Research on online shopping behaviour has grown significantly; however, limited attention has been given to how privacy and security, fulfilment, website design, and overall e-service quality influence consumer outcomes such as word-of-mouth and perceived value, particularly in emerging markets. This study addresses this gap by examining the relative influence of these antecedents on online shopping behaviour within the South African context. Using a structured survey, data were collected from 116 consumers at Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Five hypotheses were proposed to assess the relationships among the identified antecedents, word-of-mouth, and perceived value in shaping online shopping behaviour. The empirical analysis supported four hypotheses, while one was rejected. The findings suggest that online shopping behaviour in this context is significantly influenced by website design, fulfilment, overall e-service quality, and resulting loyalty outcomes. At the same time, privacy and security have a limited direct impact. These results provide cautious yet meaningful evidence that consumer online shopping behaviour in Africa—an under-researched context—can be explained through both functional and relational factors. The study contributes to the broader discourse on digital consumer behaviour by offering theoretical and practical insights for enhancing online retail strategies in South Africa.

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of healthcare service quality dimensions on service delivery improvement and patient satisfaction in the South African public healthcare sector. Theoretical framework: The quality of service delivery in the healthcare sector and its influence on patient satisfaction have gained attention globally, including in South Africa. Factors that affect service delivery, such as empathy, efficiency, tangibility, safety, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, communication, and discipline, have attracted the attention of both academics and healthcare practitioners, particularly in public healthcare facilities. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative research design was followed. A data set of 500 was collected from Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, and a structural equation modelling approach was used to test ten hypotheses using Smart PLS statistical software. Findings: The research findings supported all the proposed hypotheses, with four hypotheses being insignificant. The study contributes to the literature on the effects of health service quality dimensions on service delivery improvement and patient satisfaction in an often-neglected context, namely Africa. Research, Practical & Social implications: The study provides recommendations for healthcare policies and strategies to improve service delivery in the public healthcare sector based on the research findings. Originality/value: The results indicate that the Healthcare sector needs to focus on quality service to be provided to the public. It also contributed to the body of knowledge on this topic in South Africa.

In the post-COVID-19 era, with tourism activity beginning to revitalize, the behavioral intention of tourists has emerged as the focus of much research interest. While previous studies have suggested that tourists’ perceived risk affects behavioral intention, it has not been found that perceived risk is influenced by other factors that affect behavioral intention in the post-COVID-19 era. This study constructs a research model to understand how tourists’ perceived risk influences emotional attachment to destinations and tourists’ behavioral intention through crisis communication and NPI. Through face-to-face interviews, this study conducted a survey and collected data from 1047 tourists who visited Dadaocheng’s renowned Chinese herbal street in Taiwan and examined the causal relationships through structural equation modeling. The results indicated that an increase in perceived risk had a positive effect on crisis communication and NPI and affected tourists’ behavioral intentions through emotional attachment to the destination. This study provides an opportunity to establish an essential contribution to post-disaster crisis management, which may serve as a marketing reference for tourism operators in the post-COVID-19 era, as well as to address future pandemic challenges.

The South African government has embraced inclusive business practices. Relevant policy mechanisms and interventions have been developed to ensure that all economic sectors direct their procurement spend towards supporting low-income beneficiaries to achieve sustainable economic development objectives. However, continued research is necessary to establish whether such inclusive business imperatives can be improved through supply chain management. This empirical study surveyed 248 procurement professionals to investigate the potential supply chain antecedents of sustainable procurement and inclusive business in South Africa. Structural equation modelling showed that four factors, namely strategic partnerships, familiarity with policies, trust within supply chains and organisational incentives, significantly predicted sustainable procurement. Organisational incentives emerged as the strongest predictor of sustainable procurement. Sustainable procurement also significantly predicted inclusive business. Policymakers and practitioners may use this study as a reference point for adopting sustainable procurement policies and strategies in their organisations.

