Consumer Protection: Policy and Law in India

Consumer Protection Policy creates an environment where consumers receive satisfaction from the goods or services availed by them. One of the disquieting features of consumerism is that an average consumer continues to suffer due to poverty, illiteracy, ignorance or general apathy. Adulterated food, spurious medicines and substandard domestic appliances etc., are pushed over the counter with ease. Glossy and unethical advertisements are published in the print and electronic media with intent to allure and dupe gullible consumers. So, it becomes imperative for the State to initiate steps for safeguarding the interest of consumers by enacting suitable legislations. The present study is a modest attempt at ascertaining the need for consumer protection, identification of factors responsible for exploitation of consumers, and the role law can play in protecting consumer rights visa-a-vis the vendors and in striking a balance between the interests of the two

Exploring the Factors Affecting Online Trust in B2C E-Commerce Transactions in India: an Empirical Study

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in e-commerce as millions of people were forced to stay at home and adopt digital channels for their purchases to avoid crowded supermarkets. It made the whole world look towards e-commerce as a one-stop solution for keeping markets alive. However, it came as an opportunity for digital fraudsters as a huge number of digital frauds were reported during this pandemic. Such incidents raised questions about online trust-related issues. Fake websites, insecure payment mechanisms, data theft, privacy breach, product reliability, etc., are a few of the reasons why many people are still not confident about using e-commerce platforms. When customers cannot physically touch, feel, and see the products, it becomes even more suspicious and raises serious uncertainty about the quality of the promised product and transaction setup in the e-commerce framework.   Design/Methodology/Approch: In this study, primary data was collected through structured questionnaires from e-commerce website users belonging to Generation Z and analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling and Path Analysis in IBM SPSS AMOS version 24.   Findings: Online Security, Online Privacy, and Website appearance were studied and found to have a significant positive impact on online trust. Online trust was also found to be a predictor of purchase intention. Online trust was also found to act as a full mediator between online security and purchase intention, online privacy, and purchase intention, and as a partial mediator between website appearance and purchase intention.   Research, Practical & Social Implications: The cross-sectional nature of this study makes it difficult for making inferences about causal relationships so new studies can adopt and check the utility of a longitudinal approach in this area. Furthermore, the data collected using convenience sampling had all young generation respondents, mostly college/university students. This current study takes only three antecedents of online trust with reference to a young generation; an exploratory study is needed here to find out new possible antecedents of developing online trust. Moreover, the appearance of the website is altogether a vast area to investigate for further development; very limited dimensions of the appearance of e-commerce websites are covered in this study

Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm-Based Brand Equity: The Moderating Effect of Marketing Communication and Brand Identity

To examine how the CSR activities facilitate a company’s brand-building process and useful in building its Brand Equity i.e., Firm-Based Brand Equity (FBBE). Methodology: For the present study, responses have been elicited from a sample of 69 company executives. Multi-stage sampling (method of random sampling) is used in the present study to select the sample executives. The collected sample dataset is analyzed through SPSS (version 25) and AMOS (version 24) software. Cronbach’s Alpha technique is used to measure how closely related a set of items are as a group. This is considered to be a measure of scale reliability. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) statistical method is used to uncover the underlying structure of a relatively large set of variables. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is conducted in the study in order to test the statistical hypotheses formulated for the study and to examine the effect of CSR on Brand Equity with the moderating effect of Marketing Communication and Brand Identity. Findings: The outcomes of the study revealed that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Marketing Communication, Brand Identity and Brand Equity are positively associated. Thus, it can be surmised that CSR affects Brand Equity with the mediating effect of Marketing Communication and Brand Identity. Originality: The present study is based on original research that facilitates new insight instead of summarizing what is already known in a new form. Though many studies on CSR have been conducted in the past, but studies on the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm-Based Brand Equity with the moderating effect of Marketing Communication and Brand Identity are few and far between. Implications: The outcome of the study will cast new light on the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Brand Image and also facilitate future research endeavors on CSR. The results of the study will help corporate houses in building a strong brand image. As a matter of fact, the CSR activities implemented by the companies offer a better brand recognition, resulting in greater brand awareness among customers and society at large. Such awareness is related to CSR initiatives of the companies brings brand trust and loyalty. Consequently, the trust and loyalty so developed enhances the Brand Image and strengthens the Brand Equity

