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The global pandemic of Covid-19 has caused lockdowns across the globe, causing education institutions to shut down. As a result, classes have been held online. This study investigates the impact of online learning on student performance by comparing the impact on Jordan and the UK. Both countries have been reported to have high technological competency but are known to have varying sociodemographic structures. Surveys were conducted on undergraduate students from both countries (N = 780) to analyse students’ perception of online learning, self-perception of academic capabilities, and faculty performance during online learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on professors from both countries (N = 8). The findings indicate that both Jordan and the UK have been very similarly affected by in terms of student performance, with major challenges being in communication, technological competency, access to hardware for taking online classes, absenteeism, and drop-outs. Some benefits to student performance were identified as having access to recorded lectures, having more access to faculties through e-mail and extended office hours. Ethical implications were not commented on. Privacy concerns were largely voiced by faculties.

Despite the fact that online purchase intention has been widely investigated, little is known about the e-retailer-based signals used to reduce online customers’ uncertainty perception in high-uncertainty-avoidance (UA) societies. Thus, based on signaling and uncertainty literature, this study investigates return policy leniency (RPL), cash on delivery (COD), and social commerce constructs (SCCs) as the costly signals e-retailers use to increase perceived trust and reduce perceived purchase uncertainty among customers in high-UA societies. An analysis of empirical data from 560 e-commerce users from Jordan reveals that RPL, COD, and SCCs are key enablers of customer trust. Furthermore, customer trust is positively associated with customer purchase intention. The implications for both theory and practice are highlighted.

Social media influencers have proved to be a major influence on customers’ purchasing decisions, especially with the increased usage of social media platforms. Social media influencers provide many opportunities for companies to increase their customer base and sales, and to enhance the attitude towards a brand. Despite the advantages of utilizing social media influencers, there are factors that social influencers need to take into consideration in order to engage customers and influence their decisions to purchase. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence customers’ intention to purchase based on social media influencers. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from 439 Instagram platform users. A partial least square-SEM (PLS-SEM) approach was used to analyze and examine the proposed model. The results indicate that all constructs, namely Information Quality (IQ), Trustworthiness (TRU), Attractiveness (ATT), Meaning Transfer (TRA) and Expertise (EXP) significantly influence customers’ purchase intentions. This finding could provide insights for companies’ decision-makers when it comes to promoting their brands and increasing their sales. In addition, it could provide insights for social media influencers in terms of recognizing the important factors that encourage customers to engage and purchase.