Explore the evidence.
Understand the reach.

Today is the era of digitalization. Nowadays, people prefer to attach their lives to social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Hence, manufacturers and producers use social media tremendously in this digital era to reach customers with their products and services. Thus, social media marketing has become famous for businesses to promote their products or services, engage with their customers, and build brand awareness. The present study focuses on reviewing the mediating role played by several social media platforms to gain the interest of consumers. This paper also aims to analyze the necessity of social media marketing compared to other marketing communication and promotion forms. This paper helps the reader decide whether to depend on social media only for marketing purposes or whether there can be a choice of another means. Without analyzing the pros and cons, relying heavily on social media platforms for marketing is not always a good idea. The author employed a qualitative and descriptive method for constructing the paper. This paper will review the literature regarding social media marketing compared to other means, try to recommend, and shed light on selecting the right marketing platform by different marketers. The study's main findings demonstrate that measures should be taken to enhance responsible use and limit some of its harmful effects. Furthermore, in providing insights into whether social media marketing is a necessity or a choice, the author suggests that productive utilization should be the main priority for all, whether social media or other platforms.

This study aims to investigate the association between non-performing loans (NPLs) and the profitability of banks in Bangladesh. The data of twenty-five listed banks for the twelve years spanning from 2010 to 2021 have been analyzed to achieve the research objective. through the use of the ordinary least square (OLS) regression model, we found that the NPL has a negative significant impact on the profitability determined by the return on asset (ROA). In addition, the study revealed that the bank size, which is represented by banks’ total assets, is also inversely related to the profitability of the sample banks used in this research. The study concludes that the stakeholders, particularly the management of the banks, as well as the regulators, should be more cautious about NPLs and should try to lessen the level of NPLs because it can bring devastating results both on the microeconomic as well as on macroeconomic metrics of a developing country like Bangladesh.  

Ready-made garments (RMG) are one of the most critical sectors in the economy of the South Asian region in terms of the labor force employed and export earnings. This research study aims to determine the Corporate Social Responsibility Stakeholders dimension and its influence on textile firms Performance. The study used organizational legitimacy as mediating variable between the CSR stakeholders and firms’ performances. The research study was used in the quantitative analysis approach to determine the cause and effect of the relationship between CSR and Textile firm’s financial and non-financial performance. Though the study collected primary data & secondary data from 250 respondents using survey questionnaires, the researcher obtained secondary data by analyzing the audited annual and sustainability reports of various RMG companies. We have collected data by conducting a focus group interview forming a team of employers, top-level managers, and CSR officers. We asked them all the questions, filled it, tapped it, reserved it for the interpretations. We have surveyed 67 industries, but it enabled us to collect the data from the 50 sectors—the data collected from 2016 April to 2018 December. Our study has some limitations in that the sample size is small compared to the other research. SPSS-23 & MS-Excel were used to analyze the collected data. CSR practices benefitted RMG companies in terms of long-term sustainable development by increasing the firm’s financial and non-financial performance of the RMG sector.

Whether investors take into account a company's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues when making investment decisions (ID), how they interpret corporate reputation (CR) as a result of ESG issues, and whether CR mediates the relationship between ESG issues and ID are the goals of this study. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the signaling theory are the bases of the framework. The study was based on a questionnaire survey that received 599 responses from active retail investors in two Bangladeshi cities, Dhaka and Chattagram. The PLS path modeling method was used to analyze the data and test the hypothesis. The empirical findings reveal that corporate ESG issues considerably impact ID and that CR mediates this relationship. This study contributes to behavioral finance by offering empirical proof of the relationship between company ESG issues and investment decisions. By examining the indirect effects of ESG issues on ID via CR, this study contributes to the body of knowledge. It is therefore advised that strategic managers be required to use ESG practices as it builds reputation. At the same time, the government should create public policies, orders, and rules for upholding the ESG issues that contribute to the sustainable development of the capital market and the economy.

Prior studies in Bangladesh examined how several non-demographic factors influenced consumers' online buying behavior. However, no specific research has been conducted to examine an association between consumers' demographic factors and the online shopping behavior of Bangladeshi buyers. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between online shopping behavior and the demographic characteristics of Bangladeshi buyers. The association between six consumers' demographic variables, such as age, gender, income, education, occupation, and marital status, and online shopping behavior, proxied by the frequency of online shopping, was examined. Primary data through a structured questionnaire was collected from the 547 respondents in urban and rural areas of seven divisions in Bangladesh through offline and online surveys. The chi-square test was used to examine the association between consumers' demographic characteristics and online shopping behavior. The study found that male and married consumers with a higher level of education and higher-category jobs have a higher propensity to shop online. However, consumers' age and income level do not significantly impact their online shopping behavior. The study's outcomes are expected to provide online retailers and merchants with critical information about buyer behavior. Keywords: Association, online shopping behavior, demographic characteristics, chi-square test, Cramér’s V, e-commerce. JEL Classification: M31, M39, and L81

This study examines the effects of Mobile Financial Services (MFS) on the growth and composition of bank deposits in Bangladesh over the period 2015-2024 based on bank-level panel data for 26 commercial banks. Using Fixed Effects (FE), Random Effects (RE), and Generalized Least Squares (GLS) estimation and controlling for COVID-19 dummy, the study finds that MFS transaction volume has a negative and statistically significant effect on deposit growth. This indicates that rising mobile financial activity slows the pace at which banks accumulate deposits. However, MFS positively and significantly affects both current and savings deposit levels, consistent with the financial inclusion channel through which mobile platforms channel funds into the formal banking system. The effect on total deposits and fixed deposits is statistically insignificant, indicating no direct substitution at the aggregate or long-term deposit level. Bank size and loan-to-deposit ratio are the most consistent determinants across all models. Non-performing loans negatively affect depositor confidence. The COVID-19 pandemic dampened deposit growth and total deposit accumulation but exerted limited influence on current and savings deposit levels. These findings suggest that MFS and traditional banking are complementary rather than substitutive, and that well-designed policy interventions can harness MFS-driven financial inclusion to strengthen rather than undermine the deposit base of commercial banks in Bangladesh.

