Shikha Karamchandani

<p>The novel coronavirus, COVID-19 has affected the advertising industry in India. This study tries to gauge the purchase intention towards hygiene products during the ongoing pandemic with reference to smartphone advertising. The purpose of the study is to explore the features of smartphone advertisements like advertising value perception, context awareness value and brand attitude, pertaining to COVID-19 hygiene-related advertisement narratives. To serve the purpose, two-wave shortitudinal study was conducted at time T1, that is, lockdown period and T2, that is, unlock period in India with the help of non-probability snowball sampling. The total numbers of respondents at T1 were 311, while for T2 the total 160 respondents were contacted through online mode. At T1, the relationship between perceived advertising value and purchase intention was not established, which depicts the pandemic effect. At T2, the relationship between context awareness value, brand attitude and purchase intention was established. Further, at T1, the brand attitude did not show a mediating effect on purchase intention, but at T2, it was found to have a mediation effect on purchase intention. The study has important implications as ongoing pandemic has altered the way of living. This also has significantly impacted the advertising industry especially the hygiene products.</p>

<p>Smartphone use has increased over the last decade, with an estimate of 760 million users in 2021. Because of the widespread availability of internet connectivity on smartphones and pervasive versatility, the way consumers associate with brands has shifted. It is essential to understand the factors by which brand attitude is shaped and how brand attitude leads to purchase intention. With this, the current study examines the impact of perceived advertisement value and context awareness value on purchase intention with mediating role of brand attitude and moderating role of psychological contract violation. The study adopted a descriptive single cross-sectional research design with quota sampling. The data was collected via a structured questionnaire through Google forms from 200 millennials of the Gujarat State. The study establishes that the perceived value of advertising and context awareness value positively contributed to brand attitude, and brand attitude also positively associated to purchase intention. The study also highlights that brand attitude positively mediates the relationship between advertising, context awareness value, and purchase intention. Further, the novel contribution of the study is how psychological contract violation moderates the relationship between brand attitude and purchase intention.</p>