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The pandemic has brought about a shift in the way people perform contactless payments using mobile apps, with QR codes becoming increasingly popular as customers can pay for goods and services without having to physically handle cash or cards. Drawing on the protection motivation theory (PMT), this research aims to reveal retail merchants' psychological fears of the COVID-19 virus, potentially carried by banknotes, which impact their decision to use QR-based mobile payment (m-payment) services. Structural equation modeling via SmartPLS was utilized to examine the data acquired from 448 small merchants and test the proposed hypotheses. The findings revealed that perceived severity, response efficacy, and self-efficacy had a positive impact on their continued intention to use m-payments; however, response cost had a negative impact. Furthermore, age, education, and business experience moderated some of the effects of these antecedents on m-payment continuance intention. Through effective awareness campaigns, providers can position m-payment as a worthy alternative to cash, establishing a sense of security and comfort from the disease-based harm that could be caused by the latter. Driven by the new physical distancing norm, a model that explicates one's fear of microbial infection and contamination transmitted from banknotes is a novel approach to predicting contactless payment adoption. Furthermore, the unique merchant perspective on m-payment adoption contributes to the existing literature that is traditionally centered on the consumer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to model the direct effects of brand equity elements (affective brand experience, brand personality, trust, and perceived quality) on consumers' purchase intention, and the indirect effect of perceived value on the outcome, via perceived price fairness. A quantitative survey was conducted with potential buyers of a rejuvenating Malaysian national automotive brand, in which the market share and sales had substantially eroded over the past two decades. Data were collected in two different time phases, separated by the official market launch of a new mid-size SUV that would eventually become the brand's flagship model. The findings indicate that almost all of the antecedents positively influence perceived value and price fairness. Furthermore, it is shown that perceived price fairness mediates the effect of perceived value on purchase intention. From a brand equity perspective, this research provides a unique outcome that depicts the consumers' mindset of a struggling car brand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to expand the corpus of knowledge relating to the antecedents and outcomes of brand forgiveness among Islamic banking customers in Malaysia. Despite a plethora of research that has examined the linkage between brand transgression and brand forgiveness, the current study further strengthen research in this domain by integrating the role of transgression severity, religiosity, and behavioral intention as one research model. Data was collected from 211 customers who encountered unfavorable experience with Islamic banking services by using purposive and retrospective experience sampling technique. PLS-SEM approach was utilized by using SmartPLS software for data analysis. The findings demonstrate the significant role of two brand transgression dimensions (image incongruence and corporate wrongdoing), transgression severity, and religiosity on brand forgiveness. Brand forgiveness was also found to significantly related to behavioral intention. However, one dimension of brand transgression (negative past experience) did not significantly influence brand forgiveness. The findings offer novel insights for extant literature on negative brand relationship, as well as theoretical and practical implications regarding the antecedents and outcomes of brand forgiveness. Limitations and suggestions that can be considered by future studies are also highlighted in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare service quality has been extensively studied over the past few decades. However, the topic remains imperative as it is the main contributor to patients' satisfaction. It is considered as the yardstick to examine the desired service level that should be delivered to patients. Due to its importance, research was initiated to examine the influence of healthcare service quality on patients' satisfaction by looking at the moderating effect of trust. The study was conducted in UiTM Selangor, Malaysia, involving 1,894 respondents who have experienced using the healthcare service provided by the institution. Based on the multiple regression analysis, all dimensions of healthcare service quality, namely reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness, are significant to influence satisfaction and behavioural intention of patients. For satisfaction, trust moderates the relationship between empathy and satisfaction. For behavioural intention, trust moderates the relationship between tangibles and behavioural intention and the relationship between empathy and behavioural intention. The implications of the study are highlighted in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of increasing competition and stricter lending criteria within the corporate banking space, the banking salesforce is expected to aggressively market services and solutions while being mindfully consistent with its risk management policies. Hence, absorbing cues from the market allows them to keep themselves abreast with current developments that might affect their customers' portfolio performance. Drawing on the sense-making theory, this study investigates the moderation and joint moderation effects of adhocracy (or innovative) culture and work experience on the link between information acquisition and job performance of B2B salespeople within the banking industry. We established two-way and three-way interaction models on a set of data involving 539 B2B salespeople from 18 Malaysian banks. The results indicate that (i) adhocracy culture significantly moderates the effects of information acquisition on job performance, and (ii) the moderating effect is contingent upon the employees' work experience. Theoretically, our findings suggest boundary conditions for market-oriented behavior effectiveness that are conditioned upon the varying levels of work experience and adhocracy culture. In practise, managers should consider instilling inventive and heuristic thinking among the salespeople to help them gather market intelligence and customer knowledge more effectively and reduce their cognitive load in the face of information overload and rapidly evolving technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the moderating role of religiosity on the relationship between service recovery dimensions namely distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactional justice on recovery satisfaction. Data were collected through a survey of customers who experienced a service failure and recovery in the context of full-service restaurant. Results indicate that all three dimensions of service recovery affect recovery satisfaction. The results also confirmed the non-significant moderating role of religiosity on the relationship between service recovery and recovery satisfaction. Practical implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are also discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]