The circular economy strategy supports the transformation of the linear consumption model into a closed-production model to achieve economic sustainability, with the consumers’ acceptance of circular products being one of the major challenges. Further, one important aspect of product circularity remains unexplored, such as the consumers’ purchase intention of recycled circular goods. In this context, the present study proposes and tests a conceptual model on consumers acceptance of recycled goods through PLS Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), based on the data obtained from 312 respondents. Results indicate that the positive image of circular products is the most important driver of consumers’ acceptance, followed by the product perceived safety. This study provides an empirical foundation for the important role of consumers in circular economy business models through the examination of consumers’ acceptance of recycled goods.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to address two issues. First research goal is about analyzing differences in perceived quality in higher education (HE) between a private and a public university centre. Second, the research aims to analyze which are the key dimensions in perceived quality in HE from the students' standpoint. Design/methodology/approach -An analysis based on a modified SERVQUAL instrument was used to respond to the objectives put forward. Then, a mean comparison and covariance structure analysis approach was carried out to test the differences in perceived quality between the students from both centres, as well as the dimensions with higher influence in perceived quality. Findings -The results suggest that tangibility and empathy dimensions are the most influent variables on perceived quality in HE. Furthermore, some relevant significant differences were found between the public and the private centre.Research limitations/implications -The results give an opportunity to HE institutions' managers to develop enhancing quality strategies for their institutions, given that the present study relies on a sample of actual undergraduate university students. Originality/value -The present research provides with a comparative analysis between a private and a public centre, in order to assess which one offers higher educational and teaching quality from the students' viewpoint, as well as an approach to the main variables in HE perceived quality.

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Purpose – Private label brands of food products are an important component of many consumers’ purchases, as well as an integral element of the retail industry. The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of trust on food private label brands’ purchase intention and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – For this purpose, the authors propose and empirically test a conceptual model comprising variables such as price, familiarity and store image. A sample of 445 respondents was gathered, and the hypotheses were tested performing structural equation modelling. Findings – The findings highlight the moderating influence of trust on consumers’ loyalty to food private label brands. In addition, the results obtained reveal the substantially great influence of private label brand familiarity on purchase intention and loyalty. So, it seems that consumer trust and loyalty are strongly associated regarding food private label brands. Research limitations/implications – The authors suggest that trust of food private label brands allows retailers to increase consumer loyalty. Practical implications – Consequently retail managers should consider the enhancement of trust in the context of a marketing strategy formulation for food private label brands. Originality/value – The present study provides insights into the moderating effect of trust on loyalty to food private label brands, as well as evidence of the strong influence of familiarity on private label brands’ proneness, related to food products.

Purpose This study addresses the following question: “What factors attract customers to the shopping mall?”, since the commercial attraction of this major retailing format is an undertaken variable. So, the purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical analysis of the main commercial pull factors of the shopping malls in order to attract potential customers. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, the authors provide and empirically test a conceptual model considering the variables convenience, tenant variety and specialisation, internal environment, leisure and communication. Data were analysed through structural equation modelling on a sample of 253 customers. Findings The findings suggest that tenant variety and the internal environment of the mall – understood as an adequate tenant mix and a pleasant, attractive environment – are the main determinants of attracting customers. However, the convenience of the shopping mall and the communication activities do not show a significant influence as pull factors. Originality/value The results obtained suggest that marketing managers have numerous tools to influence customers’ intention to visit and patronise shopping malls.

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In recent years the retail industry has been characterized by the fast growth of private labels, with an increase of the offer of private labels and the enhancement of their value in the marketplace. This research focuses in private label brand equity to deepen the understanding of its origins, by analyzing two alternative customer-based conceptual models. The present study was developed in the large retailing industry, comprising different retailing formats that offer private labels to consumers. Our findings suggest a conceptual private label brand equity model, which is slightly different from the Aaker's brand equity model, considering store image as an antecedent and stressing its importance in building and enhancing private labels' brand equity. Additionally, retailers searching for successful ways to compete in the retail market need to examine in more detail the customer-based brand equity related to their private labels.