The study provides empirical evidence on whether social media factors influence the counterfeit purchase intentions of consumers or not. The present study assumes that social media largely influences consumers' attitudes towards counterfeit products and motivates them to visit counterfeit markets intentionally. The study used primary data collected from counterfeit markets of Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai. A two-part structured questionnaire consisting of demographic profiles and social media determinants was circulated among the consumers who were actually visited the counterfeit markets between February-March 2025. The study got a total of 406 valid responses, and subsequently, the collected data were analysed through PLS-SEM. The study's findings indicate that social media platform and user-generated content positively influence consumer purchase intention. However, the study found no significant relationship between social media word of mouth and purchase intention. The study also checked for the mediation effect of attitude, showing that attitude mediates the relationship between social media determinants and consumers' purchase intention towards counterfeit products.

PurposeThe study provides empirical evidence on whether product and risk factors influence consumers' attitudes and purchase intentions towards counterfeit consumption. Although counterfeit consumption has been widely examined, prior research remains fragmented, with limited unified models integrating both product-related and risk-related determinants. Further, India remains under-examined despite being one of the fastest-growing counterfeit markets globally, and prior findings on risk determinants remain inconsistent and inconclusive.Design/methodology/approachThe study used primary data collected from different counterfeit markets in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. To obtain consumer responses, a two-part structured questionnaire comprising demographic profiles and statements related to the product and risk was circulated. The study received 406 responses from consumers of the counterfeit market. The data were analysed using PLS-SEM.FindingsThe findings of the study indicate that product appearance and perceived brand image positively influence consumers' attitudes towards counterfeit products. At the same time, among risk factors, social risk is the only factor that influences consumers' attitudes towards counterfeit products. The study also examined the mediating effect of attitude, and the results indicate that attitude mediates the relationships among product appearance, perceived brand image, social risk and consumers' purchase intention towards counterfeit products.Research limitations/implicationsThe study used a cross-sectional research design to collect data. The focus of the current study has only been on investigating the issue of counterfeiting from the consumers' point of view, i.e. the demand side only.Practical implicationsThe research provides an in-depth understanding of Indian consumers' attitudes towards counterfeits. The research findings can be used to formulate strategies for practitioners and policymakers to help eradicate, or at the very least curb, counterfeiting activities by emphasizing elements like social consequences, risk and brand image.Originality/valueThe study highlights the influence of product and risk factors on consumers' attitudes towards counterfeit consumption, an area that has not been extensively analysed. Attitude is used as a mediator to study the relationship between dependent and independent variables.

In the pursuit of sustainable waste management, waste reduction and reuse remain paramount, requiring proactive interventions well before products reach their end-of-life stage. However, despite the potential of digital innovations, the adoption of e-waste recycling mobile applications remains a challenge, particularly in emerging economies like India. This is a study that analyses psychological and functional enablers for adoption of e-waste recycling applications among Indian households who already engage in e-waste recycling. This research uses Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework to study how functional enablers (Ease of Use, Perceived Value, Perceived Trust & Security) and psychological enablers (Positive social influence, Cultural Fit) affect attitudes towards the behaviour, intention to recycle and the actual recycling behaviour. Data were collected through a survey of 271 respondents through PLS SEM. Results indicated that all significant predictors were Positive Social Influence, Perceived Trust & Security, Cultural Fit, and Perceived Value, and ease of use was not a significant predictor. In addition, attitude and perceived behavioral control have strong effect on recycling intention which, in turns, is positively related to actual recycling behavior. Subjective norms, however, did not significantly affect recycling intention: in this case, pressure to conform from the social environment does not appear to be a strong influence compared to personal motivation, or how easy it is to recycle. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are offered to assist in increasing e-waste recycling application adoption by improving the participatory ecosystem through community driven awareness campaigns, increased security and financial incentives designed to increase adoption. In order to address these enablers, specifically targeted interventions can be designed to promote household engagement thereby improving e-waste recycling in India.