Students’ Perception towards E-Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic in India: An Empirical Study

The educational system across the world has immensely been affected due to outbreak of COVID-19; it forced the shut down of educational institutions, which adversely affected student fraternity across the globe. Due to its contagious nature, COVID-19 demanded containment and enforced isolation that tremendously affected personal interaction of teachers and students. In the absence of traditional classroom teaching and one-to-one interaction, computer-based learning has emerged as closest substitute for off-line teaching. Against such a backdrop, it is pertinent to examine the students’ perception and readiness about online-learning system adopted at the university level during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For the present study, the quantitative approach has been adopted and responses from 184 university students of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, India namely Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University) and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University are collected through online questionnaire. This research study was conducted during June–August 2020. The findings of the study reveal students’ positive perception towards e-learning and thus acceptance of this new learning system. It has also empirically demonstrated the significance of e-learning in the time of COVID-19 crisis. In fact, e-learning has emerged as a new way of enhancing the learning process where social media may further improve the learning output. The findings of the study will facilitate educational institutions and policy makers to take this online-learning process to the next level in a better way

Learners’ Perspective towards E-Exams during COVID-19 Outbreak: Evidence from Higher Educational Institutions of India and Saudi Arabia

Online examinations, commonly referred to as e-exams (electronic examinations), underwent a considerable progression, getting adapted ubiquitously among higher education institutions worldwide. Their preferment was rapid due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The process of conducting exams online is being opted as the appropriate way of assessment, ensuring the students’ safety and well-being. According to Warts et al., this form of examination has been pretty effective in the past when blended with the conventional assessment. However, at present, implemented as the singular way of assessment, e-exams have shown a more significant promise in being beneficial to the learners. As a matter of fact, a comprehensive analysis on understanding the learners’ perception towards the e-exams was not done earlier, particularly in the developing nations. Thus, it was pertinent to examine the pre-requisites of e-exams to promote it as a useful tool for the smooth conduct of exams in the aforesaid nations. Against such a backdrop, this study was conducted during January to March 2021 on 207 students enrolled in four universities, three situated in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, India: Delhi University (DU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and one situated in Saudi Arabia, namely Saudi Electronic University (SEU). A quantitative approach was employed for the study, with the responses recorded via web questionnaires. Confirmatory -factor analysis (CFA) was applied in the study to examine whether the process of conducting online examinations is being chosen as the appropriate form of assessment, ensuring the safety and well-being of students through AMOS (version 24) software. For determining the reliability of the two latent constructs, namely “Perceptions of students towards E-exams (PSE)” and “Pre-requisites of E-exams (POE),” Cronbach’s alpha was used through SPSS (version 25) software in the study, and the results reveal that the strong internal consistency exists between all the measured variables. In addition, the mean and standard deviation were used by the researchers to find out the pre-requisites of the online examination system. The participants expressed their insights on the relative benefits of online examination. Their perception was based on pedagogy, validity and reliability, affective factors, practicality, and security. From their insights, it was concluded that online examination is more advantageous than conventional paper-based exams. The outcome also applies to the authenticity of grading and the overall efficiency concerning the time, effort, and expenditure on conducting the examination. Contrarily, the participating students also recognized numerous hurdles in implementing e-exams concerning security, validity, and impartiality. The conclusion further revealed that online examination is especially relevant for formative assessment of learning instead of summative assessment, provided authenticity, security, and flexibility are used as fundamental tenants in the proper implementation of e-exams. The outcome of the present study will facilitate higher education institutions and policymakers in taking the electronic examination system to the next level