Journey of customers in this digital era: Understanding the role of artificial intelligence technologies in user engagement and conversion

Trust and website conversion in consumer responses to green product purchasing: A new perspective through the lens of innovative website Design's technology integration

This study aims to investigate the role of trust and website conversion in consumer responses to green product purchasing, with a new perspective through the lens of innovative website design's technology integration. To achieve this objective, an online survey was conducted with a sample of 384 consumers in Thailand. The results reveal that user trust in innovative website design are significant predictor website conversion in consumer responses to green product purchasing. Innovative website design's technology integration positively influences anticipated website usability and anticipated website quality requirements, which, in turn, enhances trust and leads to increased consumer conversion to green product purchasing. Moreover, anticipated website quality requirement acts as a partial mediator in the relationship between technology integration of innovative website design and user trust in innovative website design. The relationship between user trust in innovative website design and conversion of consumer response to green product purchase is notably strong (β = 0.203, p-value = 0.014), with user trust accounting for roughly 57.1 % of the variability in consumer conversion (R 2 = 0.571 ). This substantial link suggests that in the broader context, enhancing elements that build trust within a website's design is crucial as it influences over half of the consumer's decision-making process related to green product purchases. Essentially, for industries and markets centered around eco-friendly products, investing in strategies to bolster user trust in their digital platforms could significantly drive consumer response and engagement. These findings have important implications for marketers and website designers seeking to enhance their green product sales by developing innovative website designs that incorporate technological integration and build trust with consumers. Both markers and website designers can use these insights to optimize their website design strategies, leading to increased conversion rates.

Modern-day marketing concepts based on face recognition and neuro-marketing: a review and future research directions

Purpose

Data-driven marketing is replacing conventional marketing strategies. The modern marketing strategy is based on insights derived from customer behavior information gathered from their facial expressions and neuro-signals. This study explores the potential for face recognition and neuro-marketing in modern-day marketing.

Design/methodology/approach

The study conducts an in-depth examination of the extant literature on neuro-marketing and facial recognition marketing. The articles for review are downloaded from the Scopus database, and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) is then used to screen and choose the relevant papers. The systematic literature review method is applied to conduct the study.

Findings

An extensive review of the literature reveals that the domains of neuro-marketing and face recognition marketing remain understudied. The authors’ review of selected papers delivers five neuro-marketing and facial recognition marketing themes that are essential to modern marketing concepts.

Practical implications

Neuro-marketing and facial recognition marketing are artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled marketing techniques that assist in gaining cognitive insights into human behavior. The findings would be of use to managers in designing marketing strategies to enhance their marketing approach and boost conversion rates.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of this study lies in that it provides an updated review on neuro-marketing and face recognition marketing.

Examining behavioural intention of using smart health care technology among females: dynamics of social influence and perceived usefulness

Purpose

The aim of this study is to comprehend the behavioural intention of females' perception toward smart healthcare technology. The study also examines the moderation effect of social influences between perceived smart healthcare technology and perceived usefulness among female users.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the model, this study collected data from female respondents (n = 913) responses. The data were analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) using Smart-PLS 3.2. To complement the findings from structural equation modeling, the study also conducted a post-hoc test via experimental research design. The authors also applied a t-test and PROCESS macro analysis to re-confirm the relationship mentioned above.

Findings

The findings revealed that perceived ease of use significantly mediates the relationship between females' perceived smart healthcare technology and intention to use. The findings also show that social influence moderates between smart healthcare technology and the perceived usefulness relationship.

Research limitations/implications

Social influence is one of the major issues while adopting smart healthcare technology because the respondents perceived that they are accustomed to the technologies related to smart health once their surroundings and social environment influence them.

Originality/value

The current study is a pioneer in the context of a developing country and unique in that it makes two contributions: it extends previous research on smart health technology adoption in the healthcare business by considering females, and it gives a broad knowledge of the female healthcare consumers from emerging nations which can be useful for developing technology-driven healthcare services strategies.

Customer experiences in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) in context to FinTech: a fuzzy AHP approach

Purpose

The financial technology (FinTech) era has brought a revolutionary change in the financial sector’s customer experiences at the national and global levels. The importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of FinTech services for enriching customer experiences has become a new norm in this modern era of technological advancement. So, it becomes crucial to understand the customer’s perspective. The current research ranks the factors and sub-factors influencing customers’ perceptions of AI-based FinTech services.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample size for this study was decided to be 970 respondents from four Indian cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The Fuzzy-AHP technique was used to identify the primary factors and sub-factors influencing customers’ experiences with AI-enabled finance services. The factors considered in the study were service quality, trust commitment, personalization, perceived convenience, relationship commitment, perceived sacrifice, subjective norms, perceived usefulness, attitude and vulnerability. The current research is both empirical and descriptive.

