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Background: A traditional African phrase, 'A pregnant woman has one foot in the grave’ expresses the immense health risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Antenatal care (ANC) is considered an important determinant to alleviate mortalities and morbidities associated with maternal health. Objectives: The study aimed to identify the utilization pattern of ANC services by pregnant women in a remote, tribal, and hilly district of Himachal Pradesh and to understand their healthcare needs during antenatal period. Methods: A community based descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out in 41 far-flung villages of Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh, India, using a mixed-method approach of data collection. Purposive sampling was done to select 103 females who had experienced delivery in the past 2 years and were residents of Lahaul for minimum of 3 years. The participants were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire and the data were analysed by SPSS-20. Results: The study revealed high utilization of ANC services by indigenous women, but it was accompanied by physical, psychological, and financial hardships. The triple challenge of inadequacy of quality antenatal services, transport facilities, and unfavourable weather conditions compelled women to leave their communities in Lahaul and relocate to adjoining districts during the maternity period. Conclusion: Pregnancy is still a stressful event that disrupts the link between families and communities in such underserved areas. The study recommends the establishment of programs that promote availability of quality ANC services within the rural and remote communities.

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Consumer misbehaviour is a growing phenomenon these days in the services sector. The perils of the job of being a call centre executive or the incidences of verbal abuse or aggression on employees in services or deviant consumer behaviour such as shoplifting by customers in retail outlets is widely known but rarely reported. In fact many organizations, in their pursuit of following the mantra of “customer is king” become victims of wrong behaviour by the customers itself. The current study not only identifies the antecedents or motives of consumer misbehaviour that could be of interest for marketers but also proposes strategies to deal with or neutralize the consumer misbehaviour. The area of consumer misbehaviour in an emerging market context is still an under-researched area and every organization faces it in some form or the other. The findings of this paper are based on a nation-wide qualitative study on consumer misbehaviour based on semi-structured interviews. We are reporting the findings based on 24 of such interviews. We proposed a conceptual framework that can be the starting point for future confirmatory studies in this area of consumer research.