This study presents a hybrid review of influencer marketing on social media by integrating bibliometric analysis with the theory–context–characteristics–methodology (TCCM) framework to map intellectual structures and propose future research directions. A total of 671 articles published between February 2011 and 2024 were retrieved from the Scopus database (searched on 26 February 2024). Using VOSviewer software, performance and network analyses identified (a) influential documents, authors, sources and countries; (b) keyword co-occurrence and co-citation mapping revealed four dominant thematic clusters; and (c) the TCCM-based synthesis highlighted an over-reliance on cross-sectional survey designs and Western fashion/beauty contexts. Theoretical studies lack diversification, while emerging attention is being given to virtual/AI influencers, along with the need for ethical regulation. Theoretically, the study advances an interdisciplinary perspective by integrating insights from marketing, communication, human–computer interaction and technology, reframing influencer marketing as a socio-technical phenomenon. Practically, it offers a structured roadmap for brands, policymakers and researchers to design transparent and contextually relevant influencer strategies. The primary limitation lies in the reliance on a single database (Scopus) and the exclusion of non-English publications.

The patent system provides exclusive rights to inventors as an incentive for innovation and the progress of science. However, intellectual property laws can be complex and vary between different countries and regions, so it's essential for inventors, universities, research institutes, and businesses to understand the laws applicable in their respective jurisdictions to properly protect their intellectual assets. Advances in biotechnology have raised complex questions regarding what can be patented and what cannot be patented as it involves the ethical, social, and legal implications of patenting inventions related to living organisms, genes, and genetic modifications. This work presents a process model to manage the intellectual property in universities and research institutes. This process model creates capabilities to make the Technology Transfer Offices from universities and research institutes more proactive and dynamic and make this office capable of assessing technologies that are forwarded to the office and define strategies for the protection and commercialize of the technologies. All sectors of the economy, and in particular the biorefineries sector, can benefit from the various technologies created (and protected by intellectual property) within universities, research institutes, and companies to transform their processes, which can generate greater gains productivity or improve the efficiency of company processes, or even product characteristics and, above all, to transform a creation into innovation and generate benefits to society.

The present study seeks to identify the current research trends and streamline future research opportunities in masstige marketing by conducting a bibliometric analysis of available literature from Scopus and the Web of science databases between 2001 and 2022. The study analyses 111 articles from the database of Scopus and the Web of Science published between 2001 and 2022, using bibliometric analysis, performance and science mapping analysis. The study used biblioshiny as a tool to conduct the bibliometric analysis of the extracted data. The research findings revealed that the publication of articles has increased between 2001 and 2022. A total of 93.3% of authors contributed one article, 5.5% of authors contributed two articles, 0.8 % of authors contributed three articles, and only 0.4 % of authors contributed seven articles. Countries like the USA, UK, India, Portugal, France and China have found to be the maximum contributors towards masstige. Further, the Bradford’s law applied in the study has revealed the basic sources of studies on masstige.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has emerged as the biggest threat to human life. It has changed the entire lifestyle of human beings concerning their emotional stability and cognitive development. Enjoyment is one of the emotions and acts as a positive stimulus that a consumer used to feel and seeks for a balanced life. Since the nationwide lockdown was implemented on March 25, 2020, people have turned restless about how to enjoy themselves at home, as all of their options of going out were being shattered. It was the time when continuous innovations in the form of digital content through over-the-top (OTT) platforms flourished and provided an affordable and diversified entertainment source to consumers. These OTT services help consumers to view the contents via the Internet directly. Furthermore, it has drastically changed people’s preferences toward diversified content based on their choices. This study aims to explore the various determinants affecting consumer satisfaction toward the OTT platforms amid COVID-19 crisis in India. The study’s main findings revealed that among the demographic variables, age group of the consumer largely influences their satisfaction toward OTT platforms. Moreover, work from home, affordability, convenience, and content quality are the significant determinants affecting consumer satisfaction levels toward OTT platforms. The study is relevant to the current marketing scenario, as it provides useful insights for the content developers of the major OTT platforms such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Voot, and many others to enhance the consumer satisfaction in the terms of digital content consumption.