Findings

The study’s three top factors are service quality, perceived usefulness and perceived convenience, all of which have a significant impact on customers’ experience with AI-enabled FinTech services discussing sub-criteria three primary criteria for customers’ experience for FinTech services include: “Using FinTech would increase my effectiveness in managing a portfolio (A2)”, “My peer groups and friends have an impact on using FinTech services (SN3)” and “Using FinTech would increase my efficacy in administering portfolio (PU2)”.

Research limitations/implications

The current study is limited to four Indian cities, with 10 factors to understand customers’ preferences in FinTech. Further research can focus on other dimensions like perceived ease of use, familiarity, etc. Future studies can have a broader view of different geographical locations and consider new tech to understand customer perceptions better.

Practical implications

The study’s findings will significantly assist businesses in determining the primary aspects influencing customers’ experiences with AI-enabled financial services. As a result, they will develop strategies and policies to entice clients to use AI-powered FinTech services.

Originality/value

Existing AI research investigated several vital topics in the context of FinTech services. On the other hand, the current study ranked the criteria in understanding customer experiences. The research will substantially assist marketers, business houses, academicians and practitioners in understanding essential facets influencing customer experience and contribute significantly to the literature.

Examining the role of saving and safety on the buying behavior: lessons from the Indian consumer's in COVID-19 crisis

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed consumer buying behavior across the world. COVID-19 crisis brought a behavioral change in consumers' attitudes toward health, financial and social well-being. The current research work highlights the factors influencing consumer buying behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic considering saving and safety perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

This study attempts to understand the gap in buying behavior with reference to saving and safety. Survey-based study was conducted during the second phase of COVID-19, and the respondents were those who lived in highly affected COVID cities in India. Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were carried out for testing the hypotheses.

Findings

Seven factors became the prominent factors in consumer buying patterns during the pandemic. Consumers in the times of COVID-19 pandemic spend only on essential items as compared to nice-to-have and non-essential items.

Research limitations/implications

Respondents considered in the research were millennials aged 25–40. The current research is limited to specific geographic location.

Practical implications

The study assessed how savings and safety influence consumer buying behavior. The 2S framework model for consumer buying behavior during pandemic has been developed. The findings of the study provides a road map to the companies, policy makers, managers and consumers in understanding the consumer buying behavior during pandemic.

Originality/value

The current research work observe the changes in the behavioral patterns of consumers in the context of 2S framework, i.e. saving and safety. This study offer novel contribution as there is no available literature that examined the saving and safety aspects together for consumer buying behavior during crisis.

Examining the dark side of using gamification elements in online community engagement: an application of PLS-SEM and ANN modeling

Purpose

The negative influence of gamification on online communities has received little attention in the available literature. The study examines the adverse effects of gamification during engaging in online communities.

Design/methodology/approach

Gap-spotting methods were used to develop the research questions, followed by model development using the social exchange and social-network theories. Data were collected from 429 samples. The study applied partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the research hypotheses followed by ANN application.

Findings

The study identified five factors related to gamification that have a significant adverse effect on the mental and emotional well-being of the users. Furthermore, the results of PLS-SEM were then compared through an artificial neural network (ANN) analytic process, revealing consistency for the model. This research presents a theoretical contribution by providing critical insights into online gamers' mental and emotional health. It implies that gamification can even bring mental and emotional disturbance. The resulting situation might lead to undesirable social consequences.

Practical implications

The result highlights the managerial and social relevance from the perspective of a developing country. As respondents are becoming more engrossed in online gaming, managers and decision-makers need to take preventive measures to overcome the dark side of online gaming.

Originality/value

The present study shows that the dark side of gamification has some adverse effects on human mental and emotional health. The study's findings can be used to improve gamification strategies while engaging online communities.

Peace engineering and compassionate operations: a framework for leveraging social good

Purpose

Peace engineering and compassionate operations can unlock the potential of emerging technologies for social good. This work aims to investigate the integration of peace engineering and compassionate operations by proposing an integrative framework and identifying the main drivers regarding social good, considering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) landscape.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a two-stage methodology by employing a narrative literature review in the first stage to identify the relationships and drivers and propose an original framework. In the second stage, the authors utilized an expert panel to validate the framework’s drivers.

Findings

The authors identified five main categories related to peace engineering and compassionate operations, which were then used to support the categorization of the drivers. In the second stage, the authors validated the drivers with a panel of academicians and experienced industry practitioners.

Practical implications

The proposed framework can provide insightful directions for practitioners and governments to develop strategies and projects in different contexts, including humanitarian logistics, climate change crises, supply chain disruptions, etc.

Originality/value

This work makes unique contributions by reinvigorating an amalgamation of the peace engineering and compassionate operations arenas and their integration with the SDGs to enable enhanced social good, supported by cutting-edge technologies. Thus, this framework’s contributions encompass essential theoretical, managerial, and social implications.