ABSTRACT. Recent years have witnessed luxury brands increasingly adopting designs that create aesthetic variations on their traditional elements while preserving brand identity. While these design twists represent significant departures from conventional luxury aesthetics, consumer responses vary significantly. Drawing from theories of consumer psychology and luxury branding, we propose that consumers' luxury involvement acts as a critical moderator in perceived price of these designs. We argue that high luxury-involvement consumers may appreciate these creative variations as they provide differentiation from the mainstream, viewing them as more expensive. In contrast, low luxury-involvement consumers may prefer conventional designs. This contrasting preference is hypothesized to be driven by different perceptions of mass appeal: while high luxury-involvement consumers view mass appeal negatively and appreciate novel designs for their exclusivity, low luxury-involvement consumers value mass appeal positively. Study 1 reveals a significant interaction between design type and luxury involvement (β = .520, p < .001), indicating that as luxury involvement increases, consumers tend to perceive twisted designs as more expensive, even after controlling for income. Study 2 will examine the underlying psychological mechanism of perceived mass appeal and test boundary conditions across different product categories. Our findings contribute to luxury branding literature by illuminating how luxury involvement shapes price perception of design twists, suggesting important implications for luxury brand management.

ABSTRACT. This research explores how sustainability impacts young consumers' perceptions of Country-of-Origin in luxury products. Using a qualitative approach, it aims to contribute to the literature on sustainable luxury and provide guidelines for luxury brands on leveraging sustainability to enhance the Country-of-Origin effect.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the impact of image fluency on user engagement with leading luxury brands on social media. By employing BERTopic for image clustering and the R package “imagefluency” to quantify visual aesthetics, the research identifies self-similarity as a critical factor. It reveals that coherent and harmonious aesthetics strongly resonate with consumers, followed by simplicity and symmetry. Interestingly, the effect of image contrast is only evident in specific contexts. Overall, this research contributes to the advancement of processing fluency in luxury branding and provides valuable insights for marketers seeking to enhance user engagement in the digital landscape.

ABSTRACT. This research examines generational differences in Chinese consumers’ perceptions of “Made in China” luxury. A survey reveals that ethnocentrism and attachment to tradition mediate the country-of-origin effect. A qualitative study explains these generational differences, enhancing understanding of consumer behavior and strategies for Chinese luxury brand positioning.

ABSTRACT. The luxury brand market has experienced significant transformation in recent years, shaped by evolving consumer preferences, sustainability concerns, and the emergence of "masstige" brands that blend mass and prestige markets (Kumar et al., 2020; Dinh et al., 2024). Concurrently, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into marketing practices has revolutionized consumer-brand interactions, particularly within the luxury sector (De Veirman, Cauberghe, & Hudders, 2017). Influencers—ranging from individuals and groups to virtual avatars—have become central to delivering personalized and dynamic content, enabling brands to build deeper connections with their audiences. As luxury brands have become more segmented, high-end luxury goods are increasingly differentiated by advanced technology and higher price points. This shift has led customers in this segment, particularly those purchasing high-end luxury brands, to demand more from products and brands. Traditional messaging that focuses solely on product excellence no longer suffices for this discerning audience. Additionally, the demand for sustainability in luxury brands has grown into a critical requirement, driven by shifting generational values and global environmental concerns (Achabou & Dekhili, 2013; Sun et al., 2021). However, an exclusive focus on sustainability risks overshadowing the heritage and craftsmanship that are integral to luxury brands (Beverland, 2005; Kapferer & Michaut-Denizeau, 2014). This study proposes that high-end luxury brands are more effective when they communicate a balanced message that integrates both product excellence and sustainability. By addressing the trade-off between these two attributes, luxury brands can better meet the evolving expectations of their customers.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates how generative AI tools influence consumer well-being when used for shopping information. Drawing on the “Means-End Chain” (MEC) theory, the research explores the effects of perceived empowerment, flow experience, perceived benefit, and perceived enjoyment on subjective well-being. Moderating effects of emotional resilience and digital curiosity are also examined. Data collected from 316 respondents in Vietnam were analyzed using “Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling” (PLS-SEM) and “Artificial Neural Networks” (ANN). The findings confirm the significant roles of perceived empowerment, flow experience, and perceived benefit, while perceived enjoyment shows no significant effect. Emotional resilience and digital curiosity reveal critical moderating effects, which highlight the importance of individual differences. This study advances theoretical understanding of generative AI’s impact on consumer well-being and provides actionable insights for designing AI tools that maximize positive consumer outcomes.

ABSTRACT. Generative AI (GAI) technology is beginning to significantly revolutionize the tourism industry. However, it also raises ethical concerns due to the lack of transparency in how companies operate AI. This research aims to provide a deeper understanding of the role of GAI identity disclosure in promoting responsible and ethical AI use within the tourism sector. Through four studies, we demonstrate that for destinations with distant cultural distance, GAI identity disclosure can negatively impact tourists’ attitudes, such as their intentions to visit. Conversely, for destinations with close cultural distance, this negative effect diminishes. The interaction between GAI identity disclosure and cultural distance is mediated by advertising skepticism. Furthermore, the negative impact of disclosure can be alleviated when: 1) tourists have higher (vs. lower) familiarity with AI technology; and 2) they are informed that the advertisement is generated by AI using real destination images.

ABSTRACT. Artificial intelligence (AI) not only assists in enhancing efficiency and decision-making across industries but also extends into more personal domains like companionship and romantic relationships (Merrill Jr et al., 2022). Schweitzer et al. (2019) suggested that users would perceive AI as companion and integrate them into their daily lives. This robotization of love offers a potential remedy for loneliness by providing 24/7 availability and nonjudgmental support (Lin, 2024). Prior studies have presented mixed perspectives on AI lovers, for example some considered AI lovers as unhealthy (e.g. Pentina et al., 2023) and highlighted concerns about their potential impact on offline lives (e.g. Laestadius et al., 2024). In contrast, other studies suggest that AI lovers may have a positive influence on users' well-being, highlighting their potential to provide emotional support and companionship (e.g. Marriott & Pitardi, 2024; Song et al., 2022). Therefore, there is a gap in understanding the specific mechanisms through which AI lovers affect users’ enjoyment and ethical concerns. Drawing upon the theory of electronic propinquity (Korzenny, 1978) and Lee (1973)’s colors of love, this study proposes a conceptual framework examining how perceived proximity (represented by the environment portrayed by AI lovers) and passionate intensity (reflected in the emotional engagement of conversations with AI lovers) influence user experiences. The pilot findings (N=240) revealed that high perceived proximity (realistic environment) enhances interactional enjoyment and reduces ethical anxiety. Furthermore, high passionate intensity (Eros) strengthened the positive effects of perceived proximity on interactional enjoyment, while low passionate intensity (Pragma) increases ethical anxiety particularly in virtual environments. These results offer valuable insights into the impact of AI lovers on user experiences and their broader implications for social wellbeing. It also highlights important design considerations for AI lover or companion apps.

ABSTRACT. With the increasing prevalence of virtual reality (VR) technology in retail, understanding its impact on consumer post-purchase behavior has become increasingly important. This study investigates the impact of VR shopping enjoyment on post-purchase consumer regret and the role of product recommendation types—human versus artificial intelligence (AI) in the VR shopping context. Our virtual reality lab experiment with participants in VR shopping scenarios found that VR shopping enjoyment is negatively associated with post-purchase consumer regret, and this negative relationship is more pronounced when recommendations are provided by humans rather than AI. Moreover, AI recommendations were found to be more strongly linked to increased post-purchase regret compared to human recommendations in VR shopping. This research adds to the literature by highlighting the significance of consumer experiences and recommendation agents in VR shopping, providing practical insights for retailers to reduce regret through engaging VR environments.

ABSTRACT. The rise of social media platforms, particularly Instagram, has redefined digital advertising, providing companies with unprecedented opportunities to engage younger audiences through AI-powered, highly personalized content. This study investigates key factors influencing consumer purchase intention for products advertised on Instagram using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which examines attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Furthermore, the study incorporates the Ducoffe’s Model to evaluate the holistic advertising value, factoring in entertainment, informativeness, and irritation. By integrating these foundational theories, this research advances beyond general TPB analysis, adding the Ducoffe’s Model dimensions of advertising value and incorporating generation as a moderating factor. The proposed framework not only enriches the TPB with Ducoffe’s Model insights but also introduces a cross-generational perspective to reveal how generational cohorts (Gen Y and Gen Z) differentially respond to AI-driven advertising on Instagram. This layered analysis provides critical insights into tailoring advertising strategies to resonate with specific generational identities. By examining these relationships, the study offers a sophisticated understanding of how brands can optimize Instagram advertisements to resonate with diverse audience segments, ensuring engagement through generational alignment. The findings underscore the importance of generational sensitivity in social media advertising, emphasizing the need for brands to tailor content according to the distinct expectations and values of each cohort. This integrated approach leverages insights from behavioral psychology, the advertising model, and generational dynamics to propose a robust framework for maximizing the impact of AI-driven social media advertising, supporting marketers in designing generation-sensitive, high-impact strategies that enhance engagement and conversion.

ABSTRACT. The advertising process powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is restructuring frontline interfaces. However, frontline employees usually hold distinct moral judgments toward the generative-AI (GenAI) advertising practices, thus practitioners are troubled by the ineffectiveness of intra-organizational moral incongruence. Building on the lenses of moral foundation theory, this research conducts three empirical studies and explores the impacts of incongruent leader-employee ethical acceptance of AI-generated ads. Our study demonstrates that congruent (vs. incongruent) leader-employee moral judgment performs better in cultivating approach job crafting and hindering avoidance job crafting (Study 1). In addition, the negative (positive) effects of moral judgment incongruence on employee approach (avoidance) job crafting are stronger when AI-generated ads’ verisimilitude increases (Study 2a), and the effects on employee approach job crafting are weaker when GenAI ads’ creativity increases (Study 2b). At last, a field experiment (Study 3) of 826 paired leader-follower dyads further validates the results in both Study 1 and Study 2.

ABSTRACT. Generative AI (GAI) is stimulating both excitement and concern among consumers regarding its potential impact across a host of industries, particularly fashion marketing (Osadchaya et al., 2024). GAI – characterised by machine learning algorithms capable of creating novel visual content – accelerates idea generation and task execution, enabling brands to produce cost-effective and impactful advertising content within their marketing strategies (Park & Ahn, 2024). Reflecting its immense promise, 45% of fashion executives predict GAI will significantly influence content marketing in 2025 (Amed & D’Auria, 2025). Despite this, there is a conspicuous lack of scholarly attention, particularly concerning consumer attitudes and behavioural responses towards GAI-marketing stimuli (Arango et al., 2023). This paucity raises the following critical questions:

RQ1: How do GAI fashion advertisements affect consumer attitudes toward brands, products, and advertisements? RQ2: To what extent do these attitudes influence purchase intentions? RQ3: Does the type of fashion brand (luxury vs. fast fashion) moderate the effects of GAI advertisements on consumer attitudes and subsequent behavioural responses?

Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study employs a 3 (advertising type: fully GAI-created vs. partially GAI-created vs. non-GAI) x 2 (brand type: luxury vs. fast fashion) experimental design with 450 UK participants. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) will assess both the proposed measurement model and structural model. Preliminary results will be presented at the conference, offering insights into how GAI advertisements shape consumer attitudes toward brands, products and advertisements and how these attitudes subsequently impact purchase decisions. This research contributes to the theoretical advancement of the S-O-R framework within the context of GAI-driven marketing communications, providing novel insights into GAI marketing and consumer behaviour literature.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates how the grammatical subject in AI-driven personalized advertisements—whether the AI chatbot or the user is framed as the agent of information-seeking—affects consumer responses. Drawing from insights on linguistic framing, it examines how privacy concerns and perceived user agency interact with varying levels of personalization to shape reactions to chatbot advertisements. Findings reveal that when users are presented as the agents of information-seeking and personalization is high, privacy concerns remain subdued, leading to more favorable ad responses. Conversely, when the AI chatbot is framed as the agent, privacy concerns intensify, diminishing positive responses to highly personalized ads. By highlighting the role of perceived agency in human-machine communication, this research extends understanding of syntactic influences on persuasion and sheds light on ethical considerations in AI-mediated marketing. These insights offer practical implications for optimizing AI-driven advertising strategies while managing consumer concerns about data usage and personalization.

ABSTRACT. This study explores how mindfulness influences consumer preferences for luxury brand prominence, emphasizing the critical role of advertising in shaping these preferences. Traditionally, status consumption has been associated with extrinsic motivations, where consumers favor loud luxury with prominent logos to signal social status. However, our research reveals that mindfulness—characterized by heightened self-awareness and reduced susceptibility to external pressures—shifts consumer motivations towards intrinsic satisfaction, fostering a preference for quiet luxury defined by subtle branding.

Across four studies, we investigate how advertising appeals can align with these motivational shifts. Study 1 establishes that high brand prominence increases willingness to pay, driven by extrinsic motivations tied to social validation. Study 2 further demonstrates the mediating role of extrinsic motivation and need for status in driving preferences for loud luxury. Study 3 reveals that mindfulness—induced through targeted advertising stimuli—reverses this trend, prompting a higher willingness to pay for low-prominence luxury products that align with intrinsic motivations for personal satisfaction. Study 4 synthesizes these findings, showing how mindfulness moderates the relationship between brand prominence and willingness to pay through divergent motivational pathways. Mindful consumers respond to advertising that highlights subtlety, craftsmanship, and self-expression, while non-mindful consumers remain influenced by overt displays of status.

