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Previous studies have rarely integrated the financing modes of a capital-constrained manufacturer with the choices of online sales strategies. To address this gap, the authors study how a manufacturer selects optimal financing modes under different sales strategies in three dual-channel supply chains.

This paper considers three sales strategies, namely, combining a traditional retailer channel with one of the direct selling, reselling and agency selling channels, and two common financing modes, namely, bank financing and retailer financing. The authors obtain equilibrium outcomes of the manufacturer and traditional retailer and then provide the conditions for them to select optimal financing modes under three sales strategies.

The results indicate that the manufacturer’s financing decisions rely on the initial capital and interest rates, and the manufacturer selects retailer financing only if the initial capital is relatively larger. In terms of financing mode options, the retailer financing mode is more beneficial for the manufacturer under the three sales strategies. From the perspective of sales strategies, the direct selling model is more beneficial. In addition, the higher the consumer acceptance of the online channel, the more profits the manufacturer obtains.

This paper provides suggestions on how the capital-constrained manufacturer chooses financing modes and sales strategies.

This paper integrates the financing mode and different sales strategies to investigate the manufacturer’s optimal operational decisions. These sales strategies allow us to investigate the manufacturer’s optimal financing modes in the presence of both different financing modes and sales strategies.

While the phenomenon of technostress has received significant attention from researchers in recent years, empirical findings concerning the consequences of specific forms of techno-stressors have remained scattered and contradictory. The authors aim to integrate the conclusions of previous studies to understand the effects of specific techno-stressors on strain and job performance.

This study employs meta-analytic techniques to calibrate the findings of 67 studies investigating more than 63,100 employees.

In general, not all techno-stressors have adverse effects. In particular, techno-uncertainty does not impact job performance. In addition, relative weight analyses reveal the relative importance of techno-complexity and techno-insecurity as predictors of both strain and job performance. Finally, this study finds that the effects of specific techno-stressors on job performance vary depending on research participants' gender, educational attainment and employment status.

First, this study provides a more nuanced view of the effects of specific techno-stressors. Second, this research clarifies the relative importance of specific techno-stressors as predictors of strain and job performance. Finally, this study reveals the moderating effects of demographic variables on the relationships between specific techno-stressors and job performance.

This study aims to investigate the key factors that influence the behavioural intention of doctors to adopt the knowledge sharing driven blockchain technology in government hospitals. The study is based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2, with the addition of trust as an independent variable and knowledge sharing as a mediating variable between trust and behavioural intention.

The data for the study was collected through a correlation and cross-sectional study using a survey, with a sample of 322 responses being used for the final analysis. The initial analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS v.26, followed by a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis using SmartPLS v.3.9 to test the validity and reliability of the measures and to examine the hypothesized relationships.

The results supported the proposed framework. The results of PLS-SEM indicate that all proposed pathways support the model. In particular, the results of the study reveal that performance expectation, effort expectation, social influence, facilitation conditions and trust are drivers of blockchain adoption and have a significant impact on the behavioural intention of clinicians in hospitals. Furthermore, the study found that knowledge sharing mediated the relationship between trust and behavioural intention.

The present study sheds light on the challenges facing blockchain technology, such as privacy and trust concerns and proposes a more sustainable approach based on knowledge management to enhance the effectiveness of blockchain technology and overcome these challenges.

The significance of this paper lies in the limited literature examining the relationships between blockchain technology and knowledge management processes. Furthermore, a hypothetical framework that includes the knowledge sharing process as a mediating variable between trust and behavioural intention to adopt blockchain technology has not been presented or developed in any previous studies, particularly in the context of Iraq. Thus, this work is novel and unique in its approach.

There has been a burgeoning interest in exploring the impact of uncertainty factors on share returns. However, studies on the influence of global financial uncertainties on emerging market sectoral indices are scarce. Thus, there is a need to have a thorough investigation of the connection between global financial uncertainties and emerging market sectoral indices. To fill this gap, using the theoretical framework of international portfolio diversification (IPD) and utilizing data from 2008 to 2021, this study examines the spillover connection between global uncertainty indices (GUIs) and leading sectoral indices of 28 emerging markets.

The authors employ the quantile spillover-based connectedness approach and minimum connectedness portfolio approach to explore the dynamic connectedness among sectoral indices and global uncertainty indices (GUIs) as well as portfolio implication.

