Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test and validate a modified Stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model with the bi-dimensional attitude toward counterfeit apparel products. The study examines the relationship of object and social psychological stimuli with utilitarian and hedonic attitude and intentions to purchase counterfeit apparel products. Design/methodology/approach: The authors collected data from 331 systematically selected university students of the age bracket (18–30) years from Punjab, Pakistan (MLE) via self-administrated questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with maximum likelihood estimation via AMOS 23 was used for data analysis. Findings: The modified S-O-R model explained significant variance in counterfeit purchase intentions. Hedonic attitude proved to be a strong predictor of counterfeit apparel purchase intentions as compared to utilitarian attitude. All attributes of counterfeit apparel products proved to be the significant positive predictors of hedonic and utilitarian attitude except information susceptibility, which did not predict utilitarian attitude. Research limitations/implications: Data were collected from university students of the age bracket (18–30) years and apparel products were taken as a product category. Practical implications: The retailers and manufacturers of original brands should emphasize humiliation and embarrassment that a consumer may have to face because of counterfeit purchasing. They can also educate consumers on the negative impacts of the counterfeit products not only on consumers but also on the economy as a whole. Originality/value: S-O-R model was adapted to provide strong theoretical underpinnings to understand counterfeit consumption behavior. This study also incorporated two dimensions of attitude in counterfeit product consumption behavior and analyzed their relative influence on purchase intentions.

The evolution of the sustainable business performance in relation to the technology integration reveals a significant revolution but regrettably is given little global attention, thus compelling the firms to reexamine the approach for their business growth. Considerably, e-marketing has been recognized as an emerging practice and plays a vital strategic tool to bring sellers and buyers on a digital platform. Besides, this study analyzes the moderating effects of trading partners (TPs) and competitive pressure (CP) in the relationship between top management support (TMS) and use of e-marketing (UEM). Moreover, the interactive role of government support (GS) and technological opportunism (TOP) was also analyzed between the UEM and sustainable firm performance (SFP). The study also discussed the mediating role of e-marketing usage between TMS and SFP. The data (n = 293) were collected from the marketing managers employed in the textile firms of Pakistan. Additionally, the findings revealed that TMS had a significant direct relationship with the UEM and the SFP. Moreover, UEM mediated the relationship between TMS and SFP. Finally, TP’s pressure moderated the relationship between TMS and UEM, and TOP moderate the relationship between UEM and SFP, whereas CP and GS were unable to moderate the relationship particularly in current study context. However, this study has contributed empirically to several recognized relationships among the variables and extends the existing knowledge of literature. The study has contributed empirically to several recognized relationships among the variables and extends the existing knowledge of literature by leaving certain aspects of research for future studies.

Purpose: Considering the economic dimension of sustainability, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the risk of bankruptcy in the Pakistani firms of the non-financial sector from years 1995 to 2017. Design/methodology/approach: Three techniques were used which include multivariate discriminant analysis (MDA), logit regression and multilayer perceptron artificial neural networks. The accounting data of firms were selected one year before the bankruptcy. Findings: Findings were obtained by comparing and analyzing the methods which show that neural networks model outperforms in the prediction of bankruptcy. They further conclude that profitability and leverage indicators have the power of discrimination in bankruptcy prediction and the best variables to predict financial distress are also found and indicated. Practical implications: Practically, this study may help the firms to better anticipate the risks of getting bankrupt by choosing the right method and to make effective decision making for organizational sustainability. Originality/value: Three different techniques were used in this research to predict the bankruptcy of non-financial sector in Pakistan to make an effective prediction.

Human or social dimensions need to be significantly considered to maintain organizational sustainability. Unfortunately, this aspect has received relatively little attention when compared to other dimensions of sustainability. This study promotes the presence of a leader to manage conflicts, which cause hindrances in achieving sustainability. This is possible by maximizing sustainable knowledge sharing in a team, by effectively utilizing temporal diversity, including time urgency, time perspective, and pacing style diversity under a certain time pressure. This study has examined the effect of temporal diversity on knowledge sharing within teams by taking temporal conflict as a mediator. Moreover, it was also investigated whether the role of team temporal leadership is effective in utilizing the conflicts arising from the temporal diversity. The research design was quantitative in nature. A purposive sampling technique was used to gather data from 100 dyads working in the telecom sector of Pakistan, by distributing questionnaires. The findings suggest that team temporal leadership plays an effective role when a conflict arises rather than after it has arisen because more time and resources will be required to resolve such conflicts arising from temporal diversity. When the temporal diversity is low, the leader can manage the conflicts quite well, but as the diversity increases, the role of the temporal leader become much harder which may cause increased conflicts because of the limited capacity of a leader to manage those conflicts. Furthermore, it was observed that conflicts, if managed properly, may lead to increased knowledge sharing.

Islamic and conventional banks differ in basic philosophy and objectives although both perform the same service. This study used cognitive, affective, and conative sequence to examine antecedents and consequences of corporate image of conventional and Islamic banks in Pakistan. Self-administered questionnaires collected empirical data from 320 respondents. It was found that non-firm communication and corporate social responsibility significantly relate to brand familiarity and corporate image in case of Islamic banks. Brand familiarity significantly builds corporate image, which confirms the cognitive, affective, and conative sequence. Corporate image creates positive brand attitude and intention to use banking services. In case of conventional banks, only firm communication significantly relates to corporate image and brand familiarity. The relationship of corporate image with brand attitude and intention to use the service are similar to Islamic banks. This study can help banks to invest in building respective antecedents which can increase intention to use their services.

This paper studies the impact of status consciousness on consumer’s purchase intention and brand equity. It also examines the mediating role of brand associations between status consciousness, purchase intention and brand equity. A self-administered questionnaire was developed and data was collected from a sample of 500 female customers. The results support that status conscious consumers develop associations towards the brands and so they intend to purchase those brands, thus raising the brand equity. The results obtained will help the marketers by focusing on developing strong brand associations for luxurious brands for the status conscious consumers. It will also help in developing marketing strategies specifically designed to promote luxurious brands to increase consumer’s purchase intention and brand equity.