelve trained panellists evaluated color, taste and texture sensory characteristics., Results: Consumers scored matooke from landraces as the most liked. The CATA test showed that the most important characteristics were: smooth mouthfeel, soft to the touch, not sticky, moldable, deep yellow color, attractive, good matooke taste and smell. Principal component analysis confirmed that most of the preferred sensory characteristics were associated with the local genotypes, whereas the less preferred characteristics were associated with hybrids. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive correlations between the consumer assessed characteristics, hardness by touch, softness to touch and yellowness, as well as quantitative laboratory characteristics (moldable, hardness by touch, softness and yellowness) of the steamed matooke. Color assessed by consumers was strongly correlated with the laboratory-assessed color indicators., Conclusion: The strong associations observed between laboratory-assessed and consumer-based characteristics (moldable by touch and yellowness) suggest the possibility of predicting consumer characteristics using quantitative laboratory sensory assessments. Matooke taste as assessed by consumer panel is strongly associated with smooth texture and deep yellow color, which were the characteristics associated with landraces in the laboratory sensory assessment. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.)

As the global warming crisis is increasing daily, it is crucial to find ways to reduce the carbon footprint generated by activities like the production, consumption, and distribution of goods and services. This empirical study has looked at one approach through which environment-friendly production and consumption can be encouraged. The developed model has studied the relationship between retailers' access to green finance and consumer purchase intention of green products by incorporating the role of environmental, status, and future consciousness. Theoretical foundations for this model have been taken from the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and theory of reasoned action (TRA), which have extensively discussed the role of consciousness and societal norms while making purchase intentions. To gain insights about the purchasing behaviour of consumers, this study collected data from the Jiangsu province of China, where a non-probability convenience sampling technique was used to distribute a questionnaire to 400 respondents between February 2022 and August 2022. The collected data was analysed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in SmartPLS in order to study the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Results of this study show that retailers' access to green finance positively impacts consumer purchase intention towards green products, and adding a consciousness perspective in the model strengthens this relationship. Moreover, the theory of planned behaviour and the theory of reasoned action were validated through this study, providing insights for policymakers on the importance of promoting green finance to influence green product purchase intention. Overall, this study shows that policymakers should give green financing to retailers and environmental and future awareness to consumers to encourage environment-friendly behaviour., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study aimed to identify the performance properties that drive the shelf price of kitchen paper towels and evaluate whether sustainability is an important driver for pricing. Nineteen products were compared according to their performance (softness, absorbency, and strength), technology, and fiber morphology. Metrics to rank the products in different grades (economy, premium, and ultra) according to their performance were provided. A multiple linear regression showed that absorbency and softness are the most significant properties used to predict the price. Market data indicates that there is a segment of consumers willing to pay a premium price for products marketed as "sustainable", even though their performance is comparatively inferior to the majority of the samples. Sustainable products are up to 85% more expensive than regular products. The metrics obtained in this work can contribute to improvement in market transparency, and aid companies in deciding strategies for product development and new investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]