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PurposeHeeding the call for insights into the Sub-Saharan African international marketing context, this study aims to empirically examine consumers' desires and motivations for buying counterfeit luxury goods. It examines influences on consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions related to counterfeit luxury goods in Rwanda, one of Sub-Saharan Africa's fastest-growing economies and growing luxury markets, developing and testing a model examining the effect of social context on personal attributes, providing evidence on economic and social-status factors as drivers for counterfeiting.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected using an online survey administered in Rwanda to consumers who had previously purchased luxury goods and counterfeits. A total of 312 valid responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThis study found that normative and informational influences had a positive effect on Rwandan consumers' attitude toward purchasing counterfeit luxury products, with attitude influencing purchase intentions directly and indirectly, through mediating variable desire for status or through value consciousness and desire for status.Originality/valueThe study contributes to academic research − one of the first empirical studies to examine consumers' desires and motivations for buying counterfeit luxury goods in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing insights that benefit scholars and practitioners seeking to better understand a market where more than half of the world's fastest economies are located.

PurposeThe aim of this research is to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of digital payments by the semi-rural women in India.Design/methodology/approachThe study extended the factors of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology UTAUT-2, with perceived credibility and self-determination theory to understand the use behaviour of the rural Indian women. The study checked the mediating role of some constructs besides testing the direct relationship. The study was conducted in the rural parts of the adjoining areas of Delhi, where the women from different states, education and financial background live. The research model was empirically tested on 568 respondents using structural equation modelling (SEM) technique.FindingsThe research model was able to explain 72.6% variance in the user behaviour variable. Effort expectancy, habit, facilitating conditions as well as perceived competence emerged out to be significant determinants of use behaviour. Besides these direct relationships, two constructs, habit as well as facilitating conditions were found to partially mediate the relationship between behavioural intention and behaviour.Originality/valueThis study provides some very critical clues for the companies providing digital payment services, by highlighting the significant factors explaining the technology adoption by semi-rural women. The companies must devise suitable marketing strategies to inculcate trust in mind of perspective customers towards their companies as well as the service provided by them. The role of simple digital platform, that is easy to learn and use, is also an important element in determining the technology adoption.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing the behavioral intention to adopt payments banks services by Indian underbanked and unbanked population. Design/methodology/approach The proposed model has assimilated factors from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) along with perceived credibility. The factors of UTAUT include performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitation of conditions and social influence. Apart from testing the direct relationships of the model constructs with the behavioral intention to adopt payments banks services, the study has also explored mediating and moderating effects of certain constructs. The research model has been empirically tested using 660 responses from a field survey conducted in New Delhi – the capital city of India – by using the structured equation modeling (SEM) technique. The target respondents of the study are small businessmen and migrant laborers who are either underbanked or unbanked. Findings The findings of the study reveal that the model is able to explain 67.5 per cent of the variance in behavioral intention. The results indicate that all the factors are direct determinants of behavioral intention. Perceived credibility is found to be the strongest influencer of behavioral intention. The findings also indicate that perceived credibility partially mediates the relationships between “social influence and behavioral intention” and “performance expectancy and behavioral intention.” The relationship between performance expectancy and behavioral intention is also found to be moderated by facilitating conditions and effort expectancy. Research limitations/implications As this study is based on a convenience sample of respondents of only one city of India, this could negatively reflect on the generalizability of results across other cities. Moreover, the study has only focused on the perceptions of small businessmen and migrant laborers. This raises concerns regarding the applicability of the results for other segments of the current population that have different demographic characteristics (e.g. occupation, income, education level and technology experience). Modifying the conceptual model presented in this research to include “experience” and “age” as moderators can also be worth considering in future. Although this study has extended the UTAUT to include perceived credibility, the results of the explanatory power of the model indicate that there is still room for improvement. Therefore, including other constructs, e.g. hedonic motivation, perceived risks and trialability, could be a fruitful path forward. Future studies may also examine the factors influencing the actual use behavior of payments banks, rather than just behavioral intention. Practical implications The study looks forward to providing the payments banks service providers in India with suitable guidelines for effectively implementing and designing payments banks services. Specifically, the results of this study have provided clues for Indian payments banks service providers about the crucial role of perceived credibility in influencing the behavioral intention to adopt payments banks. Therefore, service providers have to initially be sure that payments banks are able to conduct financial transactions efficiently, securely and within less time, along with the availability of information required by customers to successfully use the services. Service providers should enhance customer confidence and trust by providing secure and reliable services. They should also emphasize on the positive safety measures of the payments banks during any marketing campaign rather than just creating brand awareness. Originality/value The study represents a substantial contribution to the existing knowledge regarding mobile payment channels in particular and technology acceptance area in general. In fact, this study presents a worthwhile direction by examining payments banks services, which, so far, have not been well evaluated in the Indian context. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is an early attempt toward a holistic and integrative approach to explain adoption of payments banks in India. Although prior studies have addressed mobile banking and mobile payment adoption, the strength of this research lies in combining the UTAUT constructs with perceived credibility. This is evidenced by the high explanatory power (67.5 per cent) of the research model adopted in this study.

