Brand Loyalty is the only tool for any company to survive in a severe competition. Brand helps in creating relationship between consumer and producer. In this research we study and investigated the effect of service quality, perceived quality, perceived value, brand trust and customer satisfaction on brand loyalty. The service quality, perceived quality and value were determined to be input variables; brand trust and customer satisfaction were determined to be intervening variables; and brand loyalty was determined to be the output variable. Conceptual model was designed to explain the factors on brand loyalty. Our study based on a self-administered survey that was conducted in Bahawalpur setting. Data were collected from the randomly selected 150 Hewlett Packard product consumers. Our study results provide a better understanding about brand loyalty among customers for companies to analyse and part played by each element in the progress of brand loyalty. Moreover it highlights the crucial role played by affective elements.

Background Most research on SARS-CoV-2 variants focuses on initial symptomatology with limited data on longer-term sequelae. We sought to characterize the prevalence and differences in prolonged symptoms at three months post SARS-CoV-2-infection across the three major variant time-periods (pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron). Methods This multicenter prospective cohort study of adults with acute illness tested for SARS-CoV-2 compared fatigue severity, fatigue symptoms, individual and organ system-based symptoms, and presence of ≥3 total symptoms across variants among COVID-positive and COVID-negative participants 3 months after their initial SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. Variant periods were defined by dates with ≥50% dominant strain. We performed a sensitivity analysis using ≥90% dominance threshold and multivariable logistic regression modeling to estimate the independent effects of each variant adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, baseline health, and vaccine status. Results The study included 3,223 participants (2,402 COVID-positive and 821 COVID-negative). Among the COVID-positive cohort, 463 (19.3%) were pre-Delta, 1,198 (49.9%) during Delta, and 741 (30.8%) during Omicron. Prolonged severe fatigue was highest in the pre-Delta COVID-positive cohort compared with Delta and Omicron cohorts (16.7% vs 11.5% vs 12.3%, respectively; p = 0.017), as was presence of ≥3 prolonged symptoms (28.4% vs 21.7% vs 16.0%; p < 0.001). No difference was seen in the COVID-negative cohort between variant time-periods. In multivariable models, there was no difference in severe fatigue between variants. There was decreased odds of having ≥3 symptoms in Omicron compared with other variants; this was not significant after adjusting for vaccination status. Conclusions Prolonged symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection were more common among participants infected during the pre-Delta period compared with Delta and Omicron periods; however, these differences were no longer significant after adjusting for vaccination status. This suggests a potential beneficial effect of vaccination on the risk of developing long-term symptoms.

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Background The prevalence, incidence, and interrelationships of persistent symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection (Long COVID) vary. There are limited data on specific phenotypes of persistent symptoms. Using latent class analysis (LCA) modeling, we sought to identify whether specific phenotypes of COVID-19 were present three months and six months after acute infection. Methods This was a multicenter, prospective study of symptomatic adults tested for SARS-CoV-2 with prospectively collected data on general symptoms and fatigue-related symptoms up to six-months post-diagnosis. Using LCA, we identified symptomatically homogenous groups among participants with COVID-19 (COVID-positive) and among others without COVID-19 (COVID-negative) at each time period for both general and fatigue-related symptoms. Results Among 5,963 baseline participants (4,504 COVID-positive and 1,459 COVID-negative), 4,056 had three-month and 2,856 had six-month data at the time of analysis. We identified four distinct phenotypes of post-COVID conditions at three- and six-months for both general and fatigue-related symptoms; minimal symptom groups represented 70% of participants at three and six months. When compared with the COVID-negative cohort, COVID-positive participants had higher occurrence of loss of taste and smell, as well cognition problems. There was substantial class-switching over time; those in one symptom class at three months were equally likely to remain or enter a new phenotype at six months. Conclusions We identified distinct classes of post-COVID phenotypes for general and fatigue-related symptoms. Most participants had minimal or no symptoms at three and six months follow-up. Significant proportions of participants changed symptom groups over time, suggesting that symptoms present during the acute illness may differ from prolonged symptoms and that post-COVID conditions may have a more dynamic nature than previously recognized. Trial Registration NCT04610515

Research on compulsive use of smartphones amongst students largely remains unexplored. The study seeks to investigate the feasibility and desirability motives—instant gratification, mood regulations, convenience, flow and personality—to understand the compulsive use of smartphones. The results of the useful data of 200 respondents following purposive sampling design, provided evidence of instant gratification, mood regulation and convenience motives, which significantly explain flow and compulsive smartphone use. Personality of users also appeared as a significant moderator between flow and compulsive smartphone use. The findings of the study reveal that the personality of smartphone users enhances the propensity to build compulsive smartphone use. Additionally, the findings reveal the double-edged sword impact of flow in forming compulsive smartphone use and allowing smartphone brands to design phones that help phone users to develop self-control over their behaviours related to using smartphones.