No abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic presents the greatest test the world has faced. On 24 March 2020, the Government of India announced a 21-days national lockdown that had been extended to 3 May 2020. In this pandemic, the consumer faced unforeseen challenges to deal with the abrupt change in shopping practices. A safety measure is one of the key elements in consumer shopping behaviour across the world and today consumers are more conscious towards healthiness. The current work aspires to identify the factors of safety measures by consumers and shopkeepers. Twenty-eight variables were identified from the extensive literature review and a total of 751 questionnaires were administered from consumers regarding safety measures from 1 April to 31 May 2020 in India. Exploratory factors analysis and multiple regression analysis are conducted to identify the factors which are prominent for shopping safety practices. The results obtained can be useful to consumers and shopkeepers in the decision-making process during pandemic.

Public–private partnership (PPP) is one of the popular mechanisms for the development of infrastructure worldwide; governments across the globe are engaged in discovering a range of PPP policies and strategies for growth of infrastructure. The growth of infrastructure is imperative of the sustainable development of an economy. Therefore, it is pertinent to identify key success factors for the development of infrastructure through PPP model. The current paper aims to explore significant factors for successful execution and completion of PPP projects in infrastructure. A total of 517 employees who had hand‐on experience on PPP projects located in India were interviewed through a structured questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 14 components as a significant factor for the success of PPP in infrastructure. This study highlights that the development of infrastructure would be rapid through PPP if government considers these factors in the implementation phase.

PurposeQuantitative objective studies on the problem of celebrity selection are lacking. Furthermore, existing research does not recognize the group decision-making nature and the possibility of customer involvement in celebrity or influencer selection for social media marketing. This study conceptualizes celebrity selection as a multi-attribute group decision-making problem while deriving the final ranking of celebrities/influencers using interactive and flexible criteria based on the value tradeoff approach. The article thus proposes and demonstrates a quantitative objective method of celebrity selection for a brand or campaign in an interactive manner incorporating customer's preferences as well.Design/methodology/approachEach decision-maker's preferences for celebrity selection criteria are objectively captured and converted into an overall group preference using a modified generalized fuzzy evaluation method (MGFEM). The final ranking of celebrities is then derived from an interactive and criteria-based value tradeoff approach using the flexible and interactive tradeoff method.FindingsThe approach gives a different ranking of celebrities for two campaigns based on group members' perceived importance of the selection criteria in different scenarios. This group includes decision-makers (DMs) from the brand, marketing communication agency and brand's customers. Further, each group member has an almost equal say in the decision-making based on fuzzy evaluation and an interactive and flexible value tradeoff approach to celebrity selection for receiving a rank order.Research limitations/implicationsThe approach uses secondary data on celebrities and hypothetical scenarios. Comparison with other methods is difficult, as no other study proposes a multi-criteria group decision-making approach to celebrity selection especially in a social media context.Practical implicationsThis approach can help DMs make more informed, objective and effective decisions on celebrity selection for their brands or campaigns. It recognizes that there are multiple stakeholders, including the end customers, each of whose views is objectively considered in the aspects of group decision-making through a fuzzy evaluation method. Further, this study provides a selection mechanism for a given context of endorsement by objectively and interactively encapsulating stakeholder preferences.Originality/valueThis robust and holistic approach to celebrity selection can help DMs objectively make consensual decisions with partial or complete information. This quantitative approach contributes to the literature on selection mechanisms of influencers, celebrities, social media opinion leaders etc. by providing a methodological aid that encompasses aspects of interactive group decision-making for a given context. Moreover, this method is useful to DMs and stakeholders in understanding and incorporating the effect of nature or context of the brand and the campaign type in the selection of a celebrity or an influencer.

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has transformed consumer buying behavior across the world. COVID-19 crisis brought a behavioral change in consumers' attitudes toward health, financial and social well-being. The current research work highlights the factors influencing consumer buying behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic considering saving and safety perspectives.Design/methodology/approachThis study attempts to understand the gap in buying behavior with reference to saving and safety. Survey-based study was conducted during the second phase of COVID-19, and the respondents were those who lived in highly affected COVID cities in India. Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were carried out for testing the hypotheses.FindingsSeven factors became the prominent factors in consumer buying patterns during the pandemic. Consumers in the times of COVID-19 pandemic spend only on essential items as compared to nice-to-have and non-essential items.Research limitations/implicationsRespondents considered in the research were millennials aged 25–40. The current research is limited to specific geographic location.Practical implicationsThe study assessed how savings and safety influence consumer buying behavior. The 2S framework model for consumer buying behavior during pandemic has been developed. The findings of the study provides a road map to the companies, policy makers, managers and consumers in understanding the consumer buying behavior during pandemic.Originality/valueThe current research work observe the changes in the behavioral patterns of consumers in the context of 2S framework, i.e. saving and safety. This study offer novel contribution as there is no available literature that examined the saving and safety aspects together for consumer buying behavior during crisis.