This research makes significant theoretical contributions by reframing the dual role of advertising in status consumption. It highlights how tailored advertising strategies can appeal to both extrinsically and intrinsically motivated consumers, expanding the scope of luxury brand marketing. By leveraging mindfulness as a strategic lens, advertisers can craft messages that not only resonate with mindful consumers but also differentiate their offerings in a crowded marketplace.

Practically, the findings underscore the need for nuanced advertising approaches. For instance, mindfulness-themed campaigns that promote self-reflection and personal fulfillment can enhance the appeal of quiet luxury products. Conversely, traditional status-driven advertising remains effective for consumers motivated by external validation. Luxury brands can use these insights to design integrated advertising campaigns, balancing loud and quiet luxury appeals to capture diverse consumer segments. Additionally, digital platforms can personalize advertising based on consumer profiles, using data-driven insights to emphasize mindfulness cues or status signals as appropriate.

ABSTRACT. The luxury market is experiencing changes in consumer behavior, with growth slowing for new items while the second-hand market is thriving. This study explores the factors that influence consumer attitudes and purchase intentions regarding second-hand luxury goods. By utilizing primary qualitative studies and an experimental approach, our ongoing research aims to examine the roles of Country of Origin (COO), Country of Purchase (COP), Country of Previous User (COU), and consumer environmental consciousness. Our study expands on existing research regarding the impact of COO on second-hand luxury consumption by investigating how both the country where the purchase is made and the country of the previous user affect consumer behavior. Additionally, in light of increasing environmental concerns, we consider the importance of consumer environmental consciousness. This research has the potential to provide valuable insights for advertisers and luxury brands looking to enter or operate in the second-hand luxury market.

ABSTRACT. Amid the rise of the digital economy and advancements in virtual technology, NFTs have emerged as a key trend within the luxury industry. This NFT trend owes much to the increasing presence of young luxury consumers, particularly Millennials and Gen-Z, who are leading the consumption of luxury NFTs. While explanations of digital economy and technological progress have undoubtedly fueled the growth of luxury NFT consumption, personal values also wield considerable influence. Personal values, encompassing broad and trans-situational desirable goals that drive individuals’ behavior, can play a pivotal role in shaping young luxury consumers’ perceptions and preferences regarding luxury values. These consumers, known for redefining the concept of luxury, often attribute profound and sometimes conflicting meanings to it, guided by their evolving personal values, thereby purchasing luxury items for varied reasons. Recognizing the significance of aligning personal values with luxury values, previous researchers have emphasized the importance of exploring this link to understand consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions. However, despite the crucial role of personal values in elucidating the preferences of evolving young luxury consumers toward new forms of luxury that incorporate digital technology, research on luxury fashion NFTs remains sparse and predominantly qualitative, merely identifying perceived luxury values due to NFTs’ novelty. To address this gap, this study aims to classify young luxury consumers based on their personal values. Additionally, by leveraging the four dimensions of luxury value framework from prior studies, this research investigates the distinct luxury values sought by these consumers when shopping for luxury fashion NFTs.

ABSTRACT. This study explores how AI-powered storytelling influences consumer perceptions of brand value in the luxury industry. Using Brunello Cucinelli’s pioneering AI platform as a research context, we employ a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. The findings provide insights into AI’s impact on luxury branding and consumer relationships.

ABSTRACT. Digital advertising is being significantly redefined in the luxury fashion industry with the emergence of generative artificial intelligence. This transformation presents several challenges related to brand authenticity and brand reputation dilution. Our study examines the impact of AI-generated advertising on consumer purchase intentions in the luxury fashion industry with a particular focus on these challenges. We conducted a quantitative study on French consumers. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was adopted to analyze the data by following the recent advances in this method. Results revealed several key factors that significantly enhance consumer purchase decisions. Luxury brands should consider how to balance generative AI-improved advertising strategies with preserving their brand authenticity and reputation. Additionally, the results highlighted the importance of a strong brand reputation strategy while using generative artificial intelligence for developing engaging brand advertising content. This study contributed to a deeper understanding of the influence of AI-generated advertising in the luxury and fashion industry. The findings offer practical implications for marketers and managers while integrating generative artificial intelligence into luxury fashion brand advertising strategies.

ABSTRACT. This study explores consumer acceptance of digital transformation in hospitality, employing Reinartz et al.'s (2019) framework. Using cross-cultural qualitative analysis of 40 participants from Australia and Taiwan, we validated core psychological mechanisms driving adoption: convenience, relevance, empowerment, and savings. Novelty emerged as a new dimension, expanding understanding of consumer engagement.

ABSTRACT. The paper explores the transformative impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on traditional identity frameworks, leading to conceptualising an AI-mediated identity construct. By synthesising the literature on GenAI, identity, and acculturation, the study posits that AI-mediated identity may become an "average of everything" rather than a "unique blend," potentially diluting cultural and individual nuances. Identity has traditionally been shaped by socio-environmental factors, where the self is constructed based on social interactions and cultural contexts (Collier & Bush, 2012; Tatum, 2000). The self is often defined as the essence of an individual (Goodstein & Doller, 1978), while identity extends to self-perceptions, social roles, relationships, and group affiliations (Oyserman et al., 2012). Identity formation is contingent upon the evolving environment, which influences behaviours, judgments, and decisions (Kim, 2018). The rise of digital technologies has significantly altered identity construction, as social media platforms provide spaces for experimentation and self-expression (Huang et al., 2021; Rosana & Fauzi, 2024; Vida et al., 2019). In international marketing, acculturation and globalisation theories have traditionally analysed identity formation. Berry's (2008) acculturation framework offers insights into how individuals negotiate identities in multicultural contexts. However, most frameworks address physical or cultural environments and do not account for digital mediation in identity formation (Cleveland et al., 2023; Lai, 2024; Li et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2024; Yen & Dey, 2019). As digital technologies evolved from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and mobile, identity processes also shifted (Han, 2019). Markham and Stavrova (2016) metaphorically describe this shift as the Internet evolving from a "place" to a "way of being" (Barros et al., 2023). Before GenAI, the concept of "Global Consumer Culture" (GCC) emerged, representing a cultural entity transcending national boundaries (Alden et al., 1999). The advent of GenAI further disrupts GCC and traditional identity paradigms by enabling fluid digital identities negotiated across platforms (Chamola et al., 2024; Nagy & Koles, 2014; Papacharissi, 2018). Current identity and acculturation theories fail to account for the iterative influence of GenAI, which introduces a co-creative dynamic between AI and individuals (Schultze, 2014). This shift from user-controlled to co-created identity presents challenges and opportunities for brands and consumers as identity becomes algorithmically mediated. GenAI is no longer merely a tool but an agential identity constructor. Consumer identity models that treat technology as an external variable or a facilitator must be reconsidered. While existing literature extensively explores digital identity and consumer culture, the implications of GenAI-mediated identity formation remain underexplored in international marketing. This paper bridges this gap by defining AI-mediated identity and examining its impact on marketing strategies and consumer behaviour across cultural contexts. We conceptualise and provide three propositions for AI-Mediated Identity 1. Co-creation and Identity Fluidity GenAI facilitates identity co-creation through personalised feedback loops (Zheng & Huang, 2023), allowing individuals to experiment with digital self-representations (Bilgram & Laarmann, 2023). Consumers engage in identity prototyping using AI-generated profiles, shaping emotional and cognitive aspects of selfhood (Zheng & Huang, 2023; Zulfiqar et al., 2024). This shift from coexistence to co-creation (Waardenburg & Huysman, 2022) offers hyper-personalized marketing strategies but raises concerns about privacy and autonomy (Butler, 2020). 2. Algorithmic Identity Formation GenAI is a "digital mirror," reflecting and reinforcing user identities through recursive personalisation. Platforms like ChatGPT generate identity-congruent responses based on user interactions, subtly shaping self-perception (Derner et al., 2024; Griffiths et al., 2024). This continuous refinement, akin to prompt engineering (Madaan et al., 2024), creates an "algorithmic self-awareness" where GenAI influences identity expression (Baltezarević, 2023). Unlike the Metaverse, where users control their representations, GenAI actively mediates identity construction. 3. Cultural Frame-Switching and Hybrid Identities GenAI enhances cultural fluidity by facilitating rapid cultural frame-switching, allowing individuals to adapt multiple cultural mindsets (Benet-Martínez et al., 2002). AI-driven personalisation blends global and local cultural elements, leading to "AI-mediated cultural hybridity" (Rane, 2023). Donati (2021) emphasises that AI reshapes social identities through interaction rather than mere mimicry. Targeted marketing through GenAI can either strengthen or dilute self-congruity, emphasising aspirational rather than actual selves. The emergence of AI-mediated identity presents both opportunities and challenges for brands and consumers. The GenAI era represents a fundamental epistemological transformation in identity construction, reshaping how individuals engage with brands and digital platforms. Traditional identity processes are increasingly fragmented across digital environments, necessitating a reimagining of international marketing strategies to accommodate fluid consumer identities (Van Dijck, 2013; Gao et al., 2023). GenAI adoption needs to be cautious yet innovative, ensuring that brands leverage their potential while mitigating risks related to identity dilution, algorithmic bias, and privacy concerns. Future research should further explore AI’s role in shaping identity and its impact on cross-cultural marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the impact of digital human avatars' (DHAs) level of humanness on consumer behavior in a metaverse exhibition. It identifies the immersion and narrative transportation (NT) mechanisms underlying this influencing relationship and investigates the moderating effect of perceived heritage. In both field and lab experimental studies, DHA humanness embodied through high-form and behavioral fidelity enhances immersion, which leads to positive behavioral intentions via NT; however, strong perceived heritage weakens the effect of DHA humanness on immersion. The study provides novel insights into how DHA humanness, from technological and narrative perspectives, influences consumer behavior through immersion and NT. By revealing the moderating effect of perceived heritage, it explains how DHA humanness generates differential effects across branding, cultural, and historical contexts.

ABSTRACT. This study, grounded in Self-Construal Theory, examines the influence of self-construal and emotional intelligence on Augmented Reality (AR) experiences, with a focus on their effects on brand attachment, flow, and perceived usefulness. Using IKEA as the focal brand, data was gathered through a survey of consumers who interacted with IKEA’s AR tool in the IKEA app. The study employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses. The results demonstrate that both independent self-construal and emotional intelligence positively affect immersion and flow within AR environments, as well as perceptions of brand usefulness, ultimately fostering stronger brand attachments. This research contributes to the literature by highlighting self-construal and emotional intelligence as significant drivers of flow experiences in AR. It also expands understanding of how individual psychological traits shape consumer behavior in AR settings, offering valuable insights for brands looking to leverage technology-driven strategies to enhance brand attachment through unique and engaging experiences.

ABSTRACT. The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized various industries by enhancing efficiency, streamlining processes, and transforming service delivery. While the integration of AI in sectors like healthcare, logistics, and tourism has been widely studied, its adoption within the corporate events industry remains underexplored. Existing research on AI acceptance often relies on traditional technology acceptance models (e.g., TAM), which were developed for non-intelligent systems and may not fully capture the socio-psychological nuances influencing users’ attitudes toward AI systems. This study addresses this gap by investigating how socio-psychological factors – social presence, technological self-efficacy and perceived empathy – shape delegates’ attitudes toward AI acceptance in the context of corporate events. Grounded in a user-centric perspective, this research examines whether these factors influence participants’ intentions and attitudes toward adopting AI-driven systems during service delivery. Beyond providing insights into AI’s role in the corporate events sector, this paper contributes to the broader understanding of human-AI interaction by exploring the psychological and social dimensions that drive acceptance. By empirically validating the significance of these factors, this study highlights the potential of AI integration as a strategic tool for enhancing attendee experiences and fostering innovation in modern business event management.

ABSTRACT. The luxury fashion industry has experienced substantial growth in recent years, largely fueled by advancements in technology. Despite facing global challenges, the luxury segment continues to thrive in key markets such as the US, Europe, and China, where the top 10 companies dominate the industry. Emerging trends like NFTs, the Metaverse, and Mixed Realities offer new strategic opportunities to engage tech-savvy consumers and strengthen their connection with brands. By adopting these cutting-edge approaches, luxury brands develop distinct attributes that shape consumer perception. This study seeks to address the gap in empirical research regarding the impact of these strategies within the luxury fashion sector.

ABSTRACT. Nowadays,consumers connect with others who share the same interests, goals, and practices through online communities. These communities enhance information-sharing and knowledge exchange. Besides, consumers are increasingly aware of the impact of their consumption choices on the environment, health and animal welfare. Thus, they search for information regarding products and brands online. Companies seek to develop and maintain online communities that enable conversations around targeted products and brands. However, online communities can develop beyond the brand or consumption object that initially inspired them. Therefore, understanding how consumer-managed online communities contribute to brand market development seems pertinent. This study departs from online vegan communities as a case to understand the dynamics of online communities that are not necessarily focused on or supported by a brand. In the endeavour, it combines qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Study I combines netnographic procedures with in-depth interviews to provide a closer look into the practices that develop within online vegan communities. Online community interactions may lead to behavioral changes. Study II departs from this assumption and explores: 1) the influence of dietarian identity on purchase intention and attitude; and 2) the influence of one’s dietary pattern on the proposed relationships. It departs from survey-based research and tests the proposed relationships through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Contributes to practice and theory are discussed, along with directions for future research. Together, the studies allow for a better understanding of how consumer behavior develops and is shaped online; and how it is reflected in offline behavior. Hopefully, the studies can be enlarged to address similar community types and understand the impacts of consumer interactions online on the purchase and attitude towards other products.

