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The pandemic COVID-19 has severely affected the global economy. The strict lockdown measures have also changed the daily live, including consumer behavior in retail banking. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on consumer behavior in retail banking, with a special focus on the Romanian banking sector. To achieve our goal, we performed a survey among the Romanian consumers in retail banking, using as research method the field survey based on questionnaire. The final sample comprised 738 valid responses from the metropolitan area retail banking consumers. The research brings a fresh insight on retail banking services consumption during the pandemic and validates a conceptual model regarding the internet and mobile banking services acceptance. The research’ results highlighted, among others, that the variable concerning the perception of the COVID-19 pandemic effect on consumers’ lifestyle has a direct and positive influence on the variable regarding the attitude toward internet and mobile banking services, mediated by other variables like safety of internet and mobile banking use and trust in banks. Several social and managerial implications are also discussed, because it is possible that the tendency to use internet and mobile banking services will prevail even after the post pandemic stage, as new consumption behavior models are developing. Banks in Romania should increase their initiatives to offer financial education courses and online tutorials to familiarize customers with the use of digital channels. Banks should also improve communication with clients and design new products and services to increase the attractiveness of saving process. They should demonstrate flexibility in negotiating lending and refinancing conditions as well.

After the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the world economy was affected on different levels. Many countries have been confronted with an unprecedented situation being forced to close borders and to apply the state of emergency. Thereby, due to travel restrictions and the specific characteristics of the sector, travel and tourism were among the most affected industries. The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic were largely reflected in the losses that the sector suffered both in terms of value, contribution to global GDP and jobs creation. Following the dynamic of the crisis, tourism companies try to identify solutions capable to picture a possible recovery for this industry. Based on these considerations, our study examines if the rural tourism can be such a solution, also for the Romanian market, measuring the perceptions of a 285 respondents regarding their consumption behavior and decisions during COVID-19 pandemic concerning such a destination. The study results validate the advanced hypotheses, namely the degree of anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic positively influences the preference for rural tourism among respondents. Moreover, as the anxiety about the pandemic manifests itself, the respondents' preference for rural tourism-specific destinations is becoming even stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Farmacia is the property of Societatea de Stiinte Farmaceutice Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Communication through mobile media software represents one of the new trends that influence almost all fields of human activities. The applicability of such instruments are limitless when we speak about social groups type influence upon postmodern consumer behavior. Authors aim to investigate throughout a qualitative marketing research issues regarding the communication between doctors and parents having children with ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) specific disorders, the relationship that is developed and the degree in which the mobile media communication software represents an instrument which may help into the process of relationship and/or can influence opinions and perceptions already formed about a ENT doctor. The findings can originally contribute to a better understanding of this new kind of phenomena - mobile media mediated communication between doctors and patients as the research is one of the first within the field. Respondents show a high propensity to use the specific software analyzed, although because of the high level of emotional personal involvement the decision to choose a certain ENT doctor is not influenced so much by the pressure or opinions of the reference group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Industria Textila is the property of Institutul National de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Textile si Pielarie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Industria Textila is the property of Institutul National de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Textile si Pielarie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Industria Textila is the property of Institutul National de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Textile si Pielarie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The COVID-19 pandemic hugely impacts the economies and people lives all over the world. Nevertheless, unlike the 2007-2009 global financial crisis that implied the use of taxpayers' money to rescue banks in many countries, these time, banks are called to participate in the efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 impact and to contribute to the economic recovery. Against this background, the paper investigates the responsible practices adopted by banks to alleviate the negative effects of the pandemic both on their clients and employees, but also on community, with focus on the Romanian banking system. The findings of our paper are based on literature review and the investigation of the web-sites of the most important banks in Romania. The annual reports issued by the National Bank of Romania and the Romanian legislative initiatives adopted in the pandemic context were also examined. Similar to banks in many countries, banks in Romania have adopted several measures as response to the coronavirus pandemic that include: diminishing use of cash, by encouraging digital channels; lower financing costs; involving in the "IMM Invest Romania" Programme to support small and medium-sized enterprises; flexibility in terms of the payment of loan installments; support provided to community in order to combat the coronavirus spread. However, their role in financing real economy and society should improve, by adopting measures to enable more attractive financing conditions for both companies and individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]