Factors Influencing Consumers’ Buying Decision in Indian Trade Show: Evidence from Mahalaxmi Saras Exhibition, Mumbai

This study endeavors to explore the factors that influence buying decision of consumers in the trade show Mahalaxmi Saras organised in Mumbai. To fulfil the objective the data is collected from the consumers who visited the trade show in 2020. The total sample size consists of 249 respondents. Univariate analysis is used to study the economic and demographic background of the consumers, bivariate analysis is adopted to assess customers’ perception towards price of the products available by their income level. Further, factor analysis is employed to identify the important factors influencing consumers’ buying decision. The findings reveal that more than half of the consumers eagerly wait for the exhibition and fifty-five percent consumers agree that they visit more than once during the time span of the exhibition. However, consumers’ satisfaction level towards price of the product decreases with decrease in level of income. Result from factor analysis indicates that Product’s variety, artistic value, quality, exclusive nature, cultural importance and encouragement of rural entrepreneurs and artisans are the important components that influence consumers’ buying decision. Hence, Government and participating SHGs should take care of fixing the price of the products in order to attract more consumers. Also, rural entrepreneurs and artisans should be encouraged to participate in the exhibition to avail variety of products. Keywords: Consumers, Buying decision, factors, Trade show, India DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/79-05 Publication date:June 30th 202

Assessing a digital technology-supported community child health programme in India using the Social Return on Investment framework.

An estimated 5.0 million children aged under 5 years died in 2020, with 82% of these deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia. Over one-third of Mumbai's population has limited access to healthcare, and child health outcomes are particularly grave among the urban poor. We describe the implementation of a digital technology-based child health programme in Mumbai and evaluate its holistic impact. Using an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered mobile health platform, we developed a programme for community-based management of child health. Leveraging an existing workforce, community health workers (CHW), the programme was designed to strengthen triage and referral, improve access to healthcare in the community, and reduce dependence on hospitals. A Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework is used to evaluate holistic impact. The programme increased the proportion of illness episodes treated in the community from 4% to 76%, subsequently reducing hospitalisations and out-of-pocket expenditure on private healthcare providers. For the total investment of Indian Rupee (INR) 2,632,271, the social return was INR 34,435,827, delivering an SROI ratio of 13. The annual cost of the programme per child was INR 625. Upskilling an existing workforce such as CHWs, with the help of AI-driven decision- support tools, has the potential to extend capacity for critical health services into community settings. This study provides a blueprint for evaluating the holistic impact of health technologies using evidence-based tools like SROI. These findings have applicability across income settings, offering clear rationale for the promotion of technology-supported interventions that strengthen healthcare delivery

Assessing a digital technology-supported community child health programme in India using the Social Return on Investment framework.

An estimated 5.0 million children aged under 5 years died in 2020, with 82% of these deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia. Over one-third of Mumbais population has limited access to healthcare, and child health outcomes are particularly grave among the urban poor. We describe the implementation of a digital technology-based child health programme in Mumbai and evaluate its holistic impact. Using an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered mobile health platform, we developed a programme for community-based management of child health. Leveraging an existing workforce, community health workers (CHW), the programme was designed to strengthen triage and referral, improve access to healthcare in the community, and reduce dependence on hospitals. A Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework is used to evaluate holistic impact. The programme increased the proportion of illness episodes treated in the community from 4% to 76%, subsequently reducing hospitalisations and out-of-pocket expenditure on private healthcare providers. For the total investment of Indian Rupee (INR) 2,632,271, the social return was INR 34,435,827, delivering an SROI ratio of 13. The annual cost of the programme per child was INR 625. Upskilling an existing workforce such as CHWs, with the help of AI-driven decision- support tools, has the potential to extend capacity for critical health services into community settings. This study provides a blueprint for evaluating the holistic impact of health technologies using evidence-based tools like SROI. These findings have applicability across income settings, offering clear rationale for the promotion of technology-supported interventions that strengthen healthcare delivery