The study found high connectedness among all indices, especially at higher and lower quantiles. Among GUIs, the authors find that stock market volatility (VIX) and oil volatility index (OVX) are strongly interconnected with all leading emerging markets' sectoral indices. Among sectoral indices, the linkage between the financial (F-Index), information technology (IT-Index), and consumer discretionary (CD-Index) sectors shows moderate interconnectedness. In contrast, the communication services (CS-Index) sector has low interconnectedness with the system. In terms of spillover effects, the authors find EVZ, OVX, and the IT sectors to be net recipients for the entire period. The authors also explored portfolio diversification benefits by employing a minimum connectedness portfolio approach. The cumulative returns' findings show a slight decline in the portfolio's value after 2010; during 2012, the pattern remained stable; from 2014 to 2020, the portfolio performed negatively, that is, underperformance due to different events in that period, including COVID-19. The Consumer Discretionary sector is found to be significant because of having the largest weight, 51%, in the portfolio during the study period.

The study suggests that investors should invest in the communication services sector as it is the least connected. However, the connectedness increases during COVID-19, which implies that it may be difficult for investors to benefit from IPD in a crisis period. Hence, to obtain the benefits from IPD, the evidence suggests that investors need to consider Consumer Discretionary sector while considering assets for investment.

The study's uniqueness is that the authors have investigated spillover between GUIs and 28 emerging markets sectoral indices by employing a quantile spillover-based connectedness approach and minimum connectedness portfolio approach with a special focus on portfolio implication.

This study aims to examine the gender differences in purchase intention towards green packaging product. The paper extended the theory of planned behaviour by unravelling the dynamics of quality, product attributes, and green packaging as part of strategic elements for the marketing mix.

A cross-sectional-survey-based questionnaire research design was used to collect data from a total of 212 adults from Malaysia. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to assess the measurement and the proposed research model.

The results showed that perceived quality and product attributes had a positive relationship with attitude towards green packing products without significant difference between female and male groups. Interestingly, this study found a significant difference between males and females in terms of the attitude and subjective norms towards intention to purchase green packaging product. Subjective norms had a positive relationship with attitude while perceived behavioural control had a positive relationship with purchase intention without significant gender differences.

The findings of this study contribute to the limited body of knowledge in the area of purchasing green packaging products and provide useful information to industry practitioners about gender differences in purchasing green packaging products. Also, the current study provided new insights to the academician by looking into the dimension of green marketing mix elements which influence consumer behaviour.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2023-0249.

We analyzed the effects of different combinations of organic soil amendments (OSAs) and chemical fertilizers on agrifood production, focusing on banana yields in China, the second-largest producer of bananas globally.

We computed these combinations by dividing the expenditures on OSAs by those on chemical fertilizers and called them OSA-CF ratios. First, we classified farmers based on quintiles of expenditures on chemical fertilizers. Then, we studied the association between OSA-CF ratios and banana yields for each quintile. We also considered an alternate specification in which farmers were grouped along the OSA-CF ratio continuum. The first group comprised farmers not using OSAs. Their OSA-CF ratio was zero. Farmers applying low, medium, and high OSA-CF ratios constituted groups two, three, and four; the groups were delineated based on the OSA-CF ratio tertiles, and the associations between tertiles of OSA-CF ratios and banana yields for each quintile were analyzed. The data used in this study were collected by surveying 616 households in three major banana-producing provinces (Guangdong, Hainan, and Yunnan) of China. Standard linear regressions and the two-stage predictor substitution method were employed to complete the analysis.

There were variations in the effects of OSA-CF ratios on banana yields obtained by farmers iifferent quintiles. For the first and second quintiles, low, medium, and high OSA-CF ratios improved banana yields relative to not using OSAs. For farmers in the first quintile using only chemical fertilizers, applying a low OSA-CF ratio was associated with an improvement of 792 kg/mu in banana yields. For their counterparts in the second quintile, the same transition was associated with a gain of 534 kg/mu. For the fifth quintile, comprising farmers spending 320 yuan/mu or more on chemical fertilizers, applying a high OSA-CF ratio instead of using only chemical fertilizers was associated with a 401 kg/mu decline in banana yields. Even so, for this group, no differences were observed between the yields of farmers not applying OSAs and those using low and medium OSA-CF ratios.

Banana farmers in southern China, using only chemical fertilizers, can improve yields by combining them with OSAs if their chemical fertilizer expenditures are less than 66.67 yuan/mu. Those using only chemical fertilizers and spending between 68 yuan/mu and 300 yuan/mu on them can maintain yields by applying OSAs in conjunction with chemical fertilizers. However, yields may decline for farmers using only chemical fertilizers and spending 320 yuan/mu or more on them if they incorporate OSAs such that the OSA-CF ratio reaches 0.78 or higher. Overall, combining OSAs with chemical fertilizers can improve yields while attenuating the adverse effects of chemical fertilizers on the environment. Policymakers should inform farmers of these benefits and accelerate the transition to sustainable agriculture through educational and awareness programs.

