The looming threat of climate change has become an undeniable harsh reality. Inefficient energy consumption is one of the major causes of this threat. Protecting the aquatic and terrestrial environment by reducing carbon footprints is a shared responsibility. In this pursuit, the contribution of household sector is extremely valuable and use of energy-saving products can be helpful to epitomize the goal of achieving sustainability. This study aims to investigate the determinants of consumers’ intention to purchase energy-saving household products by integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Technology Readiness Index (TRI) 2.0’s four indicators (optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity). This study applied a hypo deductive research approach. Using cross sectional data, a total 396 valid questionnaires were collected to validate the proposed hypothesis by using Partial Least Square (PLS) path modeling approach (a variance based SEM technique). Results showed that contributors of technology readiness positively influence residents’ attitude towards their buying intention, while inhibitors of technology readiness negatively affect this relationship. Further, attitude and perceived behavioral control were found to be significant determinants of intention to purchase energy-saving household products. Based on the above research findings, implications for marketers and policy makers are discussed, moreover future research directions are suggested.
Environmental and health problems have increased the interest of researchers and practitioners in investigating the factors that affect organic food consumption. However, little attention has been paid to the actual organic food buying behavior, particularly in developing countries like Pakistan. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to determine the actual buying patterns of consumers. For this purpose, a conceptual model based on green perceived value framework which predicts consumer’s purchase intention and purchase behavior has been empirically tested. Likewise, moderating role of food neophobia has also been explored. Data is collected from millennials that are under rated but constitute the most important consumer segment in Pakistan. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to analyze the data. Results from 221 university students reveal that functional value, social value, emotional value, and conditional value positively influence the consumer purchase intention. Moreover, purchase intention is positively linked to the consumer purchase behavior of organic food. Furthermore, the study findings also confirm the moderating role of food neophobia between purchase intention and consumption of organic food. This paper depicts some noteworthy insights of consumer behavior for organic food producers, marketers, and researchers. At the end, limitations and recommendations for future research are elaborated.
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of working capital management (WCM) and working capital strategy (WCS) on firm’s financial performance across different stages of the corporate life cycle (CLC). We use Pakistani non-financial listed firms nested in 12 diverse industries over a period of 2005–2014 as the research sample and employ the hierarchical linear mixed (HLM) estimator, which can process multilevel data where observations are not completely independent. The empirical findings reveal that, overall, WCM is negatively associated with firm performance. However, this association is not static across different stages of a firm’s life cycle. For example, a negative association is more pronounced at the introduction stage followed by growth and decline stages, whereas WCM does not significantly impact the performance of mature firms. Likewise, WCS also causes varying effects on the financial performance across the CLC. A conservative strategy at the introduction, growth, and decline stages negatively affects firm performance, suggesting that these firms should adopt an aggressive strategy. Nevertheless, management of sample firms did not account for the respective life cycle stage while formulating a WCM strategy, which can seriously compromise their financial sustainability. These findings suggest that firms require customized WCM policies and WCS to attain sustainable financial performance at each stage of firm life cycle. Thus, managers should not overlook the significant role of CLC stages in their financial planning to ensure the sustainable functioning of the enterprise.