ABSTRACT. This research analyzes e-commerce conversion rates (CRs) across 25,000 websites and 100+ countries, providing a rare cross-industry perspective. It explores temporal, regional, and category-level trends, uncovering key drivers of CR variation. By moving beyond single-website studies, this work offers fresh insights into global online retail performance and strategic optimization.

ABSTRACT. The transformation of mobile banking is one of the results of digital servitisation, which reshapes customer experiences by shifting from traditional face-to-face interactions to technology-driven, consumer-focused services. This transformation redefines the roles of digital technologies, financial institutions, and customers in value co-creation and service delivery; meanwhile, it motivates banks to implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mobile and digital platforms. Studies on how service ecosystems adapt to emerging technologies and relationship platforms remain scarce, although digital servitisation provides important opportunities for value co-creation. Besides, there remains a significant gap in understanding its impact on consumers and its wider implications for the banking industry despite the potential of AI to improve efficiency and competitiveness. The impact of AI on consumer intention and interaction remains underexplored, although AI adoption is driving operational transformation and improving service delivery. This study integrates multiple theoretical perspectives (e.g., Service-dominant logic (SDL), trust-based theories, and SERVQUAL model) to explore the impact of digital servitisation on value creation and customer engagement to build successful service relationships, especially the intention to adopt AI in mobile banking. It consists of 6 components (e.g., service quality of traditional banks, benefits of mobile banking, perceived security, trust, comfort using AI-enabled mobile banking and intention to adopt AI in mobile banking) in the proposed conceptual framework. In this study, the questionnaire will comprise 34 questions and be distributed to a total of 205 respondents. The questionnaire will be converted into Google Forms for data collection as it is the best way to reduce the time required and improve efficiency. The proposed research framework will be analysed using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings of the study are expected to provide insights and guidelines for government, retailers, and future researchers for AI-driven mobile banking intention and adoption.

ABSTRACT. The rapid development of AI has transformed business practices while raising critical regulatory and ethical concerns, particularly in high-risk sectors such as finance, healthcare, and law. One key principle in AI governance is contestability, which allows stakeholders to challenge AI-driven decisions. Although widely recognized in regulatory frameworks, practical guidance on implementing contestability remains limited. This research investigates customer perceptions of different contestation review bodies (human, AI, and hybrid) and how these perceptions of fairness and empathy influence trust in organizations. Additionally, it explores the role of internal versus external review bodies and their impact on customer trust. The findings aim to provide insights for businesses transitioning to AI-driven services and support policymakers in designing effective contestation mechanisms that protect user rights and foster public trust in AI systems.

ABSTRACT. Existing research presents conflicting views on whether diversity enhances or diminishes prosocial behaviors. This study explores the intricate connections between diversity, deprivation, and prosocial behaviors conducting empirical and experimental studies. Analyzing neighborhood-level donation data and individual-level experimental data, we explore how diversity and deprivation jointly influence prosocial behavior. Study 1 analyzes a 10-year UK donation dataset, finding that residents in more diverse cities tend to donate more, particularly among those who are less deprived. Conversely, more deprived individuals donate less in deprived settings. Studies 2 and 3 replicate these results in the U.S. through randomized experiments, revealing that empathy mediates the relationship between diversity and prosocial behavior, with deprivation serving as a moderator. These findings provide valuable insights for charities and policymakers on the mechanisms behind prosocial behaviors, enabling more targeted interventions in different socioeconomic areas. Theoretically, this study examines the role of deprivation, viewed as resource scarcity, in influencing prosociality in diverse neighborhoods.

ABSTRACT. This study examines AI-based purchase forecasting using supermarket transaction data. By applying various machine learning models, including deep learning and traditional statistical approaches, we evaluate their accuracy and effectiveness in predicting consumer purchasing behavior. The research highlights key challenges such as data quality, seasonality effects, and model interpretability. Furthermore, we discuss the practical implications of AI-driven forecasting for inventory management, demand planning, and marketing strategies in the supermarket sector. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how AI can optimize supply chain efficiency and enhance customer satisfaction in the retail industry.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the curvilinear relationship between text-image congruence and Airbnb booking behavior. Using image analytics and text mining, a cosine congruence score assesses congruence across 900 listings. Results reveal an inverted U-shaped effect, offering theoretical insights and practical guidance for optimizing thumbnails and titles to maximize bookings.

ABSTRACT. The digital transformation has fundamentally reshaped the global tourism industry, with travel influencers emerging as pivotal sources of information, entertainment, and emotional support. While extant literature predominantly examines travel intentions, limited attention has been paid to compulsive travel video consumption as a significant marketing outcome. Given the inherent temporal gap between travel content consumption and actual travel behavior, this study examines how travel influencers shape viewer behaviors through social comparison processes, specifically investigating the mediating roles of parasocial interaction (PSI) and wishful identification in driving wishful traveling and compulsive travel video browsing. Furthermore, the study evaluates the relationships between followers' self-determination motivations (interest-enjoyment, escape, information seeking, social influence) and travel influencers' characteristics (social attractiveness, expertise, homophily) on PSI and wishful identification. Analysis of survey data from 321 travel influencer video viewers reveals that social comparison processes significantly influence both wishful traveling and compulsive video browsing. Notably, compulsive travel video browsing serves as a partial mediator in both the PSI-wishful traveling and wishful identification-wishful traveling relationships. Regarding self-determination motivation, interest-enjoyment and escape exclusively influence PSI, while information seeking solely affects wishful identification. Among travel influencer characteristics, expertise and homophily demonstrate positive effects on both mediating variables, whereas social attractiveness exclusively impacts PSI. This research advances theoretical understanding and practical implications for digital marketing strategies in tourism. The findings suggest travel influencers should prioritize domain expertise and homophilic connections with viewers. Tourism organizations can leverage these insights to optimize influencer partnerships while considering the relationship between compulsive video browsing and wishful traveling. These findings advance the understanding of digital tourism marketing and illuminate travel influencers' strategic value in the contemporary landscape.

ABSTRACT. This study innovatively incorporates UGC incorporating virtual humans (VH) into an AI system in the context of artificial intelligence, aiming to clarify whether and how virtual human-generated content (VHGC) influences consumers' downstream behaviors towards recommended tourism products when using an AI travel assistant. In this study, an online questionnaire was administered to 265 Chinese social media users,. The findings suggest that VHGC and perceived anthropomorphism positively influence virtual travel product experience, perceived interactivity, perceived mental imagery, perceived inspiration, and attitudes toward VHGC, and that the interaction between the two significantly influences consumers' purchase intention, recommendation intention, and AI reuse intention through a series of mediating variables. The value of this study is to provide a framework for AI and VHGC in digital tourism marketing and customer journey experience, thus revealing that VHGC can be used as a digital promotional tool that contributes to enhancing consumer behavioral intentions. This study expands the literature related to virtual tourism experiences as well as anthropomorphism in the context of AI. The findings also provide practical insights for AI service software to provide more personalized digital tourism marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. Nowadays, tourism e-commerce platforms endeavor to attract non-paying tourists to comment on the platform. This behavior can significantly increase the content's popularity and the platform's prosperity. However, is this phenomenon really beneficial for specific e-commerce platforms? Could the non-paying posters' identity really lead to more positive engagement behavior than paying tourists? Existing research has now underestimated the role of social identity differences in e-commerce platform engagement. To address this issue, we collect empirical data from ctrip.com and utilize various models, including YOLO and Brisque, to extract essential information resources. From the independent t-test (study 1), free-riding issues are unlikely to be serious in the non-paying review context. By establishing several regression models (study 2), our results show that tourists prefer to engage (like) more with the non-paying posters over the paying posters. Our results hold in several robustness checks. Our findings could provide both theoretical and practical implications for relevant tourism stakeholders.

ABSTRACT. This study explores guest interactions with a social humanoid robot in a hotel, comparing its functions as an information provider and entertainment source. Using video analysis, we examine interaction patterns, engagement levels, and emotional responses. Findings suggest that entertainment-focused interactions foster higher engagement and stronger emotional responses than information-based interactions.

ABSTRACT. Marketers apply different gamification elements in online activities to enhance consumers’ behavioural changes and engagement. However, no all elements demonstrated were effective to satisfy consumers’ needs. Current gamification research focused on examining younger adults and neglected senior users. Only a few research on gamification studies involving this demographic reveals a limited literature on investigating older adults’ behaviours in different gamification contexts. Additionally, while the Hong Kong tourism market has been gradually recovering after the pandemic, Hong Kong still faces different challenges, resulting in the decline in tourism. By exploring the needs of older adults, this study emphasises the significance of gamification in the tourism market for this demographic. It also investigates gamification elements through the lens of older adults' experiences, enriching theoretical research on gamification context. Designers and marketers can utilise this research to tailor effective gamification elements that satisfy the needs of male and female older adults.

ABSTRACT. Virtual reality (VR) technology is widely regarded as an effective medium for providing immersive experiences, enabling users to gain in - depth understanding of detailed information about various destinations. This study aims to explore the application of the experience economy theory in the field of virtual reality, with a focus on analyzing the differences in the impact of four experience elements (escapism experience, esthetic experience, education experience, and entertainment experience) under different scenarios and cultures. That is, the effects manifested by different groups of people and in different scenarios vary. This research further explores the mediating role of usage intention between the overall VR experience and the intention to visit. Through empirical analysis, it clarifies how, under different consumption scenarios and cultural backgrounds, the usage intention is influenced by the quality of the VR experience, and in turn affects consumers' subsequent intention to visit. This research conducts an empirical investigation of the VR experiences of 400 participants, with the research subjects being Korean and Chinese consumers, including 200 Koreans and 200 Chinese. The research scenarios are the Forbidden City in Beijing and Gyeongbokgung Palace in South Korea. The experiment is divided into two groups: Group 1 (200 participants), where 100 Koreans experience the Forbidden City and 100 Chinese experience Gyeongbokgung Palace; Group 2, where 100 Koreans experience Gyeongbokgung Palace, and 100 Chinese experience the Forbidden City. After each round of experience, participants completed a 10–15-minute questionnaire. This research aims to investigate how the four elements of the experience economy (escapism, esthetic, education, and entertainment experiences) influence consumer behavior in a virtual reality environment, with a focus on different cultural contexts. It is hypothesized that, in the first round of the experiment, Korean consumers will be more inclined towards escapism experiences, seeking an escape from reality, while Chinese consumers will be more inclined towards education experiences, focusing on learning and acquiring knowledge. Additionally, in the second round of the experiment, it is expected that Chinese consumers will exhibit a stronger tendency towards escapism, as they may seek an immersive way to escape from their daily lives, while Korean consumers are expected to lean more towards educational experiences, which aligns with their cultural preference for learning and gaining new insights. This research hypothesizes that usage intention may moderate the relationship between satisfaction with virtual reality (VR) experiences and the intention to visit. The hypothesis is based on the assumption that users' satisfaction with VR experiences can significantly influence their future behavior. Specifically, it is expected that when users are satisfied with a VR experience, they are more likely to have a higher willingness to revisit or continue using the VR environment. The reason for anticipating this mediating effect is based on a well - recognized concept in consumer behavior research, which often leads to a stronger desire for satisfaction and engagement in future actions (such as repurchasing or re - engaging). In the context of virtual reality, this relationship is particularly important because users' satisfaction can enhance their engagement with the technology and the likelihood of revisiting the VR environment. Moreover, in many cases, especially in research on technology adoption and use, usage intention is generally regarded as a key mediating factor between satisfaction and future behavior. Therefore, this study anticipates that usage intention will play a crucial role in linking satisfaction intentions to actual behavior change, affecting whether a consumer's positive experience will lead to meaningful behaviors such as repeated use or visitation. This research contributes to academic theory by applying the experience economy theory to virtual reality (VR) marketing, with a particular focus on how four key experience elements—escapism experience, esthetic experience, educational experience, and entertainment experience—influence the consumer behavior of different cultural groups in a cross - cultural context. The study reveals the impact of cultural differences on the use of VR technology and deeply explores how to customize VR experiences according to the needs of different cultural groups to enhance consumers' sense of participation and satisfaction. In addition, the research further explores the mediating role of usage intention in the transformation of consumer behavior, emphasizing the importance of usage intention in consumers' future behaviors, such as re - using or visiting the VR environment. At the practical level, this research provides valuable guidance for marketers and VR designers, helping them customize VR content and marketing strategies based on the preferences and needs of different cultural groups. By adjusting experience elements (such as escapism, education, esthetics, and entertainment) and scene design, it is possible to effectively improve consumers' satisfaction and engagement, thus promoting more effective behavior transformation. These practical insights contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of VR marketing campaigns, increasing consumers' acceptance and engagement with virtual reality technology, and thereby facilitating the wide - spread promotion and use of VR applications.

