Shillong, Jul 17: The Department of Management at ICFAI University Meghalaya’s Tura campus organised a three-day national seminar on ‘Digital Disruption in Marketing: Challenges, Opportunities and Sustainability’ from July 15 to 17, bringing together academicians, researchers, industry experts, entrepreneurs, policymakers and students from across India.
Held in collaboration with IUP Publications, the seminar attracted participants from Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim, providing a platform for exchanging ideas on digital marketing, artificial intelligence, consumer behaviour, financial technologies, entrepreneurship, sustainability and digital innovation.
Brenda D Marak, the seminar convener, stated that the event was organised to provide a national platform for meaningful academic discourse on digital disruption in marketing. She emphasised the importance of research, innovation and collaboration in developing sustainable and technology-driven solutions to contemporary business challenges.
The seminar was held under the chief patronship of Vice-Chancellor Alicia Gatphoh. Delivering the patron’s address, Proley M Sangma, Director of ICFAI Tura, highlighted the university’s continued efforts to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and industry-academia collaboration through seminars, conferences and scholarly initiatives.
Also present was Vice-Chancellor of Vikrant University in Madhya Pradesh, Prof Atul Kumar, and digital marketing and AI coach Amudhakumar PR.
A major highlight of the seminar was the release of the ‘National Seminar Abstract Book’, comprising accepted research abstracts submitted by academicians, research scholars, and students from institutions across India.
The university also marked a historic milestone with the unveiling of the cover and inaugural issue of the ICFAI Meghalaya Journal of Innovation, Management & Technology (IMJIMT), the university’s first peer-reviewed multidisciplinary research journal.
To recognise excellence in research and scholarly communication, the organising committee instituted the Best Paper Award and the Best Oral Presentation Award.
In Technical Session I, the Best Paper Award was presented to Sonal Shukla, VIT-AP School of Business (VSB), for the paper titled “Can Design Thinking Reduce Digital Transformation Failure? A Review and Future Research Agenda,” while the Best Oral Presentation Award was conferred upon Abhishek Belbase of ICFAI Tura for his paper “Board Gender Diversity, Social Media Engagement and Firm Valuation in India.”
In Technical Session II, the Best Paper Award was presented to Jyotirmoy Roy, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, ICFAI Tura, for his paper “An Empirical Study of Theme and Format Interactions in Banking Sector Short-Form Videos,” while Nilakshi Agarwala, Department of Commerce, Gauhati University, received the Best Oral Presentation Award for her paper “Digital Payment Systems as Catalysts of Financial Inclusion: Opportunities, Challenges and Policy Implications for Rural Assam.”
The Best Paper Award in Technical Session III was jointly presented to Mreeshi Agarwala, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Assam Institute of Management, and Ankit Agarwal, Assistant Professor, ICFAI Tura, for their paper “Influence of Social Media Influencers on Purchase Intentions Among Generation Z,” while the Best Oral Presentation Award was presented to Briana G Momin, Assistant Professor, ICFAI Tura, for her paper “Instagram Reels and Customer Engagement: A Study of Young Consumers.”
In Technical Session IV, the Best Paper Award was jointly presented to Gaganjeet Singh, Aastha Garg and Jyoti Chaudhry, all senior faculty members of the GII School of Retail and Fashion Merchandise, Footwear Design and Development Institute, Noida, for their paper, “Decoding Advertising Effectiveness: The Impact of Creative Appeal, Storytelling, Ad Format and Media Platform on Consumer Responses in India’s Fashion Retail Sector.” The Best Oral Presentation Award was presented to Wahengbam Jotin Singh, guest faculty at the Department of Vocational Studies & Skill Development, Manipur University, for his paper, “SERVQUAL Dimensions and their Effects on Customer Satisfaction with Cellular Service Providers in Manipur.”
