Social media influencers have become a more effective modern marketing approach used by businesses to influence consumers' intention and attitude. This study explores this influence by involving several factors of influencer’s characteristics on both consumers’ attitude and intention. Also, a moderation role of vloggers as a new emerging marketing tool is also examined in this research. To conduct this research and achieve its key objective, the study uses a quantitative research method to collect data from TikTok users which has also become a more worldwide favorable web device for short videos. PLS-SEM method is conducted in the phase of analysis and the results show a significant influence of the hypothesized research model except the influence of source relatability on consumer attitude and the moderating role of vloggers on consumer intention. The research findings provided unsurprisingly implications and supported the existing related literature in this field but contribute to cover the research knowledge gap through the integrated new model including numerous variables that have not been examined previously together in a unique framework.

As a result of the advanced technological development, the businesses operations have been involved within modern marketing activities to promote their products and services. This study highlights the role of key various digital marketing channels. The study addressed the role of digital marketing channels by using some applications (such as online advertising, social media, emails marketing, and websites search engine) to be examined on the consumer buying decisions with a mediating effect of the eWOM. A quantitative research approach was used to achieve study objectives and examine the hypothesized research framework by using a customized survey questionnaire in the retailing sector. A total of 255 valid responses were considered for further analysis by using SmartPLS3 software to conduct the key analyses. The results revealed the significant effect and role of all digital marketing channels on the consumers buying decisions, with the moderated role of the eWOM on the effect of digital marketing channels on consumer buying decisions. The study offers additional contributions to the existing literature and supports the assumptions to provide a better grasp about the study topic.

Recent studies on e-feedback have answered many questions concerning the effectiveness of e-feedback in educational and non-educational sectors. They stated clearly that e-feedback is efficient and practical. From both teachers’ and students’ perspectives, e-feedback has influenced their learning and teaching environment effectively. It is a good technique to personalize the learning strategies. Based on the previous assumption, this study aims at exploring the effectiveness of e-feedback in an educational environment taking into consideration the TAM model and the external factors of trustworthiness and enjoyment. The data is collected by an online questionnaire that was distributed among a group of students. Facilitating communication among teachers and students. It helps in replacing the traditional feedback and assess the learning environment during the pandemic periods. The two constructs of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness affect positively the intention to use the e-feedback and initiates this type of feedback as a prominent procedure to be used frequently in the learning environment. In addition, the perceived enjoyment and perceived trustworthiness increase the chance of using e-feedback. Recently, e-feedback is highly dominant among online platform users.

This analysis integrates the “technology acceptance model (TAM)” with the “use of gratifications theory (U&G)” to develop an embedded model that predicts the use and satisfaction of emotional icons called stickers through WhatsApp. The explanation for combining these two theories is that U&G offers accurate information and a thorough knowledge of use, while TAM theory has been firmly established in several technical implementations. A newly developed hybrid analysis procedure has been applied within this research. Using an artificial neural network (ANN), and the structural equation model (SEM) have been combined. The research also uses the importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) to present each factor’s performance as well as importance. The ANN and IPMA research have both indicated that for sticker use intention, a highly essential predictor is Socialization. An online questionnaire survey was developed to assess the recommended model. The intention to use stickers was significantly affected by “Socialization, Self Presentation, Enjoyment, Novelty, Unique Function, Perceived Ease of Use, and Perceived Usefulness”. The research's main achievement is the convergence of two separate theories into a single conceptualization to accurately calculate the TAM components when it comes to the usage of stickers in WhatsApp. Theoretically, the recommended model provides enough insight for aspects which affect the intention to use stickers with relevance to the socialization’s factors considering interpersonal aspects. Practically, the higher education decision-makers along with professionals would extract variables that are important as compared to others and policies would be developed accordingly. The deep ANN model competence has been analyzed within the research to decide upon the non-linear associations between variables of the theoretical model, methodologically.

The objective of this study is to determine the relationship of digital marketing as a wide emerging marketing tool, in developing public relation values for modern business in the globalized competitive era of mature markets. For this study, the cross-sectional data were collected by 450 respondents including the people as customers, and the managerial staff of the different well-reputed organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The findings of this study highlight that there is a clear and strong relationship between digital marketing in developing public relations values, and modern businesses need this technique to develop equity and provide a distinct message about the vision and mission of the organization in the target market. The significance of this study is it addresses the theoretical gap in the literature, and the practical gap in business practices by providing the insight to utilize digital marketing not only for the promotion of products and services but could be used to promote public relation values.