ABSTRACT. Applying health monitoring technology to apparel is a significant advancement in wearable technology, enabling consumers to effectively monitor and manage personal health in everyday life. Although smart clothing has achieved considerable success in professional settings, its adoption by everyday consumers has yet to be explored in depth. Existing health monitoring technology is primarily used in the medical and healthcare sectors, focusing more on technical performance while neglecting a comprehensive analysis of consumer acceptance of this new technology. Using the UTAUT as a theoretical framework, this research combines qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine everyday consumers' acceptance of health monitoring apparel. It involves data research on a sample of 500 everyday consumers, as well as semi-structured interviews with typical consumers, to explore the moderating effects of core UTAUT constructs, demographic factors, consumer-oriented moderating factors, and privacy sensitivity factors, as well as the relationships among these factors. By identifying and analyzing these influential factors and moderators, this research fills existing gaps by providing comprehensive insights into acceptance dynamics within the general consumer market. The theoretical contributions enrich the current understanding of technology acceptance specifically applied to health monitoring apparel, while the practical implications provide strategic guidance for apparel manufacturers, health technology developers, marketers, and policy makers seeking to successfully promote consumer adoption and address emerging consumer expectations and concerns.

ABSTRACT. E-commerce retailers have the power to price discriminate based on users’ online past purchase behavior. This paper develops a structural model of consumer demand and a pricing policy model to quantify the welfare effects of behavior-based price discrimination (BBPD). Using data from a randomized controlled experiment on a cosmetics e-commerce site, the structural estimation reveals elastic demand to price discount treatments. With nonparametric estimation via machine learning, the counterfactual analysis tests different pricing algorithms and shows that personalized price discrimination increases e-commerce profit by 24% and consumer surplus by 4%, relative to uniform pricing. Exploiting past purchase history is profitable for the monopolistic e-commerce: BBPD complements targeting discounts by generating an additional 11% gain in producer surplus without harming loyal customers. This paper contributes to the current public policy debate about pricing strategies in digital markets as the welfare analysis has implications for privacy policy.

ABSTRACT. The rapid growth of the internet celebrity economy has provided merchants with a valuable channel to promote new products and build brand image. However, the key factors merchants should consider when selecting internet celebrities for product endorsements have garnered increasing attention from both businesses and researchers. Despite this, limited research has focused on the characteristics of internet celebrities in this context. This study applies justice theory (distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactive justice) and the Source-Attractiveness Model (similarity, likability, and familiarity) to examine how these characteristics influence fans' perceived source credibility of internet celebrities (expertise and trustworthiness), ultimately leading to continuous following behavior. This quantitative research collected data through an online questionnaire from users who follow internet celebrities, yielding 895 valid responses. Data analysis using SmartPLS 4.0 revealed that distributive, procedural, and interactive justice significantly affect trustworthiness, while only procedural and interactive justice significantly impact expertise. Additionally, similarity and likability significantly influence both expertise and trustworthiness, whereas familiarity does not affect either. expertise and trustworthiness. Lastly, expertise and trustworthiness were found to have a significant effect on continuous following behavior. The findings suggest that internet celebrities should present information clearly and transparently during webcasting shows and maintain politeness, integrity, and honesty when interacting with followers. Additionally, they should cultivate a positive personality and public image, encompassing both intrinsic qualities and physical appearance, to enhance perceptions of expertise and trustworthiness. Ultimately, these factors lead to continuous following behavior.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how online reviews impact box office revenue across different genres, focusing on source material. This empirical analysis reveals that although greater review growth leads to higher revenue across all genres, the presence of source material diminishes this effect in multi-genre and thriller movies.

ABSTRACT. Live streaming e-commerce is an emerging retail channel that combines live video broadcasting with online shopping to offer a real-time, interactive experience, resulting in high conversion rates. According to Statista (2023a), U.S. live streaming e-commerce sales reached $17 billion in 2022 and are projected to grow to $55 billion by 2026. Compared to Western markets, this retail channel is more popular and rapidly expanding in the Asia-Pacific region. In China, for instance, the number of live streaming e-commerce users is approximately 526 million, accounting for 48.8% of internet users in 2023 (Statista, 2023b), contributing significantly to revenue growth. Specifically, China’s live streaming e-commerce market reached $519 billion in 2022, with expectations to grow further to $723 billion in 2023 (Alpha, 2023), representing an impressive 39% annual growth rate. Given this rapid expansion, live streaming e-commerce is viewed as a major "blue ocean" business opportunity, prompting well-known international brands such as Louis Vuitton and Estée Lauder to embrace the platform to introduce products and boost sales.

While live streaming e-commerce has generated substantial business value, it does not guarantee profitability for all live streamers. In China, the majority of the value is generated by a small group of top-tier streamers, leaving many smaller streamers struggling with low traffic and poor conversion rates (iiMedia.cn, 2020). As a result, these smaller streamers are eager to learn how they can replicate the success of top-tier influencers. They are particularly interested in identifying the key characteristics that contribute to the success of leading streamers. This has also attracted the attention of academia, with researchers exploring how streamer characteristics—such as expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness—affect audience behaviors, including viewing and purchasing intentions. However, findings from these studies have been inconsistent. To address this research gap, this study proposes a systematic and detailed analytical framework, using meta-analysis, to enhance the understanding of how streamer characteristics influence audience behavior. The findings of this study will not only address critical research gaps but also provide actionable recommendations for live-streaming platforms and streamers, enabling them to enhance audience engagement and optimize commercial outcomes. These insights will serve as a valuable reference for the development and refinement of future strategies, contributing to the sustained growth of the live-streaming industry.

ABSTRACT. The rapid growth of technology and increasing competition in the retail sector have made omnichannel customer experience (OCX) a critical factor in achieving customer satisfaction. Despite its importance, there remains a gap in understanding the predictors of OCX and its role in shaping customer satisfaction. This study addresses this gap by evaluating the impact of three key components—Digital Experience (DX), Client Centricity (CC), and Online Privacy (OPr)—on OCX and customer satisfaction, with OCX as a mediating variable. Using established scales from prior literature, data were collected from 384 customer survey respondents and analyzed via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings reveal that DX, CC, and OPr positively influence OCX, which partially mediates their relationship with customer satisfaction. Among these predictors, Digital Experience demonstrates the strongest direct impact on customer satisfaction, compared to Client Centricity and Online Privacy. This study contributs to the omnichannel marketing and customer behaviour literature. Also, the insights provide actionable guidance for retailers aiming to optimize omnichannel strategies. By focusing on delivering seamless digital experiences, fostering customer trust, and ensuring flexibility in post-purchase services, retailers can significantly improve both OCX and overall customer satisfaction in today's competitive landscape.

ABSTRACT. The objective is to demonstrate how luxury conglomerates balance growth, efficiency, and disruptive global events while providing insights into the market’s future and its inherent contradictions. A systematic analysis of secondary data reveals disparities in operational efficiency and provides insights into the balance between exclusivity and massification.

ABSTRACT. From the perspective of brand strategy, M&A is meaningful as it enables companies to efficiently obtain a brand rather than brand development from scratch. Especially in the luxury sector, history and tradition are important elements. As the time for building up these elements is reduced, M&A has become a popular growth strategy in the luxury market. In this regard, with increasing economic power, Asian investors have been challenging the cross-border acquisition (CBA) of Western brand holders to enhance their business growth, whereas their cultural background and country-of-origin (COO) image seem dissimilar. When a change of control is incongruent with existing associations of the acquired brand in minds, consumers may perceive such a CBA to be uncomfortable and lower their brand evaluation, leading to a decrease in brand equity. Accordingly, from the perspective of association network theory, this research addresses the COO fit between acquirers and acquired brands in the CBA context and discusses its impact on consumers’ brand evaluation in the luxury sector. In the postmodern markets, not only ‘real’ but also ‘fake’ products and services have been abundantly distributed, whereas contemporary consumer sensibilities have become increasingly focused on what is ‘real’. Accordingly, authenticity has become an important determinant of brand status and equity. At the same time, status is traditionally the center of luxury brands. This research focuses on these elements and proposes a conceptual model which presents their roles in the consumers’ attitude formation toward luxury brands based on the COO fit levels. The literature on M&A tends to focus on financial performance from strategic management, whereas discussions of its impacts on consumer psychology are scarce. The history of literature on consumer behavior concerning COO related to CBA is short. Although CBA by Asian investors is increasing in the luxury market, few researchers have discussed it from the luxury branding perspective. Thus, this research is meaningful to both theoretical and practical fields.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the impact of gender and racial portrayals on luxury fashion NFT valuations. Analyzing Gucci Grail NFTs, we found racial depictions significantly influence pricing, while gender portrayals do not. Our findings highlight persistent racial biases in digital marketplaces and the need for cultural awareness in the NFT domain.

ABSTRACT. An increasing number of brands, particularly luxury brands, are offering artificial intelligence (AI) customer service or assistants on online platforms, driven by marketers' belief that such services can provide consumers with precise and efficient support. However, the question arises: do consumers of different identities prefer such services? Unlike brands that are accessible to the public, luxury brands create a unique sense of status and identity for their consumers, sometimes even crafting special identities associated with wealth, power, and aesthetics. Therefore, this study takes consumer luxury consumption congruence as the independent variable to explore how luxury brands should tailor AI services for consumers with varying identity perceptions. For reaching this purpose, we designed 4 experimental studies including a cross-culture study.

ABSTRACT. The integration of artistic elements into luxury branding—referred to as artification—has become an increasingly prevalent strategy for reinforcing brand exclusivity, authenticity, and cultural prestige. This study empirically examines the impact of artification on consumer perceptions, brand authenticity, and purchase likelihood. Through three experimental studies conducted with Italian, U.S., and Chinese consumers, the research explores how artification enhances brand authenticity and whether this effect is mediated by authenticity perceptions. Additionally, the study investigates the moderating role of skepticism toward advertising, assessing whether skeptical consumers respond differently to art-infused luxury branding. Findings indicate that artification significantly enhances perceived brand authenticity, which in turn increases purchase intention. However, skepticism toward advertising weakens this relationship, suggesting that the effectiveness of artification strategies depends on individual consumer traits. The study contributes to the luxury branding literature by offering theoretical insights into the psychological mechanisms behind artification and providing managerial implications for leveraging art to sustain brand equity in an increasingly competitive global market.

ABSTRACT. The study investigates the effects of luxury brand exits on local and remaining foreign masstige brands in the Russian market. It is based on natural experiment framework to analyze marketing strategies and performance changes among fashion brands before and after the military conflict in Ukraine. This shift is particularly relevant in the context of the Russian market, which has seen significant growth in luxury consumption post-COVID, despite a contraction in 2022 due to the exit of many Western brands. The study explores two main research questions: the impact of luxury brand exits on the performance of masstige brands and the strategies employed by domestic and foreign apparel producers to establish themselves as masstige brands. It also highlights how some companies have successfully expanded their target demographics and retail networks to adapt to changing consumer preferences. Additionally, the research discusses brand activism's role in shaping consumer attitudes and market dynamics, suggesting that brands less engaged in activism may find greater success in pursuing masstige strategies.

ABSTRACT. This research examines consumer psychological responses to visual product presentations in digital promotional communications. Drawing on processing fluency theory, we investigate how single versus multiple unit imagery interacts with promotion types to influence consumer evaluations. Through four experimental studies, we demonstrate that multiple-unit presentations enhance consumer response to price discount promotions by activating cost-saving concepts, while single-unit presentations prove more effective for bonus promotions by triggering product-focused concepts. Using processing fluency as the underlying psychological mechanism, we identify how different presentation formats activate distinct cognitive processes. These findings advance consumer psychology in digital contexts and provide practical implications for promotional design across various online touchpoints, from digital advertisements to e-commerce platforms.

ABSTRACT. AI chatbots are fast becoming one of the most important customer support channels for sales and service interactions. While AI chatbots offer many benefits, managing customer experience in AI chatbot interactions remains a challenge. To enhance customer experience, many firms anthropomorphize AI chatbots by giving them human names, but the results have been mixed. In this research, we leverage non-anthropomorphic pencil animations based on an embodied virtual writing speed theory by enabling AI chatbots to assume either super-human or human-like abilities in order to better address customers’ informational versus socio-emotional concerns. Specifically, when customers’ concerns are informational, AI chatbots applying a much-faster-than-customer virtual writing speed may help to fulfill customers’ desire for super-human information processing, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction. In contrast, when customers’ concerns are socio-emotional, AI chatbots applying a same-as-customer virtual writing speed can better meet the need for human-like socio-emotional connection, thus improving customer satisfaction. Our findings provide managers with actionable guidelines on how to leverage AI chatbots’ embodied virtual writing speed to optimize customer experience during customer-AI chatbot interactions.

ABSTRACT. New technologies, notably Artificial Intelligence (AI), are playing an increasingly important role in new product development and show especially great potential in creative aspects such as product design. Even the luxury sector, which relies heavily on human professional designers, has a clear shift towards considering the adoption of technology. In departure from conventional investigations focused on physical luxury goods, our research takes an innovative approach by centering on virtual luxury products within virtual environments, notably in gaming contexts. Through an exploration of the novel concept of AI design, we aim to elucidate its impact on consumer brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Our inquiry further delves into the circumstances and rationales influencing consumer preferences or resistance towards AI-designed virtual luxury goods. Structured as a series of three primary studies, our research seeks to scrutinize the implications of AI design on consumer response behavior. Recognizing AI's prowess in shaping the visual allure of virtual products, specifically their aesthetic and functional attributes, we hypothesize that consumers exhibit a preference for AI-designed virtual luxury goods within the virtual gaming sphere, relative to those crafted by professional designers, with perceived design attributes mediating this preference. Crucially, our research also endeavors to identify the boundary conditions for the positive effects of AI design. We posit that the product type serves as a moderator, influencing the impact of the product design source. Notably, consumers are expected to exhibit a more favorable brand attitude and a higher inclination to purchase AI-designed virtual luxury products when attached to the gaming space, in contrast to those existing independently in trading spaces. Furthermore, in a more in-depth discussion, we argue that consumer-perceived innovation ability can initially explain the relationship between design sources and perceived product attributes. This research not only contributes to academic discourse but also holds practical implications for businesses and marketers operating in virtual spaces, offering insights on how to strategically leverage AI while mitigating potential risks.

