The evolution of online shopping started when big players like Amazon began selling all types of merchandise. Customers understood the ease of shopping online, so the trend grew even stronger. It is therefore essential to conduct a study of online shopping usage and the perception of customers during COVID-19, especially in the grocery sector. In this study, approximately 28 respondents from 50 specifically targeted groups were surveyed, and data collection was undertaken through a structured questionnaire. The regression method was conducted to analyze the collected data. Additionally, 5 interviews were conducted to validate and support the findings. Customers definitely preferred online grocery shopping (OGS) services during COVID-19 due to safety, convenience, and government restrictions. The influential factors were very important in this case, like delivery times, good discounts, and the quality of products. Secondly, OGS services were more stable and alert during the pandemic situation, following the government's rules and restrictions. Customers were extremely satisfied with the safety precautions during COVID-19, the assistance provided through helplines for support, and the increased customer reach to make groceries as accessible as other reputable online departments.

The authors adopt the resource-based view (RBV) and information processing theory to discover the problems that impact the capital structure of financial institutions in the UK. Five firm-level explanatory variables (profitability, size, tangibility, age, and growth) were selected. The relevant capital structure measure was then regressed against the dependent variable leverage (debt-to-equity ratio). Consequently, correlation and multivariate regressions are applied to firm financial data from the selected financial institutions during the fiscal years 2011–2022. The primary conclusions of the study indicate that important information resources management variables for financial institutions in the UK are profitability and size. While the two other factors, profitability and growth, exhibit negative associations with capital structure, the remaining four variables, tangibility, size, age, and profitability, did not. The study reveals that optimal determinants of information resources management enhance financial performance in the case of top UK banks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most devastating public health crisis in the recent decade and vaccination is anticipated as the means to terminate the pandemic. People's views and feelings over COVID-19 vaccines determine the success of vaccination. This study was set to investigate sentiments and common topics about COVID-19 vaccines by machine learning sentiment and topic analyses with natural language processing on massive tweets data. Findings revealed that concern on COVID-19 vaccine grew alongside the introduction and start of vaccination programs. Overall positive sentiments and emotions were greater than negative ones. Common topics include vaccine development for progression, effectiveness, safety, availability, sharing of vaccines received, and updates on pandemics and government policies. Outcomes suggested the current atmosphere and its focus over the COVID-19 vaccine issue for the public health sector and policymakers for better decision-making. Evaluations on analytical methods were performed additionally.

'Hearables' have become important in the aging population. This study investigates whether smart technologies help middle-aged and elderly people accept hearing aid devices in smart cities of China. The authors adopt the PLS-SEM framework to analyze the factors that affect behavioral intention towards adopting hearing aids in smart cities. In order to avoid common method bias, Harman's single factor method is also carried out to make sure the instrument does not introduce a bias. The findings suggest that perceived playfulness and perceived usefulness are principal determinants of hearing aids adoption. In contrast, perceived ease of use, a factor always stressed in literature, does not matter significantly. The results reveal that smart technologies enable patients to access professional services and instructions playfully, which reduces obstacles to adopt hearing aids. This study provides novel insights for policymakers and manufacturers to expand hearing aid adoption by facilitating smart infrastructure and technologies.

This research studies the motivation of customers to choose the QR code as a payment tool by developing an integrated model based on UTAUT 424 valid responses were collected from diversified socio-economic backgrounds to validate the proposed framework. Compared with the original UTAUT model, the new one integrates ‘perceived security’, ‘perceived benefits’ and excludes ‘social influence’ to provide more comprehensive and consistent guidance. PLS-SEM technique was performed as in the data analysis process using SmartPLS. Our study concluded that seven of nine hypotheses are supported by the use of PLS-SEM technique. Customers' intention (R2=0.87) to use QR code as the payment tool is jointly contributed by their attitude, perceived usefulness, and subjective norms toward using QR code as the payment method. The formation of customers' attitudes (R2=0.79) towards using QR code is affected by their perceived usefulness, perceived benefits, and subjective norms. Discussion and strategies for the third parties of QR payment providers and future research directions are also presented.

This study investigates the causes impacting the consumers' intention of the premium music streaming services' subscription in China. An integrated model called the Theory of Streaming Service Acceptance (TSSA) is proposed to explain and predict premium music streaming service subscription behaviors. The TSSA consists of four constructs: attitude, descriptive norm, injunctive norm and perceived behavioral control. The research data was collected in the form of an online survey in China with 120 respondents. Then, interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data from 20 participants. An explanatory sequential mixed method was implemented and the PLS-SEM technique was used to analyze the survey data. The results showed that all constructs in modified research mode, including attitude, injunctive norm and perceived behavioral control except descriptive norm, are indicative predictors for a person’s intention toward premium music streaming services’ subscription. Significant practical inspirations from the perspective of music streaming services providers are also summarized.