Augmented reality is an emerging and promising technology to expand consumer shopping experiences in the retail sector. How augmented reality apps can impact consumer perceptions is still in debate. This study investigates the influence of augmented reality mobile apps on consumers’ behavioral intention to use this technology, using the technology acceptance model. Data were collected from 363 undergraduate and graduate university students in Pakistan. The partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied to check the path relationships. Study participants' experience and perception were measured through the direct and indirect effects of the augmented reality-based mobile app. The study findings indicated that augmented reality app directly influences perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, and indirect influence on attitude toward use and behavioral intention to use. Thus, there is no sequential mediation effect of perceived ease of use and attitude toward use between augmented reality app and behavior intention to use. This study is the first to contribute theory toward understanding retail customer perceptions about augmented reality app and their behavioral intention to use it in Pakistan.

Augmented reality apps are a novel technology in e-learning that enhances students’ learning faster in virtual classrooms. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional teaching mechanisms pushed back due to the quick spread of Coronavirus disease. This study investigates university students’ intention towards e-learning through augmented reality app during the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. This study presented a conceptual model based on the theory of planned behaviour that examines university students’ beliefs and their intention to opt for augmented reality app subject to e-learning of coursework. Structural equation modelling was applied to analyse data from 133 university students in Pakistan. The study findings indicated that the theory of planned behaviour explained university students’ acceptance of e-learning through augmented reality apps, where attitude and behavioural control significantly influenced their intention to adopt augmented reality apps for e-learning; hence, subjective norm showed insignificant results. The results acknowledge the modern way of teaching via augmented reality apps by university students.

This study aims to explore the support and impede factors of entrepreneurial activities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. By using the qualitative method, 18 in-depth interviews were conducted with entrepreneurs operating micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises. Interviews were transcribed for content analysis to generate themes using NVivo 12. COVID-19 has adversely affected the entrepreneurial activity in Pakistan was a key theme found after analysis. Three main categories were found as situations provoking business decline and their manifestation, entrepreneurial actions and reactions to COVID-19 crisis, and their futuristic plans amidst COVID-19. This research highlights issues entrepreneurs face to follow protocols of lockdown, social distancing, and operational hours. The findings of this study contribute to the scholarship of entrepreneurship and areas for the empirical investigation to develop efficient ecosystems to support entrepreneurs. This study suggests government and non-government stakeholders devise strategies for entrepreneurial revival post-COVID-19. This is probably one of the first qualitative assessment of the likely effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on entrepreneurship. It also recommends interesting related research areas and suggestions on how to empower entrepreneurs to overcome it.

This study explores the mechanism for timely and equitable distribution of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) vaccination among the various communities in Pakistan. It examines the factors that support and/or impede peoples' access and response towards COVID‐19 vaccination in Pakistan. The study uses a literature synthesis approach to examine and analyze the situation of the COVID‐19 vaccination in Pakistan. The research results show “hesitancy” and “inequality” as two fundamental challenges that hinder the successful delivery of COVID‐19 vaccination in Pakistan. People are reluctant to use vaccines due to conspiracy theories and religious beliefs. However, inequality, especially unequal accessibility to all social groups appears to be a more significant barrier to getting a vaccine. We argue that there is a need to mobilize community influence, social media, and mass media campaigns for public education on vaccination programs along with the engagement of religious leaders to endorse the vaccination for the masses. The area of this study is underdeveloped; thereby, future studies are recommended to investigate the possible way for equitable distribution of vaccines in multiple regions.

The study’s purpose is to systematically review the scholarly literature about disinformation on social media, a space with enhanced concerns about nurturing propaganda and conspiracies. The systematic review methodology was applied to analyze 264 peer-reviewed articles published from 2010 to 2020, extracted from the Web of Science core collection database. Descriptive and bibliometric analysis techniques were used to document the findings. The analysis revealed an increase in the trend of publishing disinformation on social media and its impact on users’ cognitive responses from 2017 onwards. The USA appears to be the most influential node with its more significant role in advancing research on disinformation. The content analysis identified five psychosocial and political factors: influencing individual users’ perceptions, providing easy access to radicalism using personality profiles, social media use to influence political opinions, lack of critical social media literacies, and hoax flourish disinformation. Our research shows a knowledge gap in how disinformation directly shapes communal psychosocial narratives. We highlight the need for future research to explore and examine the antecedents, consequences, and impact of disinformation on social media and how it affects citizens’ cognition, critical thinking, and well-being.

This study’s purpose is to measure entrepreneurial intention in near and distant time scales using temporal construal theory and the theory of planned behavior. It examines new patterns to measure individual intentions to become an entrepreneur, which are classified into short-term entrepreneurial intention and long-term entrepreneurial intention, using a two-country study. A cross-sectional study of 447 university students in business and non-business disciplines from Pakistan and Vietnam was conducted. Structural equation modeling and the partial least squares model were used to present path modeling and multigroup analysis. The proposed model for entrepreneurial temporal intention was tested using the theory of planned behavior dimensions with the potential temporal spectrum of short-term and long-term intentions. The results indicated differences in individual entrepreneurial temporal intentions across the two lower middle-income countries. The findings depict that short-term entrepreneurial intention significantly mediates the effect between the theory of planned behavior dimensions and long-term entrepreneurial intention, and more specifically, that long-term entrepreneurial intention is higher than short-term entrepreneurial intention in both countries. In comparison, the theory of planned behavior dimensions indicated more power in Pakistan’s student sample. This paper presents a new perspective to compare differences in entrepreneurial intention with time fluctuation and thus provides support in identifying potential nascent entrepreneurs based on their psychological distance in thinking and primitive action.