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement was negotiated during Uruguay round and GATT was replaced by WTO. All the signatory countries had to abide to the norms of the agreement. They were asked to modify their national IP laws as per the requirement. India too incorporated the required changes and finally, Indian patent act became TRIPs compliant in 2005. Although, it was claimed that India has designed its action in a most exhaustive form still, Indian companies face lot of litigation suits concerning infringement of patented products. Issues were raised at international forums stating that Indian IP laws are not fully TRIPs compliant and lot of flexibilities are given for the domestic firms which creates an unequal platform for trade. In order to reach to the substantial-conclusion on the impact of TRIPs implementation on the functioning of Indian pharmaceutical industry (IPI) and the impact it may carry with respect to the socio-economic life of the citizens of India. The study considered some of the court cases related to the infringement of patents that were raised in Indian court by MNC’s along with their decision. Through these cases and the judgements thereafter it was found out that Indian patent act is well in place and judiciary plays an important role in monitoring its effective implementation.

The current study offers a conceptual framework for how consumer attitude for buying the counterfeit goods may mediates the relationship between consumer perceptions and their buying intentions to acquire the counterfeit goods in India. A hypothetical model is being proposed and validated through survey questionnaire. An overall sample size of 960 respondents were being selected from the different counterfeit markets of Delhi (India). To capture the true behavior of shoppers in the retail environment, face-to-face interviews were conducted utilizing the mall-intercept approach. The mediation model is validated through SPSS and PROCESS macro. According to the results, consumers' view of buying counterfeit goods has a favorable impact on their purchase intentions, and this effect is entirely mediated by customers' perception of buying counterfeit goods in India. This study is admissible to the present marketing environment because it offers brand makers and marketers insightful information that they can use to create strategies and regulations that will effectively sway customers' decisions to buy counterfeit goods in India.

The commercialization of technology is an important process for generating innovation in a society, because, when a technology is developed and patented, it needs to be transferred to be implemented and become useful to the community, which often does not occur, because, technology transfer is not guaranteed, as well as its technology offering sub-process. Thus, the study issue is the gap between technology development, technology transfer, and more specifically the offer of technology to potential customers. Seeking to identify methods and tools to offer technology and systematically develop a robust guideline to be followed for offering technologies from Technology Transfer Offices (TTO), uniting the main methods found. Through the systematic literature review, information from several authors who study or correlate their studies with the proposed theme, seeks to condense this information and complement a practical solution developed through Design Science Research. That said, the main facilitators of technology offer and transfer were identified from a solid and current literature review, generating an ideal foundation for the development of a systemic artifact that seeks to serve as a robust guideline to be followed for the provision of technologies from of TTO. So that the technology offer process of the technology transfer offices of the various Science and Technology Institutes is viable and efficient, seeking greater effectiveness and commitment of new technologies as innovation for the social body as a whole.

Objective of the Study: To analyze the role of social capital in developing sustainable micro-entrepreneurship among rural women. In addition, it also interprets the conceptual understanding of social capital, micro-entrepreneurship development, and the determinants that promote micro-entrepreneurship have been discussed. Relevance/Originality: There are numerous ways to achieve entrepreneurship, but social capital is one way to develop entrepreneurship. Social capital consists of mutual trust, understanding, reciprocity, social relation, collective actions, etc., among its group members. Methodology/Approach: This article presents a conceptual, theoretical framework by scrutinizing the archive literature to comprehend social capital's role in developing sustainable micro-entrepreneurship. Three forms of social capital, namely Self Help Group, SHG federation, and NGO, have been considered for this study. These social capitals then correlate with each of the indicators of micro-entrepreneurship identified and examined the role of social capital in developing sustainable micro-entrepreneurship among rural women. Main Results: Three forms of social capital such as SHG, SHG federation, and NGO that have been taken for this study, contributes to sustainable micro-entrepreneurship in various ways, i.e. SHG and SHG federation help in achieving social factors and financial inclusion, whereas NGOs provide entrepreneurial training and suitable business network for the women-owned enterprises. Theoretical/Methodological contributions: This study contributes to developing a theoretical framework by analyzing the pieces of literature that contribute to sustainable micro-entrepreneurship development through social capital. Social/management contributions: Social capital promotes sustainable micro-entrepreneurship, which leads to the employment generation, generates regular sources of income, addresses multiple social and economic issues, and promotes a better means of livelihood for rural women.