This study investigated digital maturity elements and possible disruptive technology platforms to test whether these elements contain the "secret recipe" for African farmers to gain access to markets and unleash their performance possibilities to alleviate poverty and increase the African farmer's income.To empirically test four research hypotheses, data was collected from a sample of registered farmers and co-ops in databases from ProAgri, PanGlobal and TLU, and analysed using SPSS and the Smart PLS statistical software.It became evident that the most important antecedents of digital maturity in the industry are cultural aspects as well as the technology capabilities and digital platform capabilities positively influenced digital organisational performance.Managerial implications of the research findings are discussed, and limitations and future research directions are indicated.

Destination image is widely accepted as an important aspect of successful tourism development and marketing of destinations. This research therefore seeks to investigate how experiences at a South African international airport influence travellers’ image of South Africa as a tourist destination and their willingness to revisit the country. The study adopted the positivist philosophy where it was quantitative nature. Participants were randomly selected through convenience sampling on-site at the airport. Findings of the study revealed that cognitive destination image, affective destination image and conative destination image all have a direct and positive influence on a tourist’s intention to revisit a destination. The main contribution of the study was that cognitive destination image (pre-conceived ideas about a destination) had the most influence on a traveller’s intention to revisit that destination. This implies that tourism organisations and airport management companies in South Africa have to focus more on marketing the country as a travel destination in the home countries of those travellers before they visit South Africa.

: Shareholders are very interested in the company's performance and prospects, which are generally referred to as company value. Information of corporate value declining is not mitigated by companies that have many stakeholders. Literature shows that the following factors have an impact on company values such as free cash flow, investment and capital structure. Decreasing the value of the company can endanger all parties including investors. A supervisory system for company management decisions is needed to reduce losses and adverse effects of a decrease in company value. However, in-depth research on corporate value models that are influenced by free cash flow and investment through capital structures is still rarely done. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of intervening variable of capital structure in the relationship between free cash flow and investment with firm value. The research population is non-banking companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2014-2016. The dependent variable of this study is company value and the independent variable is free cash flow and investment. Intervening variable is capital structure. Control variable is company size, audit quality and company growth. The results of multiple regression analysis show that free cash flow and investment have a positive effect on firm value. The results of this research also show that free cash flow and investment have a negative effect on capital structure. However, this study did not find the effect of capital structure on firm value. Hence, capital structure does not play a role as an intervening variable between free cash flow and investment with firm value.

Background: It is understood that improving performance has become an important objective of supply chains. As such, strategies have been adopted as an effort towards increasing performance. Amongst these strategies, partnership, collaboration and integration have been identified. A mutual advantage of these approaches is that they facilitate cohesion between parties where knowledge and resources are pooled together and shared with the purpose of achieving optimum results. However, it is observed that the extent to which partnership, collaboration and integration affect supply chain performance collectively is a research void. Objectives: This study intended to examine the influence of partnership, collaboration and integration on supply chain performance, particularly within the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector. The theory of relational view was adopted to support the study's conceptual model. Method: The study used SmartPLS to analyse the data. Results: Three hypotheses were empirically substantiated using a sample of 271 SMEs situated in Gauteng. Conclusion: The findings revealed that the research constructs partnership, collaboration and integration influence supply chain performance in a positive way. Implications of the study are further provided.

Background: Consumer decision-making is shifting from the rational to the emotional, and as a result, retailers are investing in unique store atmospheric cues to capture the attention of consumers. Although not a completely new phenomenon, a lack of studies on this topic remains in Africa, an emerging economy that is rapidly becoming part of the global economy. This is especially evident in the fashion industry where global fashion chain stores are rapidly infiltrating the local market. Objectives: This article aims to investigate the influence of store environment on purchase intention of fashion products with brand attitude and brand experience as the mediators. Method: By means of a quantitative study, 501 online self-administered surveys were distributed among black middle-class women residing in Johannesburg. Results: The results support four of the five hypotheses. It is therefore evident that store environment positively influences consumer’s brand attitudes, purchase intention and brand experience in the fashion retail industry. Conclusion: This article contributes to existing literature on fashion retail, experiential marketing and branding. It further provides retailers with adequate insight into experiential retail strategies that can yield profitable returns and increase their customer loyalty base.

