Browsing by Author "Dutta, Nirankush"

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Adoption and usage of the electronic national agriculture market: a literature review
(CRC Press, 2023) Dutta, Nirankush; Chanda, Udayan
Agricultural marketing is one of the lifelines for a sizeable population of India and it contributes 25 percent of the GDP. An effective agricultural marketing system can help farmers market their products at a fair and reasonable price. In recent years due to technological breakthroughs, the Indian agriculture sector is experiencing substantial shifts in irrigation strategies and the result is reflected in the surplus production of crops. Despite record production in crops the visible changes in farmers’ earnings are very negligible. The more profitable production of crops emphasizes the importance of agricultural marketing for the inclusive development of the agriculture and welfare of the farmers. “Thus the government and other organizations are trying to address the key challenges of agriculture in India, including small holdings of farmers, primary and secondary processing, supply chain, the infrastructure supporting the efficient use of resources and marketing, and reducing intermediaries in the market” (Sharma 2021). The National Agriculture Market (eNAM)- a pan-India electronic trading portal introduced in April 2016 to connect the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) mandis and to set up an integrated nationwide market for agricultural commodities. “It unites surplus production regions with deficit regions through an online platform, which may lead to better market competition, and thus better prices for farmers for their produce” (Venkatesh et al, 2021). This initiative was widely considered to be a game changer for farmers and the overall agricultural marketing sector of India. The present research paper reviews existing literature on the adoption of the e-NAM platform across different Indian states to highlight the status of adoption and acceptance by its various stakeholders
Attracting Students to the Classroom With Innovative Pedagogies
(Sage, 2019-08) Dutta, Nirankush; Bhat, Anil Kumar; Bhattacharya, Sankar Kumar; Mahesh, Jayashree
One of the significant challenges of teaching Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) courses lies in the dynamic nature of the programme itself where the only constant is the change. Hence, the main pedagogical aim in such a programme is teaching students how to continuously learn, unlearn and relearn in a lifelong fashion. There are multiple factors that hinder the learning outcomes of many offered courses in an MBA programme. At Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS) Pilani, the challenge is enhanced somewhat as the student population pursuing an MBA degree is mostly from an engineering background. Moreover, the institutional regulations do not disqualify students from appearing in any evaluation based on their attendance in the class. Thus, teachers have to incorporate an innovative approach to their teaching style for attracting students to the classrooms
Dangal : Cinematic Representation of Competitive Marketing Strategy
(PIJM, 2017-08) Bhat, Anil Kumar; Dutta, Nirankush
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and starring Aamir Khan, Dangal is an Indian Hindi language biographical sports drama, which emerged as the first mainstream Hindi film to cross the ` 350 crores mark. The movie presents a lot of lessons pertaining to social values, human resources, and competitive marketing strategies, when different scenes are used as similes. This article discussed the scenes of the film from the perspective of competitive marketing strategies for challengers, taking cues from Adam Morgan's Eating the Big Fish and those pointed out by Philip Kotler. In doing so, this article provided an in-depth analysis of the film, which may be of immense value to management trainers and marketing educators in their attempt to explain difficult concepts of management and marketing in a lucid language comprehensible by a large audience.
Direct to Consumer eCommerce (D2C) Business Model: The Dilemma of Getting It Right
(IGI Global, 2023) Dutta, Nirankush
Digital technologies are changing both the national and global business landscapes. Digitalization within firms and industries and newcomers from other fields give new conditions for competition through new business models. The Handbook of Research on Business Model Innovation Through Disruption and Digitalization discusses the aspects of the innovation of business models through disruption and digitalization. It further includes chapters on theories and practices related to the overall theme of how business models are developed. Covering topics such as agile networks, interactive business models, and managerial implications, this major reference work is a dynamic resource for business leaders and executives, IT managers, human resource managers, entrepreneurs, government officials, students and faculty of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.
