Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer-brand relationships affect brand loyalty and word of mouth when mediated by brand trust considering online brand communities on social media platforms. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model is developed, depicting the impact of customer-brand relationships on brand loyalty and word of mouth via brand trust. The conceptual model is validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling and data for which are collected online through a structured questionnaire from a sample of 131 brand community members in North Capital Region of India. Findings Findings of the present study revealed that brand trust partially mediated between the involvement and commitment variables of customer-brand relationships, and brand loyalty and word of mouth. However, the link between satisfaction variable of customer-brand relationships, and brand loyalty and word of mouth via brand trust was found insignificant. Originality/value The present study provides novel insight to understand consumer-brand relationships on social media platforms.

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The pressures to make business operations sustainable have been pushing organizations to adopt circular economy (CE) principles. With depleting fossil resources, the oil and gas (O&G) sector is pushed towards recycling limited resources available with it by leveraging CE principles. However, not many studies have been taken up how institutional pressures influence CE-targeted environmental and economic performances. Drawing on institutional theory, this study examines the moderated-mediation role of organization flexibility on the effects of institutional pressures on CE performance through environmental management systems (EMSs). Data are collected from 280 firms in Indian O&G sector using questionnaire-based survey method. The study reveals that organizations leverage EMS to achieve CE performance, and flexible organizations compared with rigid ones are more effective in dealing with coercive pressures by leveraging EMS. These insights may help policymakers to formulate regulatory framework judiciously that encourages firms to adopt EMS in making their operations environmentally sustainable.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the dimensions of the e-fulfillment process and its influence on customers in pure e-tailing; to classify the pertinent literature that has evolved over time addressing relevant managerial issues; and to identify the gaps between the practices prevalent in the e-fulfillment and those suggested by academicians to develop insights for future research. Design/methodology/approach A critical systemic literature review approach was used for the study with quantitative and qualitative analysis. Findings The authors identified seven dimensions of e-fulfillment in the literature on pure e-tailing: e-business quality, product quality, pricing, availability, timeliness, condition and ease of return and explored its linkages with shopping satisfaction and repurchase intention of customers in e-tailing. Research limitations/implications The study was skewed toward an empirical approach. The study does not include many of the analytical models in this space. Practical implications This study helps e-tailers, academicians and practitioners understand critical dimensions of e-fulfillment and its influence on customers in the pure e-tailing setting in order to design customer-centric e-fulfillment architecture. Originality/value The study identified seven dimensions of e-fulfillment in the literature and explored its influence on shopping satisfaction and repurchase intention of customers in pure e-tailing. This is the first compilation of standalone/isolated studies available in the literature to provide e-tailers and academicians meaningful insights into e-fulfillment in the pure e-tailing setting.

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