Farmers apply OSAs such as organic fertilizers and farmyard manure to adjust and remedy soil nutrition to improve farm productivity. However, little is known about how combining OSAs with chemical fertilizers affects banana yields. This study provided the first attempt to explore the associations between OSA-CF ratios and banana yields using cross-sectional data on farming households.

Integrating the reciprocity and equity lenses, this study explores the curvilinear relationship between leader humility and employee organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) by introducing psychological entitlement and perspective taking, and constructing a moderated mediation curvilinear model aiming to provide a more comprehensive understanding of why and how leader humility affects OCBs.

Using multisource, three-wave data collected from 261 employees and 55 supervisors in China, we adopted multi-level modeling analysis to test the moderated mediation curvilinear model that links leader humility to OCBs.

We found a curvilinear relationship between leader humility and psychological entitlement, and psychological entitlement mediated the curvilinear indirect relationship between leader humility and OCBs. Furthermore, employees' perspective taking buffered this curvilinear indirect effect.

Following social exchange theory and prior research discussing the potential benefits and drawbacks of leader humility, this study developed and tested a moderated mediation curvilinear model of the relationship between leader humility and OCBs. Our study thus provides a more balanced and dialectical perspective on understanding the effects of leader humility and enriching the leadership process model. This study also offers actionable strategies for leaders and organizations to optimize the benefits of humble leadership.

This study investigates augmented reality (AR) retailing and attempts to develop a profound understanding of consumer decision-making processes in AR-enabled e-retailing.

The study is grounded in rich informational cues and information processing mechanisms by incorporating the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and trust transfer theory. This study employs a mixed analytic method that incorporates structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to provide a complete picture of individual information process mechanisms in AR retailing under the tenet of ELM.

The SEM analysis results confirm the relationships between the central and peripheral route factors, information processing outcomes and eventual behavioral intentions. Moreover, all configurations revealed by the fsQCA include both central and peripheral factors. Hence, the dual routes proposed in the ELM are verified by using two distinct analytical approaches.

This study is pioneering in validating and contextualizing ELM theory in AR retailing. In addition, this study offers a methodological paradigm by demonstrating the application of multi-analysis in exploring consumers’ information process mechanisms in AR retailing, which offers a holistic and comprehensive view to understand consumers’ decision-making mechanisms.

Understanding how to retain users of augmented reality (AR) shopping apps and to motivate them to purchase is vital to the success of AR apps. This study assessed the chain effect of AR attributes on purchase intention and reuse intention through cognitive and affective factors.

The data were collected from Thai users of the IKEA Place app using an online survey. A link to the survey was posted on Thai furniture groups on social media platforms. The 439 responses were analysed using the partial least squares (PLS) approach.

The results revealed that all four AR attributes, namely interactivity, vividness, novelty and spatial presence, significantly influence perceived enjoyment, perceived diagnosticity and perceived value. Brand attitude, as a key driver of purchase intention, is influenced by perceived value. Attitude towards the app significantly affects reuse intention and is affected by affective and cognitive factors.

The findings enable shopping app designers and marketers to successfully promote the brand, retain users and boost sales by effectively incorporating AR.

The study extends the literature on the impacts of AR apps on customer behaviours by including affective factors in addition to cognitive factors to explain why AR attributes influence customer attitudes and behaviours. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the serial causal paths from AR attributes to customer behaviours.

We explore the driving forces behind the channel choices of the manufacturer and the platform by considering asymmetric selling cost and demand information.

This paper develops game-theoretical models to study different channel strategies for an E-commerce supply chain, in which a manufacturer distributes products through a platform that may operate in either the marketplace channel or the reseller channel.

Three primary models are built and analyzed. The comparison results show that the platform would share demand information in the reseller channel only if the service cost performance is relatively high. Besides, with an increasing selling cost, the equilibrium channel might shift from the marketplace to the reseller. With increasing information accuracy, the manufacturer tends to select the marketplace channel, while the platform tends to select the reseller channel if the service cost performance is low and tends to select the marketplace channel otherwise.

All these results have been numerically verified in the experiments. At last, we also resort to numerical study and find that as the service cost performance increases, the equilibrium channel may shift from the reseller channel to the marketplace channel. These results provide managerial guidance to online platforms and manufacturers regarding strategic decisions on channel management.

Although prior research has paid extensive attention to the driving forces behind the online channel choice between marketplace and reseller, there is at present few study considering the case where a manufacturer selling through an online platform faces a demand information disadvantage in the reseller channel and sales inefficiency in the marketplace channel. To fill this research gap, our work illustrates the interaction between demand information asymmetry and selling cost asymmetry to identify the equilibrium channel strategy and provides useful managerial guidelines for both online platforms and manufacturers.