ABSTRACT. This research presents three experimental studies that examine how influencer type (human vs. virtual), product framing (hedonic vs. utilitarian), and influencer agency (autonomous vs. managed) interact to influence trust and marketing effectiveness. Across the three studies, the result demonstrates a moderated moderated mediation effect. Such that, the effect of influencer type (human vs. virtual) on perceived trust is moderated by product framing (utilitarian vs. hedonic) and influencer agency (autonomous vs. professionally managed), whereby HIs is only more effective than VIs when they are autonomous (but not professionally managed) and promoting utilitarian (but not hedonic) product. The findings also identify imagine-self perspective-taking as a key underlying psychological mechanism.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the interaction of perceived algorithmic explainability, user control, and literacy in shaping user evaluations of short-form video platform algorithms. Findings indicate that perceived explainability and control positively impact user attitudes, mediated by algorithmic legitimacy. Algorithmic literacy moderates these effects, highlighting its role on user perceptions of algorithm.

ABSTRACT. The rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed corporate communication activities, with AI-powered chatbots emerging as a significant tool in consumer interaction. Chatbots offer operational efficiency and consistency, enabling personalized conversations and targeted advertising. However, personalized advertisements delivered through chatbots often encounter the "Personalization Paradox," where consumers exhibit both positive and negative responses. Negative reactions, such as privacy concerns and perceived invasiveness, often stem from transparency issues in data collection and usage, posing challenges for effective chatbot advertising. 　While existing studies highlight the impact of chatbot interactions on ad evaluations, few have explored the role of conversation content in influencing the Personalization Paradox. This study addresses this gap by examining how the warmth or competence of chatbot conversations affect consumer perceptions of personalized ads. Using the Expectancy Disconfirmation Model and Stereotype Content Model, two hypotheses were proposed: (H1) warm conversations lead to negative ad evaluations due to expectation violations, and (H2) competent conversations result in positive evaluations aligned with consumer expectations. 　Two online experiments were conducted to test these hypotheses. Study 1 focused on chatbot warmth, where 246 participants evaluated ads following warm versus neutral conversations. The results revealed that warm conversations heightened privacy concerns and reactance through expectation violations, supporting H1. Study 2 investigated chatbot competence, involving 249 participants, but found no significant effects on ad evaluations, rejecting H2. 　This research demonstrates that chatbot conversation content plays a crucial role in shaping consumer perceptions of personalized ads. The findings underscore the importance of aligning chatbot conversations with subsequent advertising to minimize the negative effects of expectation violations. By providing insights into the mechanisms driving the Personalization Paradox, this study contributes to the development of effective AI-powered advertising strategies.

ABSTRACT. Purpose Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized personalized advertising, creating opportunities for brands to engage with consumers on a deeper level. Given the increasing prevalence of AI technologies in marketing and the shift towards hyper-personalized consumer experiences, the current research aims to explore the performance factors of AI and the mechanism through which AI performance factors motivate consumers’ acceptance of AI-personalized ads and willingness to co-create experiences.

Methodology The stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model was applied to develop the research’s conceptual framework in which AI performance factors including real-time adaptiveness, progressive adjustment and omnichannel harmonization are the stimuli while perceived innovativeness and perceived serendipity serve as the organism. The responses are willingness to accept AI-personalized ads and to co-create experience. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), and Multigroup analysis were performed on a valid sample size of 356 Prolific-based participants using AMOS 29 to evaluate the research model and test the hypotheses.

Findings The findings reveal that as the stimuli, real-time adaptiveness and progressive adjustment positively influence omnichannel harmonization. Omnichannel harmonization subsequently impacts perceived innovativeness and perceived serendipity. As a result, the significant effect of perceived innovativeness and perceived serendipity extends to the acceptance of AI-personalized ads and experience co-creation willingness. Depending on individual consumers’ familiarity with AI tools, these effects differ considerably. The findings offer valuable implications for both academic research and practical marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the impact of improvised real-time marketing on customer loyalty, with a focus on the moderating role of AI disclosure. Drawing on survey data from consumers exposed to real-time marketing campaigns, the research examines how perceived creativity and emotional appeal sequentially drive customer loyalty. Results confirm that perceived creativity significantly enhances emotional appeal, which in turn strengthens customer loyalty. Furthermore, AI disclosure positively moderates the relationship between perceived creativity and emotional appeal. This study advances real-time marketing literature, offering actionable insights for brands to optimize real-time marketing strategies through creative agility and responsible AI communication.

ABSTRACT. Implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in marketing management is a contemporary research topic that requires empirical investigation. This article explores the impact of AI and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). Data from 384 surveys of marketing managers were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the theoretical model. The results confirm that AI significantly enhances CRM, which, in turn, positively influences IMC. However, AI does not directly affect IMC; instead, its impact is mediated through CRM, indicating a significant indirect effect. This research contributes to the research in marketing management, data-driven marketing, integrated marketing communications, and generative AI. It offers valuable insights for marketing managers planning to implement AI in managing customer relationships and marketing communications.

ABSTRACT. The fashion industry is witnessing a paradigm shift towards sustainability, driven by increasing consumer concerns regarding corporate social and environmental responsibilities (Davies, Lee, and Ahonkhai 2012). Luxury fashion brands, in particular, face pressure to integrate pro-environmental sustainability into their operations to epitomize ’responsible luxury‘ (De Angelis, Adıgüzel, and Amatulli 2017). This study aims to explore the impact of sustainable message framing on consumer attitudes towards fashion brands, focusing on the role of emotional and rational advertising framing. Drawing from existing literature, the theoretical framework is grounded in consumer psychology and communication theories. Previous studies suggest that consumers may perceive sustainability and luxury as incompatible concepts, raising questions about the authenticity of luxury brands' commitment to sustainability. Additionally, the phenomenon of greenwashing poses challenges to maintaining credibility in green advertising, especially among luxury brands (Torelli et al., 2012). Message framing, as a communication strategy, can influence consumer attitudes and behaviors towards sustainability (Mann, Sherman, and Updegraff, 2004). The study employs qualitative and quantitative research methods, including literature review, content analysis of fashion brand advertisements, and consumer surveys. Preliminary findings indicate that emotional advertising framing resonates more profoundly with consumers, evoking stronger emotional responses and attitudes towards sustainable fashion brands. However, rational advertising framing coupled with objective messaging also exhibits efficacy, particularly in enhancing perceived credibility and trustworthiness. The results suggest that sustainable message framing plays a pivotal role in shaping consumer attitudes towards fashion brands‘ sustainability initiatives. By effectively communicating eco-friendly practices, fashion brands can enhance their green image and reputation, fostering brand loyalty among environmentally-conscious consumers. The study contributes comprehensive communication strategies tailored for fashion brands to navigate the complexities of sustainable messaging, emphasizing the need for sustained brand image enhancement amidst an increasingly discerning consumer landscape.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates virtual human-generated content (VHGC) as a form of digital promotion in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) and explores how such content can enhance the promotional effects of AI to promote consumer behavioral intentions. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 265 Chinese social media users. The results of the study show that types of luxury products and perceived anthropomorphism positively affect virtual luxury product experience, perceived interactivity, perceived mental imagery, perceived inspiration, and attitudes towards VHGC. The value of this study lies in elucidating the development of digital luxury marketing and the role of VHGC as a digital promotional tool in influencing consumer behavior, contributing to the literature on the forms and anthropomorphism of luxury product promotion in the digital age. The findings also provide practical implications on how the travel industry can utilize digital tools to promote and enhance active consumer engagement.

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study is to identify whether luxury democratization benefits long-term brand equity. Analysis identified six consumer-perceived luxury values, with hedonic, aesthetic, and exclusive values emerging as significant factors in luxury brand democratization. A follow-up study is planned based on these findings.

ABSTRACT. Advertising researchers are increasingly facing emerging challenges related to new technologies, especially in respect of brand identity management in virtual environments. The current and future scenarios of digital advertising become particularly bleak for luxury brands advertisers. Building on the intersection between two prominent theories (i.e., the Brand Identity Prism and Extended Self in the Virutal World), we preliminary hypothesized two typologies of brand-customer relationships: first, an “intimate,” dyadic connection between the luxury brand and the customer, who is constantly trying to express her self-identity (i.e., Online Social Identity; OSI) through the luxury digital possession; second, a “public,” social connection among the luxury brand, the customer, and the whole social/online sphere where the luxury consumption takes place. The micro-mechanisms underlying these two relationships have been observed through a focus group involving 12 luxury advertisers.

ABSTRACT. With the increasing active sharing of experiences by social media users regarding cultural spaces provided by luxury brands, there is a growing need for research in the luxury context to examine the impact of user-generated content (UGC) on consumer behaviors. This study explores the positive impact of luxury brand UGC on consumer attitudes and behaviors. Study 1 identifies the characteristics of UGC by analyzing YouTube comments shared about cultural spaces provided by luxury brands using text mining techniques. Study 2 examines, through a survey, how UGC influences positive brand attitudes and behaviors among luxury consumers. Additionally, it investigates the differences between UGC created by mega-influencers and micro-influencers. This study offers theoretical insights into the positive effects of luxury brand UGC on branding outcomes and provides practical implications for managers by highlighting the distinctions between different types of influencers.

ABSTRACT. Social media has become a prominent communication channel for fashion brands, playing a key role in influencing today’s consumer behaviour. One platform that has gained significant popularity in the past decade is Instagram, with its visually oriented focus. This platform has created dynamic new ways for brands, consumers, and content creators to interact. As Instagram continues to grow, it has increasingly been used for sustainability discourse, a contemporary theme in the fashion industry due to the environmental and social impacts.

Previous research on Instagram's sustainability discourse has primarily focused on the perspectives of consumers and brands (Palakshappa et al., 2024; Marcella, 2023), particularly brand communications (Pookulangara et al., 2024; Milanesi et al., 2022) and consumer engagement strategies (Shahrin et al., 2022; Danielle et al., 2021). There has been limited exploration of how influencers independently communicate and advocate for sustainable fashion (Vladimirova et al., 2023; Jacobson & Harrison, 2022) and their influence on encouraging consumers to practice mindful consumption. Mindful consumption is defined as being conscious of both internal factors (thoughts and emotions) and external influences (product details and advertising) when considering the effects of consumption on oneself, society, and the environment (Garg et al., 2024).

This study aims to investigate the role of Instagram content creators in shaping the sustainable fashion discourse and their influence in motivating consumers toward mindful consumption.

Cognitive dissonance theory and parasocial interactions will be used as theoretical lens for this research (Cairns et al., 2022; Festinger, 1957) based on the idea that influencers can help reduce followers' cognitive dissonance regarding sustainable fashion by leveraging parasocial relationships. The influencer is considered as a friend by his/her follower despite having little or no relationship with them, where trust and admiration make their advocacy more persuasive. By sharing personal transformation stories telling how they transitioned to sustainable fashion or why they advocate for it, normalising small sustainable choices, and framing ethical fashion as aspirational and identity-enhancing, they help followers align their self-concept with mindful consumption, making sustainability feel desirable rather than restrictive (Cairns et al., 2022; Festinger, 1957).

This study will employ a netnography approach (Vanini, 2019) to analyse Instagram content related to sustainable fashion communication, focusing specifically on fashion influencers based in the UK and Europe. Netnography is inspired by ethnography but applied to a digital context. It was developed by Kozinets to study digital communities. It facilitates the comprehension of behaviours and relations of participants in digital spaces (Vanini, 2019). Regardless of the absence of physical presence, members of online communities engage with each other’s emotions and expressions, reflecting fundamental aspects of human nature. These communities, which operate through social media facilitate interactions, allowing members to connect and communicate effectively in a digital space.

Netnography is also used to understand the impact of influencers on their followers in the context of social media. Indeed, netnography has been applied in influencer marketing to investigate parasocial relationships between influencers and viewers, particularly in the context of travel live streaming (Deng, Benckendorff, & Wang, 2022). Therefore, netnography is well-suited for our research on how influencers advocating for sustainable consumption influence their followers. The selection of influencers will focus on those who actively advocate for sustainable fashion and have developed narrative strategies to encourage their followers to adopt more mindful consumption. We will analyse their narrative strategies in their posts and their interactions with their community. In total, we plan to collect data from 40 influencers (20 from the UK and 20 from France). Additionally, we will gather comments on their posts made by their followers. We plan to use a BERT deep-learning model to identify the narratives of the influencers and examine how they interact with their community to encourage mindful fashion consumption.

This research will contribute to both academia and industry in two main ways. First, it will address the gap identified in the literature regarding the role of content creators in advocating sustainability and promoting mindful consumption. Second, the research will provide actionable insights for content creators on how to effectively communicate sustainability through Instagram to encourage mindful consumption.

