Browsing by Author "Eranda, B. A. N."

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Qualitative Research Inquiry to Explore the Corporate Leaders in the Time of COVID-19
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya., 2021) Eranda, B. A. N.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has influenced the business organizations’ performance and behavior in numerous ways. Based on the pressing need to respond to this pandemic researchers have to play a significant role in uncovering the possibilities for business organizations to adapt to this uncertain situation. Therefore, it is important to pay attention on the corporate managers’ and entrepreneurs’ contextualized experiences and their meanings attributed to COVID-19 in order to mitigate failures and to learn to be sustained. This requires qualitative research which can be helpful to capturing the deeper understanding of lived realities of the corporate leaders who are affected by the pandemic. The qualitative researchers can adopt five types of approaches including narrative inquiry, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study to uncover these lived experiences of corporate respondents and to make sense of those experiences for the benefit of various stakeholders. Each of these five approaches to qualitative inquiry can be utilized for researching different facets of the corporate leaders at the time of pandemic. The in-person interactions need for qualitative inquiry to look into the corporate leaders’ lives is challenged by the social distancing generated by the new normal behavior. However, the evolving nature of the modern technology has ended this challenge with its novel initiatives.
Role of Augmented Reality Applications in Spreading Brand Related Electronic Word of Mouth: A Conceptual Model
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies University of Kelaniya., 2024-11-01) De Mel, W. D. H.; Samarasinghe, G. D.; Eranda, B. A. N.
With its unparalleled ability to enhance the actual world with virtual annotations, augmented reality has emerged as a cutting-edge interactive technology. The rapid evolvement of this technology has transformed consumers’ shopping experience with many brands successfully having integrated augment reality into e-commerce. In fashion retail, augmented reality technology facilitates virtual try-ons which is a novel experience to customers. Nevertheless, limited research has examined what gratification of augmented reality drive consumers to use these applications and how they impact consumer-to-consumer interactions on social media platforms. This paper addresses this gap in literature, proposing a conceptual model to examine uses and gratifications of augmented reality applications and their impact on brand related electronic word of mouth. Drawing on Stimulus-Organism-Response model, the study integrates Uses and Gratifications Theory. In addition, to identify how consumers perceive the adoption of augmented reality, technology readiness is also integrated to the proposed model as a moderator. The paper also highlights the managerial implications pertaining to the empirical testing of the proposed model in the context of online fashion retail. Finally, the study proposes a research agenda for further study on this phenomenon of augmented reality applications in online fashion retail on consumer behavior.