The advent of Metaverse offers tremendous avenues for businesses specially marketers, metamorphosing engagement with consumers and implementation of corporate strategies. The present chapter tries to delve into the exploration of sustainability development goals (SDGs) and practices of marketing in the Metaverse environment. It also unearths as to how business can bank upon the trending technologies viz augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), blockchain (BC) and artificial intelligence (AI) aiding to change the perception and behaviour of consumers and provide superior customer engagement and experiences. It is evident that metaverse’s impact is profound on customer engagement and experiences whether its healthcare, medicine, entertainment, retail by proposing customization, personalization, unique and innovative techniques that breaks the jinx between virtual and real world. The chapter provides insight to various stakeholder such as academia, industry and practitioner about the advancement of Metaverse and hinderances towards successful implementation of SDGs into marketing practices and business.

Purpose – This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of existing literature on consumer savings. Design/methodology/approach – A bibliometric analysis was conducted on 1, 078 journal articles, followed by a cluster analysis and an in-depth review of 250 key articles. Findings – The study identified 5 major thematic clusters: financial literacy, savings pattern, drivers of savings, personality traits and Fintech and policy. It also highlighted key antecedents, moderators and theories discussed in the literature. Research limitations/implications – This review provides a structured agenda for future research. Originality/value – Despite extensive research on consumer savings, there is no review paper in this domain.

Researchers have associated a dark side with metaverse adoption, suggesting that metaverse use may hurt the natural environment, society, and users' health. This study proposes a framework to measure the users' perceptions about the negative impacts of the metaverse on the environment, society, and users' health. The study also examined the effect of negative perceptions on metaverse adoption intention for three distinct segments of consumers, i.e., general consumers, technology enthusiasts, and socio-environmentally conscious consumers. Three studies were conducted. Study 1 was aimed at developing scales to measure the perceived negative impact of metaverse use on the environment (PIME), society (PIMS), and users' health (PIMH). Study 2 examined the role of PIME, PIMS, and PIMH in the consumers' metaverse adoption. Study 3 revalidated the proposed model on two segments of technology enthusiasts and socio-environmentally conscious consumers separately. PIMH was observed to be crucial for the metaverse adoption by general consumers and socio-environmentally conscious consumers. PIMS was observed to be a significant predictor of the metaverse adoption by socio-environmentally conscious consumers. The three study constructs were not observed to be significant predictors of metaverse adoption by technology enthusiasts.

Background: The health of employed individuals has micro- and macroeconomic implications for individuals, nations, and economies. Therefore, the importance of healthy human capital for sustained growth deserves more attention. Preventive healthcare is crucial for maintaining a healthy and productive workforce, as it can mitigate health risks and the impact of chronic health conditions and reduce healthcare costs. This study examined the factors that influence preventive healthcare decisions among IT and ITES working-age adults. This study established a conceptual model using health consciousness, social interaction, public service advertisements, risk perception, perceived value, and health governance as antecedents; attitude as a mediator; and intention to spend as an outcome. Method: Using an online survey, this study gathered data from 601 working-age participants of IT and ITES companies from Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Chennai via purposive sampling in a cross-sectional design. Subsequently, analysed the data using R. Lavaan and reported via structural equation modelling, measurement model comparison, and mediation analysis. Results: The results showed that health consciousness, social interaction, risk perception, public service advertisement, and perceived value exhibited favourable influences on attitudes, whereas health governance negatively affected attitudes but positively affected intention. The implications of these findings indicate a nuanced understanding of beneficial interventions, that shall extend beyond merely fostering positive attitudes via health education, boosting social support, and utilizing promotional strategies. They must also tackle issues related to health governance, potentially by enhancing communication and transparency, to facilitate the primary goal of promoting behavioural change. Conclusion: In order to promote preventive healthcare behaviours among individuals of working age, this study emphasizes the necessity for customized policies and interventions that deal with health consciousness, social interaction, and risk perception. The study demonstrated that enhancing perceived value (benefits outweighing barriers) in preventive healthcare services can increase self-efficacy and, consequently, foster stronger intentions. The study also highlighted the impact of health governance, focusing on policy development and regulation, community engagement and participation, and building trust in health systems.

Global studies indicate that consumers’ environmental apprehensions have progressively altered their purchasing behavior and prompted a re-evaluation of their purchases. The study uses the web-based advertising value framework, uses and gratification theory, and elaboration likelihood model to examine the effects of social media advertising on young female consumers’ purchase intentions of sustainable products. We collected the data through 501 offline surveys administered to young women who have encountered social media advertising, providing valuable insights into their perceptions and behaviors. We analyzed and validated the data through structural equation modelling using SmartPLS 4.0. The framework explains 51% of the variability in advertising attitude (R2 = 0.51) and 31% of the variance in purchase intention (R2 = 0.31). The results reveal that eWOM, advertising entertainment, and informativeness are the most critical factors influencing advertising attitudes, surpassing the effects of credibility and emotional appeal. The study recommends promoting sustainable practices by highlighting the role of positive word-of-mouth in generating public interest for sustainable purchasing. By integrating eWOM, incentives, and emotional appeal into the advertising value model, this research offers a comprehensive framework to understand the factors influencing consumers’ purchase intentions in social media advertising. These insights advance theoretical understanding and offer actionable recommendations for marketers seeking to align their advertising strategies with responsible consumption, production, and climate action. By leveraging social media advertising to promote sustainable consumption, businesses can contribute to global sustainability efforts while achieving their marketing objectives.