The relationship between service innovation and business performance in the hotel sector in Zimbabwe has become one of the most important aspects in Service Industry. The dearth of knowledge in service innovation has led to the current study. The study explored service innovation capabilities towards financial performance, customer retention and reputation of hotels. Three hypotheses are posited and in order to empirically test them, a sample data set of 150 was collected from the African Sun Hotel group (ASHG) and Rainbow Tourism group (RTG) of hotels in Zimbabwe. The findings indicated that service innovation positively influences business performances in hotels. The study contributes to practice by helping hotel managers to devise appropriate service innovation strategies and make informed decisions and it gives fresh contemporary evidence supported by reliable information that contributes to the body of knowledge and gives a leeway into further research.

ABSTRACT Although South Africa has a sophisticated financial sector characterised by well-developed infrastructure and technology, the economy remains primarily cash-based owing to the large informal sector. While inclusion in the mainstream financial marketplace has long been on the minds of policymakers, the policy guidelines of the prepaid card that could be adopted to accelerate financial inclusion is vague. For the banking sector, it is imperative that there is understanding of what are the implications of a deficient policy, so that it can be remedied, as this has a benefit that is two-fold: Increasing financial inclusion and at the same time creating business value. Consequently, the study investigates the influence of deficient policy guidelines on insufficient customer education, risk-based issuance by banks, inadequate customer education and sluggish product performance. This study uses a survey questionnaire for primary data collection and the gathered data is used to test the hypotheses quantitatively. Through SmartPLS statistical software - and by means of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) - the significance of the variables in this study is determined from a sample of 140 respondents who were employed by businesses issuing prepaid cards across South Africa. The findings reveal that four of the hypotheses are supported and two are rejected. In addition, the findings reveal that deficient policy guidelines are the key antecedents for consumer take-up intentions in terms of prepaid cards with it having the greatest impact on customer support initiatives. The research study has implications for both policy makers and the banking sector. Keywords Deficient policy guidelines; insufficient customer education; Sluggish product performance; inadequate customer support; Risk issuance banks.

The paper examined the extent of market orientation on business performance in the multinational service industries in Ghana. It applied the behavioral viewpoint of market orientation measurement using MKTOR scale as a base in eliciting information from eleven marketing managers through in - depth interview while one hundred and sixty-three marketing managers were also surveyed using structured questionnaires. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) statistical technique was used in analysing the data using Partial Least Square (PLS) software version 3.0. The findings revealed that, customer orientation and competitor orientation have significant positive relationships with business performance of the multinational service companies' activities whereas, inter-functional coordination did not have any influence on business performance. The study contributes to the negligible studies on market orientation measurement as a uni-dimensional construct as well as the limited studies on marketing managers as drivers of market oriented activities in the Sub-Saharan African countries.

The impact of Ghana's national culture on its latent entrepreneurial activities are in frequently studied on - as compare to social, economic and financial influences. The current studyexamined the impact of Ghana's national culture on its latent entrepreneurs amongSmall and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) from the view point of Social Rule System theory. The study employeda simple random sampling technique ineliciting251 respondents from the Business city of Kumasi in Ghana.It employedStructural Equation Modelling statistical technique (SEM) using Amos software version 22 in analysing the data. The results showed that, masculine and high power distance cultures in Ghana have significant positive effects on peoples' intention to become entrepreneurs. High uncertainty avoidance and collective cultures had positive and insignificant effects on latent entrepreneurs. Thestudy presents significant contribution to the existing academic literature on national culture and latent entrepreneurial activities. Italso brings additional step towards a fundamental means of empowering people into SMEs in any developing country. Recommendationsare also providedfor useful suggestionstogovernment and policy makers in Africa towards the improvement of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.