ABSTRACT. With the advancement of virtual reality technology, virtual fitting services (VFS) have become a key innovation in online fashion retail, allowing consumers to try on clothing digitally before making a purchase. As these services continue to evolve, two primary avatar types have emerged: Customized Avatars, which allow users to adjust skin tone, body shape, and other characteristics to create a model resembling themselves, and Self-Replica Avatars, which generate an avatar directly from a user’s selfie, offering a near-identical visual representation. While self-replica avatars may seem to enhance the personalization experience, not all consumers react positively to seeing an exact digital reflection of themselves. This study investigates how consumer responses to these avatar types vary and explores the moderating role of body size in shaping perceptions of virtual fitting experiences. Grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study examines three key determinants of technology adoption: usefulness, enjoyment, and ease of use. The research also evaluates the impact of these factors on consumer attitude, usage intention, and word-of-mouth (WOM)—critical indicators of virtual fitting service success. Furthermore, this study explores how body size moderates the relationship between avatar type and consumer evaluation, offering new insights into personalized digital experiences in online retail. To test these hypotheses, a between-subject experimental design was employed, with 174 participants from the United States, aged in their 20s and 30s. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions: a Customized Avatar condition, in which they saw an avatar that could be adjusted for body shape, skin tone, and height, or a Self-Replica Avatar condition, where the avatar was created from a selfie. Each condition was presented as an advertisement for a fictional fashion shopping app with a virtual fitting feature. After exposure to the stimuli, participants rated their perceptions of the service’s usefulness, enjoyment, and ease of use, their attitude toward the service, usage intentions, and word-of-mouth (WOM) likelihood. Body size was measured using the Figure Rating Scale to assess perceived body image. The results of regression analysis and PROCESS macro modeling revealed that Self-Replica Avatars were evaluated more positively than Customized Avatars across all three TAM dimensions (usefulness, enjoyment, and ease of use). These findings suggest that higher visual fidelity in avatar representation enhances the perceived value of virtual fitting services. Additionally, usefulness and enjoyment significantly influenced attitude, use intention, and WOM, while ease of use had a significant effect only on WOM, indicating that practical benefits and emotional engagement are stronger predictors of consumer adoption than ease of use alone. However, the analysis also uncovered a significant moderating effect of body size. While smaller-bodied consumers responded more favorably to Self-Replica Avatars than Customized Avatars, larger-bodied consumers exhibited no significant difference in preference between the two avatar types. This suggests that as body size increases, the advantage of a self-replica avatar diminishes, potentially due to self-image threat (Yang et al., 2023). Consumers with larger body sizes may experience discomfort or dissatisfaction when seeing a highly realistic digital version of themselves, which could reduce their engagement with the virtual fitting service. These findings highlight important implications for fashion retailers implementing virtual fitting technologies. While self-replica avatars can enhance engagement for some consumers, brands should recognize that not all users prefer a hyper-realistic digital reflection. Retailers should consider providing flexible avatar customization options, allowing consumers to adjust their avatar’s appearance in ways that enhance comfort and satisfaction. Furthermore, marketing strategies should shift from emphasizing pure realism to highlighting the practical benefits of virtual fitting, such as accurate size prediction and reduced return rates. This study contributes to consumer behavior research in digital fashion retail by demonstrating that perceived realism in avatar-based virtual fitting services does not universally lead to positive consumer evaluations. Future research should explore cultural differences in body perception and avatar acceptance, as well as investigate the psychological mechanisms underlying self-image threat in virtual retail environments.

ABSTRACT. The pervasive use of social media among young adults has raised significant concerns regarding its impact on mental health. This study explores the multifaceted relationship between social media usage and psychological well-being. This study also aims to evaluate the effectiveness of social media detox intervention in improving mental health among young adults

The research employs a mixed-method approach, comprising two studies. Study 1 involves qualitative interviews with 29 young adults aged 18-25 to probe their thoughts on social media use. Study 2 investigates the effectiveness of a social media detox intervention using a within-subject design. Participants (n=27) completed pre-test and post-test surveys to assess changes in psychological well-being after a 48-hour social media detox.

Study 1 reveals several emergent themes, including the role of boredom in driving social media use, discrepancies between perceived and actual usage, and the negative emotions elicited by social comparisons. Informants frequently used social media to alleviate boredom, often underestimating the time spent on these platforms. Negative emotions, such as anxiety and peer competition, were commonly reported.

Study 2 demonstrates the effectiveness of the social media detox intervention. Participants showed a significant reduction in social media usage and an improvement in subjective well-being and sleep quality. The detox intervention led to a decrease in weekly social media usage from 13 to 6 hours and an increase in subjective well-being and sleep quality scores.

The study concludes that excessive social media use, driven by boredom, negatively impacts mental health through social comparison and increased anxiety. The social media detox intervention proved effective in improving mental well-being and sleep quality. Future research should explore additional coping mechanisms and conduct longitudinal studies to understand the long-term effects of social media usage on mental health. These insights can inform ethical marketing strategies and public policy to regulate social media use effectively.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the impact of branding on consumer perceptions of AI-powered chatbots. As businesses integrate chatbots into customer service, understanding how these factors influence psychological constructs such as warmth, competence, empathy, and consumers' willingness to recommend services becomes essential for effective customer engagement strategies. An experimental design featuring three chatbot interaction scenarios, was utilised. Participants were randomly assigned to these scenarios, with perceptions being assessed. Results indicate that branded chatbots significantly enhance perceptions of competence, warmth, empathy and willingness to recommend. The findings highlight the importance of using brand identities as well as incorporating human-like attributes in chatbot design to bolster brand perception and foster emotional engagement.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the impact of Self-Brand Connection, AI-Driven Personalization, Content Relevance, and Content Effectiveness on Online Brand Customer Engagement (OBCE), and how OBCE influences Purchase Intention and Brand Advocacy. Using quantitative methods and a questionnaire survey, data is collected from online consumers. The findings intends to validate the proposed conceptual model, highlighting the critical role of AI-enhanced content in shaping consumer behaviors and enhancing marketing strategies. The study underscores the transformative potential of AI in digital marketing.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the impact of AI-driven personalization on brand loyalty in the fashion industry. It examines how emotional connection (EC) and self-brand connection (SBC) influence online brand consumer engagement (OBCE) through personalized direct marketing campaigns. Using a quantitative survey and regression analysis, the research aims to validate the model and provide insights into enhancing consumer loyalty. This study fills a gap by focusing on the relationship between AI-driven personalization and brand loyalty in direct marketing campaigns.

ABSTRACT. The rapid evolution of technology has significantly impacted all sectors globally, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated digitalization (He, Zhang, & Li, 2020). This digital shift has not spared the luxury market, renowned for its exclusivity and personalized service (Hung, Guillet, & Zhang, 2019). Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are reshaping these industries, offering new opportunities by automating tasks traditionally performed by humans (Rust, 2019). In Europe, AI adoption is notable, with 20% of businesses in Germany and Austria already utilizing AI, and 25% of Spanish accommodation facilities planning to adopt new technologies soon (Statista Research Department, 2024). This research aims to explore the impact of AI on shopping tourism in luxury markets, with a specific focus on the fashion industry. The central research question guiding this study is: How is AI transforming customer experiences in luxury shopping tourism within the fashion industry? The study employs qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews with customers and industry experts. This approach allows for an in-depth analysis of AI's influence on luxury shopping experiences while identifying emerging trends in the selling phase.

ABSTRACT. With the rising investment in digital video advertising, advertisers face challenges due to high ad-skipping rates and viewer irritation. Despite offering the option to skip, around 66% of users skip online video ads (Statista, 2023), reducing their effectiveness (WARC, 2016). This research aims to explore how humour can mitigate ad-skipping behaviour and enhance ad effectiveness. Specifically, it investigates the role of humour mechanisms (arousal-safety, incongruity-resolution, and humour disparagement) and their impact on viewer engagement and ad-skipping intention, as well as identify ad elements responsible for successful humorous ads. By integrating biometric data with traditional self-reports, the study offers a novel approach to understanding how humorous ad elements influence ad-skipping intentions.

The research is structured in three phases: Phase 1 identifies the effects of humour mechanisms through structural equation modelling; Phase 2 validates the findings with a content analysis of real-world humorous ads and identifies effective humorous ad elements; and Phase 3 experimentally tests the effectiveness of key ad elements in reducing ad-skipping. Across three phases, moderating factors such as humour comprehension, ad creativity, and perceived intrusiveness will also be examined. This research aims to contribute to theoretical advancements in ad effectiveness and humour research.

ABSTRACT. In the digital age, marketing strategies must be adaptive and integrated with emerging technologies to stay competitive. Agile marketing, emphasizing flexibility, speed, and collaboration, has become a key approach for managing dynamic customer engagement. Concurrently, artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing decision-making, customer interactions, and data-driven strategies. However, the integration of Agile and AI remains underexplored. This study proposes a conceptual framework for combining these two approaches to enhance marketing efficiency and precision. We examine how AI integration can optimize Agile workflows, foster continuous iteration, and improve decision-making processes through the analysis of experience reports. Preliminary findings suggest that AI-driven tools enhance team responsiveness, reduce manual tasks, and support strategic planning. While challenges such as data integrity and AI expertise persist, the integration of AI and Agile offers a path to hyper-personalization, predictive analytics, and more efficient marketing practices. Theoretical contributions include expanding the understanding of adaptive marketing strategies, while managerial implications guide organizations on adopting AI to enhance marketing agility, decision-making, and operational efficiency. This study contributes to bridging the gap between AI and Agile marketing, providing insights for future research and practical applications.

ABSTRACT. What is the difference in the impact of certain and uncertain discounts on consumers? The clarity and transparency of certain discounts conflict with the unknowns and risks of uncertain discounts. Different price consciousness can affect consumers' mentality, such as product selection, brand loyalty, and purchase decisions. The current study aims to examine this impact relationship by applying prospect theory to the context of discounts. Using an experimental design, it will examine the differences in consumer satisfaction with the discount, positive feelings and willingness to purchase for certain and uncertain discounts. Also, it will analyse whether price consciousness moderates the relationship between discount types and satisfaction with the discount, and positive feelings. The quantitative survey will be conducted in Australia and data will be analysed using t-tests and moderated mediations. The current study will shed light on the differences in the impact of different discount types on consumers' perception and behavior, as well as the moderating effect of price. This will in turn provides deeper insights for merchants and marketers into how to better formulate promotional strategies.

ABSTRACT. Our study explores the dual roles of Web3 technologies in tourism platforms: enablers of transparency and products that drive customer engagement. We examine the effect of Web3 technologies on customer behavior and platform performance through three interlinked studies. Study 1 finds that increased transparency in Web3-enabled tourism platforms significantly boosts customer trust and their intention to adopt these platforms. Study 2 reveals that trust, proxied by platform's token prices, has an immediate and lasting effect on customer loyalty, proxied by loyatly based NFT prices . Study 3 demonstrates that customer loyalty directly influences platform performance, including revenue and bookings. The results emphasize that Web3 technologies, by enhancing transparency and offering innovative loyalty products, foster trust and engagement, leading to improved economic outcomes for tourism platforms.

ABSTRACT. The hotel industry is undergoing a significant transformation with the integration of service robots, offering new avenues to enhance customer experience and improve operational efficiency. This study examines the effects of robotic service integration on customer experience, focusing on the mediating roles of organizational brand reputation and customer attitudes toward robot adoption. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Partial Least Squares (PLS), the research evaluates a hypothesized model to uncover critical insights. Results reveal that service robots positively influence brand reputation, customer attitudes, and overall customer experience. However, concerns regarding privacy and trust emerge as significant barriers, requiring targeted strategies to foster confidence in robotic services. Furthermore, the moderating role of gender is explored, highlighting its influence on the relationship between customer attitudes and experience. The findings provide valuable guidance for hotel managers on essential factors to consider when planning and implementing service robot integration, ensuring a balance between technological innovation and customer trust.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the dimensions that measure the "smartness" of hotels, providing a framework to assess their performance in delivering enhanced guest experiences, operational efficiency, and sustainable practices. Key dimensions include technology, guest personalization, energy efficiency, automation, and data-driven decision-making. The findings aim to guide stakeholders in adopting smart solutions.

ABSTRACT. Please refer to the attached Extended Abstract

ABSTRACT. Experiential tourism has emerged as a rapidly growing segment post-pandemic. This pilot study on Chinese tea tourism aims to explore methods for presenting local cultural and environmental content to enrich tourists' understanding, deepen their connection, and investigate impacts of VR-enabled experiential tourism in enhancing the overall experience and mitigating barriers.

ABSTRACT. Consumer engagement is important for businesses as a consumer who willingly engages with the business’ offering is more likely to make the final purchase. Research in consumer engagement has been increasing over the last two decades and the objects of these research studies are mostly brands and online communities. In spite of our greater dependence and even obsession with technology in our daily life, there has been no research into consumer engagement with technology. This paper addresses this research gap by developing and validating a scale for the measurement of consumer engagement with technology. Through both deductive and inductive approaches in collecting an initial pool of items and a rigorous statistical process, 11 items have been found for the scale which has passed all the key tests in confirmatory factor analysis. Researchers can adopt this scale for studies that involve consumer engagement with technology.

ABSTRACT. AI-driven marketing, or AI marketing, involves using artificial intelligence technologies to enhance various aspects of marketing. By leveraging AI algorithms and machine learning, it fosters tailored experiences delivered through apps, websites, chatbots, and virtual assistants. This study aims to establish a new framework identifying factors that influence customer engagement in AI marketing.

