Faculty Publications
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Item Credibility of online reviews and its impact on brand image(Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. Howard House Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, 2018) Chakraborty, U.; Bhat, S.Purpose: Brand image is considered as a signaling phenomenon because high brand image ensures quality product that can reduce consumer’s uncertainty. A strong brand image induces consumers to pay higher prices, which in turn provides competitive advantage and market success to a company. Online reviews, blogs and texts on brand usage experiences are more effective than oral communication to build a strong brand image. Online reviews on products create distinct places for brands in the consumer’s mind, and thus ultimately affect images of the brands. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of online reviews on functional and hedonic brand images in the context of consumer electronic products in India. Design/methodology/approach: The present study adopts a novel approach to collect data. The data have been collected from select e-commerce sites’ brand pages on Facebook through Google form application. A number of respondents are 1,038. Structural equation modeling technique has been used to examine the effects of online reviews on functional and hedonic brand images. Findings: The data analysis reveals that source and review quality have more significant effect on credibility evaluation of online reviews as compared to the effects of review consistency and receiver. Moreover, credible online reviews have more impact on hedonic brand image rather than functional brand image in the context of consumer electronics product in India. Originality/value: The present study combines Yale attitude change model and attribution theory to examine the effects of online reviews on brand image. © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item The Effects of Credible Online Reviews on Brand Equity Dimensions and Its Consequence on Consumer Behavior(Routledge aabs@uw.edu, 2018) Chakraborty, U.; Bhat, S.Consumers are using social media platform to gain and share knowledge on brands. In the virtual environment, consumers are exposed to various online reviews on brands that leave an impression of brands on the minds of the consumers. The present study combines Yale attitude change model and attribution theory to examine the effects of credible online reviews on brand equity dimensions. The present study views, through the lens of Yale attitude change model, the various factors that affect credibility evaluation of online reviews. Further, attribution theory is used as the theoretical backbone to analyze the effects of credible online reviews on brand equity dimensions and finally on purchase intention. This study uses structural equations modeling (SEM) to investigate the impact of online credible reviews on customer based brand equity (CBBE) dimensions and its consequence on consumer behavior (purchase intention). Results indicate that source and review quality are the most important factors that affect consumer's credibility evaluation of a review. Online credible reviews have more significant impact on brand awareness, perceived value and organizational associations and thus leads to consumer's purchase intention in the context of consumer electronic products in India. © 2018 Taylor & Francis.Item Are Online Opinion Leaders and Seekers Distinct? A Study on Consumer Electronics Industry in India(Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd F 35-55, Triveni Commercial Complex.Sheikh Sarai,Phase I New Dehli 110 017, 2019) Chakraborty, U.; Bhat, S.On various social media platforms, such as brand communities and brand pages, one segment of consumers shares product knowledge and another seeks product knowledge. Consumers sharing product knowledge are called online opinion leaders and those seeking product knowledge are called online opinion seekers. Given the importance of opinion leaders as low-cost marketing tools for marketers, there is an impending need to determine whether opinion leaders and opinion seekers are distinct constructs in the online context. The present study addressed this issue by analysing a relatively large sample of 1432 respondents from India. The study adopted a novel approach to collect data. Data has been collected from select e-commerce sites’ brand pages on Facebook social media platform through Google forms. The study focuses on three consumer electronic product categories, namely, smartphone, laptop and tablet. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to examine the unidimensionality of the variables and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to validate the variable scales. In all the three product categories, online opinion leader and online opinion seeker scales turned out to be unidimensional. Further, the results of the analyses prove that online opinion leaders and online opinion seekers are distinct. This study provides evidence that in the context of an emerging online market, namely, India, online opinion leaders and online opinion seekers are distinct. © 2019 International Management Institute, New Delhi.Item Drivers of ICT investments in bakery and sugar confectionery processed food sub-sector in India(Emerald Group Holdings Ltd., 2020) Gr, N.; Bhat, S.Purpose: Information and communication technology (ICT) is a general-purpose technology, which plays an important role in improving the efficiency of a business firm. Nowadays, investment on ICT has become necessary for every business firm in different sectors of the economy. However, firms need to be very cautious while investing on a particular ICT, which is suitable for their businesses. Thus, it becomes necessary for the firm to understand its internal organizational characteristics to invest better on ICT. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to understand the organizational factors, which influence investment on ICT at the firm level. Design/methodology/approach: The technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework is adopted to understand the organizational factors which influence a firm's ICT investment. The sample for the study is the firms belonging to bakery and sugar confectionery sector, which is one of the important sub-sectors of processed food industry in India. The data for analysis is extracted from a secondary source, namely the Prowess Database. The study uses two-step system GMM, a method of generalized method of moment (GMM), to identify the organizational determinants of ICT investment at the firm level. Findings: The study finds that previous-year investment on ICT has a significant impact on firms' present-year investment on ICT. The result of the econometric method also shows that firms which are larger, labour-intensive and highly liquidated are the ones investing more on ICT in the present study. Research limitations/implications: As mentioned, the study examines the ICT investment determinants of firms belonging to one of the important sub-sectors of processed food industry of the Indian economy. However, the result of the study is not to be generalized since it is related only to a specific industry. Further, the data used in the study is limited by secondary sources and therefore, requires data from primary sources for in-depth investigation of ICT investment determinants at the firm level. Originality/value: This paper bridges a research gap by examining the determinants of ICT investment of one of the important industry sectors in particular to developing countries. The paper contributes to the growing research on information technology adoption by using factors within the TOE framework to explain a processed food firm's investment on ICT. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item The determinants of export behaviour: a study of food processing industry in India(Inderscience Publishers, 2022) Gr, G.R.; Bhat, S.The study examines the factors that determine the export behaviour of food processing firms operating in India based on data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) Prowess Database for 2011–2016. It examines the effect of three technological variables on the export behaviour of firms: information and communication technology (ICT) investment, in-house research and development (R&D), and the import of embodied technologies. Further, it tries to understand if the technological activities of affiliated firms have any effect on their export performance. Using the Heckman two-step sample selection analysis, it reveals that technology investments are important determinants for the export behaviour of firms. Other control variables like firm size, firm age, and the capital–labour ratio were also found to be important in determining the export behaviour of food processing firms. The study gives policy suggestions for improving the global competitiveness of firms in this industry. © © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.Item Nexus between foreign direct investment and ecological footprint in BRICS and Next-11: the moderating role of green innovation(Emerald Publishing, 2024) Padhan, L.; Bhat, S.Purpose: The study examines the presence of the pollution haven or pollution halo hypothesis in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) and Next-11 economies. Hence, it empirically tests the direct impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the ecological footprint. Further, it explores the moderating role of green innovation on the nexus between FDI and ecological footprint. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses the Driscoll–Kraay (DK) standard error panel regression technique to examine the long-run elasticities amongst the variables for the group of emerging countries, BRICS and Next-11, during the period of 1992 to 2018. Further, statistical robustness is demonstrated using the fully modified ordinary least squares technique. Findings: The empirical finding shows that FDI degrades environmental quality by raising the ecological footprint. Thus, it proves that FDI is a source of pollution haven in BRICS and Next-11 countries. However, green innovation negatively moderates the relationship between FDI and ecological footprint. That means the joint impact of green innovation, and FDI proves the presence of the pollution halo hypothesis. Further, renewable energy consumption is reducing the ecological footprint, but economic growth and industrialisation are worsening the environmental quality. Practical implications: This study offers policy implications for governments and policymakers to promote environmental sustainability by improving green innovation and allowing FDI that encourages clean and advanced technology. Originality/value: No prior studies examine the moderating role of green innovation on the relationship between FDI and ecological footprint in the context of emerging countries. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item Analysing the role of globalisation, institutional qualities, and renewable energy consumption in environmental degradation mitigation: the SAARC experience(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2025) Padhan, L.; Bhat, S.The main purpose of this work is to investigate the impacts of four different dimensions of globalisation (financial, trade, social, and political), institutional qualities, and renewable energy consumption on ecological footprints and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. For quantitative analysis, this study includes yearly data from 1995 to 2020 for five South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAARC countries are the most vulnerable to climate change and fast economic transitions. The study employs the second-generation panel unit root test, the Westerlund cointegration technique, and the Driscoll-Kraay (DK) Standard Errors regression technique. The study shows that social globalisation, institutional quality, renewable energy consumption, and industrialisation benefit the environment by lowering the ecological footprint and CO2 emissions. Trade and political globalisation are harmful to the environment as both indicators have a significant positive impact on ecological footprint and CO2 emissions. Financial globalisation has a significant negative impact on only CO2 emissions and is not significant in the case of ecological footprint. Further, the empirical estimates validate the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis concerning ecological footprints and CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the robustness of long-term outcomes has been examined using the FMOLS and DOLS techniques. The present work suggests that SAARC countries can achieve a cleaner environment by adopting renewable energy, implementing strong institutional qualities, and promoting efficient technologies through globalisation. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2023.