Despite every one of the upsides of mobile payment services (MPs), they are unutilized by a sizable client base. This paper analyzes the central drivers of utilizing MPs for purchasing purposes from the consumers' point of view in Uzbekistan. Given the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the study built up a seven-figure model to uncover the determinants of customers' goals to utilize MPs. 300 respondents in Uzbekistan were selected, and 276 substantial responses were incorporated into the analysis. The structural equation model results applied that customers' goal to utilize MPs for purchasing purposes is impacted by trust, system usefulness, social influence, risk, hedonic motivation, and attitude. The factor, facilitating conditions was not significant interestingly which the most distinct finding of that study is. Considering the findings and discussion, the paper concludes with the notion that mobile payment as a digital innovative financial technology is influenced by most of the factors that mobile operators should look at closely.

This study investigates the impact of gamification on student engagement moderated by public policy in higher education. The psychological perspective of student engagement refers to the deep involvement of students in learning and acquiring knowledge. There are three dimensions of student engagement: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. This study selects computer science students who were already enrolled in gamification classes. The selected sample of the study is based on multiple cities of Pakistan, including Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi. The selection of institutes from three cities is made based on a convenience sampling technique. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire is used to assess the role of gamification and its impact on gaming platforms and student engagement with dummy variables as public policy management that controls and devises rules and regulations for gamification in higher education departments. We examine the impact of gamification content, challenges, rewards, and the Kahoot platform on student engagement. There are positive and weak results regarding the impact of gamification, as the Kahoot platform itself has no attraction for students, but it provides a user-friendly medium to play games. There are a few topics for future research, such as the role of gamification platforms and their significant impact on students’ motivation and the role of public policy regarding gamification platforms and engagement. Gamification challenges and rewards have been discussed in the study to observe the mediating impact. The analysis of the study is carried out in SmartPLS Version 4.0.

Objective: The study aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of e-commerce adoption in small and me-dium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of Pakistan and Bangladesh in the period following the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to observe in detail the significance of e-commerce adoption for small and medium sized enterprises, their abilities to evolve consumer preferences and to dissect the challenges that hinder in the way of e-commerce adoption in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The key focus of this study was to find out how digitisation acts as a moderator to overcome challenges. Research Design & Methods: We based the study on a quantitative design using a structured questionnaire to collect data from 500 SMEs with 250 respondents from each country, Bangladesh and Pakistan. We collected the study sample through a stratified random sampling from key industrial cities in both countries. We analysed the data of the study with SmartPLS version 4.0 to explore the relationship between external factors, need-bead factors, organisational factors, technological factors and e-commerce adoption with digitisation as a moderator. Findings: This study has also examined that market related demands and the access to the technology has significant positive impact on digitisation in both countries. However, company’s resources and cultural factors that are related to the organisational factors have negative impact on digitisation in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The multi-group analysis composed to find the distinguishing factors among two countries, found the impact of all the factors on digitisation. Implications & Recommendations: We observed a crucial role of digitisation in different fields to adopt e-Commerce in SMEs of Pakistan and Bangladesh. This study has been conducted in the time of COVID-19 pandemic, suggests that it should be the top priority of the policymakers to focus more on digitisation to enrich the country’s economic and digital infrastructure. The partnership programs can help both countries improve digitisation on modern standards. Findings suggests combined strategies to boost economic stability of both countries. However, this study has some limitations and future suggestions to entertain the role of artificial intelligence (AI) to examine the adoption of e-Commerce in both countries. Contribution & Value Added: This study has provided a qualified analysis of the drivers of e-commerce adoption in SMEs of Pakistan and Bangladesh in the specific context of the post-COVID-19 pandemic, with digitisation as a moderator. It offers novel insight into the different types of challenges faced by SMEs in both countries and in the transformation of digitisation in the South Asian region.