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Purpose: Global brands have become increasingly vulnerable to external disruptions that have negative spillover effects on consumers, business and brands. This research area has recently garnered interest post-pandemic yet remains fragmented. The purpose of this paper is to recognize the most impactful exogenous brand crisis (EBC) and its affective and behavioural impact on consumers. Design/methodology/approach: In Study 1, we applied repertory grid technique (RGT), photo elicitation method and ANOVA comparisons, to identify the most significant EBC, in terms of repercussions on consumer purchases. In Study 2, we performed collage construction and content analysis to ascertain the impact of the identified significant crisis (from Study 1) on consumer behaviour in terms of affective and behavioural changes. Findings: Study 1 results reveal Spread-of-diseases and Natural disaster to be the most impactful EBC based on consumer's purchase decisions. Study 2 findings uncover three distinct themes, namely, deviant demand, emotional upheaval and community bonding that throws light on the affective and behavioural changes in consumer behaviour during the two significant EBC events. Research limitations/implications: The collated results of the two studies draw insights towards understanding the largely unexplored conceptualisation of EBC from a multi-level (micro-meso-macro) perspective. The integrated framework drawn, highlight the roles and influences of different players in exogenous brand crisis management and suggests future research agendas based on theoretical underpinnings. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which identifies the most important EBC and explicates its profound impact on consumer purchase behaviour, providing critical insights to brand managers and practitioners to take an inclusive approach towards exogenous crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: The brand crisis literature remains unilateral and scattered, necessitating academic effort to comprehend the extant body of knowledge. This study aims to provide the required comprehensive overview of the domain, by outlining its significance, progression and future research directions. Design/methodology/approach: Following the PRISMA approach, journal articles for review are selected. The study uses a hybrid (structured and bibliometric) review, to provide a systematic insight and graphical visualization of the existing literature. It applies VOSviewer software to analyse bibliographic data through citation and co-occurrence analysis. Findings: The hybrid review outlines most-cited articles, authors, frequently used theories, methodologies and data analysis techniques in this domain. Findings are further presented as integrative framework that distinctly highlights prior studies from a dichotomous perspective and across three stages of crisis. Finally, research opportunities and directions for future research are presented. Research limitations/implications: The study is useful for scholars and practitioners to understand the brand crisis literature and to cognize the inferences drawn by distinct researchers. It provides contemporary research agendas using the theory, context and method (TCM) framework, to augment future investigations through interdisciplinary approach. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge this is the first study that synthesizes the academic work of brand crisis using a hybrid method. Also, the novelty of the work lies in presenting the future research direction in the form of multiple (macro, meso and micro) levels with inter-disciplinary theoretical underpinnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public sector crisis is so complex and multidimensional that it becomes imperative to understand the nature of its function, characteristics and the obligations of the State. Also, the types of crises that the State witnesses are multifaceted. In the public sector crisis, management scholarship, case-based studies are predominant and are specific to their contexts. To contribute generalizability to this paradigm, in this work, through a rigorous review of extant literature and analysis of secondary data sources, a public sector crisis typology is developed upon the criteria of State's responsibility orientation and crisis preventability. These crisis types are further described by their attributes, commonalities, and differences. This study proposes a crisis communication model as a crucial crisis response strategy, based on the cognitive needs, affective responses, and behavioral outcomes at different stages of a crisis. This crisis response model built upon the crisis typology enables in developing an integrated crisis management in a manner that minimizes damage and regains hope and public support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This survey research aims to investigate the level of satisfaction among children (up to 14 years) with regard to facilities and services available at the children’s section of the Jaffna Public Library (JPL, Sri Lanka). Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire was distributed among randomly selected members of the children’s section, JPL. Data collected via the structured questionnaire were analysed using SPSS 22.0. In addition to the descriptive analysis, independent samples t-test and f-test were conducted to observe the influence of personal variables on different facets of user satisfaction. Findings – The response rate was 67 per cent. Descriptive analysis showed that the prime purpose of visiting the children’s section (JPL) is reading books and other materials. With regard to frequency of visit, 86 per cent of the respondents visit the library three to four times in a week or at least once a week. Results of the f-test indicated that there is no significant difference among different age groups for overall satisfaction of children’s section facilities and services. Results of the t-test revealed that female children are more satisfied with the library environment compared to males. Further, the level of satisfaction with shelf arrangement, library environment and children’s programmes differed significantly between children studying in the bilingual and the Tamil mediums. Originality/value – This study reports the empirical findings of the user survey carried out at the children’s section of the JPL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishment of public libraries is regarded as one of the essential amenities of the local or central government of a nation since they enhance the idea of free and equal access to information and offers their collections and services to all members of the community. This study revealed the present status of the public libraries in the Jaffna District. Apart from the Jaffna Public Library, which is managed by the Jaffna Municipal Council and provide services to the whole Jaffna District, presently there are 03 Urban Council libraries, 13 Pradeshiya Sabha libraries and 907 Community Center libraries, which cater the needs of the general public of the respective areas in the Jaffna District. Conflict situation which prevailed in the region for the past 30 years severely affected the library services, too. After signing the MOU between the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE in 2002, many foreign and local Non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies started to reconstruct and develop some of the public libraries of Jaffna District with the foreign funded projects. This study identified the major challenges for these public libraries, at present. Those are insufficient funding and inadequate infrastructure facilities, poor collection of e-resources and use of IT, dearth of professional and personal competencies among library staff, poor participation in CPD programs, lack of interest and motivation from authorities, and absence of library cooperation. It is recommended to have advocacy programs for all the stakeholders of these public libraries, adopt modern etechnology services in the library functionalities, organise regular user education programs for readers with regard to library services, conduct CPD programs and training sessions especially for the enhancement of professional and personal competencies among librarians of this region, and establish a library consortia to coordinate the activities of the libraries in the Jaffna District. With this type of support, public libraries of this region are expected to survive, and also thrive in continuing to provide valuable service in the information age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the results of the user satisfaction survey conducted in the Jaffna University library among the undergraduates of general degree bioscience students in August 2010. The objectives of the study were to assess the library user satisfaction regarding the currently available information sources and services and to identify the unmet needs of the undergraduates for the future developments in the library. Self administered questionnaire survey was conducted among these undergraduates. The study revealed that the library retains as essential component to facilitate the general degree bioscience undergraduates' learning and research activities. The study clearly enumerated that the efficiency of some of the presently available services such as photocopying services, interlibrary loan services, selective dissemination of information and current awareness service were not met the undergraduates' expectations. . The findings of the survey leave plenty of scope for improvement in library activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]