In recent years, there has been an enormous increase in the number of companies and of customers for almost every industry. The increment in the number of companies has also provided the choices to the customer but in turn it has also created new challenges. Thus, the companies must work not only to improve their products or services but to sustain customers in the competitive world. Churn prediction is the prediction of customers who are at a potential risk of discontinuing the product or service of the company. Thus, in today's competitive world, churn prediction is more relevant. In the present work, we have employed various machine learning models for an early prediction of churns, to mitigate the potential risk of losing the customers. The authors have chosen ensemble models for this task. Finally, the models are trained on the dataset. The results for various models are compared using accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score. Moreover, it is also observed that for our dataset XGBoost outperformed over other models.

The present book chapter contributes to examining the intersection of gaming and sustainable marketing, focusing on how gaming strategies can be effectively used to foster consumer behavior that is environmentally friendly and engaging, and is exploring new ways to encourage consumers to adopt sustainable practices. Utilizing aspects of game technology and design to encourage and engage users, gamification has emerged as a viable strategy for inducing behavioral change in a variety of contexts. This chapter reviews the conceptual framework, foundation, and application of game theory to sustainable marketing. This chapter provides insights into effective game plans that promote sustainable consumer practices such as recycling, energy conservation, and responsible consumption. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the various challenges and ethical concerns associated with sustainable marketing games. Finally, the chapter attempts to raise awareness of how games can be used as a means to advance sustainability goals and create a more environmentally conscious society.

The primary aim of the present study was to propose a scale comprising factors that sensitize voters toward the political system and stimulate them for an active participation in the election process. More specifically, the study aimed to propose a scale for measuring political sensitivity of young Indian voters. For this purpose, the data was generated from the users of internet who fall in the age bracket of 18–29 years. The generated data was analyzed employing the statistical techniques such as exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Based on the study findings, a 9-item scale comprising three factors economic considerations, social considerations and perceived risk was proposed to capture political sensitivity of young Indian voters. This scale was named as Political Sensitivity Measurement (PSM). One interesting observation of the study was that the religious and caste consideration of young Indian voters was not important for motivating them for an active political participation. The study is pioneering in the sense that it initiates efforts for comprehensive analyses of the factors that inspire young Indian voters to participate in the election process. PSM will greatly help the academicians and researchers for an improved understanding of the Indian voters. The scale would also assist politicians in developing appropriate strategies.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the factors influencing user satisfaction with unified payment interface (UPI)-based payment systems during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The study also aimed to examine whether the user satisfaction with UPI-based payment systems during the COVID-19 pandemic will transform into their continuance intention post-COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The study was performed in three phases, i.e. pre-testing (for developing questionnaire), pilot study (using exploratory factor analysis to ensure unidimensionality) and the main study. The main study was based on the feedback from a sample of 369 internet users who first used the UPI-based payment system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data generated were analysed using the structural equation modelling approach. Findings: The study findings suggest that the users who are satisfied with UPI-based transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to continue their use of this payment mode in future. Factors such as post-adoption perceived value, perceived usefulness and post-adoption perceived risk were observed to be key constructs in explaining user satisfaction and continued intention for UPI-based payment systems. Originality/value: The study is one of the pioneering studies, in the sense that it investigated the continuance intention of UPI-based payment systems, which, surprisingly, did not gain much attention from past researchers.

The study is grounded on the premise that the food-leftover sharing practice can simultaneously contribute to resolving the problems of food shortage and food wastage. The primary aim of the study was to identify the factors influencing consumer intentions to share food leftovers. The study was conducted in four stages. First, a comprehensive literature analysis was done to identify the relevant factors and underlying relationships among them. Second, a research instrument was designed, and pretesting was conducted to check the appropriateness of the research instrument with the study context. Third, a pilot study was performed on the 194 respondents to check the dimensionality of the study scales. Four, the final data was collected and analyzed from a sample of 331 (collected through offline and online modes) using structural equation modeling in AMOS 24. The pilot and final study data were collected from New Delhi (An Indian metropolitan city). The study findings suggest that the TPB constructs i.e. subjective norms, attitude, and perceived behavior control influence consumer intentions to share food leftovers. Additionally, religiosity, moral obligation, and environmental concern were observed to be the predictors of attitude toward the practice of food-leftover sharing. This study offers food leftover sharing as a solution to food waste generation and hence, aligned with the sustainable development goals (SDG -12) i.e., responsible consumption and production.

It has become a vital task for employers to attract and retain the talented pool of human capital. The human capital of a firm has proved itself a source which provides employers with a competitive advantage. In recent years employers have adopted certain practices aiming to attract talented employees. Employers spend a considerable amount of their resources on becoming an employer of choice. The researchers in the present study have adopted a scale in an attempt to study the employer branding factors influencing the attraction and retention of employees working in various banks (both private and government) in Delhi NCR, India. The study also attempts to observe the differences (if any) with respect to gender as well as government/private sector employees concerning employee attraction and employee retention. The results of the present study suggest market value and social value as the factors determining the employee attraction, whereas, career development and image as the factors determining employee retention.