This research utilized a mixed-methods approach, incorporating semi-structured interviews alongside the collection of 393 fully structured surveys from consumers in the United States. The analysis focused on five independent variables including the personalized, effective, enjoyable, reliable, and simple-to-use; while also examining one dependent variable of consumer engagement. Regression analysis was utilized to investigate the significant correlations among these identified variables. The findings indicate that the personalized, effective, enjoyable, reliable, and simple-to-use (PEERS) factors of an AI marketing device have a significant impact on customer engagement.

The analysis identified five key findings: 1) Focus on Personalization: Managers should invest in AI marketing tools that analyze consumer data for tailored experiences, including recommendations and customized content, to enhance personalized campaigns and boost engagement. 2) Ensure Effectiveness: Managers should recognize that customers prioritize the usefulness and effectiveness of AI marketing tools, which significantly impact engagement and long-term success. 3) Enhance Enjoyability: Managers should focus on the user experience of AI marketing tools by making the device enjoyable through engaging visuals and interactivity. 4) Build Reliability: Ensuring trust and security in AI marketing systems is essential for building customer confidence; managers should also emphasize consistent performance in the device. 5) Simplify User Experience: Managers should create intuitive, user-friendly interfaces by reducing steps to achieve goals and minimizing navigation complexity to enhance user satisfaction. This study develops the PEERS model, designed to enable marketers to formulate effective AI marketing strategies within a dynamic business landscape.

ABSTRACT. As generative AI continues to reshape the fashion industry, more and more brands are using AI tool to create designs to increase consumer engagement and brand loyalty. Recent studies have highlighted few models helps people generates designs, such as Adversarial Networks (GANs) and deep learning has helped designers generate designs, as well as bring new possibilities for creation through different models. The technology acceptance model (TAM) has been researched to be a reliable model for understanding end-user technology adoption and use of digital technologies, the model includes the consideration of perceived usefulness, consumers' attitudes to technology adoption. The application of AI -generated design has changed traditional consumer aesthetics, brand perception and identity. While research has explored the role of emotional connection and consumer identity of brand loyalty. As people's concerns about authenticity, research on how AI-generated design is accepted by consumers has not been fully developed. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap, and provides systematic insights in the field. In addition, the study examines various brand types, including luxury brands, fast fashion brands and designer brands. It draws on several theoretical frameworks, including cultural authenticity, design innovation, consumer theory and brand loyalty, to provide an in-depth analysis of the impact of different design approaches on consumer purchase intentions in the context of cultural design elements. Therefore, the study raises the following key questions: Will consumers perceive AI-generated designs as culturally authentic? Do the design sources of cultural elements significantly influence consumers' purchase intentions and brand loyalty? Does brand type (luxury brands, fast fashion brands, designer brands) moderate the influence of design source on consumer behavior? The study employed surveys and experiments, and the survey design uses visual stimuli to present participants different brands with cultural elements integrated into designs, used online survey platform to collect at least 300 valid answers, and to explore how consumer responses of AI-generated cultural elements design, and used experimental design to compared consumer’s purchase intention between AI-generated cultural elements design and traditional cultural elements design. Followed by this experimental design, a focus group interview is the method to discuss participants’ responses to AI-generated design. Using thematic analysis to analyse the interview content and explore the emotional connection between consumers and brands. Lastly, eye tracking experiment helped record participants' reaction while viewing AI-generated design versus traditional designs, and analyse which design attracted participants more. Preliminary findings shows AI-generated designs that align closely with a brand’s core values and heritage can lead positive consumer responses, especially when consumers demonstrate high levels of cultural self-confidence. On the other hand, luxury and designer brands often perform better when the cultural elements they use are perceived by consumers as authentic and reflect the brand’s value. In contrast, fast fashion brands are slightly less able to achieve the same result due to their lack of long-term reputation. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of cultural authenticity in different brand types and reveal the potential value of AI-generated designs in influencing consumer behavior and brand loyalty. The combination of experimental data and theoretical frameworks can offer practical guidance for brands on balancing innovation with cultural sensitivity when incorporating AI-generated cultural design elements.

ABSTRACT. INTRODUCTION Artificial intelligence image creator has been developing with high speed and tends to be integrated into various areas. Computer and human reaction receive more attention. Especially in fashion area, where the first impression of illustration is crucial for judgements of qualification in the industry, AI image generator helps the designer to produce work efficiently. In these processes, GAN (Generative Adversarial Networks), “inspired by the ‘two-person zero-sum game (Yan et al., 2022)” is the focus AI image generator model. It can start with a text and end up with an image, with more reality consideration. Using the theory, there are research about models cooperating AI of design process for fashion designers (An & Park, 2023; Yan et al., 2022). However, vague and inaccuracy of AI exist often in real industry process. Designers are facing the problems in deciding the generated results, which will cause repeats on working cycles. Especially for brand companies, brand image is closely related and rely on the design of the product (Gilal et al., 2022; Yen et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2008). Designers play a crucial role in the producing cycle. They are facing confusion between massive AI outcomes and the core style of the brand. In this research, the aim is to build an evaluation system for fashion brand designers in-service evaluating AI generated designs focusing on the demand of brand image building.

METHODOLOGY A product can be evaluated from various aspects. Every detail can be linked to the brand’s DNA element (Karjalainen, 2004; Efer, 2017). The designers, whether a creative director or a practitioner, lay emphasis on these details to build up a collection for the team and the brand (Kwon et al., 2015). To receive first-hand information with deep connection with the market, in-depth interviews are carried between experienced brand designers, with good command of market experience and AI using experience. In the interview, it is communicated first that what they think the definition of brand image is, what they usually focus in building the brand image. Next, context closely related to AI image generator and AI generated designs are deeply discussed. The balance between AI and actual market, the balance between AI’s brain and designer’s ability, the balance between AI image and real garment’s realizability, also the balance between AI and creativity… The contexts of the interview are then collected and coded (Ashmore et al., 2019). The impact of interview of the coding keywords are calculated through below formula (Mohedas et al., 2021): Interview Effect Metric = Number of Interviews Associated with the Requirement + Frequency of Discussion of the Requirement in Interviews An interview effect metric is made accordingly showing the most frequently mentioned elements and classify the importance by levels. The information is gathered to form the questionnaire for next step of data collection. A wider range of quantity study is conducted afterwards. More designers at job join the questionnaire study. It is a 5-point likert-scale (Taherdoost, 2019) questionnaire with questions and between-subjects design study (Wilcox et al., 2024). The answers are collected and organized by table form and histogram (Mohedas et al., 2021), showing what are the more generally concerned context from current designers about AI design and brand image building.

SYSTEM BUILDING The entry point of building the system is the relationship between text and context. A main category of image should be described in language (Tsidylo & Sendra, 2023). There can be differences between the description of requirements and description of generated image (Kim et al., 2024). The ROUGE formula measuring similarity between sentences is mainly applied in the system (Liu & Liu, 2010). Through the system, designers can compare the requirement before generating and generated designs through steps of descriptions. The system aims to support designers to judge generated works to get closer to their brand image building target and also aims to help companies for the application on training new employed designers to fit in the brand in a faster speed. It also can give significant feedback to AI company on their systems to improve computer and human reaction.

ABSTRACT. The rapid evolution of social media marketing has been characterized by the dominance of influencer-driven promotions, fostering a culture of aspirational consumption. However, this landscape is undergoing a profound transformation with the emergence of de-influencing, a counter-movement that challenges traditional influencer marketing paradigms. This paper presents a theoretical framework that conceptualizes de-influencing as a systemic challenge to established marketing practices, integrating insights from Institutional Theory, Social Movement Theory, and Signaling Theory. By critically examining de-influencing’s role in reshaping digital marketing norms, this study highlights the implications for brands, influencers, and policymakers navigating this shifting landscape. Influencer marketing has emerged as a pivotal strategy in digital commerce, leveraging social media platforms to shape consumer perceptions and drive purchasing decisions. Through peer-like endorsements and curated authenticity, influencers have historically built consumer trust and engagement. However, growing concerns regarding authenticity, excessive consumerism, and ethical transparency have led to the rise of de-influencing, a movement that urges audiences to critically assess influencer recommendations and resist impulsive consumption. This backlash against commercialized authenticity has been particularly pronounced among Generation Z consumers, who demand greater transparency and ethical responsibility in influencer marketing. Institutional Theory posits that industries operate within a shared logic that shapes organizational behaviors and consumer expectations. Social media marketing has long been governed by aspirations and consumption, where influencer-led promotions serve as the primary mechanism for engagement and economic activity. However, de-influencing disrupts this dominant logic, exposing contradictions in influencer marketing—such as the promotion of unsustainable products by influencers advocating for ethical consumption. Platforms like TikTok, where de-influencing content garners billions of views, illustrate this shifting dynamic, compelling brands to realign their strategies with emerging ethical norms. Social Movement Theory provides a lens to understand de-influencing as an organized response to the hyper-commercialization of digital spaces. De-influencers employ diagnostic framing to highlight deceptive influencer tactics, prognostic framing to propose ethical consumption alternatives, and motivational framing to mobilize audiences toward conscientious purchasing behaviors. Digital affordances, such as TikTok’s duet feature and Reddit’s community fact-checking, amplify de-influencing’s reach, transforming individual critiques into a broader movement demanding accountability and authenticity in influencer marketing. Signaling Theory explains how influencers cultivate trust through perceived authenticity cues, such as expertise and sincerity. However, de-influencers actively challenge these signals, exposing manipulative sponsorships and deceptive marketing tactics. This has led to a trust recalibration, where micro-influencers and community-endorsed figures gain credibility by rejecting commercial incentives, a phenomenon known as counter-signaling. This shift reinforces consumer-led scrutiny, positioning de-influencers as watchdogs who hold brands and influencers accountable for ethical misalignments. Brands and influencers must adapt to the de-influencing movement by prioritizing transparency, ethical alignment, and genuine consumer engagement. Strategies include emphasizing authenticity by leveraging micro- and nano-influencers with niche expertise and genuine engagement to withstand de-influencing scrutiny. Proactive transparency, including clear sponsorship disclosures and unfiltered product representations, can help maintain consumer trust. Aligning with ethical consumerism by integrating sustainability and social responsibility into messaging can mitigate backlash. Regulatory compliance, such as stricter enforcement of sponsorship disclosure mandates by regulatory bodies like the FTC, ensures credibility in influencer marketing. The adoption of AI-driven tools for content verification can enhance authenticity verification, further reinforcing consumer trust in digital endorsements. De-influencing represents a paradigmatic shift in digital marketing, signaling a movement away from aspirational consumption toward ethical scrutiny. This transformation underscores the fragility of influencer credibility and the growing demand for authenticity and transparency. By integrating Institutional, Social Movement, and Signaling Theories, this study provides a comprehensive framework to understand de-influencing’s impact on digital marketing strategies. As the digital marketplace continues to evolve, brands and influencers that embrace ethical adaptation and genuine engagement will be better positioned to thrive in this era of heightened consumer awareness and accountability.

ABSTRACT. Virtual influencers (VIs) utilize computer graphics and artificial intelligence to promote brands, engage consumers, and champion prosocial causes. An online experimental study revealed that VIs’ human-likeness prevailed over message framing in shaping persuasion outcomes. Human-like VIs (vs. anime-like VIs) fostered pro-environmental behavioral intentions through perceived authenticity and parasocial interaction.

ABSTRACT. Financial social media influencers, or “finfluencers” in short, have become vital intermediaries between financial service providers and consumers, sharing information using financial products that allow consumers to evaluate the product and make a purchase. Despite the industrial focus on finfluencers, empirical studies examining how followers of finfluencers perceive finfluencer communications and affect their personal financial behaviors are limited. This study examines how finfluencers can enhance the effectiveness of financial marketing through the parasocial relationship with followers and the finfluencers’ motives on followers’ financial self-efficacy and financial behaviors. Data was gathered through an online survey, adopting purposive sampling targeting individuals in Malaysia aged 18 to 42 who follow finfluencers on social media platforms(N = 244). Results demonstrated that parasocial relationship with the finfluencer enhances followers' financial self-efficacy, leading to more positive financial behaviors and outcomes. A stronger parasocial relationship with the finfluencer attributed more significant affective motivations to the finfluencer’s posts, resulting in positive advertising outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to examine how corporate environmentalism affects brand equity in luxury brands. Through five studies, we will investigate the mediating role of brand authenticity and the moderating effect of brand globalness. Findings are expected to contribute to international marketing theory and offer meaningful insights to the practitioners.

