An impact of content delivery, equity, support and self-efficacy on student's learning during the COVID-19.

Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the colleges and universities across the world have shifted to online classes in place of face-to-face classes. In the wake of this outbreak, the present study focuses on analyzing the impact of sudden shift to online classes, on the undergraduate and postgraduate student's overall learning. The PLS-SEM results concluded that the content delivery has been the most significant construct to impact both self-efficacy and overall learning. The self-efficacy partially mediates the support and equity relationship with the overall learning. The student with greater self-efficacy will have better overall learning from this e-synchronous teaching methodology. However, content delivery has a stronger role in impacting the overall learning even if there is absence of self-efficacy, thus concluding no mediation.

Work-From-Home in the New Normal: A Phenomenological Inquiry into Employees' Mental Health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced employees to adapt and adjust to the new normal in an unprecedented way. While some employees have been able to move to work-from-home (WFH) relatively easily, many find it challenging. Notwithstanding the magnitude of change, little is known about the determinants of WFH employees' mental health during COVID-19. This study therefore aims to explore (1) the salient factors that contribute to the mental health issues of WFH employees and (2) strategies to overcome WFH challenges. A qualitative approach using phenomenological inquiry was adopted. Forty-one employees who worked from home in Pakistan were sampled using the purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Overall, employees believe that organizations offer inadequate support in both work-related and non-work-related matters. Five themes were elicited and coded as factors that contribute to mental health issues among WFH employees. Technical issues and system complexities, the absence of flexible working arrangements, distractions, a lack of communication, and inadequate social support were found to obstruct WFH and cause mental distress. Behavioral and cognitive coping strategies were also determined to tackle these mental issues. This study complements the human resource literature by exploring the factors that obstruct WFH and cause mental health issues in the context of the pandemic crisis. As mental well-being is more intricate than administrative arrangements, the study is useful for organizations to develop a feasible mechanism that facilitates the smooth execution of WFH for employees while ensuring their mental health is preserved. Using a phenomenological inquiry, the present study is one of the few to explore the factors that contribute to the mental health of WFH employees in the context of the pandemic crisis. Apart from its contribution to knowledge on human resource management and organizational behavior, it provides useful implications for managers, policymakers, and practitioners to manage WFH employees more effectively.

Guest editorial: Blue whistle for brands – consumers' and stakeholders' perspective towards reformation in marketing legal practices

[...]marketing practices require a re-invention and a reformation to get back on track (Islam et al., 2021). The brands are trying to figure out the balance between social media, capital market and corporate communication in the lens of legal formalities as shareholders' engagement and communication by corporate would be a great challenge to make customers comfortable. The purpose of this SI is to discuss the various studies exploring the opportunities and challenges with a legal perspective in the marketing domain, and synergy of the effective and parental role of government and business elements to develop the holistic, convincing sustainable idea and centralized the element of interest among all policymakers such as government, academia, society and business elements along with media houses is covered with five distinguished articles published in this SI.

Guest editorial: Challenges and prospects of AIoT application in hospitality and tourism marketing

[...]these technologies can provide efficient resource management in all sub-sectors that make up the travel and hospitality industry (e.g. transportation, accommodation facilities and events). [...]the development of information technologies facilitates information sharing on a global scale.

Do Privacy Stress and Brand Trust still Matter? Implications on Continuous Online Purchasing Intention in China.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to unprecedented transformations in consumer behaviour. Less is known about how consumers react to privacy stress while being compelled to continuously purchase online during the pandemic. Therefore, underpinned by the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory, this paper aims to examine the impacts of perceived Internet risk, self-efficacy, privacy stress, and trust on consumers' continuous purchasing intention in China. Few studies have examined the mediating roles of privacy stress and brand trust in continuous purchasing intention. This research thus adds value by exploring the underlying mechanisms that explain how these factors affect purchasing intention where consumers have little choice but to make purchase online continuously. It employs a quantitative research design and uses a survey questionnaire to collect data. A total of 535 consumers responded and the data were analysed via PLS-SEM. We found mixed results for the direct and indirect paths. Perceived Internet risk, platform trust, and self-efficacy showed significant impacts on privacy stress and brand trust. While brand trust had a significant impact on continuous online purchase intention, contrary to previous literature, privacy stress did not. Moreover, while brand trust was found to be a significant mediator, privacy stress exerted no mediating effect. The results assist marketing practitioners, organizations, and policymakers in improving consumers' online shopping experience in uncertain times by addressing the issues of trust and privacy. Specifically, we provide the foundation for future policies and strategies that build consumers' trust and secure consumers' privacy, especially in highly uncertain contexts.