This study assessed the influence of brand awareness, brand association and product quality on brand loyalty and repurchase intention among male consumers of cosmetic brands in South Africa. It is also imperative to note that, despite the theoretical contributions made by many scholars on repurchase intention of various brands, they seem to be a paucity of studies that have investigated the influence of brand awareness, brand association and product quality on brand loyalty and repurchase intention. The study utilized a quantitative research design using a structured questionnaire. In addition, they study made use of a sample of male consumers in Gauteng province of South Africa. Four hypotheses were posited and to empirically test these hypotheses, a sample data set of 150 was used. The findings indicate that brand awarenesshas a positive and significant influence on brand loyalty, brand association has a positive and insignificant influence on brand loyalty, product quality has a positive and significant influence on brand loyalty and brand loyalty exerts a positive and significant influence on purchase intention. The empirical study provided fruitful implications to academicians by making a significant contribution to the brand management literature by systematically exploring the influence of brand awareness, brand association and product quality on brand loyalty and repurchase intention. This study therefore, stand to immensely contribute new knowledge to the existing body of brand management literature in Africa – a context that is often most neglected by some researchers in developing countries. Corresponding author: Eugine Tafadzwa Maziriri Email address for corresponding author: eugine.maziriri@wits.ac.za First submission received: 16th March 2017 Revised submission received: 25th May 2017 Accepted: 9th June 2017

Orientation: There is a need for the growing Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) verification industry to assess competencies and determine skills gaps for the management of the verification practitioners’ perceived job performance. Knowing which managerial competencies are important for different managerial functions is vital for developing and improving training and development programmes.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the managerial capabilities that are required of the B-BBEE verification practitioners, in order to improve their perceived job performance.Motivation for the study: The growing number of the B-BBEE verification practitioners calls for more focused training and development. Generating such a training and development programme demands empirical research into the relative importance of managerial competencies.Research approach, design and method: A quantitative design using the survey approach was adopted. A questionnaire was administered to a stratified sample of 87 B-BBEE verification practitioners. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 22.0) and Smart Partial Least Squares software.Main findings: The results of the correlation analysis revealed that there were strong and positive associations between technical skills, interpersonal skills, compliance to standards and ethics, managerial skills and perceived job performance. Results of the regression analysis showed that managerial skills, compliance to standards and ethics and interpersonal skills were statistically significant in predicting perceived job performance. However, technical skills were insignificant in predicting perceived job performance.Practical/managerial implications: The study has shown that the B-BBEE verification industry, insofar as the technical skills of the practitioners are concerned, does have suitably qualified staff with the requisite educational qualifications. At the same time, from the present study the industry can now determine the priority skills.Contribution: The study identified the needed skills as managerial skills, standards and ethics and interpersonal skills, in that order. The verification agencies will now be in a better position to know where they should focus their training and development.Keywords: Managerial competencies; Job performance; Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of brand communication, brand image and brand trust as potential antecedents of brand loyalty in a sample of consumers in Gauteng Province of South Africa. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 151 respondents, an 89 per cent response rate, using anonymously completed questionnaires. Research scales were operationalized on the basis of previous work. Data were collected from 151 respondents, an 89 per cent response rate, using anonymously completed questionnaires. Research scales were operationalized on the basis of previous work. Proper modifications were made in order to fit the current research context and purpose. “Brand communication” measure used six-item scales while “Brand image” used eight-item scale measure. “Brand trust” and “brand loyalty” used a four-item scale measure. All the measurement items were measured on a five point Likert-type scales that was anchored by 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree to express the degree of agreement. Findings – The four posited hypotheses were empirically tested. The results supported all the hypotheses in a significant way except one (H2). Important to note about the study findings is the fact that brand communication has a stronger effects on brand image than on brand trust. However, brand image strongly influences brand trust. Notably too, the relationship between brand trust and brand loyalty is robust. This finding indicates that brand communication can have a strong influence on brand trust and brand loyalty via brand image. Perhaps this could be due to the fact that customers are likely to trust and be more loyal to brands with good image and reputation. Research limitations/implications – Despite the usefulness of this study aforementioned, the research has its limitations. Most significantly, the sample size was small and limited to Gauteng Province of South Africa. The study can be strengthened by increasing the sample size and including participants in other geographical areas. Future studies can also attempt to compare the perceptions of customers on the current study antecedents of brand loyalty from non-durable/FMCG to other product/service categories groups. Practical implications – The findings of this empirical study are expected to have to provide fruitful implications to both practitioners and academicians. On the academic side, this study makes a significant contribution to the brand management literature by systematically exploring the impact of brand communication on brand image, brand trust and brand loyalty in South Africa. On the practitioners’ side, this study therefore submits that marketers ought to pay attention to both brand communication and brand image in order to build customer brand trust. By increasing the perceived level of brand image through effective brand communication, marketers will be able gain customer brand trust. Eventually, the customers will become loyal to a brand they perceive to trustworthy. In this regard, from a policy perspective, it is recommended that managers and business strategists ought to develop policies and strategies aimed at winning customers brand loyal or increasing customers’ brand trust since such an endeavour is likely to lead to customer retention and marketing cost reduction. There is growing evidence in the extent literature indication that loyal customers are likely to share their experience with brands with their peers through “word of mouth” (WOM) (Bennetta et al., 2005; Zehir et al., 2011; Russell-Bennett et al., 2013). At the same time, the society will tend to benefit from such information shared by their peers based on their brand experience. Originality/value – Overall, the current study findings provide tentative support to the proposition that brand communication, brand image and brand trust should be recognized as significant antecedents for gaining and sustaining brand loyalty in South Africa. This study therefore, stand to immensely contribute new knowledge to the existing body of brand management literature in Africa – a context that is often most neglected by some researchers in developing countries.

