Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: D.P. Sudhagar Author-X-Name-First: D.P. Author-X-Name-Last: Sudhagar Title: Time taken to complete a meal: a distinctive study of full-service restaurants in India Abstract: The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the number of people dining in a table and time taken to complete the meal in three different dinner settings in five-star hotel restaurants. For the purpose of the study, two five-star hotels which has a dinner setting with an all-day dining restaurant, speciality restaurant, and a rooftop restaurant were selected for the study. The customers of the selected restaurant were unobtrusively observed by the experts. Age and sex of the restaurant customers were not recorded. A significant positive relationship associated with the number of people dining in a table and the time taken to complete the meal in all the dinner setting. The time taken to complete the meal was longer in the rooftop restaurant and moderate in the speciality restaurant, whereas in all-day dining restaurant was a shorter one. The serving style of the food, ambience of the restaurant had an influence on the time taken to complete the meal. The results will enlighten the restaurant managers to understand the dining time relationship and the associated factors. The study results will help the waiters in planning up the service time of the food and beverage served in the restaurant. This is the first study conducted in the Indian context particularly in the five-star hotel restaurants. The valuable findings will help to formulate and to amend the existing meal serving technique to ensure the promptness of the service and to maximise the revenue generation. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 1-12 Issue: 1 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: five-star hotel; meal duration; all-day dining restaurants; speciality restaurants; rooftop restaurant; group size; ordering type; ambiance; service style. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=88625 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:1:p:1-12 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Sunit Sharma Author-X-Name-First: Sunit Author-X-Name-Last: Sharma Author-Name: Tejinder Sharma Author-X-Name-First: Tejinder Author-X-Name-Last: Sharma Author-Name: Purnendu Mandal Author-X-Name-First: Purnendu Author-X-Name-Last: Mandal Title: Perception and switch intention of rural customers towards organised retail Abstract: With the opening of retail sector for corporate investment, Indian markets saw the emergence of organised retail formats. While urban customers exhibited immediate interest in this newer shopping experience, their rural counterparts were slower in switching over to the organised retail. In addition to the economic considerations, the reasons behind slower adaptation of the organised retail entailed cognitive and perceptual aspects as well. The paper identifies the perceptual aspects of the rural customers on switching towards the organised retail. Data has collected from 537 rural customers to study their perceptions and switch intentions towards organised retail. The study finds that the rural customers are showing preference to go to organised retail outlets to purchase products and services that offer higher value. Findings of the survey show that 'core value delivery' is the most significant predictor of purchase intention in rural market. Pre-purchase inducement and value enhancement are also other significant predictors of purchase intention. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 13-29 Issue: 1 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: value perception; switching intention; rural customers; organised retail; core value delivery. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=88626 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:1:p:13-29 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Christine D'lima Author-X-Name-First: Christine Author-X-Name-Last: D'lima Title: Brand passion and its implication on consumer behaviour Abstract: This paper tries to investigate the passion in literature and drives its way through theory where passion is a component of love and moves on to passion being a component of consumer behaviour in marketing, i.e., brand passion. Passion has been studied with regard to the intensity to love. This paper picks up the triangular theory of love by Sternberg (1986, 1997) to probe into the meaning of passion. While tracing this component the paper gradually progresses to how passion becomes a part of consumer behaviour and hence the passion extended to the brand. Thus, brand passion tantamount to the keenness, the fascination or even the fixation of a consumer for the beloved brand. Further, the author tries to outline a conceptual model with the antecedents to brand passion, i.e., loyalty, satisfaction and trust and the outcome of passion being word of mouth. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 30-42 Issue: 1 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: passion; brand passion; trust; loyalty; word of mouth communication. