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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore channel conflict from the small retailer’s perspective in the context of emerging economies. The study investigates the factors and probable outcomes of perceived channel conflict. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research design is adopted. This study involves semi-structured in-depth interviews with 14 small retailers, selected through the purposive sampling technique, in a capital city of North India. Findings This exploratory study reveals five key reasons for channel conflict in the context of small retailers: coercive sources of power, retailer dependence, competitive intensity, retailer characteristics, and distributors’ role performance. The findings also highlight channel exit and passive acceptance as two probable outcomes of perceived channel conflict. Conflict may also lead to changes in the channel structure, which may significantly affect the success of multinational firms in emerging economies. The paper concludes with a discussion and presents an agenda for further research. Originality/value Channel conflict is a well-researched area, but the context of most existing studies has been larger retailers in developed economies. The findings of this study provide the reasons for and outcomes of the channel conflict encountered by small retailers in emerging economies. This study should be of interest to marketing managers, especially of consumer packaged goods firms, who want to succeed in emerging economies. These managers can use insights from the study to manage channel conflict in the context of small retailers.

PurposeThe present study aims to understand small retailers' current use of various low-cost technologies and the factors responsible for small retailers' adoption. Furthermore, these factors of adoption were mapped back to beliefs within the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), and an attempt was made to understand if some of the beliefs dominated over the others and their implications.Design/methodology/approachThe study takes a qualitative approach comprising in-depth semi-structured interviews and direct observation. The qualitative data were analysed through a thematic analysis to identify technology adoption factors.FindingsAmongst the various technologies (mobile apps), payment and procurement apps were the most widely used. The authors identified eight factors influencing technology adoption: the top being customer demand for payment apps and convenience and cost-saving for procurement apps. The study also highlights the role of the dominant beliefs in technology adoption, which managers could use to improve adoption rates.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study is a cross-sectional study and the sample was predominantly of grocery retailers, limiting the generalisability of the results.Social implicationsSmall retailers face stiff competition from organised retail and e-commerce platforms which threatens small retailers' existence. Small retailers' survival is vital as many people depend on the small retail sector for livelihood. Increased use of technology seems the only way for them to stay competitive and increase profitability. The study's outcome could help increase technology adoption amongst small retailers and increase small retailers' competitiveness.Originality/valueDespite the widespread presence of small retailers in emerging economies, few studies have examined technology adoption amongst them. This study is also the first to use the TPB theory in the small retailer technology adoption context.

Purpose This study aims to understand the role of access convenience of common service centres (CSCs) in determining the e-government continuance intention from the perspective of citizens who are dependent on these centres for using e-government services, in developing countries such as India. The study uses the DeLone and McLean’s information systems (IS) success model as a theoretical basis and analyses the effect of access convenience of CSCs (AC), on the three quality dimensions (namely, information quality [IQ], system quality [SyQ] and service quality [SQ]), and the e-government continuance intention. The effects of the three quality dimensions on continuance intention are also analysed. Design/methodology/approach The primary data were collected from the field surveys conducted at various CSCs in Uttar Pradesh state of India using convenience sampling technique. The study sample included 358 respondents who use e-government services through CSCs. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships in the proposed model. Findings The findings of the study suggest that CSCs’ access convenience has a significant positive impact on the e-government continuance intention. The findings also confirm the significant positive impact on all the three quality dimensions of e-government i.e. IQ, SyQ and SQ. Though the findings do not provide support for the impact of IQ and SyQ on the e-government continuance intention but the impact of SQ on the e-government continuance intention is found to be significantly positive. Research limitations/implications The explanatory power of the model indicates the scope of including more variables in determining the continued usage of e-government. Future studies may extend the present study by including concepts such as trust, satisfaction and security/privacy concerns of citizens. The present study has failed to support the impact of IQ and SyQ on the intention to continue using e-government services. Future studies may test the model in different contexts with different respondents to further examine these relationships. Future studies may also see the association between the continuance intention and actual use of e-government services. Practical implications The government should provide accessible CSCs to the citizens which are conveniently available to them. To diffuse the e-government services successfully among all citizens, the government needs to see that sufficient numbers of CSCs are available in the areas where people lack the required infrastructure for using the e-government services. The government also needs to ensure that the CSCs are fully functional and equipped with facilities for providing the best quality services. Originality/value The study combines the quality constructs from the IS success model with AC, for predicting the e-government continuance intention. The joint use of these constructs has provided a model with high explanatory power, which is able to explain 76.6% variation in the continued usage of e-government services. The study also contributes to the existing literature by presenting AC as a strong determinant of the e-government quality dimensions.

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