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The study's primary purpose is to establish the direct and indirect roles of word-of-mouth communication (WOM) in initiating and maintaining consumer loyalty in the bottom of pyramid (BOP) markets in the Indian context. In addition, the study seeks to evaluate the conditions (viz. extent of media usage, brand distribution intensity and brand social connections) under which WOM leads to the initiation and maintenance of consumer brand loyalty.

The study hypotheses were formulated following the social identity theory. Later, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 898 rural BOP consumers. Structural equation modelling technique was applied to test the study hypotheses.

Results suggested a positive effect of WOM on brand credibility and self-brand connections-indicative of the initiation of strong cognitive and affective relationships respectively. Brand credibility and self-brand connections also mediated the paths between WOM and brand loyalty-indicative of the maintenance and continuation of strong affect-laden relationships. These indirect relationships were moderated by the extent of media usage, brand distribution intensity and brand social connections.

This is among the first studies that holistically evaluate the role of WOM in developing customer loyalty to rural BOP consumers against the backdrop of the systemic deficiencies in these markets.

The study aims to determine the role of online retail website experience on brand happiness and willingness to share personal information using the theoretical lens of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework. Further, it explores the role of brand intimacy and brand partner quality in mediating the path between brand happiness and willingness to share personal information.

This study used a cross-sectional survey design to collect data from 439 online retail consumers in India, using an online questionnaire. The data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling in IBM Amos.

The present study found that online retail website experience is significantly related to brand happiness. The finding also supports that brand happiness was positively and significantly related to ‘consumers' willingness to share personal information. This relationship was fully mediated by brand intimacy. Brand happiness also mediated the relationship between website experience and the willingness to share personal information.

This study contributes to the emerging literature on brand happiness and willingness to share personal information. It establishes a central role of brand happiness as a driver and a mediator of consumers' willingness to share personal information with e-commerce retailers, extending the stimulus-organism-response framework in the context of brand happiness and willingness to share personal information. Further, the study establishes the role of website experience as a marketer (and brand) led driver of brand happiness.

The results have implications for the role of the website in enhancing the consumer experience, which in turn is a driver of brand happiness. Further, managers need to promote brand happiness with the help of website experience to enable consumers’ willingness to share personal information and help organizations customize their marketing campaigns.

This is among the first studies to evaluate brand happiness from the perspective of an online retail website experience and consider consumers’ willingness to share personal information from a branding rather than a technological perspective. Additionally, the study introduces the SOR framework in the context of brand happiness, with website experience acting as a stimulus for consumers, resulting in brand happiness, which is mediated by brand partner quality and brand intimacy (organism), leads to consumers' willingness to share personal information with online retail brands (response).

The study examines the role of attitude, perceived relative advantage and perceived risk on intention to participate in the sharing economy–based cab services in India. Further, it investigates the impact of intention to participate in the sharing economy on transformation expectations of consumers. Finally, the study tests the moderating role of materialism in the relationship between intention to participate in the sharing economy and transformation expectations of consumers.

This study used cross-sectional survey research design to collect data from 408 respondents through online questionnaire in India, an emerging market. The study analysed the data using structural equation modelling technique using IBM AMOS software.

The findings of the study suggest that perceived relative advantage and attitude influences the intention to participate in the sharing economy. Intention to participate in the sharing economy positively influences transformation expectations. Materialism moderates the relationship between intention to participate and transformation expectations of consumers.

In a departure from previous studies, this study establishes that perceived risk may not be an important factor driving the intention to participate in the sharing economy. Further, it is among the first studies to establish the role of intention to participate in the sharing economy as a possible driver of transformation expectations.

The importance of transformation expectations can be communicated as an outcome to encourage participation in the sharing economy. Managers can highlight the relative advantages to promote participation in the sharing economy.

This study is probably the first attempt to understand the transformation expectations of consumers in the sharing economy. Further, the study tests the moderating role of materialism in the relationship between intention to participate and transformation expectation of consumers.

This research seeks to establish the roles of marketer-driven relationship-building strategies – relationship-marketing orientation and knowledge sharing with customers on intrinsic customer motivation and the continued usage of mobile banking apps.

An online survey was conducted among 342 m-banking users in India. Data were analyzed and the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.