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=88627 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:1:p:30-42 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Javad Khazaei Pool Author-X-Name-First: Javad Khazaei Author-X-Name-Last: Pool Author-Name: Sobhan Asian Author-X-Name-First: Sobhan Author-X-Name-Last: Asian Author-Name: Ahmad Abareshi Author-X-Name-First: Ahmad Author-X-Name-Last: Abareshi Author-Name: Hamze Kazemi Mahyari Author-X-Name-First: Hamze Kazemi Author-X-Name-Last: Mahyari Title: An examination of the interplay between country-of-origin, brand equity, brand preference and purchase intention toward global fashion brands Abstract: This study aims to propose and empirically test a behavioural model of consumer perceptions of country-of-origin, brand equity, brand preference and purchase intention in the context of fashion brands in Iran. To provide a detailed understanding of customers' perceptions of purchase intention, a survey study was conducted. The research model is validated, and the developed hypotheses are tested using a structural equation model (SEM). Country-of-origin is shown to be positively associated with brand equity. Consistent with expectations, our results reveal that brand equity influences brand preference and purchase intention. Findings also support the hypothesised relationship between brand preference and purchase intention. The present research is one of the pioneer studies that highlight the importance of purchase intention with regard to fashion brands in promoting a luxury market. This study contributes to the literature by developing and testing a comprehensive research model using SEM and offers important guidelines to international marketers who are planning to introduce their fashion brands to the Iranian market. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 43-63 Issue: 1 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: Country-of-origin; Brand equity; Brand preference; Purchase intention; Fashion brands. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=88628 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:1:p:43-63 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Masood Ul Hassan Author-X-Name-First: Masood Ul Author-X-Name-Last: Hassan Author-Name: Zeeshan Iqbal Author-X-Name-First: Zeeshan Author-X-Name-Last: Iqbal Author-Name: Maimoona Malik Author-X-Name-First: Maimoona Author-X-Name-Last: Malik Author-Name: Muhammad Iftkhar Ahmad Author-X-Name-First: Muhammad Iftkhar Author-X-Name-Last: Ahmad Title: Exploring the role of technological developments and open innovation in the survival of SMEs: an empirical study of Pakistan Abstract: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in terms of sustainable economic development. Therefore, the survival of this sector is highly important for every economy. This study theoretically and empirically explores the role of technological developments and open innovation (OI) on SME survival. The first part of this paper is based on library search and available literature on SMEs and the role technological innovations towards the flourishment of SME. Findings from this review shed some lights on the potential of social networking as part of online marketing. Furthermore, the researchers conducted a self-administrated questionnaire-based survey to empirically examine the conceptual framework. The empirical results revealed that the effect of online marketing via social media is more powerful and diverse due to its ability to reach more customers. In addition, open innovation is an effective and emerging tool in the success of SME. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 64-85 Issue: 1 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: technological developments; open innovation; small and medium enterprises; SMEs; SMEs survival; Pakistan. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=88629 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:1:p:64-85 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Vikram Sharma Author-X-Name-First: Vikram Author-X-Name-Last: Sharma Author-Name: Vikas Gautam Author-X-Name-First: Vikas Author-X-Name-Last: Gautam Title: An empirical analysis to study the impact of marketing mix elements on overall quality of water purifiers: evidence from India Abstract: The paper presents the results of a study conducted in India that assesses the impact of marketing mix elements on overall quality perception of customers about water purifiers. The results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the factor structure of marketing mix elements (product, price, promotion and place). Moreover, multiple regression results showed that barring place, all other marketing mix elements viz. product, price, and promotion have positive significant impact on overall quality perception of customers. The sample comprised of 253 respondents. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 86-98 Issue: 1 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: water purifiers; marketing mix elements; confirmatory factor analysis; CFA; correlation analysis; multiple regression analysis; India. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=88630 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:1:p:86-98 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Pratap Chandra Mandal Author-X-Name-First: Pratap Chandra Author-X-Name-Last: Mandal Title: Capturing marketing information and marketing intelligence: ethical issues and concerns Abstract: Companies require information and intelligence about customers to understand them, formulate strategies for them, and serve them better. Companies collect this information either by themselves or by appointing marketing research agencies who collect information on behalf of the companies. Collection of information sometimes becomes a challenge because customers hesitate to share personal information with companies. Also, customers worry about the way the shared information is used by companies. Customers are concerned about the safety, security, and the privacy of information. Companies should consider the above issues during data collection from customers and also during the usage of information. The paper discusses about the sensitive issue of intrusion on privacy of customers, ethics involved, responsibilities of marketing researchers regarding sensitive information shared by customers, possible misuse of the shared information, preventive measures against misuse of research findings, and the initiatives taken by companies and authorities to protect the privacy of customers. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 99-110 Issue: 1 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: information privacy; information security; marketing research; misrepresentation; preventive measure. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=88633 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:1:p:99-110 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ananya Rajagopal Author-X-Name-First: Ananya Author-X-Name-Last: Rajagopal Title: Collateral effects of digital ethics practices across business and society: trends and challenges Abstract: Society and business have joint responsibility to govern the ethics. Digital marketing has become a cost-effective strategy for the emerging companies and has become a popular shopping place among the consumers. As the digital marketplace has grown parallel with the information technology, it has become vulnerable to piracy due to breach of ethics. Though, companies are spending a great deal of time and money to install codes of ethics in digital business through ethics training, compliance programs, and in-house watchdogs, there is still a long way to go on establishing the ethical behaviour in society. This paper critically examines the collateral effect of digital literacy on society and business. It has been argued in the paper that the lack of digital ethics has caused serious implications on business due to piracy and ethical breach. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 111-122 Issue: 2 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: digital marketing; ethics; digital literacy; piracy; social implications. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=90902 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:2:p:111-122 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ayushi Tewari Author-X-Name-First: Ayushi Author-X-Name-Last: Tewari Author-Name: Madhvendra Misra Author-X-Name-First: Madhvendra Author-X-Name-Last: Misra Title: Effect of mobile shopping apps on middle age consumers' buying behaviour Abstract: Mobile commerce has nowadays become a popular internet marketing strategy which operates through various mobile devices. Mobile shopping and mobile banking are the two phenomenal shifts that have transcended the consumers' attentions and interest towards online shopping. Both national players (Flipkart, Myntra, Snapdeal) and international players (Amazon, eBay) are working strategically in m-commerce business so as to increase their market share. Mobile apps are designed in such a way that they exclusively focus on increasing user engagement and make their experience easier. The aim of this research paper is to analyse the effect of mobile shopping apps on middle age consumers buying behaviour. The results revealed the significant impact of mobile shopping apps on buying behaviour of middle age consumers. Further it can be inferred that pre purchase services, transaction related services and satisfaction of middle age consumers are instrumental in determining the purchase intention of middle age consumers. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 123-153 Issue: 2 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: mobile shopping apps; middle age consumers; buying behaviour; mobile commerce; internet marketing strategy; mobile devices; pre purchase services; transaction related services; satisfaction; purchase intention. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=90904 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:2:p:123-153 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Maria Chatzipanagioti Author-X-Name-First: Maria Author-X-Name-Last: Chatzipanagioti Title: Forecasting with limited intermittent data: a methodological framework applicable to newly established firms Abstract: Nowadays, the motivation for starting a new business in Greece is necessity. As the Greek economy is experiencing the eighth year of recession, there are many newly established SMEs striving to survive. Their main difficulty lies in forecasting demand, while having both limited and intermittent data. Although the literature provides several forecasting techniques for intermittent demand, most of them are not applicable in case of short demand history. This paper provides a methodological framework for intermittent demand forecasting applicable to newly established firms with limited demand data. The proposed quantitative decision support methodology is evaluated empirically and its usage is demonstrated through its application on real data of a newly established SME in Greece. The results demonstrate that the methodology can be used to forecast demand for products with limited intermittent data. Challenges concerning all stages of the methodology are discussed, while sensitivity analyses are conducted and interesting managerial insights are presented. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 154-177 Issue: 2 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: forecasting; business forecasting; quantitative decision support methodology; methodological framework; new firm; intermittent demand; limited demand data; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; economic crisis; economic recession; Greece. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=90907 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:2:p:154-177 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jaydip Sen Author-X-Name-First: Jaydip Author-X-Name-Last: Sen Author-Name: Tamal Datta Chaudhuri Author-X-Name-First: Tamal Datta Author-X-Name-Last: Chaudhuri Title: Understanding the sectors of Indian economy for portfolio choice Abstract: The objective of this work is to ascertain sectoral characteristics of stock market indices of India through time series decomposition. It is postulated that different sectors in an economy do not behave uniformly and sectors differ from each other in terms of their trend patterns, their seasonal characteristics and also their randomness. The R programming language is used for decomposing the time series of the sectoral indices as well as indices of stocks. Based on our approach, we also provide a framework of forecasting that can be applied on various sectors of an economy and also on individual stocks in the sectors. Results indicate that the behavioral patterns of stocks largely follow those exhibited by the respective sectors to which they belong. The forecasting methods are found to be robust and accurate in forecasting the pattern of index movements of the sectors and the individual stocks. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 178-222 Issue: 2 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: time series decomposition; trend; seasonality; random; forecasting; holt winters forecasting method; ARIMA; auto correlation; auto regression; moving average; partial auto correlation; portfolio management. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=90914 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:2:p:178-222 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Vahab Bashiri Author-X-Name-First: Vahab Author-X-Name-Last: Bashiri Author-Name: Hamidreza Salehi Author-X-Name-First: Hamidreza Author-X-Name-Last: Salehi Author-Name: Mohsen Nowruzi Author-X-Name-First: Mohsen Author-X-Name-Last: Nowruzi Author-Name: Aein Ghorbani Ghashghaeinejad Author-X-Name-First: Aein Ghorbani Author-X-Name-Last: Ghashghaeinejad Author-Name: Mohsen Rezaei Author-X-Name-First: Mohsen Author-X-Name-Last: Rezaei Author-Name: Alireza Hamedi Author-X-Name-First: Alireza Author-X-Name-Last: Hamedi Title: The study of effective variables on capital structure Abstract: Capital structure decision is a challenging problem. The choice of optimal capital structure is very important for the company's continuity and leads to survival in the competitive world. Some researchers have presented variety theories for recognise optimal capital structure and a number of them believe that financial flexibility affects on capital structure as well as firms are able to maximise the firm value through mobilise its financial resources. So, due to importance of this matter, in this study MLP and RBF methods are used to review of the relationship between financial flexibility and capital structure of firms. We are using financial flexibility variables as input data and capital structure as output data. Experimental results indicate that both of different sub-models of NN (MLP and RBF) are good tools for predicting the outputs based on inputs and there is an effective relationship between financial flexibility and capital structure as well. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 223-234 Issue: 2 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: MLP; RBF; capital structure; financial flexibility. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=90922 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:2:p:223-234 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jaydip Sen Author-X-Name-First: Jaydip Author-X-Name-Last: Sen Title: Stock composition of mutual funds and fund style: a time series decomposition approach towards testing for consistency Abstract: In this paper, we present a generic approach for checking the consistency between the proclaimed style of a mutual fund and the actual fund composition. We use a method of time series decomposition of stock prices to ascertain whether their inclusion in a particular style of fund is justified. It has been our contention that some share prices have a strong trend component in their time series, some show seasonality, while some share prices exhibit strong random component. We have chosen a sample of 11 equity-based mutual funds of varying styles, from Indian financial market and analysed whether the style of the fund matches with the stock composition of the fund. We feel that the retail investors, who buy into certain funds on the basic trust that fund managers have the requisite expertise, should know whether the portfolio matches what they promise. A detailed analysis of the results show that, while in majority of cases the actual allocation of funds is consistent with the corresponding fund style, there have been some notable deviations too. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 235-292 Issue: 3 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: mutual fund; time series decomposition; trend; seasonal; random; R programming language; non-parametric statistical tests. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=92781 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:3:p:235-292 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Amina Gibic Author-X-Name-First: Amina Author-X-Name-Last: Gibic Author-Name: Vivek S. Natarajan Author-X-Name-First: Vivek S. Author-X-Name-Last: Natarajan Author-Name: Kabir Chandra Sen Author-X-Name-First: Kabir Chandra Author-X-Name-Last: Sen Title: Appeals and spiels: a comparative analysis on alcohol advertising in the USA and Ireland Abstract: The USA and Ireland vary in their policies and regulations regarding the alcohol industry. In this study, we sought to see whether the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and alcohol company's appeals and target audiences varied among the two countries, as well. 150 total alcohol commercials (75 from the USA, 75 from Ireland), ranging from the year 2002 to the current year, were collected and analysed. The brand, commercial name, appeal used (image, product, sex or humour), type of alcoholic beverage promoted, and the audience targeted (young men ages 18-49, young women ages 18-49 and niche markets: craft beer, health conscious, sports fans) were observed and noted, as were ads explicitly targeting youth. Although appeal utilised and type of alcoholic beverage promoted did not vary significantly between the two countries, the target audiences by country varied significantly, as did target audience by type of alcoholic beverage. This study reveals how the similarities in alcohol advertisements contrast with the difference in policies and regulations among the USA and Ireland, thus bringing the varying levels of industry clout and influence between the two countries to light. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 293-310 Issue: 3 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: alcohol; selling proposition; comparative analysis; target audience; appeal; niche market; on-pitch advertising; pitchside advertisements; advertisingl US; Ireland; business; marketing; industry; country. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=92784 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:3:p:293-310 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Pratap Chandra Mandal Author-X-Name-First: Pratap Chandra Author-X-Name-Last: Mandal Title: Marketing information and marketing intelligence: roles in generating customer insights Abstract: Business cannot exist without customers. Companies require generating customer insights to know the requirements of customers. Collection of relevant marketing information and marketing intelligence forms the basis of knowing customers. The paper discusses about the various aspects of collecting marketing information and marketing intelligence for generating customer insights. It focuses on the application of marketing information systems in capturing information about customers. It discusses the ways in which marketing information, marketing intelligence, and marketing information systems work together to generate relevant customer insights. The paper focuses on the analysis of competitive intelligence to understand customers better. Finally, the paper emphasises that ethical practices need to be followed in analysing marketing intelligence. Proper utilisation of marketing information, marketing intelligence, and marketing information systems provides a direction for companies to generate better customer insights. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 311-321 Issue: 3 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: marketing information; marketing intelligence; marketing information system; customer insight; internal data. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=92786 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:3:p:311-321 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: D.P. Sudhagar Author-X-Name-First: D.P. Author-X-Name-Last: Sudhagar Title: Examining Indian consumers belief and attitude about locavore food Abstract: The study investigated the restaurant customer preference for locavore menu while dining in the restaurant. A qualitative design was employed based on the theory of planned behaviour. The study examined the belief and attitude associated with the locavore food consumption. Findings indicate that the restaurant customer holds a positive belief about the locavore food and they are interested in selecting the locavore menu. Factors such as healthy eating, motivation to the restaurateurs, encouragement to the local food suppliers, commitment to conserve the environment have influenced the attitude. The restaurant consumers are happy to be a part of the local food movement. The results will enlighten the hoteliers and the restaurant managers to understand the locavore food consumption. The study results will motivate the restaurateur to provide wider locavore menu choices to create a unique image of the restaurant and to fulfil the dining needs of the demanding customers. This is the first qualitative study conducted in the Indian context particularly in the locavore restaurants. This study will help to formulate and to amend the existing locavore menu options available in the restaurants and serving strategies to delight the customer. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 322-338 Issue: 3 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: locavore food; restaurant customer; theory of planned behaviour; belief; attitude; consumption patterns; India. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=92788 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:3:p:322-338 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Sablu Khan Author-X-Name-First: Sablu Author-X-Name-Last: Khan Author-Name: Mohd Afaq Khan Author-X-Name-First: Mohd Afaq Author-X-Name-Last: Khan Title: Measuring service convenience of e-retailers: an exploratory study in India Abstract: The purpose of this study is to conceptualise and explore the strategic importance of e-retailers' service convenience. This study suggests that e-service convenience is a vital factor in the e-buyers buying behaviour. E-service convenience provides customer experience during e-shopping. The present study is done to adapt the scale developed by Jiang et al. (2013) to measure e-service convenience for the e-retailers. The findings of the present study contribute and extend theory by adapting the e-service convenience scale for e-retailers. This study has also added two new constructs (e.g., order convenience and logistics/reverse-logistics convenience) for e-service convenience in e-retailing context. The findings and the new e-service convenience scale will be helpful for e-retailers and marketers to improve its services. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 353-367 Issue: 3 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: e-commerce; e-service convenience scale; e-retailer; e-shopping; India. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=92789 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:3:p:353-367 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Sita Mishra Author-X-Name-First: Sita Author-X-Name-Last: Mishra Title: Exploring social media users' behaviour based on electronic word-of-mouth: a multivariate analysis Abstract: Today, the advent and adoption of social media changed the way brands and consumers interact. Social media enable consumers to have more influence on the products and services that marketers create to meet their needs. Therefore, to explore attitude of Indian consumers' behaviour to affiliate with brands and engage in eWOM, this study carried out a survey of 181 social media users. Results of the study identified three factors-interpersonal influence, trust and endangerment that facilitate eWOM behaviour. Further, the study established the relationship between brand affiliation factors and purchase intention of social media users. The present study is the first research in India which performed segmentation of eWOM users. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 339-352 Issue: 3 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: electronic word-of-mouth; eWOM; consumer behaviour; social media; consumer segmentation; cluster analysis. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=92790 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:3:p:339-352 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Umer Mukhtar Author-X-Name-First: Umer Author-X-Name-Last: Mukhtar Author-Name: Suleman Anwar Author-X-Name-First: Suleman Author-X-Name-Last: Anwar Author-Name: Umaid A. Sheikh Author-X-Name-First: Umaid A. Author-X-Name-Last: Sheikh Title: Retail service quality scale validation in Pakistani super and hyper stores' context Abstract: The purpose of this study is to test the retail service quality model, reliability, validity and generalisability of retail service quality scale (RSQS) in retail hyper and supermarkets of Pakistan, developed by Dabholkar. Two well-known retail stores categorised as hyper and super market stores are selected for this study. Purposive sampling method was used and 250 useful responses were collected from both stores in the region of Lahore, Pakistan. The model and instrument is also appropriate in Pakistan for measurement and make use of other than the USA and developed countries. Retail business managers can assess the current state of retail service quality and can do management decisions to improve the performance in each dimension of model. This study contributes towards the limited studies carried out on model and instrument validity in Pakistan. This study is contributing by fulfilling the need of instrument validation, as it is a critical incremental progression to ensure the valid scientific knowledge generation. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 369-385 Issue: 4 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: retail service quality; super stores; validity of RSQS; customer service quality; retailing; hyper stores; service experience; retail sector Pakistan; reliability; customer interaction; tangibles. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=95133 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:4:p:369-385 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Masood Ul Hassan Author-X-Name-First: Masood Ul Author-X-Name-Last: Hassan Author-Name: Maimoona Malik Author-X-Name-First: Maimoona Author-X-Name-Last: Malik Author-Name: Zeeshan Iqbal Author-X-Name-First: Zeeshan Author-X-Name-Last: Iqbal Title: SMEs' intention towards the adoption of mobile marketing: a case of Pakistan Abstract: The fastest growing marketing phenomena, around the world especially in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of developed and developing economies, is the adoption of mobile marketing which radically influences ways of advertising. However, Pakistani SMEs are less interested towards the adoption of mobile marketing. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and examine a parsimonious structure of multiple constructs comprised as technological (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use), organisational (subjective norms, financial resources) and environment (competitive pressure, customers pressure and technological support) through the theoretical lens of technology-organisation-environment (TOE). Convenient sampling technique was used for data collection by distributing self-administrated questionnaires among the top-management of SMEs in Pakistan. Furthermore, structural equation modelling with the help of SmartPLS was used to analyse the yielded data. The study results empower the policy makers and academicians to gain in-depth knowledge of the drivers associated with intention to adopt m-marketing by Pakistani SMEs. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 400-425 Issue: 4 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: small and medium enterprises; SMEs; technological factors; organisational factors; environmental factors; TOE framework; mobile marketing; intention; Pakistan. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=95135 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:4:p:400-425 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Masood Ul Hassan Author-X-Name-First: Masood Ul Author-X-Name-Last: Hassan Author-Name: Zeeshan Iqbal Author-X-Name-First: Zeeshan Author-X-Name-Last: Iqbal Author-Name: Nayab Bukhari Author-X-Name-First: Nayab Author-X-Name-Last: Bukhari Author-Name: Ubaidullah Shafique Author-X-Name-First: Ubaidullah Author-X-Name-Last: Shafique Title: Individuals' intention towards social commerce: an empirical study of Pakistan Abstract: This study aimed to explore the individuals' intention towards the social commerce in Pakistan through the theoretical lenses of technology acceptance mode, theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behaviour. A parsimonious structure of the key constructs of TAM, TRA and TBP along with an additional construct of perceived risk was developed. The researchers have developed a research questionnaire and distributed among the respondents to yield the data about the study constructs. Furthermore, PLS-SEM approach was utilised, through SmartPLS software, to test the hypothesised relationships between the study constructs. The results disclosed the significant highlights about the individuals' behavioural intention towards social commerce with respect to Pakistan, which are useful for the academicians as well as for the policy makers. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 426-445 Issue: 4 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: technology acceptance model; TAM; theory of reasoned action; TRA; theory of planned behaviour; TPB; attitude; intention; social commerce; Pakistan. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=95136 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:4:p:426-445 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Pratap Chandra Mandal Author-X-Name-First: Pratap Chandra Author-X-Name-Last: Mandal Title: Public policy issues and initiatives in collection of information and intelligence in direct marketing Abstract: Companies require information about their customers to attract them, influence them, and build relationships. Companies apply a number of direct marketing channels to collect information and intelligence about customers. Collecting information and intelligence through direct marketing channels raises concerns about the different unfair practices followed by direct marketers. The paper discusses the various unfair practices adopted by companies involved in direct marketing, the issue of invasion of consumer privacy, and the need for protection of consumer privacy. The paper further focuses on the various rules and regulations enforced by the governments of countries to protect customers. The various initiatives taken by companies are discussed. Direct marketing channels allow companies to collect information and intelligence about customers and to influence them. However, companies need to protect their customers to build long-term relationships. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 386-399 Issue: 4 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: direct marketing; consumer privacy; consumer protection; marketing information; unfair practices. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=95137 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:4:p:386-399 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Sujoy Bhattacharya Author-X-Name-First: Sujoy Author-X-Name-Last: Bhattacharya Author-Name: Arshad Ahmed Author-X-Name-First: Arshad Author-X-Name-Last: Ahmed Title: Forecasting crude oil price volatility in India using a hybrid ANN-GARCH model Abstract: In this paper the volatility forecasts of crude oil commodity price returns are analysed. Various GARCH family models are used to forecast the volatility and the output in terms of return vectors of these models are used as inputs for a neural network. The return forecasting performance of the GARCH family models are compared with GARCH-ANN models using root mean square error as the criteria. The results show that the hybrid model of ANN and EGARCH gives the best performance. An explanatory variable, the exchange rate between Indian Rupee and Saudi Arabia Riyal is used as input for the neural network model for the second scenario and using the same criteria of root mean square error, it is observed to have no improvement over the previous ANN-GARCH models. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 446-457 Issue: 4 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: GARCH models; ANN-GARCH; crude oil; volatility forecasting; India. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=95154 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:4:p:446-457 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Aida Shaiza Ismail Zakri Author-X-Name-First: Aida Shaiza Ismail Author-X-Name-Last: Zakri Author-Name: Shaikh Hamzah Abdul Razak Author-X-Name-First: Shaikh Hamzah Abdul Author-X-Name-Last: Razak Author-Name: Zainal Abidin Mohd Tahir Author-X-Name-First: Zainal Abidin Mohd Author-X-Name-Last: Tahir Title: Comparison of methodologies of Shari'ah stock screening: the case of SAC SC Malaysia, FTSE Yasaar Dubai and Dow Jones Islamic market indices Abstract: On average the Islamic finance industry has grown by almost 20% per annum, a compound annual growth rate of 17% from 2009 to 2013 (IFSB, 2013) with its current assets estimated to be worth USD 2 trillion and is set to reach USD 5 trillion in year 2020. This paper aims to analyse three Shari'ah screening methodologies namely Securities Commission (Malaysia), FTSE NASDAQ Dubai Shari'ah Index Series and the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indices. A sample of 30 companies comprising Shari'ah and non-Shari'ah stocks invested by the Malaysian institutional funds were analysed. Our analysis shows that out of the 30 samples stocks, only eight companies passed the screening using the criteria of the three providers. The limitations of the study is the non-availability of detailed information such as type of bank accounts and debts, hence assumption made is that the cash are placed in conventional accounts unless indicated. Journal: Int. J. of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence Pages: 458-485 Issue: 4 Volume: 4 Year: 2018 Keywords: Shari'ah stock screening; Securities Commission; Dow Jones; FTSE Dubai; quantitative screening; financial ratios; qualitative; quantitative. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=95161 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbfmi:v:4:y:2018:i:4:p:458-485