Research Originality: This study investigates the relationship between inventory management and profitability within the textiles industry in Bangladesh, emphasizing the key factors that significantly enhance the industry's profitability. Research Objectives: This analysis investigates how various factors, including total assets, total equity, total revenue, share capital, retained earnings, finished items, work in progress, and raw materials, impact profit after tax (PAT). Research Methods: The data spans from 2011 to 2023 and encompasses 46 textile companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). To conduct this study, different models like Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS), Second Stage Least Square (2SLS), Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) are utilized. Empirical Results: Through the application of techniques including Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (POLS), Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS), and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), we have established that total assets exhibit a significant negative correlation with PAT in both the POLS and 2SLS models. On the other hand, there is a notable positive correlation between total revenue and retained earnings on PAT across all 2SLS, POLS, and GMM models. The share capital shows a negative correlation with PAT in all three models: 2SLS, POLS, and GMM. The main independent variable, which is our fundamental focus, shows that finished goods have a positive correlation with PAT; however, this correlation lacks significance. The raw materials exhibited a negative correlation with PAT, and this relationship is significant. The correlation between Packing Materials and PAT is notably positive. This study highlights the importance of strategies that could facilitate sustainable growth in the textile industry.

Government-led housing initiatives are essential in disrupting cycles of poverty, as access to adequate shelter serves as a foundation for wider social and economic progress. This article includes 280 landless families from the Asharayan of Gopalganj district. The primary data for this study were collected with a predetermined questionnaire from June to August 2024. A stratified sampling technique was used to ensure a representative sample of landless households across the five upazilas of Gopalganj District. The sample is almost evenly split between males (47.9%) and females (52.1%), showing a slightly higher proportion of women. The largest age group is 25–40 years (44.6%), followed by 40–55 years (34.6%). Most respondents belong to nuclear families (80.4%), while only 19.6% live in joint families. The majority of households consist of 4–6 members (59.6%). Most households have at least one earning member (76.1%). A large proportion of respondents are illiterate (48.9%), while about one-third (33.2%) have completed primary education. Most earn between BDT 10,000–15,000 (28.2%). A majority (74.6%) reported an improvement in their condition, while 25.4% stated no improvement from staying in the Ashrayan project. Bivariate analyses showed a significant association between the improvement of overall conditions-such as housing, health, child education facilities, economic situation, satisfaction level, employment status, average monthly income, access to loans, and electricity-and the living conditions of the Ashrayan project’s residents. Binary logistic regression model detect that electricity facilities, housing condition and employment have significant impact on socio-economic condition of the landless people of that Ashrayan Project.

This study investigates the relationship between exposure to online promotional content and changes in business image evaluations and purchase intention toward informal clothing enterprises in Bangladesh. Based on the O-S-O-R framework, the study conceptualizes online promotional content as the stimulus, post-exposure business image as the post-orientation construct, and purchase intention as the response, considering age group and frequency of social media usage as pre-orientation factors. Using a nonprobability purposive sampling approach with self-selected participation, the study implemented a one-group pretest-posttest design through an online questionnaire administered to 391 respondents in Bangladesh. Analyses included descriptive statistics, reliability tests, exploratory factor analysis, paired-samples t tests, Spearman correlations, and linear regression. Results indicated statistically significant increases between pre-exposure and post-exposure for business image (mean difference = −1.297, t = −50.945, p < .001) and purchase intention (mean difference = −1.254, t = −39.308, p < .001). Age group was negatively associated with post-exposure business image, whereas frequency of social media use was positively associated with it. Post-exposure business image was also a strong predictor of purchase intention (β = .486, p < .001, R² = .236). This study contributes to the literature by extending extant research on digital consumer response in informal small-business clothing retail in Bangladesh and suggests that well-designed promotional content is positively associated with business evaluations and purchase-related intentions. Since this study used a one-group pretest-posttest design, the results should be interpreted as evidence of association rather than causation.

Digital expansion is conceived as a firm-level consequence after adoption, capturing both the breadth and depth of digital tools usage in operational and customer-facing business operations. The study investigates five readiness dimensions based on survey data of 388 small firms: capital adequacy, technological infrastructure, digital literacy, preference adaptation, and marketing investment. The results suggest that capital adequacy and digital literacy are positively and significantly related to digital expansion whereas technological infrastructure, preference adaptation and marketing investment are not statistically significant in the estimated model. Coefficient-comparison tests also imply that the important internal readiness variables are more strongly related to digital expansion than the market-oriented readiness variables.  This study contributes to the literature on digital transformation in small firms by showing that, in a resource-constrained emerging-economy environment, internal financial and capability-related conditions are more strongly associated with digital expansion than market-facing readiness. The results have substantial implications for Bangladesh suggesting that digital financial support should be coupled with digital literacy development and targeted capability-building for small companies.