Announcements

Professors Dhrithi Mahadevan and Sukriti Sekhri received the ‘Highly Commended Paper’ Award at the 12th International Research Symposium in Service Management (IRSSM). This prestigious award, presented in partnership with Emerald Publishing, recognised their outstanding contributions to service management and served as an inspiration for both established and emerging researchers.

Their paper, titled ‘Free to Fee: Can Sustainable Messaging Cues Influence Consumers’ Switching Intentions in E-commerce Retail?’, addressed the negative consequences of product returns in e-commerce. The authors observed that the rise of e-commerce led to increased product returns, which challenged retailers with reduced profit margins and excess inventory. Furthermore, consumers are often unaware of the significant impact this has on the environment. The paper explored whether raising awareness of these environmental effects could encourage consumers to accept return fees. It examines how environmental messaging and different policy frameworks influence consumers’ return behaviours. The project is now being developed for publication in a leading journal.

Delighted with the recognition, Prof. Mahadevan said, “Being recognised with the prestigious Emerald ‘Highly Commended Paper’ Award at the IRSSM Symposium 2024 is truly an honour. This achievement would not have been possible without the unwavering support from SPJIMR, which empowered our research journey. My heartfelt thanks also go to Prof. Jay Kandampully, the Chair of IRSSM, and to the entire IRSSM community for fostering such a vibrant environment for sharing and nurturing innovative research ideas.”

Co-author Prof. Sukriti Sekhri added, “It is truly an honour and a huge encouragement to receive the prestigious Highly Commended Paper Award at the IRSSM symposium, 2024. The theme of the conference, ‘Harmonising people, technology, and compassion,’ deeply aligns with our focus area. My colleague Prof. Dhrithi and I investigated possible approaches to more environmentally friendly e-commerce programmes that could help mitigate the harmful consequences of product returns. I am very grateful to SPJIMR for all the support and the rich research ecosystem that significantly contributed to developing this project towards what we hope will be a positive impact.”

The SPJIMR community takes immense pride in our faculty’s significant achievements and wishes them success in all their endeavours. This recognition emphasises SPJIMR’s commitment to creating high-quality, value-driven research for positive impact.