Relationship-marketing orientation was found to have a positive and significant influence on customer intrinsic motivation and knowledge sharing with customers. Customer intrinsic motivation was found to play a dual role as a driver of continued mobile banking usage and as an intervening mechanism between relationship-marketing orientation and continued usage of mobile banking.

This research was conducted only in one country. It was therefore not possible to consider varying regulations across markets and their effects on continued usage of mobile banking.

First time in the m-banking literature, this research establishes the pivotal role of intrinsic customer motivation in the continued usage of mobile banking. While evaluating drivers of continued usage of m-banking, most studies considered various aspects of the technology itself. This research instead evaluates consumer-centric and marketer-led antecedents in driving the continued usage of mobile banking.

This study employs the Social Identity Theory to examine the differential effects of personal and social dimensions of fear of missing out (FOMO) on sustainable food consumption (SFC) practices.

An online survey-based empirical study was conducted with 395 respondents. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling and Hayes process Macro in SPSS.

SFC was found to be positively influenced by personal FOMO. Contrary to expectations, social FOMO had a negative correlation with SFC. Social influence and social identity were shown to be positively correlated, whilst the social influence-SFC relationship was favourable. This approach was aided by social identity.

The study supports personal FOMO as an SFC-influencing factor. It evaluates the differential effects of FOMO’s personal and social dimensions on SFC. It also demonstrates that social FOMO negatively affects SFC, contrary to expectations.

The study advises sustainable food firms to reduce personal FOMO via advertising and messaging.

This research is amongst the first to segregate the differential effects of social and personal FOMO regarding SFC behaviour. Research has examined FOMO as a higher-order construct involving social and personal aspects. Second, FOMO is often associated with negative behaviours including social media addiction and substance abuse. This FOMO-related research analyses a desired behaviour.

The study aims to investigate the impact of brand nostalgia, self-brand connections and parent brand trust on brand extension purchase intention. Additionally, the research examines the moderating effect of brand attachment on the link between brand nostalgia and intention to purchase brand extensions, as well as the relationship between self-brand connections and intention to purchase brand extensions.

The study collected data from 458 respondents in India using a cross-sectional survey research methodology. The collected data were analysed in two stages in SPSS, using structural equation modelling and the process macro bootstrapping method.

The study’s results indicate that although brand nostalgia and self-brand linkages exert a favourable impact on intention to purchase brand extensions, this effect is not significant when it comes to brand trust. Brand attachment acts as a moderator between brand nostalgia and the intention to purchase brand extensions. Additionally, brand attachment acts as a moderator between self-brand connections and the intention to purchase brand extensions.

The study adds to the consumer–brand relationship and brand extension literature by proposing and empirically testing a comprehensive model that determines the role of brand nostalgia in the formation of self-brand connections with the brand, trust in the parent brand and, finally, the intention to purchase brand extensions. Additionally, it examines if consumers’ attachment to the parent brand increases or decreases their intention to purchase brand extensions.

Consumer brand nostalgia may be leveraged while introducing brand extensions into the market. What is more, managers could use brand attachment to enhance the impact of brand nostalgia for favourable brand expansion assessments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to examine the influence of brand nostalgia and self-brand connections on the intention to purchase brand extensions. Besides, it tests the moderating impact of brand attachment on the relationship between brand nostalgia and intention to purchase brand extensions.

The purpose of this study is to study the impact of relationship marketing orientation (RMO) and relationship quality on customers' commitment and pro-marketer behavior (positive word of mouth and external attribution) after negative brand publicity by using the combined lens of relationship marketing theory and the theory of cognitive dissonance.

A survey was conducted among banking customers in India using an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and the bootstrapping procedure using the SPSS process macro.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, findings of this study suggest that RMO and relationship quality are positively correlated to commitment even after negative publicity. The path between RMO, relationship quality and pro-provider behavior is found to be mediated by commitment. This indirect path is moderated by customers' cognitive dissonance arising out of the negative publicity.

The study establishes the combined roles of RMO and relationship quality in pre-empting the detrimental effects of negative brand publicity. Further, it establishes interactions of cognitive dissonance with these relationship variables, thereby bringing together literature from relationship marketing theory and cognitive dissonance theory.