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PurposeThe unprecedented pandemic of COVID-19 is not a typical crisis. This crisis has irrevocably altered human behavior, most notably consumption behavior. The uncertainty caused due to economic insecurity and fears of death have resulted in a paradigm shift away from consumer materialism and toward consumer spiritualism. The present study examines the effect of various dimensions of “spirituality” on consumers’ conspicuous consumption of fashion. The study employs a descriptive empirical research design to determine the impact of multiple dimensions of spirituality on the conspicuous consumption of Generation Z in India. These dimensions include General spirituality belief, Global personal spirituality and reincarnation spirituality. Additionally, the moderating effect of dispositional positive emotion on the relationships mentioned above has been investigated.Design/methodology/approachThe data were accumulated through purposive sampling from 517 Generation Z consumers and analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsReincarnation, general personal and global personal spirituality had a direct positive impact on conspicuous consumption of fashion. Dispositional positive emotion had a positive moderation effect between the reincarnation, general personal and global personal spirituality and conspicuous consumption.Originality/valueThe study will assist fashion brands and retailers in better understanding consumer behavior and associated opportunities and threats post COVID-19. For merchants and business owners in emerging countries, this study will help them to apply new techniques for keeping customers. It is useful to evaluate a shopper’s views towards spirituality, disposition and conspicuous consumption.

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Corn husk is an agro waste which poses a problem of its disposal. Hence, fibres were extracted from corn husk to utilize it. The fibres extracted from corn husk were coarse with linear density of 86 deniers, had bundle strength of 1.3 g/d and elongation at break of 18.5%. Water retention of corn husk fibres was also found to be 200%, which makes them suitable as absorbent material. Therefore, the possibility of using corn husk fibres in the absorbent layer of sanitary napkins was explored. Corn husk fibres were mixed with wood pulp in different proportions for use in sanitary napkins. The developed sanitary napkins were evaluated for various physical and hygiene parameters like pH, water retention, absorbency and ability to withstand pressure, disposability, bacterial and fungal bio-burden, and presence of common skin pathogens and compared with other sanitary napkins for all the parameters. The water retention and absorbency of corn husk napkins were comparable to branded napkins, which had higher absorbancy probably due to the presence of SAP in their absorbent layer or difference in the quality of top sheet and technology used to manufacture the napkins. The bacterial and fungal bio-burden for the developed napkins was found to be lowest and within acceptable limits of 1000 c.f.u/ml. The common skin pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and uterine pathogen Candida albicans were found to be absent. Thus, use of corn husk fibres for developing various absorbent hygiene products could be sought as an opportunity for transforming waste to useful products.

If a device tells you whatever garment you are wearing is not the best fit for your body, would you change? If yes, then Computing wearable's are fosters for providing personal information to the wearer about their body measurements. In medical sciences computing wearables not only track your day to day health-related data but also help in effective implementation of prevention and treatment techniques. Online apparel shopping is an easy method, which consumes less time and you can find everything you need. Apparel fitment becomes a key between acceptance and disappointment. In India there are no standard size charts available so apparel manufacturers are using size charts as per their own understanding and research. This may irritate the customers while trying to identify appropriate size, and may result into rejections, return of apparel. According to recent studies, between 20-40% of all online apparel purchased 70 % is returned, only due to issues with fit alone, which costing fashion e-tailors millions. Here the Body measurements data generated through computing wearable's can be an innovative and interactive method for selection of right garment which may put conventional taking body measurements method out of the market.