Word of Mouth also works as a primary determinant of people's positive attitude towards online shopping and retailers. Notably, people are more likely to spend online shopping if they trust online retailers. This study also focuses on the online retail industry in the United Arab Emirates. The Item Response Theory primarily supports the conceptual model of the current research. We employed a cross-sectional design and selected a sample of n= 304 online consumers. Results revealed that the relationships between Positive Word of Mouth, Brand Image, and Causal Attributions are strongly validated (p> 0.000). Besides, the relationships between. Product Quality, Brand Image, and Causal Attributions are also affirmed with the path value at 1.014 and significance value at p> 0.000. Moreover, we also found a potentially significant relationship between Positive Word of Mouth and Product Quality p> 0.000). We also affirmed that the relationship between Brand Image and Causal Attribution is also validated with the significance values at p> 0.000. Lastly, the proposed relationships between we proposed a significant relationship are also validated (p> 0.000). Thus, we conclude that, today, when competition is increasing day by day, it is crucial to examine the consumer psychology that may highlight our several factors as done by the Item Response Theory. Further, we have discussed the study limitations and contributions accordingly.

The loyalty of the customers is very important for the survival of the organizations. Therefore, the prime objective of the present study was to examine the effect of sensory factors namely visual factors, auditory factors, and touch factors on customer satisfaction and loyalty. For this purpose, data were collected from the respondents of restaurants in the UAE in the form of survey questionnaires. A convenience sampling technique was adopted for this purpose. The usable response rate from the data collected was 75.78%. For the analysis of the data gathered PLS-SEM was used for which smart PLS was used as the tool to examine the data. The findings of the study revealed that visual factors play a very important role in developing customer satisfaction and loyalty. The same was the findings regarding the positive role of the other two sensory factors. Moreover, the mediating role of customer satisfaction was also confirmed in the present study. The gaps filled by the study are mentioned and discussed. These results can be used by academicians and policymakers as well.

Transforming from digitalization to digitization brings many new technologies to restructure our life and life routines. In today’s competitive world, internet infrastructures and banking industries are counted as integral components for online shopping and commercial transactions. As because, disclosure of online transactions has been allowed through internet media, that would enhance the availability of electronic payment systems. Further, this study aims to explore and investigate the relationship and impact of electronic payment methods on the sales growth with the mediating role of online shopping by targeting UAE banking Industry. This study followed the quantitative approach and a correlational design. The empirical data were collected through a survey designed on a 5-point Likert scale, 217 valid questionnaires were sent to all participants (i.e., top managers, middle managers and technicians) via emails. Different statistical analyses were performed in this study. The results of the study showed high internal consistency among the study variables as Cronbach’s Alpha values ranged from .873 to .855. Further, this study highlighted the significant relationship and direct impact between online shopping and sales growth. Meanwhile, indirect impact was confirmed by the results between online shopping and sales growth through e-payment. In this regard, results can help to identify the impact of e-payment on sales growth through online shopping and also provide advantage for this and many other similar organizational studies.

Social media is remarkably growing and shaping not only the lives of individuals but also the business domain by creating new paradigms of business. This study examines the interplay among some selected predicting organizational variables and the use of what are called Social Media Business Models (SMBMs). Furthermore, the study investigates the mediating role of e-readiness on the relationships among these organizational factors and the use of SMBMs. The study is a quantitative, descriptive and analytical study. Using a self-administered survey, primary data were collected from 150 employees from the Jordanian SMEs. Smart PLS 3 software was employed to validate the proposed study model using a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The findings confirmed that compatibility, innovativeness, cultural and management support, and e-readiness have a statistically significant direct impact on the use of SMBMs. Finally, the study confirms that e-readiness mediates the relationship between compatibility and innovativeness as predicting variables and the use of SMBMs.

The Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) sector provides different connectivity solutions in urban areas. Unfortunately, market players make little effort to ensure connectivity to underserved markets. The analysis of the existing ICT market revealed the possibility of a solution to this problem by utilizing the latest advances in satellite communication. It is recognized that connectivity through satellites is generally not a popular option in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), although there are still some underserved markets in the UAE that require better connectivity solutions. In this study, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been used to assess users’ acceptance in the UAE market to introduce NGSO satellite broadband connectivity. We consider the main two independent variables of the model: perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU). Additional two variables had been proposed which significantly affect UAE consumers’ intention to use satellite broadband which are: innovativeness (INN) and satisfaction with current services (SAT). The study results support that PU, PEU, and INN will positively influence the UAE population’s intention to use the service. The hypothesis that PEU will positively affect PU was also supported. The hypothesis that SAT will negatively influence the UAE population’s intention to the service was not supported. Additionally, the study also shows that UAE consumers’ intention to use satellite broadband is unrelated to gender or age group. A set of recommendations were drawn to support the smooth introduction of NGSO satellite broadband service in the UAE.