Fashion in Africa has undergone a tremendous transformation process due to an increase in international trade. As a result, African consumerism has surfaced. Through being part of the global community, the youth in Africa capitalizes on the wide variety of fashions available, and they view fashion as a medium for expressing their identity. More specifically, in South Africa, fashion is used as the ideal vehicle for the youth to re-map previously fixed racial identities. Although a number of studies have explored this subject in an array of contexts, limited research has focused on factors that drive fashion adoption among the youth in Johannesburg. In view of this identified research gap, the present study aims to investigate the impact of fashion consciousness, the need for uniqueness, interpersonal influence, individualism/collectivism, and masculinity/femininity on fashion adoption. A Field study was conducted in Johannesburg and research data were collected from 400 respondents aged between 18 to 29 years. Linear regression analysis was performed to explore the relationship between the quantitative outcome variable and the predictor variables of the study by use of the SPSS 22 and the AMOS 22 software program. The results reveal that two of the five variables positively influence fashion adoption, while individualism/collectivism has an inverse relationship with fashion adoption. The significance of gaining insight into such factors, draw from the rich political history of South Africa and how the youth’s conflicting identities may influence the modern concept of adopting global fashion trends.

The objectives of the study were to explore the management characteristics that are related to organisational entrepreneurship in not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) in Gauteng, South Africa as well as the relationship between organisational entrepreneurship and the organisational performance. The methodology involved a quantitative approach of collecting and analysing research data. A field study was conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa whereby research data were collected from 257 NPO managers from voluntary organizations. Using the SPSS 22 and the AMOS 22 software program, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed to analyze the research data. The study noted implications for NPO management teams, including the renovation of business model structures to incorporate continuous learning and constructive risk-taking in order to take advantage of the performance benefits derived from organisational entrepreneurship. The study also recommends further research into potential citizenship bodies for NPO management teams to foster commitment to their occupation in the non-profit sector. The research makes a significant contribution by providing a framework in which management’s commitment to NPOs can be measured and analysed.

While a remarkable increase in research focusing customer purchase intentions in the retailing industry is noticeable, there is a dearth of studies that have investigated the influence of hypermarket size on customer perceived hypermarket reputation, trust in hypermarket and customer willingness to purchase in the African retailing context. This study used a sample 151 consumers in the Vanderbijlpark town in South Africa to examine these relationships. The results indicate that the proposed five hypotheses are positively supported in a significant way. A discussion of the academic and managerial implications of the results is provided and future research directions are suggested.