INVESTIGATING MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION CHANNEL SEARCH BEHAVIOUR OF RETAIL INVESTORS FOR INVESTMENT DECISION IN EMERGING FINANCIAL MARKETS

The purpose of this study aims at investigating the major sources of information which drives the investor’s behaviour in investment decisions in Indian Financial Markets. Diverse sources are classified into three categories, that is, financial advice, word-of-mouth communication and specialised press to investigate their effects on the investment behaviour of investors. A total of 258 investors filled a survey on a questionnaire in the National Capital Region of India by using the purposive sampling method. For analysis of data, PLS-SEM was applied on the software version 3.2.9. The key outcome of the study revealed that financial advice was considered as first choice (β = 0.265, p<0.000) to build their investment decision primarily on weekly basis followed by word-of-mouth communication (β = 0.154, p<0.05). Lastly, the mutual fund investors prefer financial newspapers and financial reports published by mutual fund regulatory body and their companies in India to do mutual funds investment. This study proposed a conceptual model in the literature of information search behaviour for mutual funds and contributes significantly to the mutual fund companies and investment agencies to market financial products in an effective manner for investors.

RAMIFICATION OF ONLINE ADVERTISEMENTS& HEDONIC VALUE VIA SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM ON IMPULSE BUYING FOR INDIAN STREET FOOD

This study investigated how online advertising via social media & hedonic value impact impulse buying especially for Indian street food. The current study is focused on college students to see how impulse buying takes place for Indian street food when online advertising via social media is being done. The current study is based on the sample of 460 responses from people of Gandhinagar &Ahmadabad, Gujarat. To investigate the mentioned aim data has been analyzed through a variance-based SEM approach. The result shows that there is a positive & significant impact of online advertisements on impulse buying among people for street food. The major contribution through current research is to highlight how a new market for Indian street food has emerged. It has gained popularity & position as a separate food junction at low prices with due thanks to social media. They are reaching at every corner & creating hedonic motivation among food lovers & taking them up-to-the buying level. The current study has realistic implications which show the growing value for marketing via social media. This study will help in understanding & promoting even a small food vending outlet across different geographical locations. This opens up new wings to marketing strategies in targeting new customers.

INFLUENCE OF DIGITAL MEDIA MARKETING AND CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON CONSUMER PURCHASE INTENTION

Digital media marketing and celebrity endorsement have a significant impact on consumer purchase intent. The digital media marketing tools give marketers a competitive advantage in influencing customers and driving purchase intent toward their offerings. The study aims to examine the effectiveness of digital media as well as the impact of celebrity endorsements on consumer purchase intentions. The purposive sampling technique was used to collect responses from 523 residents of the tri-city Chandigarh using a structured questionnaire. The findings advocate that celebrity endorsement is a substantial marketing tool for driving consumer purchase intention via digital media platforms. The indirect effect of celebrity endorsement on consumer purchase intention was also significant when digital marketing media was used as a meditating variable. The data analysis and validation of the conceptual framework were carried out using the PLS-SEM. The study's implications are discussed.

THE ROLE OF ONLINE CONSUMER REVIEW, SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISEMENT AND INFLUENCER ENDORSEMENT ON PURCHASE INTENTION OF FASHION APPAREL DURING COVID-19

Recent marketing research focuses on social media marketing as an essential tool for companies to fully utilise particularly with the increase of online and home-based consumption during pandemic. In particular, the authors hypothesize that online consumer review, social media advertisement and influencers endorsement may affect online purchase intention. The investigation of the hypotheses utilizes a sample of 163 customers who shop for fashion apparel via online platforms during the pandemic. In order to assess the relationships between these variables, the current research used quantitative methods through an online self-administered questionnaire, in which the scale items were derived from existing literature. These results suggest that ‘Online Consumer Review’, ‘Social Media Advertisement’, and ‘Influencer Endorsement’ have a positive and significant correlation with online purchase intention of fashion apparel during pandemic (r = .25; r = .35; r = .48, respectively). The researcher deliberates the implications for marketing research and practice which include addressing the literature gap in understanding online purchase intention of fashion apparel during the pandemic and highlighting the importance of social media marketing for companies to survive in the 21st century of online-based consumption and consumer-oriented social media.

SOCIAL MEDIA’S OFFICIAL DESTINATION PROMO VIDEOS AND COUNTRY IMAGE INFLUENCING VISITING INTENTION TO RISKY DESTINATIONS

Social media destination promo videos (DPVs), are among the most important information sources of travel decision-making for their interactive and sharing features, and outstanding destination promotion strategy. Country image is also another important factor for travel decision-making. This study’s purpose is to assess whether the social media DPVs like DMOs’ promo videos and country image have any impact on visiting intentions towards risky destinations. A quantitative method was used for this study. Data was collected by online questionnaires, and 609 valid responses were considered for the analysis of the study. The results showed that the country's image positively influences the attitude of young tourists towards the country and that attention towards the promo videos positively influences young tourists’ overall emotions, attitudes, social norms, interests, desires and behaviours toward visiting a risky destination. This study results would be beneficial for those who are interested in using social media DPVs as part of their destination-promotion strategy, and also can guide destination-marketers to monitor and create better destination promotional contents in social media platforms, to encourage tourism to the destinations, especially risky ones.

EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF MS TEAMS IN CONDUCTING WEBINAR: EVIDENCE FROM INTERNATIONAL ONLINE PROGRAM CONDUCTED IN OMAN

The quick adoption of digital platforms in the education sector will always give credit to covid-19. The imposition of lock downs and closure of border as remedial measures forced educational institutes to shift to online platforms for their routine teaching and learning activities. The higher education institutes (HEIs) were found to be more dynamic, as they utilised their online presence in interacting with external members by way of other online activities predominantly webinars. The researchers suggest that online learning will remain to be a vital part of higher education and is going to stay along with other online activities like webinar as it is flexible, accessible, and convenient for the larger section of the students. This study examines the MS team’s platform from the learner’s perspective through technology acceptance model. The 320 responses were gathered from the participants of 22 countries who participated in one-week international webinar organised by two leading HEIs in Oman an online feedback form was analysed through PLS-SEM in SmartPLS 3.3.3. The study aimed to test the degree to which the participants were able to accept MS teams, a popular online learning platform in Oman, as a suitable webinar platform. The results indicate that MS teams is found to be a sufficiently good platform to conduct webinars however, it lags in terms of ease of use or user-friendliness. The study also confirms that attitude towards e-learning influences behavioural intention that subsequently influences the actual use of the platform.

TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AND CONTINUANCE OF MOOCS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW, SYNTHESIS AND FUTURE RESEARCH AGENDA

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have garnered a lot of attention and interest from academia and industry. The proliferation of MOOC platforms has opened up immense opportunities for fulfilling learner needs and improving the education landscape. It is important to understand the drivers of MOOC adoption to ensure its complete utilization. Research on MOOC adoption, acceptance, usage, and continuance has increased over a period of time. With this regard, the purpose of this study was to review and synthesize the research on MOOC adoption using a structured and domain-based approach in order to understand its state-of-the-art literature. Seventy empirical articles indexed in Scopus or Web of Science were identified and reviewed systematically using the Theories, Context, Characteristics, and Methods (TCCM) framework. Systematic mapping of studies was taken place to determine the year-wise publications, journal quality, citations, widely used theories, the context in terms of MOOC platforms and country of research, characteristics in terms of widely used constructs, and hypothesized relationships. The systematic literature review highlights Technology Acceptance Model is the dominant model applied in the MOOC adoption research. Further research on MOOC adoption is seen majorly in Asian economies with a narrow focus on developed economies. Although several review studies have taken place on MOOC, their focus has been on the quality, pedagogical or user perspective. This study is the first effort in synthesizing the state-of-the-art literature on MOOC adoption. Future avenues of research are suggested in terms of Theories, Context, Characteristics, and Methods to further the theoretical and practical knowledge on MOOC adoption.

A STUDY ON THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF FoMO ON SOCIAL MEDIA (INSTAGRAM ) INDUCED TRAVEL ADDICTION AND RISK TAKING TRAVEL BEHAVIORAL INTENTION IN YOUTH

The effect of social media on youth is immense. Fear of missing out (FoMO) is a common repercussion found in youth due to extreme usage of social media platforms. They suffer from FoMO in the context of travel and tour. This behavior leads to impulsive travel decisions plus risk-taking travel attitude. The present study examines the impact of Social Media (Instagram) induced Travel Addiction on youth's Risk-Taking Travel Behavioral Intention with FoMO as a mediating variable. An online survey conducted amidst 420 South Indian students revealed that Social Media (Instagram) induced Travel Addiction (SMTA) had a direct positive impact (β = 0.29, p <0.05) on Risk Taking Travel Behavioural Intention (RTTBI). It was also observed that Social Media (Instagram) induced Travel Addiction had a direct positive impact on FoMO (β = 0.58, p <0.05), and FoMO had a direct positive impact (β = 0.19, p <0.05) on Risk-Taking Travel Behaviour Intention. Further, FoMO was also observed to mediate the connection between Social Media (Instagram) induced Travel Addiction and Risk-Taking Travel Behavioural Intention. It is proposed that parents, teachers, and educational institutes regulate risk-taking travel behavior in youth. Furthermore, it is suggested that the youths be provided with coping/resilience strategies to deal with social media addiction. The limitations, implications for future research, and recommendations are also discussed in the paper.

COMMUNICATING FIVE-YEAR BUDGETS FOR THE INDIAN ECONOMY: COMPARATIVE TEXT AND SENTIMENT ANALYSIS

The content on social media is full of useful information that helps in communicating people’s preferences and opinions. The various examples in this context are that people frequently express their opinions about films and other social issues using Twitter, Facebook, etc. In this work, Sentiment Analysis of the Annual Budget for five financial years, namely, 2017–2018, 2018–2019, 2019–2020, 2020–2021, and 2021–2022 was initiated with the help of Twitter. Firstly, the researcher applied Text Mining to extract the budget's text data documents and computed correlation to know the association of influential words. Then, in analysis section plotted the occurrence of the words and the accompanying word cloud. The analysis was performed employing R software. Finally, the sentiment score for each item was calculated and assessed. This research is crucial because conducting a comparative text and Sentiment Analysis of five-year budgets for the Indian economy would communicate the previously prevailing positive and negative forecasts and thinking, which will aid future policymakers in planning future budgets.

AN EXPLORATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FEATURES AND BRAND LOYALTY IN THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY

The key objective of this research was to test the role of social media marketing features (interactivity, perceived relevance, entertainment, and informativeness) in affecting brand loyalty in the fast-food industry. The required data was obtained through a quantitative survey from customers of fast-food brands in the United Arab Emirates. The findings revealed that most of the social media marketing features positively influence brand loyalty. In detail, it was found that interactivity and perceived relevance positively affect brand loyalty. However, contrary to expectations, it was found that the impact of entertainment on brand loyalty is insignificant. Finally, the outcomes confirmed that informativeness is a significant predictor of brand loyalty. This research adds to the existing marketing literature on this topic through the examination of selected social media marketing features and brand loyalty in a Middle East country as the empirical research on this topic, particularly, in this region is scarce.