Drivers, Measures and Outcomes of Luxury Flagship Store Experience

The luxury flagship store experience (LFSE) and luxury flagship store attributes (LFSA) involve multi-faceted aspects that have received reasonably less attention in the extant literature. This thesis attempts to dive deep into the topic of the ‘luxury flagship store experience’, extending the concept in terms of dimensions, drivers and outcomes. The research comprises mixed-methods studies to attain the research objectives. The findings revealed three dimensions of the LFSE and four for the LFSA constructs. This study also assessed the model constructs’ relationships and tested 22 hypotheses. The research findings offer a better understanding of consumer responses during shopping at, or visiting, a luxury flagship store and contribute to the extant body of knowledge in several ways

An Investigation of Drivers and Barriers Stimulating in the Acceptance of Mobile Payment in Bangladesh

Abstract Bangladesh is one of the highest mobile phone users' countries among ten in the world where mobile payment service is becoming a promising area with the speedy rise of mobile internet. Conversely, various researches on mobile phone users acceptance of mobile payment has not reveal clearly to a definite assumption for Bangladesh context considering technology acceptance model (TAM). A survey has conducted to collect data from 260 consumers of Bangladesh and then hypothesized model based on data analysis in SPSS. It has found that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are the drivers in the acceptance of mobile payment where subjective norms mediate them. Alternatively, perceived risk and perceived costs are treated as barriers toward behavioral intention to use mobile payment. This study explores new results in the TAM model in Bangladesh context and provided managerial insights to the mobile payment service providers to develop strategies in Bangladesh

Managing Engagement in an Emerging Economy Service

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a better understanding of managing engagement in an emerging economy service. It explores the role of organisational climates for initiative and psychological safety as the key drivers of employee engagement (EE). It also examines the effects of EE on customer engagement (CE) and, in turn, on relationship commitment and switching intention. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected through a structured survey of service employees and customers of 69 bank branches in Bangladesh using two survey instruments. Responses were collected from 156 employees and 316 customers. A dyadic data set was created by matching customer data with the corresponding employee data collected from each bank branch. Structural equation modelling using AMOS (version 22.0) was employed for data analysis. Findings: Organisational climates for initiative and psychological safety positively influence EE. In turn, EE significantly influences CE which has a significant impact on customer relationship commitment and switching intention. Research limitations/implications: Future research could consider actual customer behaviour, such as repeat purchase, as the key outcome variable. Practical implications: The findings emphasise that investment by service managers in organisational resources to facilitate favourable climates for initiative and psychological safety would engage employees at work, which would ultimately help to attain CE and commitment, and reduce switching intention. Originality/value: This research extends the existing engagement literature with empirical evidence supporting two new EE drivers and two new CE outcomes. It offers a better understanding of managing engagement in the financial services industry of an emerging economy, focussing on the relationship chain from organisational climate to EE, CE and customer-based outcomes

Feasibility of a Solar Thermal Power Plant in Pakistan

Pakistan has been facing an unprecedented energy crisis since the last few years. The problem becomes more severe throughout the year. The current energy shortage crisis has badly hit Pakistan’s economy where hundreds of industries have closed due to lack of electricity to fulfil their requirements. The energy supply and demand gap has risen to 5000 MW [1] and is expected to rise considerably in the coming years as shown in Figure 1. Table 1 shows the existing installed power generation in Pakistan. Pakistan has a huge potential in renewable energy especially solar energy to fill this gap if utilized properly. Pakistan, being in the Sun Belt, is ideally located to take advantage of solar energy technologies. This energy source is widely distributed and abundantly available in the country. Pakistan receives 4.45- 5.83 kWh/m2/day of global horizontal insolation as an annual mean value, with 5.30 kWh/m2/day over most areas of the country [2, 3]. This minimum level of solar radiation (4.45 kWh/m2/day) is higher than the world average of 3.61 kWh/m2/day [4] which shows that Pakistan lies in an excellent solar belt range. Pakistan has six main insolation measuring stations, namely Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and Multan and 37 observatories distributed fairly well over the entire country, recording sunshine hours as shown in Table A in Appendix. From the sunshine hours data it can be seen that most of the cities mentioned receive more than 250 sunshine hours a month. 2006 energy policy has resulted in few practical steps taken for utilizing the abundantly available solar resource in Pakistan. A Solar Water Heating System has installed in a Leather Industry for first time in Pakistan. The system, using 400 m2 Evacuated Collector tubes, provides heated water at 70 to 80 oC (at least 10 degree rise to the incoming water) to the already used boiler system, thus saving 33% of the cost. The Project was funded by Higher Education Commission (HEC) under University-Industry Technological Support Program (UITSP). Solar water heating technology is relatively mature technology in Pakistan but its higher capital cost compared to conventional gas heaters has limited its use so far. This technology is widely recommended by a number of public sector organizations in northern mountains where natural gas is limited and difficult. The solar water heaters are now being commercially produced in the private sector. More than 2000 low cost solar cookers are used in Pakistan for cooking purposes. Similarly, solar dryers are used in Gilgit and Skardu (Northern part of Pakistan) to dry large quantities of fruits such as apricot and transport and sell them later in the urban areas, thus bringing economic prosperity to the area. Fresh water unavailability in large parts of Baluchistan, Sind and southern Punjab is a critical issue. Two solar desalination plants consisting of 240 sills each with a capacity of 6000 gallons of seawater/day have been operational at Gawadar in Baluchistan province. A number of such schemes are under active consideration by local governments in Baluchistan and Thar [5]. The need for constructing solar power plants has been realized both at federal and provincial governments. The government of Sindh recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with German company Azur Solar for building a 50 MW solar power plant at Dhabeji in District Thatta. The firm Azur Solar will initially set up a 60 kW solar power station to provide free electricity to backward 'goths' (Villages), schools and basic health centres of Badin. Both, technical and economical feasibility of a 50 MW solar thermal power plant using Stirling-Dish (SD) technology in Jacaobabad in Sindh Province of Pakistan is analysed in this chapter. The performance and environmental aspects of Stirling dish for power generation with and without solar energy is examined, discussed and compared. The solar data was collected from Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) of Pakistan and Life cycle cost analysis is performed to determine the economic feasibility of the solar thermal power plant. This study reveals that Jacobabad falls within the high solar energy belt and has minimum radiation energy of 4.45 kWh/m2/day (which is higher than the world average of 3.61 kWh/m2/day) to produce electricity, even during the low sunshine and cloudy days. The study concluded that solar thermal power plant in Pakistan is feasible using solar Stirling dish technology

Luxury Store Attributes and Customer Relationships - Exploring the Role of Luxury Brand Types

The luxury store attributes (LSA) serve as resources to enrich artistic presentation and aesthetic appeal of a luxury brand, which are strong driving factors to develop relationship with customers. However, no research thus far investigated the relationships between LSA and customer relationship behaviour. Drawing on the social exchange theory, this study investigates the effects of LSA on customer relationship behaviour such as participation and loyalty. It also explores how such effect varies due to types of luxury brands. Data for the study was collected through qualitative in-depth interviews conducted among sixteen academic staff, administrative staff and post-graduate students. The findings revealed that LSA has positive effect on customer participation and brand loyalty. Further, such effect is found to be influenced by types of luxury brands (aspirational vs affordable). These findings offer significant theoretical and managerial implications, as outlined in the paper