Effect of facilitating conditions on the use of social networks as pedagogical tool in higher education
(Springer, 2024-10) Bhat, Anil Kumar; Dutta, Nirankush
As internet connectivity gains ubiquity and social network sites emerge as the most popular venue for gathering of people of all ages, the government and educationists can think of putting social networks to better use by using it as a pedagogical tool, especially for higher education. Although some studies have been conducted in this regard, the findings often seem to lack proper scientific and statistical validation. Moreover, majority of these research works having been conducted in the Western countries, may not hold true in case of developing countries like India. The current research work focuses on this need and attempts to explore the present status of usage of social media in Indian institutes of higher education. Taking cue from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, proposed by Venkatesh et al. (MIS Q 2(3): 425–478, 2003), we have checked whether there is a significant difference in perception among faculty members, students and administrators of higher educational institutions regarding availability of facilitating conditions to use social network sites for educational purposes. Appropriate statistical techniques have been used on a random sample to empirically validate the findings, which indicate that the expectation of faculty members, students and administrators in institutes of higher education vary regarding use of social media for academic purposes.
Exploring consumer cynicism: a systematic literature review
(Springer, 2024-09) Dutta, Nirankush
This article conducts an extensive literature review on consumer cynicism from 2011 to August 2023. Its primary objective is to thoroughly explore existing research publications while pinpointing potential directions for future investigation. The study encompasses a vast body of consumer cynicism literature sourced from esteemed journals indexed by SCOPUS and ranked by ABDC. Employing the “Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-Analyses” (PRISMA) framework, the analysis delves into bibliometric aspects, including publication trends, citation patterns, and research methodologies, providing quantitative insights into consumer cynicism research. It comprehensively covers a spectrum of antecedents and dependent variables, vividly depicting the consumer cynicism landscape. Furthermore, the review critically assesses the scope of variables examined within the consumer cynicism context. Identifying the multitude and diversity of factors explored in the literature underscores the all-encompassing nature of research into this phenomenon. This comprehensive review contributes significantly to a deeper understanding of consumer cynicism and offers valuable directions for future research endeavours.
Exploring the Effect of Store Characteristics and Interpersonal Trust on Purchase Intention in the Context of Online Social Media Marketing
(Taylor & Francis, 2016-09) Dutta, Nirankush; Bhat, Anil Kumar
This article explores the effect of store characteristics and interpersonal trust on formation of attitude and intention to purchase from online stores in the context of online social media marketing. Store Brand Knowledge, Store Reputation, Perceived Store Size, and Perceived Store Risk have been considered as antecedents of trust. Based on existing literature, a conceptual model is proposed and empirically tested with a sample (n = 424) of online social media users with the help of partial least square path modeling. This study is among the very few empirical investigations done in the context of trust in online social media marketing and focuses only on consumer-perceived store-controlled factors as antecedents of trust.
FirstCry.com: Fighting to Lead the Giant Online Baby Care Products Market
(Harvard Business Publishing, 2016-09) Bhat, Anil Kumar; Dutta, Nirankush
Powered by 27 million births a year and a growing middle to upper class, India's baby care e-tailing sector is expected to grow to US $500 million by 2017. FirstCry, established in December 2010 with seed capital of Rs. 25 million (about US $548,000), has gradually emerged as Asia's largest online shopping portal for products for children and expectant mothers with an inventory of more than 90,000 items from over 1,200 top international and Indian brands. Aiming to create a seamless experience focused on constant innovation, improvement, and added value, FirstCry faces challenges related to logistics, payment gateways, and intense competition to gain new customers in this lucrative market. In the tumultuous online baby care products market, which has seen several major businesses close their doors or be acquired by others, how will FirstCry maintain its lead and grow its business in the next few years?
Flipkart: journey of an Indian e-commerce start-up
(Emerald, 2014-11) Bhat, Anil Kumar; Dutta, Nirankush
Founded in 2007 with an initial investment of less than USA $10,000, Flipkart has come a long way to become the largest E-commerce player in India with a registered user base of 9.6 million and valued at USA $1.6 billion. Efficient use of various marketing strategies has catapulted the company to its success. Till now, they have overcome most of the hurdles successfully. However, a lot needs to be discussed to find out ways to meet the challenges thrown by its competitors, to maintain its supremacy over other online e-retailers and continue its exponential growth to meet USA $1 billion sales by 2015.
Generational dynamics of omnichannel customers: analysing shopping preferences across diverse product types
(Emerald, 2025-01) Dutta, Nirankush
This study explores the shopping orientations of omnichannel customers through the lens of generational cohort theory, which influences their decision-making style while shopping online. It offers key insights into how Generations X, Y and Z interact with digital platforms, helping retailers adapt to the shifting dynamics of modern customers.
