Adversity and Innovation

The pandemic of 2020 put the whole world on a technology-driven online stage like never before. The new stage called for innovation and new forms of creativity. The Theatre-in-Education team at ATA was also caught unprepared, especially the all-pervasive nature of the consequences. The team was confronted by questions of relevance and the role of educators at a time like this. This chapter describes the processes involved in crafting and successfully conducting two types of online workshops using theatre methods as the principal platform. Theatre is a group activity which involves touching, feeling, comprehending, and connecting through close contact with other participants. One must recognize that this essential component of theatre cannot be accomplished through online sessions. Despite this, the workshops had an immense impact on the children's personal development and added the element of fun to their online experience which might otherwise have remained dry and boring.

Reconfigure the apparel retail stores with interactive technologies

Purpose The omni-channel strategy provides a holistic experience during shopping by integrating online and offline channel services. In this digitalized realm, customers are more dependent on online elements for shopping. However, physical stores are still their first choice for apparel shopping. The introduction of interactive technology is one of the key elements to provide an online experience in the physical store. The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of interactive technologies on purchase intention and its role. Design/methodology/approach This study has been conducted in Delhi using 573 customers who are using interactive technologies for shopping. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data was analysed using structural equation modelling through smart partial least square 3. Findings The results show that 46% change in purchase intention was due to mobile point of sale/digital wallet, tablet/i-pad/digital signage, smartphone and click and collect/ship from store technology. However, there was no impact of the smart mirror and in-store Wi-Fi technology on purchase intention. Originality/value This study focuses on various technologies which provide online experience at physical stores. This study offers new insights for the theoretical and business framework of omni-channel brands. These technologies could be used as key performance indicators of omni-channel retailing in future.

The influence of e-customer satisfaction, e-trust and perceived value on consumer's repurchase intention in B2C e-commerce segment

PurposeThis research study investigates the factors that influence e-customer satisfaction, e-trust, perceived value and consumers repurchase intention in the context of the B2C e-commerce segment. It investigates the mediation effect of e-customer satisfaction, e-trust and perceived value on repurchase intention. It also examines the moderating role of prior online experience.Design/methodology/approachBased on the adapted questionnaire, pre-recruited enumerators collected the data from five leading business universities of Karachi. They distributed 425 questionnaires and received 415 questionnaires. The study has used Partial Least Square-Structure Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique for data analysis.FindingsWe have tested 20 hypotheses, of which our results do not support five, including two direct, two mediating. Our results support all the direct hypotheses except the following two: (1) delivery service affects e-satisfaction (2) customer services quality effect on trust. We did not find support for the following two mediating hypotheses (1) e-satisfaction mediates delivery services and repurchase intention, (2) service quality mediates customers' service quality and repurchase intention. Our results do not support one moderating relationship. Prior online experience moderates e-perceived value and repurchase intention.Research limitations/implicationsThis research provides valuable information to the online retailers of B2C e-commerce, which can help them make strategies based on their consumers' behavior and encourage them to make repeat purchases from online retailing stores. It allows future researchers to replicate the model in cross-cultural studies in different product categories.Originality/valueWe have examined the moderating effect of prior online experience between (e-satisfaction, e-trust and perceived value) on the repurchase intention.

Stille Nacht: COVID and the Ghost of Christmas 2020

Annually, there are between 2500 and 3000 Christmas markets in Germany. While purported to be rooted in century-old tradition, the current concept of the markets, shaped in the 1930s, gradually transformed from primarily mercantile operations to experiential events. The experiential dimension is a collection of visual, auditory, and olfactory components that create a compound sensory response: the ‘Christmas atmosphere’. The prevalence of COVID-19 meant that traditional Christmas markets were largely absent from the festive calendar in Germany in 2020, disrupting the usual sensory experiences associated with these events. A review of the online presence showed that augmented markets and virtual reality were subsequently utilized in an attempt to re-create the experience and the ambience of the traditional markets, but had limited interactivity with many of the senses. We explore to what extent these multiple-sensory components may have been lost during the Christmas period of 2020 due to the COVID-19-induced transition from the traditional multisensory live market to a predominantly online experience, and highlight problems which arise through the documentation of such complex intangible heritage.

"N.A.M.E." FUN! Emojis may illustrate structure-function relationships of neurotransmitters to health professions students

This article provides a qualitative examination of student responses to an enjoyable online experience illustrating structure-function relationships of chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) in the human nervous system via text messaging emojis (often employed during mobile phone messaging). The "N.A.M.E." (Neurotransmitters as Messaging Emojis) FUN! experience was presented to 218 undergraduate health professions students enrolled in a Human Physiology Course during Spring 2020 (N = 118) and Spring 2021 (N = 100) semesters as a learning tool, during a time in which students struggled with the concepts of neurotransmitter function. Additional goals for this fun experience design are to: 1) Engage health professions students in the topics of chemical messengers in the nervous system, 2) As a learning tool for students enrolled in the Human Physiology courses and a 3) Memorization online worksheet for select neurotransmitter function. Student participants were able to access the online neurotransmitter fun experience via mobile phone and/or laptops. Resulting analysis of the voluntary and anonymous survey highlight positive responses in both Spring 2020 and 2021 semesters, to the online "N.A.M.E." experience, and further the recommendation of student participants to include this online experience in future lecture assignments for the Human Physiology course. Here, we examine several data sets (tables), as we review student choices for matching emojis to neurotransmitter function and qualitative responses on the efficacy of this online match-up fun as a learning tool in Human Physiology for health professions course.

Affective digital presence: How to free online writing and drawing?

Online learning can be an alienating experience; students can feel their emotions are disregarded, marginalized or even viewed as hindrances as they try to motivate themselves to learn, staring at the dancing pixels of their illuminated screens. They feel at a remove from other students, trapped in other rooms, far away from them. The closeness of bodies in a shared physical space is raised as an absence. And yet, we contend in this article that connecting with affect in online learning spaces could build connectivity that counteracts the alienation of social distancing. Raw creative affective discourses can be challenging, and uncomfortable for others to take in but they are necessary online. We show that using non-digital practices such as drawing and writing freely, without inhibitions, can immeasurably enhance the online experience, giving a space for affect to be expressed in a safe but emancipatory learning architecture.

Linear and nonlinear relationships: a hybrid SEM-neural network approach to verify the links of online experience with luxury hotel branding

PurposeMobile technologies have recently come to serve as the primary reservation option for the hospitality industry. This study examines the role of online experience in determining potential consumers' perceived hotel brand image, through a three-stage model based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework.Design/methodology/approachA dual-stage analytical procedure, including structural equation modeling (SEM) and an artificial neural network (ANN) approach, was adopted to test the hypotheses.FindingsOnline experience of mobile applications (apps) can be influenced by perceived usefulness. As the indivisible component of consumers' cognitive beliefs, perceived ease of use exerts a positive impact on online experience. The online experience of mobile apps positively influenced brand awareness and satisfaction, further contributing to potential consumers' brand image formation.Research limitations/implicationsThis study empirically verified the relationships among potential hotel consumers' perceptions of official hotel mobile app quality, online experience and brand image.Practical implicationsThis study reiterates the importance of official hotel apps in implementing online marketing strategies, suggesting that hoteliers should pay attention to enhancing the quality of their official apps.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to combine machine learning techniques with the traditional SEM approach to assess linear and nonlinear relationships in consumers' perceptual models. Additionally, the findings provide theoretical insights into the online experience of mobile apps and reveal the perceived brand image formation process of potential consumers.