Does E-Marketing Mix Influence Brand Loyalty and Popularity of E-Commerce Websites?

E-commerce portals are increasing exponentially in terms of both business and data. Many organizations rely on their online websites to attract new customers, while still retaining their existing ones. E-commerce websites provide consumers with flexibility in terms of time, price, and space, during their purchases. The traditional marketing mix comprising of product, price, place and promotion (4Ps) identifies important factors in a purchase journey. In the online environment the concept of the marketing mix remains the same, except that the characteristics and functions of each factor are dynamic, suiting the online marketplace. The e-marketing mix, namely e-product, price intelligence (price sensitivity), delivery risk (place) and promotional intelligence, influences consumer buying-decisions in online markets. This research is an attempt to find the effect of the e-marketing mix on the loyalty and popularity of e-commerce sites. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and was analyzed using a structural equation modeling-partial least squares method. The results showed that brand popularity was significantly influenced by the characteristics of the product and intelligent promotional techniques. Brand popularity had an influence on brand loyalty in an electronic marketing space

Engineers and Social Responsibility: Influence of Social Work Experience, Hope and Empathic Concern on Social Entrepreneurship Intentions among Graduate Students

The synergy of technology-based innovative solutions and Social Entrepreneurship carries an immense potential to provide solutions for numerous environmental, social, and economic issues faced by an emerging economy like India. For an engineering professional, a commitment to society is regarded as integral and can be thought of as being impelled by involvement in various social causes. Therefore, this study seeks to analyze the influence of the Social Work Experience of engineering students on Empathic Concern and the newly identified construct, Hope. Additionally, the effect of Empathic Concern and Hope on Social Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Social Entrepreneurship Intention (SEI) is examined. Through a questionnaire survey of undergraduate students from 49 engineering and technical institutions across the country, 243 responses were collected. The research employed the Partial Least Squares Approach to Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses. This study found that students’ involvement and experience in social activities significantly influenced both Empathic Concern and Hope. Empathic Concern and Hope, the newly introduced antecedent, significantly influenced Social Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy. In line with the previous studies, self-efficacy positively and significantly influenced SEI. The establishment of Hope as an antecedent to study SEI is particularly novel and contributes to future Social Entrepreneurship research. The findings contribute to the body of knowledge on SEI of engineering students in an emerging nation where studies are particularly scarce, and techno-Social Entrepreneurship may be the ray of hope to address social, environmental, and economic concerns

Attitude towards Drone Food Delivery Services—Role of Innovativeness, Perceived Risk, and Green Image

The possibility of drone usage for food delivery is met with enthusiasm by businesses as it promises instantaneous benefits such as reduced costs, improved customer satisfaction, and reduced environmental imprint. The objective of this paper is to explore consumer attitude and intention towards adopting a disruptive technology such as drone food delivery in the Indian context through motivated consumer innovativeness (MCI), green image, and perceived risk. We analyzed the questionnaire survey data collected from 310 respondents using structural equation modeling—partial least squares method. Functionally motivated consumer innovativeness and cognitively motivated consumer innovativeness were found to be significant positive predictors of consumer attitude and intention. Perceived privacy risk was found to have a significant negative influence on attitude. Green image had a significant positive effect on attitude towards drone usage. Other components of MCI namely, hedonic and social as well as performance and delivery risk did not show a significance influence. This study, to our knowledge, is first of its kind in India, a populous country with an established and booming economy, where the enabling and impeding antecedents of drone food delivery usage intention is simultaneously studied. The findings of this research will mainly benefit food delivery companies in framing successful drone food delivery strategies