ABSTRACT
Background: International students are often exposed to various challenges during life transitions. The 'mindsponge' mechanism suggests that individuals absorb and integrate new cultural values that are compatible with their core values while rejecting those of lesser importance. On the basis of this notion, this article explores the experiences of international students in China regarding their unplanned return to their home countries during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of the mindsponge mechanism. Aim: This article aims to highlight the experiences of international students in China who are going through life transitions due to the global pandemic. The study focuses on the experiences of two groups of international students: (1) Those who remained in China during the pandemic, and (2) those who had left China and were stranded in their home countries due to a ban on international travel amid COVID-19. Method: This qualitative study comprised of in-depth semi structured in-person and online interviews. Thematic Analysis was used to analyze the data in order to generate study themes. Results: The results revealed that students who remained in China experienced challenges which included anxiety, closure of campuses, lockdown, their parents' concern regarding health issues, and not being able to meet with friends. On the other hand, students who had left China during the pandemic were confined to their home countries. This group of students experienced more severe problems than the students who remained in China. Since the transition to home countries was "unplanned," they were not ready to readjust to their native culture and were vulnerable to severe reverse culture shock. Upon returning to their home countries, international students faced a number of challenges, including readjustment to their home countries and changes in their lives in host and home countries. In addition, they lost social and academic resources, such as the disruption of study environment, losing important group memberships, financial constraints, visa expiry, graduation delay, and academic suspension. Conclusion: This study concluded that the international students experienced cultural problems after unplanned transition to their home countries during the pandemic. They described effects of reverse culture shock as being more distressing. They perceived dissatisfaction due to loss of previously held social identities and sense of belonging to the traditional society they left behind. There is a need of future studies on the long-term effect of unplanned transition on psychological, social and professional experiences. The process of readjustment has proven to be a challenging endeavor.
ABSTRACT
Purpose>This study aims to empirically develop a reliable and valid instrument measuring the online service quality in the context of the banking sector in India.Design/methodology/approach>The methodological framework of this research comprises developing an instrument that is based on previous literature, qualitative and quantitative procedure. The study used the survey method and collected data via a well-structured questionnaire from a sample of active Internet banking users. The proposed instrument is identified by the data-reduction technique that is exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and validated through the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).Findings>The results confirmed that the digital banking service quality scale (DBSQual) contains 24 items in seven dimensions: (1) web architecture, (2) user friendliness, (3) efficiency of website, (4) reliability, (5) responsiveness, (6) security and (7) personalization. The relationship between digital banking service quality and e-customer satisfaction has also been found to be significant in this study.Research limitations/implications>The results of this study do not find general application for different banks operating in the same sector in India. More testing of DBSQual is required across various different contexts for validity augmentation. In addition, findings would be more reliable if the non-Indian context could be taken into consideration. Thus, such limitations open a window for future research.Practical implications>This study is quite fruitful for the banking organizations in measuring their online services, and enables them to implement their marketing and operational strategies more effectively and efficiently.Originality/value>The contribution of this study is the development and validation of a new instrument that is DBSQual that contains seven determinants of customers' e-service quality perception, emphasis on measuring online service quality in the Indian banking sector. These determinants will offer banks a promising starting idea for establishing an effective quality management for their online businesses. They will be able to increase the opportunities by tapping themselves at a competitive edge.