Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the key factors influencing the adoption of grocery shopping and to examine the moderating effect of education between antecedents of the adoption of grocery shopping apps and user attitude and intention to purchase.Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the relationship between the latent variables: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude and intention to use grocery shopping apps. Partial least squares multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) was used to examine the moderating effect of education. A total of 305 grocery shopping apps users were surveyed using a structural questionnaire.Findings: The results indicated that all the factors considered in the framework were significant in predicting the intention to use the grocery shopping apps. The findings show that education has no significant impact on any relationship.Practical implications: A better understanding of the factors that affect the acceptance of mobile grocery shopping apps is important for developing better strategic management plans.Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to research the adoption of grocery shopping apps in a developing country, as well as the first to focus on consumers in South Africa.

Orientation: In the contemporary global business environment, online trading is a new distribution channel and trading platforms are products of investment and financial services companies.Research purpose: This study determined the influence of perceived risk elements on investor trust and the intention to invest in online trading platforms among students at a selected university in South Africa.Motivation for the study: The significance of how perceived risk elements may influence an investor’s trust and the intention to invest in online trading has largely been overlooked in previous research. Therefore, the principal objective of this study was to address this research gap.Research approach, design and method: A structural equation modelling (SEM) procedure was applied to perform the hypotheses testing using the AMOS (version 25.0) package.Main findings: All the perceived risk elements had a positive and a significant impact on investor trust as well as the intention to invest in online trading platforms.Practical/managerial implications: This study provides fruitful implications to practitioners. The collective knowledge on dimensions of perceived risk will be advantageous to managers in understanding consumer risk perception and how students attempt to reduce these risks. Hence, this will also help managers to implement risk-reduction strategies in order to increase the prospect of students investing in their online trading platforms.Contribution/value-add: This study stands to add new knowledge to the present body of investment management and financial management literature in Africa – a context that has not received much research attention in developing countries.

The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management (SAJESBM) is a peer-reviewed journal that is aimed at providing practical guidance and empirical evidence to researchers and practitioners specialising in the entrepreneurial and business management fields. The journal provides a communication forum to advance entrepreneurship, innovation, small business management and family business theory, as well as the application thereof in practice. Its aim is the improvement and further development of these fields and it is designed to appeal to both practitioners and academics.

This article presents raw inferential statistical data that determined the impact of exclusivity, materialism, perceived quality and brand consciousness on luxury consumption. The data were collected from consumers within the Cape Town metropolitan area. A quantitative research method was used to analyse the data. Structured questionnaires were distributed to consumers within the Cape Town metropolitan area of South Africa. Reliability and validity were confirmed. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using the Smart PLS software, version 3, was used to present the data. The SEM path analysis shows the estimates of the interconnectedness of the major constructs in the data. The outcomes obtained from this dataset show the relationship between exclusivity, perceived quality and brand consciousness had a positive and a significant impact on luxury consumption. However, materialism proved to have a negative and insignificant influence on luxury consumption.

Purpose: In the wake of lockdown regulations and limited mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic, dining habits shifted towards usage of food delivery apps to avoid physical interaction. Nonetheless, it is unknown whether the COVID-19 pandemic had an influence on the adoption of food delivery apps. Therefore, this study examined factors influencing the adoption of food delivery apps during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the moderating effects of education and age.Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 282 food delivery application users in South Africa using a web-based survey. Partial least square structural equation modelling analysis was used to test the hypotheses, while partial least squares multigroup analysis was used to examine the moderating effect of education level and age.Findings: The results indicated that perceived ease of use has a significant impact on perceived usefulness and attitudes, perceived usefulness has an impact on attitudes and continuous intention, attitude influences continuous intention and social pressure and convenience influence attitudes. The perceived COVID-19 threat had no impact on attitudes, and education and age had no significant impact on any relationships. The findings are imperative for restaurants and mobile application designers, as they enable more effective strategic management planning.Originality/value: This study is the first paper to empirically employ technology acceptance model to analyse the adoption of food delivery applications during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its uniqueness is in examining situational influence associated with the pandemic such as social pressure, perceived COVID-19 threat and convenience.

Orientation: In the contemporary business environment, employee mental health is neglected, especially in mental health research and practice in African Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). This occurs even though this sector is the largest contributor to developed economies. This study highlights the importance of psychological well-being in SME performance and the individual employee.Research purpose: To investigate the influence of perceived organisational support, career goal development and empowering leadership on the psychological well-being of SME employees in Gauteng province, South Africa.Motivation for the study: Despite increasing research on SMEs, few studies have investigated the impact of perceived organisational support, career goal development, and empowering leadership on psychological well-being in a Southern African context.Research approach/design and method: This study followed a quantitative approach, using the survey methodology where a structured questionnaire was administered to 250 SME employees. To evaluate the psychometric properties of measurement scales, a confirmatory factor analysis was performed. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses.Main findings: Perceived organisational support, career goal development and empowering leadership have a positive and significant impact on the psychological well-being of SME workers. A robust, positive and significant relationship exists between empowering leadership and psychological well-being.Practical/managerial implications: The results indicate that SME managers in South Africa should pay more attention to, or place greater emphasis on, supporting employees in their organisations, recognising and assisting them in achieving their goals, and empowering them to be happy at work. If the psychological well-being of employees is prioritised, SME business performance will ultimately improve.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the current body of Africa’s industrial psychology and mental health literature – a field that has received little research attention in developing countries like South Africa.