PurposeThe marketing of food products to children through online media has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly in high‐income countries, where children spend considerable amounts of time on computers. Most food products marketed to children online are obesity‐causing, and childhood obesity has grown to epidemic proportions, with harmful effects on society. Marketers use creative methods to engage children online, entertaining them, offering rewards and promoting products through interactive activities. Online media is monitored much less than conventional media and little is known about online marketing of food to children. This study seeks to examine policies related to food marketing in three high‐income countries, France, Spain, and the USA, and their impact on the methods marketers use to engage children.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a conceptual framework linking several aspects of the policies and the socio‐cultural environments in these countries with the design of the food companies' web sites. Six hypotheses are advanced based on this framework and tested using content analysis.FindingsThe findings of this study indicate that there are significant differences in online marketing of food products to children in the three countries studied in the authors' research, France, Spain, and the USA, and these differences are largely attributable to these countries' policies. The web sites of French food companies placed greater emphasis on nutrition‐related and interactions‐related features compared to the web sites of US and Spanish food companies. On the other hand, the web sites of US and Spanish food companies placed greater emphasis on games‐related, rewards‐related, attributes‐related, and brand‐related features compared to the web sites of French food companies. These differences in the web sites were conceptualized to result from the differences in the socio‐cultural and policy/regulatory environments of the three countries.Originality/valueThe study provides several useful insights related to understanding of consumer behavior, consumer policy, and design of food companies' web sites in the three countries. The design of food companies' web sites in terms of their emphasis on different categories of features reflects the companies' understanding of consumers in the respective country and government policy and enforcement of online communications. The article provides a conceptual framework that identifies six factors hypothesized to influence the design of food companies' web sites, three related to the socio‐cultural environment, namely attitudes toward health and nutrition, food and nutrition communication, and brand building, and three related to the policy/regulatory environment, namely, government regulatory agencies, self‐regulation by companies, and enforcement and compliance.

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to develop a traffic demand forecasting model specifically on international sectors from the USA. Also, in this paper, the authors formulate the service positioning matrix (SPM) that enables airlines to accurately position their services and improve their process efficiency.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors explore international sectors and present a traffic demand model specifically for the same. The distribution of demand is assumed to follow a normal distribution and non‐service variables are introduced in the model. The behavior of the passenger has been captured by deriving the zonal income function. The variables have been drawn from microeconomic theory and the traditional gravity model of physics. The key innovations of the paper are fusion of the gravity model and microeconomic theory to develop the traffic demand model, and transformation of income to zonal income by deriving the aggregate zonal demand function; and development of a service positioning matrix for the airline industry.FindingsIn this paper, first, the authors have presented a conceptual model for demand forecasting through usage of zonal income. Second, in recognition of the value add the firm receives by identifying the nature of service and derived customer satisfaction levels, the authors have presented the SPM – a framework to help service providers to position themselves on any one of the four defined states. The empirical work is underway to solidify the conceptions and would provide a robust route demand forecasting model for international route contemplation for airlines operating from the USA and a service positioning matrix.Originality/valueAlthough many airline companies and professional bodies are involved in developing forecasts of air transport demand, detailed analysis of the characteristics of demand for air transport over long‐haul or international routes are less researched. This paper attempts to provide a framework for the airlines to forecast demand specifically on international routes operated from major metros of the USA and position their services by designing the service positioning matrix. The model fuses concepts from physics and micro‐economics to enhance the forecasting capabilities. Major benefits include route contemplation, effective fleet scheduling, decisions on aircraft and fuel purchases, improving service efficiency and developing optimal fare policies.

Torn between socially‐mandated dress conformity and the glitter of Western designers, consumers in Eastern Europe have always been interested in Western style. After the fall of Communism, fashion, led by Western brands, quickly conquered consumers, while local manufacturers started to offer quality goods. Exposure to Western brands and advertising affected consumer values: former collectivist values are gradually being replaced by individualism. These changes are occurring at different rates and vary in different market segments. Under these conditions, a study was conducted in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, comparing respondents on two dimensions of style: fashion‐consciousness (capturing individualism) and dress‐conformity (capturing collectivism). The findings support the hypothesis that fashion consciousness is highest for Westernized Hungarian respondents, who have the highest income and can afford fashionable clothing. Dress conformity was highest for Bulgarian respondents, who had setbacks in adopting a market economy and are less Westernized. The findings support demographic differences predictions: younger individuals are more fashion conscious than older individuals, whereas dress conformity is higher for older than for younger individuals. Finally, men are more fashion conscious than women. The findings on gender differences in dress conformity are mixed. Marketing implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.

Describes the contrast between the state of marketing in Romania before and after the fall of communism. Specifically evaluates the changes in the marketing mix components from 1989 to 1993. Presents details of a survey in Bucharest examining how Romanian consumers perceive the changes taking place in the market in terms of product, price, promotion and distribution. Gives recommendations for marketing in Romania in the future.