Identifying the drivers of ‘loyal showrooming’: a systematic literature review
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-08) Dutta, Nirankush
Retail showrooming behaviour is described as the phenomenon in which customers browse the products in-store before making the purchase online at a lower price. This is due to the fact that different shopping channels have emerged and have gained the attention of customers. However, customers do prefer visiting the showroom to check on the prices and best buying options within the store. The retail environment is progressing towards the environment where store-based offline shopping does exist with online shopping mediums, and retailers need to understand the factors that maximize customers’ purchase within the store during showrooming. This paper is aimed at establishing the significance of loyal showrooming and determining its drivers based on an extensive literature review of 168 research articles published in indexed journals during the last 12 years. It is suggested that retailers should adopt strategies based on the present multichannel retailing environment and the driving factors identified to convert the showroomers into loyal showroomers.
Linking entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth: evidence from GEM countries
(Inder Science, 2020-06) Chadha, Saurabh; Dutta, Nirankush
Using a simple least squares regression model though analysis of cross-sectional data of the 65 world economies participating in global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) 2016, this paper explores the role of entrepreneurship, technological innovation, entrepreneurship finance and physical infrastructure as indicators of economic growth. It was empirically found that total entrepreneurial activity (TEA), technological innovation, entrepreneurial finance and physical infrastructure are statistically significant and positively correlated with the economic growth rate of the selected GEM countries in 2016.
New Product Testing Through Experimental Design: The Case of Varn International Ltd
(The Case Center, 2017-03) Bhat, Anil Kumar; Dutta, Nirankush
The case describes the dilemma while considering development of an economical new product by Varn International Inc aimed at the Indian market. Varn is a globally reputed brand dealing with chemicals, known for the quality of their products all over the world. It manufactures pressroom chemicals and equipment for the printing industry. The reason behind the dilemma was identifying correct mix of price, quality and branding option to ensure success of the new product.
Omnichannel retailing: exploring future research avenues in retail marketing and distribution management
(Emerald, 2023-07) Dutta, Nirankush
This study explores the present state of research related to omnichannel retail, investigates retail's different sub-areas and suggests future research directions.
A Preliminary Study on the Use of Social Media in Higher Education
(SSRN, 2022-02) Bhat, Anil Kumar; Dutta, Nirankush
The study focused on the influence of social media on students, faculty members and administrators and how they can adopt social media for their academic and work purposes in higher education institutes within India. We developed a conceptual model based on the UTAUT (Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology) model, by adapting a few constructs and customising to fit the context. 756 respondents attempted the online survey. Of these, 400 were students, 199 faculties and 157 administrators. Respondents from 105 cities spread across 25 states participated in the survey. Due to the onset of the COVID pandemic, we resorted to the online collection method. The study considers three constructs – Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use and Social Influence as direct determinants that will influence the behavioural intentions of the users in higher education. We ran a series of basic descriptive analyses, T-tests and ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) for the data collected across all groups to determine if a significant difference exists in the perception, between groups. Results show that social media is perceived as a driver for innovation amongst all the three groups – students, faculty and administrators. However, there are differences in the positive-negative response ratio, which has however not affected the overall positive inclination of the combined responses of all groups. The current study may be an invaluable source of information for researchers to understand how the groups perceive social media.
Reviewing Current State of Research on the Use of Social Media in Higher Education
(RRIJM, 2021-05) Bhat, Anil Kumar; Dutta, Nirankush
Social media platforms are increasingly gaining popularity for various usages in higher education. However, research in this domain is still in nascent stage, especially in India. Through a systematic review process, this study has summarized some of the major findings of the 184 papers published in the last ten years (2010-2019) in highly reputed journals that are indexed in SCOPUS and EBSCOHOST. The findings are classified as emerging from Indian and international studies and research gaps have been identified. Future studies should explore this gap to help the policy makers at national and various institutional levels to come up with appropriate strategies for reaping more benefit of social media in higher education.
