ABSTRACT
This study focuses on the energy efficiency in the past COVID-19 era and targeted the young population of Pakistan who are facing the critical situation of COVID-19 era and much aware that this situation will badly affect the energy situation when COVID-19 will end and they also aware that energy efficient appliances will be the most valuable products after the COVID-19 era. Data was collected from five major cities of Pakistan and analyzed by applying structure equation modelling through smart-PLS 3.3. Results show that knowledge of eco-labels has significant impact on perceived functional values, green trust and purchase intention of energy efficient home appliances. Results further indicate that consumers social responsibility has significant impact on personal norms and purchase intention of energy efficient home appliances. Moreover, functional value and green trust mediates the relationship of knowledge of eco-labels and purchase intention of energy efficient home appliances. Furthermore, attitude towards energy efficient appliances mediates the relationship between consumers social responsibility and purchase intention but surprisingly no mediating affect of attitude between consumer social responsibility and purchase intention of energy efficient home appliances. This study presents an antecedent model for predicting energy-efficient home appliances based on consumer awareness. This study will help companies for technology innovation and improvements in the efficiency of household appliances are among the key functional values that companies should emphasize, in order to attract consumers to value the surprising energy-saving effects of appliances. Copyright © 2022 Jamil, Dunnan, Awan, Jabeen, Gul, Idrees and Mingguang.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The study's objective is to examine the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) social media news (SMN) on work boredom (WB) and task performance (TP). The study proposes that psychological well-being (PWB) and depression mediate the relationship between COVID-19 SMN, WB and TP. Design/methodology/approach: The data for this research was collected from white-collar employees of two Asian countries, Pakistan (study 1, n = 167) and Malaysia (study 2, n = 118), was collected using an online survey during strict movement control order (MCO), work from home, at the beginning of the year 2020. Findings: In both studies, the PWB of employees mediated the relationship between COVID-19 SMN and their WB. On the other hand, depression only mediated the relationship between COVID-19 SMN and WB in Pakistan. PWB only mediated the relationship between COVID-19 SMN and TP in study 2. Depression only mediated the relationship between COVID-19 SMN and TP in study 1. Research limitations/implications: A couple of limitations worth noting are that the study adopted a cross-sectional approach. Thus, the sample size is not large in both counties. Because of the outbreak, limited employees agree to be part of an online survey. The scope of the study also restricts the authors to collect data during MCO, when employees were forced to work from home. In Pakistan, MCO began on 20th March and ended on 30th April, while in Malaysia, MCO started on 18th March and ended on 12th May. This also limits the study's claim of generalizability. Practical implications: The practical implication of the study is to guide practitioners of both Pakistan and Malaysia in developing strategies that help them understand that employees having PWB look for growth and challenging opportunities even during pandemic situations;employers can leverage it to deal with external threats like COVID-19 because improving the PWB can improve TP and reduce WB. The interesting results highlighted the fact that high TP not necessarily means everything is fine with employees, when the uncertainty level is high, employees may be performing well due to fear and depression instead of work motivation. Thus, employers should be more vigilant during a pandemic situation. This study also helps policymakers understand that the overall economic situation affects the individual employee’s state of mind and work behavior. Originality/value: The paper contributes to scare literature on COVID-19 and SMN and illustrates employees' work behavior when forced to work from home during the MCO. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.