PurposePrincipally, this study aims to test a conceptual framework of the moderating influence of fear of COVID-19 on the following hypothesized relationships (1) quality of work life and bankers' commitment, (2) the mediating spillover effect of job satisfaction in the quality of work life (QWL) and affective commitment relationship.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative cross-sectional research design is adopted on 318 bankers chosen from four prominent Indian cities. The mediation model is tested through SPSS, PROCESS macro, and AMOS. Conditional process modeling is also administered to test the moderating effect of fear of COVID-19.FindingsThe results suggest that the positive effect of QWL on commitment is completely mediated through job satisfaction. Further, the fear induced by COVID-19 negatively moderated the positive direct relation of QWL with commitment and the positive mediating spillover effect of job satisfaction.Originality/valueThe present research is virtually the first to introduce fear of COVID-19 as a psychological construct, to test a moderated mediation model for implications to organizational behavior and human psychology theory and practice. In coalescence of the need satisfaction, spillover, and COR theories, the authors postulate that as spillover between the domains of an individual's life (work, social, financial, personal, and overall life satisfaction) occurs, such effect is calibrated (augmented or attenuated) by the degree of risk/threat/depletion of their resources in the quest for attaining higher valued resources (overall life satisfaction). The moderated mediation mechanism is suggested for replication in other avenues for greater generalizability.

The Indian textile and apparel industry is one of the pioneers in the world with an enormous raw material and manufacturing base. Globalization has brought radical changes for India in terms of increased FDI, trade, and commerce. However, it has also opened up the gates for the counterfeiters to use India's low-cost manufacturing base for the production and distribution of counterfeit apparels. The presence of counterfeiting in textiles and apparel industry has become a serious concern for genuine brand manufacturers, policy makers, and for the government. Counterfeiting has become a problem of immense magnitude. The present study explored the counterfeit markets of Chandigarh in order to study the counterfeit consumption behaviour among consumers and also tried to identify the key demographic determinants influencing consumers' buying intentions. The results confirmed that income and age of the consumers played a significant role in consumers' buying intentions for purchasing counterfeit products, while marital status was found to be insignificant. Finally, the study provided anti-counterfeiting measures and strategies to combat counterfeiting in the Indian apparel industry.

In this era of stiff competition where products are usually sold because of their brand identity but these luxury brands are facing a major menace from counterfeit brands. Luxury brand owners used to spend millions to effectively attract the customers toward their renowned brands but brand counterfeiting which has become the number one crime of the 21st century is hurting the integrity of these brands and thus disintegrating the sales of the authentic product. This paper seeks to identify the scale with which counterfeiting is growing, the key reasons for its growth and the challenges that it poses for brand-customer relationships.

Economic implications of intellectual property rights protection have always been a matter of debate among policy makers. It is assumed that FDI inflow in any nation depends upon the level of protection given to the creation of intellectual capital. Studies conducted on developed nations built strong link between IPR protection and foreign direct investment. The debate centred on whether these results can be reciprocated for developing countries. This study adds new dimensions to the existing literature by analysing the impact of IPR protection on FDI inflow in BRICS nations with the help of country specific data for the period of 2000-2015. FDI inflow is considered as dependent variable and charges of IP use, patent granted, patent filed by residents, non-residents and R&D expenditure as the percentage of GDP as an independent variable and proxy to IPR protection. The empirical results suggest that charges of IP use, total patent granted and patent filed by non-residents affects FDI inflow. Further study concludes that stronger IPR protection in developing countries will infuse foreign direct investment in the technology oriented knowledge sectors where probability of loss due to imitation is high.