Role of Trust in Online Social Media Marketing: A Model Building Approach
(BITS Pilani, 2017) Dutta, Nirankush
The advent of online social media has opened up a vast opportunity to a wide range of organizations to connect with their customers and ultimately increase their profitability. By offering almost free or low-budget marketing options, online social media has emerged as the great leveller for the David and the Goliath in modern marketing space, fast replacing the earlier era of print or electronic marketing media. Rapid penetration of internet, decreased cost of browsing, more educated and tech-savvy people as well as sophisticated mobile technology have transformed this medium to one of the most popular and effective ways of marketing not only in the developed world, but also in developing countries like India. Among the various forms of online social media, the most popular one is undoubtedly online social network sites. Globally Facebook is the leader among online social networks, with more than 1590 million active users (Statistia, 2016). Twitter (330 million monthly active users), LinkedIn (100 million monthly active users) and Google Plus (540 million monthly active users) are other major online social network sites (Statistia, 2016). ―Digital in 2016‖ reports that nearly 1 in 3 of the entire world‘s population are using online social media (Kemp & We Are Social, 2016). 40% of users in the age group of 16-24 use online social media sites to research on products or brands (Global Web Index, 2016). Thus, marketers have unique opportunities to enhance engagement and word of mouth through their online social media marketing campaigns (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010a). 29% social media marketers insist on driving conversion by attempting to reach more consumers and increasing sales volume with the help of their marketing efforts (Shively, 2015). As online social media marketing continues to gain in popularity, marketers are searching for a firm foundation to base their strategic decisions to engage and influence their customers through online social media. With increase in importance of online social networking and social sharing behaviour among consumers, such a foundation is becoming increasingly important (Hoffman & Novak, 2012). Unfortunately, apparent blessings of computer-mediated transactions, in many cases, is fraught with fear and anxiety brought forth by their intangible and faceless characteristics. Trust in online transactions, the technology and the entities using the technology to offer this benefit may help in alleviating this perception of fear and anxiety to a great extent. Thus, trust of consumers has a great impact on their intention to purchase online as well as actual ii purchase (Li, Jiang, & Wu, 2014). Therefore, marketers need to understand which factors motivate consumers to trust their online social media marketing efforts and how trust in their online social media marketing efforts impact expected organizational outcomes, especially with reference to intention to spread electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) and intention to purchase. Deriving from earlier models, antecedents of trust in social media marketing can be studied based on their sources. This seems more logical, easier to comprehend, analyze and implement from a practitioner‘s point of view. It is to be borne in mind that social media marketing, also called Social Commerce or s-Commerce by different authors (Zhang & Benyoucef, 2016), refers to the ―exchange-related activities that occur in, or are influenced by, an individual's social network in computer-mediated social environments, where the activities correspond to the need recognition, pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase stages of a focal exchange‖ (Yadav, de Valck, Hennig-Thurau, Hoffman, & Spann, 2013: 312). This definition clearly points to four vital sources to be considered: (a) seller or online store, (b) individual‘s social network, (c) computer mediated social environment and (d) individual personality traits. These four sources, referred to as perceived store characteristics, perceived structural characteristics of social media, perceived design characteristics of social media and individual characteristics, have been studied in this thesis. This follows the framework put forward by McKnight & Chervany (2002), who suggested three high levels or types of trust, namely (i) dispositional trust, (ii) institutional trust and (iii) interpersonal trust. Outcomes of trust in social media marketing may be majorly studied from the point of view of intention to purchase and intention to spread word of mouth, mostly of electronic nature. Apart from these, formation of favourable attitude towards the online stores may go a long way in positively influencing consumers. Thus, these three have been studied as outcome of trust in the context of online social media marketing. Besides review of literature, the research work contained in this thesis has been done systematically at different phases and examined empirically with suitable tools and techniques, following a bottom up approach. In the first phase, a brief exploratory interview was conducted. This study provided the base for further exploration by facilitating identification of construct variables to be considered. In the second phase of the study, each set of antecedents was assessed for its role in formation of different types of trust. Finally, all the sets of antecedents of trust were combined to form a iii comprehensive model of trust in the context of online social media marketing. A parsimonious hierarchical component model has also been developed for clarity of understanding and exhibiting the final outcome of the research. All the hypotheses related to these relations were checked with disposition to trust, among three other personal characteristics, as control variable in order to investigate the effect of one‘s trust propensity on the relations. Going beyond the originally defined objectives of the thesis, a corollary study was conducted to analyse the role of usefulness of trustworthy information obtained from virtual communities in different online social media sites, for formation of generic attitude towards online purchase and intention to purchase online. This study investigates the effect of usefulness of information obtained through a trustworthy virtual community in an OSM. Moreover, it concentrates on the reputation of the virtual community as a whole representative of the entire OSM, whereas the primary study studied the effect of one‘s contacts in an OSN only. Thus, it aims to provide an insight as to whether OSMM can at all be effectively used as a medium for marketing purposes because of the trust people have in them and how important is the role of trust in this rapidly emerging medium. Data has been collected for these studies through survey, predominantly online, in which students pursuing higher studies in different premium technical institutes in India participated. Students pursuing higher education were chosen for the survey as this age group constitutes major participants of online social media and are among the most valued target consumers of various online stores. For both main and corollary study, Partial Least Square structural equation modelling has been extensively used. All three sets of antecedents of trust were found to be significant, with varying strength. The empirical investigation, however, revealed that intention to purchase is not a direct output of trust. Rather it is mediated by attitude towards the store. Even individuals or groups of friends who enjoy interpersonal trust cannot directly lead to formation of positive attitude toward an online store or intention to purchase from it. Interpersonal trust placed on an individual or groups of contacts in one‘s online social network influences interpersonal trust on an organization, which in turn leads to formation of attitude towards an organization. On the other hand, intention to pass-along electronic word of mouth is formed directly as a result of trust in one‘s contacts on online social media or trust in the organizations undertaking online social media marketing.iv It was found that people, who perceive high risk involved in online shopping, form low trust towards organizations. The second observation is that, although attitude formation is important for positive intention to purchase, it is stronger in females than in males. The corollary study found that trust on virtual community of online social media sites plays a vital role in forming intention to purchase online. Although the primary study demonstrates that trust does not directly lead to formation of intention to purchase from an online store participating in online social media marketing, the corollary study shows that online social media have the potential to induce consumers to purchase from online, which may not necessarily be from the online social media site itself. This proves the importance of online social media as a supporting marketing tool, albeit an indirect one. Relying on firm theoretical foundation provided by earlier research works, this thesis aims to build an empirically validated theoretical model relevant to trust in the context of online social media marketing through a bottom-up approach. This study considers trust from various perspectives and examines the effect of all of them together, unlike most of the previous studies, which considered only a few of the antecedents of trust. Thus, it builds an empirically validated comprehensive model regarding antecedents and outcomes of trust in the context of online social media marketing
Role of Trust on Perceived Store Characteristics and Consumer Behavioural Outcome in the Context of Online Social Media Marketing
(IIM, Indore, 2016) Dutta, Nirankush; Bhat, Anil Kumar
Social media marketing is the latest effective tool for disseminating marketing related information, increasing consumer awareness and providing a perception of the size, reputation and ease of transaction associated with online stores. Consumers' trust in online stores is influenced by messages delivered by the companies themselves as well as own social media contacts. This research paper explores four store characteristics which may lead to trust and, in turn, facilitate formation of willingness to purchase, electronic word of mouth and social capital in consumer's social networks,. A conceptual model is proposed and tested empirically with partial least square. It finds that awareness and absence of risk significantly influence development of trust. Social capital and electronic word of mouth (e- WOM) are most influenced by trust, while there is least effect of trust on willingness to purchase..
Showrooming: a retrospective and prospective review using the SPAR-4-SLR methodological framework
(Emerald, 2023-12) Dutta, Nirankush
This article undertakes a literature review on showrooming, offering an exhaustive overview of research publications and future research objectives that will contribute to extending the understanding of the phenomenon.
Smart Configuration for a Successful Smartphone
(The Case Center, 2017-06) Dutta, Nirankush; Bhat, Anil Kumar
The case describes the dilemma while considering the launch of a new smartphone in the highly competitive market of India. The protagonist is the founder of 'New Digital Age'- a smartphone manufacturing unit set up in Gurgaon - Mr. Sudhir Sharma. However, he realises that there are a lot of products available in the market and gaining a profitable market share will not be easy. He, therefore, arranges a meeting with his three trusted lieutenants- Mr Rahul Dholakia (CFO), Mr Arun Kapoor (CMO) and Mr Shushrut Mishra (COO). As they discuss about the myriads of possible configuration for the smartphone, Mr Sudhir understands that the best option to find the most popular configuration would be to ask the consumers. However, ranking so many different configurations will be difficult for the consumers. The case illustrates how this problem can be solved statistically by using Conjoint Analysis.