ABSTRACT. Studies on more than one genre of co-branding are scarce and there are several genres of luxury co-branding that demand to be critically studied (Xue & Chawdhary, 2023). Cognitive appraisal theory has not been empirically applied to co-branding practices in the extant literature, nor has emotional responses (Pinello et al., 2021). Indeed, apart from luxury holidays (Hosany & Gilbert, 2010), the cognitive appraisal has not been applied to luxury industries. Relations between the genres of co-branding and post-attitude towards luxury brands remain underexplored. By adding emotional responses, this research intends to bridge the gap between cognitive appraisal and luxury co-branding. The aim of this research is to explore how emotional responses to different genres of luxury co-branding affect post-exposure attitude (spillover effect) towards the luxury brand. By using Qualtrics designed the survey, researchers collected 304 valid participants in the UK, and randomly classified into three co-branding genres, namely a luxury brand (Gucci) with a luxury brand (Balenciaga), a luxury brand (Gucci) with the artist (Harry Styles), and a luxury brand (Gucci) with Metaverse (Roblox). In addition, this research findings provide recommendations for luxury brand management practitioners in choosing partner brands. This is especially conducive to evaluation of the effects of co-branding projects by measuring possible emotional responses from existing and potential customers.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how Buccellati, an iconic Italian high-jewelry Maison within the Richemont Group, integrates artification and sustainability into its global luxury branding strategy. Renowned for its traditional craftsmanship, Made in Italy heritage, and ethical responsibility, Buccellati leverages artisanal expertise and cultural storytelling to elevate jewelry from luxury goods to the status of fine art, aligning closely with consumer expectations for authenticity and environmental accountability. Employing a qualitative methodology—including in-depth interviews with key stakeholders and analysis of corporate and archival materials—this research contextualizes Buccellati’s strategies within the framework of artification, defined as the process through which non-art objects, practices, or domains gain artistic significance. It further explores the Maison's commitment to sustainability through targeted Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, ethical sourcing practices, and artistic collaborations showcased through high-profile exhibitions. The findings offer actionable insights into how luxury brands can effectively balance heritage narratives with contemporary sustainability messaging, contributing to broader discussions on maintaining prestige and relevance in an increasingly competitive and environmentally conscious global luxury market.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates the influence of fashion brand personality on consumer reactions to sustainability initiatives and greenwashing activities. Two online experimental studies were conducted to investigate these effects. Study 1 explored consumer responses to green initiatives, revealing that luxury fashion brands with exciting personalities significantly improved consumer attitudes and purchase intentions, while sophisticated brands showed relatively smaller differences. Study 2 examined consumer reactions to greenwashing, finding that exciting brands were more susceptible to perceptions of hypocrisy, betrayal, and skepticism than sophisticated brands. These findings underscore the dual-edged impact of brand personality: exciting brands benefit more from genuine green activities but are more vulnerable to the negative consequences of greenwashing. Practical implications are also discussed.

ABSTRACT. Michelin-starred restaurants symbolize luxury, blending refined culinary experiences with global service expectations. This study analyzes 5,652 online reviews from Michelin restaurants in Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and France, employing Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory, Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis (ABSA), and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine how cultural backgrounds shape evaluations of food quality, service performance, dining atmosphere, and celebrity chef branding. Executive interviews further contextualize findings by highlighting standardization and cultural adaptation strategies.

Results indicate that cultural backgrounds significantly influence customer evaluations. High long-term orientation (LTO) negatively impacts food quality ratings (β = -0.0011, P < 0.001), while high masculinity (MAS) enhances perceptions of both celebrity chef branding and food quality (β = 0.0003, P = 0.001). Additionally, customer satisfaction mediates MAS’s influence on core attributes (β = 0.0021, P = 0.041). The dining atmosphere (β = 0.9188, P < 0.001) and celebrity chef branding (β = 0.0843, P < 0.001) strongly shape food quality perceptions. The model explains 62.1% of the variance (R² = 0.621). This study bridges the gap between cultural dimensions and luxury dining experiences, providing strategic insights for global restaurant brands in balancing brand consistency with cultural adaptation.

ABSTRACT. Generative AI has become an integrated technology for many companies competing in current digital marketplace. However, research on how consumers react to AI generated personal content is still limited. Drawing on authenticity, regulatory focus and self-motivation theory, this study investigates key factors influencing consumer reactions towards AI generated personal photos. Through three experiments, this study expects that (1) when AI generates personal photos, authenticity enhances consumers’ share intention on social media platform; (2) consumers’ regulatory focus (prevention vs. promotion) moderates the main effect of authenticity, with promotion focused consumers more tolerant of low authentic personal photos generated by AI; (3) self-verification mediates the positive effect of high-authenticity on prevention focused consumers, and self-enhancement mediates the positive effect of low-authenticity on promotion focused consumers. These findings provide important implications for both consumers on how to enhance self-concept, and firms on how to use Generative AI in marketing strategy.

ABSTRACT. Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) serves not only as a widespread social and cultural phenomenon but also as a significant external factor that shapes consumer behavior. Technological advancements in social networking sites allow like-minded users with similar interests to congregate, forming online communities. With the rise of K-pop, this study combines FoMO and PSR to investigate their effects and interaction on fans' social activities and consumption behaviors. An online questionnaire using purposeful sampling will be executed on fans of a top-selling K-pop group. The results of this study aim to deepen the understanding of the impact of FoMO and PSR on the behavioral patterns of fan communities and elucidate risks that may open fans up to vulnerabilities in online ticket scams and frauds.

ABSTRACT. By considering recent concepts from consumer psychology, this study aims to explore the influence and interaction of parasocial relationship between fans and their idols, and their fear of missing out on their idols’ events, on their threat appraisal and responses towards extreme fan consumer behavior like purchase from ticket scalpers and online scam susceptibility. Taking a quantitative approach, this study expects to recruit at least 400 respondents for this study with panels managed by local market research firms in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and China. From these results, researchers can understand the motivations that drive greater demand for ticket scalping, which are salient insights for practitioners. More specifically, FOMO may enhance the susceptibility of younger consumers to scams, which leads to significant emotional distress and financial losses of fans, loss of trust in entertainment companies, and artists losing their fans.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the impact of AI assistant media types (smartphone vs. PC) on users’ emotional disclosure willingness, focusing on the dual mediating roles of perceived convenience, intimacy, privacy, and psychological comfort, and the moderating role of AI response style (professional vs. warm). Smartphones, due to their portability, perceived privacy, and ubiquity, foster greater emotional disclosure compared to PCs, which are associated with more structured and formal interactions. Theoretical foundations include social response theory and the CASA paradigm, highlighting the influence of social norms on human-AI interactions. Using a two-factor between-subjects design, 240 participants are randomly assigned to one of four conditions (smartphone-professional, smartphone-warm, PC-professional, PC-warm) and complete a questionnaire after interacting with an AI assistant in an anxiety-inducing scenario. Results are expected to reveal that media type indirectly influences emotional disclosure through sequential mediation by perceived convenience, intimacy, privacy, and psychological comfort, with response style moderating these effects. This study contributes to emotional disclosure theories and provides practical insights into designing AI assistants to enhance user engagement and emotional connections in both mobile and desktop contexts.

ABSTRACT. This study conducted a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and topic modeling of artificial intelligence (AI) research in advertising from 2015-2024. Through systematic examination of publication patterns, intellectual structure, and thematic evolution, the study identified several key findings. AI research in advertising surged after 2020. Journal of Advertising and International Journal of Advertising were the most influential venues, while analysis of scholarly contributions identified prominent researchers leading in publication output. Structural topic modeling uncovered eight distinct research themes, with ‘AI-generated advertising effects’ and ‘virtual influencer impacts’ emerging as primary research priorities. The topic evolution analysis showed consistent growth in AI application topics, declining trends in data-related topics, and fluctuating patterns in virtual influencer and algorithm optimization research. These findings provide theoretical insights for academic research directions and practical implications for industry stakeholders and regulatory bodies. Future research opportunities include investigating AI adoption factors, developing effectiveness measurement models, and expanding empirical research on ethical AI implementation.

ABSTRACT. Virtual influencers (VIs), which are digitally created characters with a strong social media presence, are increasingly used to promote products and brands. It is essential to understand how their anthropomorphic design affects their marketing effectiveness. However, VI literature still lacks maturity and depth in order for companies and policy makers to best operationalize and position VIs. Drawing on theories of source credibility, computers are social actors (CASA) and congruity theory, this research investigates how users perceive VIs. Through an online experiment with 2 (perceived anthropomorphism: high vs low) X 2(perceived realism: high vs low) between subjects (n=1,438), a moderated moderated mediation was found. A significant interaction effect on perceived anthropomorphism and perceived realism was found on VI credibility as well as virtual-influencer product congruence on consumer intention to purchase luxury branded products. Overall, the study offers empirical evidence indicating that different levels of VIs are credible and VI-product congruence plays a role in consumers’ intention to purchase luxury branded products that are endorsed by VIs.

ABSTRACT. Modern food systems put a lot of pressure on the environment. This research aims to study how to steer consumers towards making more sustainable food choice using AI agents. Using two experiments, we study the effects of explicit vs implicit cognitive intelligence and the presence or absence of reasoning heuristics.

ABSTRACT. This study explores how the characteristics of digital assistant devices, particularly smartphones versus computers, influence recommendation acceptance and purchase intentions, with a focus on psychological distance and mental imagery vividness. As AI-driven digital assistants increasingly facilitate customer interactions, understanding the impact of device characteristics on consumer behavior becomes crucial. The research suggests that smartphones, due to their haptic features and portability, reduce psychological distance and enhance user engagement, which in turn boosts purchase intentions. Specifically, smartphones’ touch-screen interaction increases mental imagery vividness, making product recommendations more persuasive. Additionally, the portability of smartphones further reduces psychological distance, fostering greater trust and enhancing recommendation acceptance. The study also examines how product type moderates these effects, with hedonic products benefiting more from smartphone-based recommendations, while utilitarian products are better suited for computer interfaces. Using three experiments with 960 Chinese participants, the study tests these relationships, finding that smartphone AI assistants generally lead to higher recommendation acceptance and purchase intentions compared to computer-based assistants. The research provides valuable insights for marketers aiming to optimize AI-assisted product recommendations by considering device characteristics and user psychological processes.

ABSTRACT. The rise of the metaverse, a 3D virtual world, has created new opportunities for fashion brands in crypto-marketing and metaverse commerce (Lee et al., 2024). As the metaverse expands and avatars become central to digital experiences, consumer interest and demand for virtual fashion grow, driving the emergence of virtual commerce (Park et al., 2023). Broadly defined, virtual fashion represents “digital only, pixel-made clothes used and traded in social media and virtual reality settings such as gaming worlds” (Khelladi et al., 2023, p. 1). In response, several luxury fashion brands have introduced Virtual Luxury Fashion (VLF) products in collaboration with metaverse platforms, offering them as digital skins for avatars or as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to authenticate virtual assets (Khelladi et al., 2023). For example, well-known luxury fashion brands, such as Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Jimmy Choo, launched branded VLFs either by collaborating with the metaverse platforms and/or digital artists, which can be traded using virtual currency (e.g., cryptocurrency or in-platform/game currency) (Bao et al., 2024). As virtual wearables, VLFs offer a new avenue for marketing, emphasizing the aspirational and luxurious experiences consumers seek by visually representing a brand’s identity (Lee et al., 2024). Moreover, VLFs present a promising strategy for engaging consumers – particularly, Millennials and Gen Z– who are both fashion-conscious and tech-savvy (Alexander & Bellandi, 2022; Khelladi et al., 2023). While VLFs represent an innovative luxury product category, it remains unclear whether consumers are drawn to them primarily for their creativity – defined by novelty and meaningfulness – or for their luxuriousness, which is traditionally associated with experiential and symbolic value in luxury consumption. In practice, creativity and luxuriousness have been widely leveraged to attract young consumers, as they are often linked to perceptions of “coolness,” which can foster positive attitudes and behavioral responses (Chen & Chou, 2019; Loureiro et al., 2020). However, despite the identified impacts of product coolness in shaping consumer attitudes and behaviors, the extent to which these key attributes enhance overall evaluations of VLFs remain uncertain. To address this gap, this study applies the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974) to examine how key product attributes of VLFs influence young consumers’ purchase intentions. Specifically, this study investigates the effects of perceived product attributes – namely, perceived creativity (i.e., novelty and meaningfulness) and perceived luxuriousness – on young consumers’ perceived product coolness, product attitudes, and purchase intentions. Additionally, to account for individual differences in consumer preferences for product attributes and their subsequent responses, the study incorporates prior luxury consumption experience as a moderating factor.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how consumers respond to luxury fashion advertising in metaverse versus physical platforms and investigates the role of brand heritage in maintaining message authenticity. Drawing on social presence theory and brand heritage literature, this study propose that metaverse advertising may negatively impact purchase intentions through reduced message authenticity, but this effect can be mitigated by strong brand heritage. Findings underscore the importance of heritage-driven narratives in digital luxury marketing, ensuring authenticity in virtual environments. The study contributes to theories of luxury brand communication and brand heritage in digital era while providing practical implications for luxury brands navigating the metaverse.

ABSTRACT. Digital interactions are transforming the way brands connect with consumers, with Mixed Reality (MR) playing a pivotal role in enhancing engagement. In the post-pandemic landscape, luxury brands have increasingly turned to VR and MR to innovate communication strategies, deepen consumer relationships, and strengthen their market presence. This study, grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, explores the impact of MR brand experiences on consumer perceptions and behaviors, focusing on electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) and purchase intentions within the luxury fashion sector, using Gucci as a case study. The research offers practical insights for brands to design effective MR strategies, leveraging key technological features to enhance customer experiences across different market segments. By examining MR advertising in the context of luxury branding, the findings provide valuable guidance for utilizing immersive technology to foster meaningful and lasting consumer connections. This study also highlights the growing importance of MR in driving competitive differentiation in the luxury market.

ABSTRACT. Studying inclusion in advertising is of special interest, as it functions as a powerful tool for shaping individuals' attitudes towards cultural groups and their roles. Race inclusion, in particular, expressed by the diversity of skin tone, is important given the white-skinned dominant presence. This study examines the impact of inclusive communication on user engagement. Two studies were conducted. Results indicate that diversity in skin tone negatively affects engagement, with darker skin tones performing worst among mass market cosmetic brands. Otherwise, diversity seems to be well accepted among audiences of premium brands. Mechanism of self-investment seem to offer fruitful theoretical ground to explore the effects. Implications for practice and theory are discussed.

ABSTRACT. We examine how livestreamers’ characteristics influence impulsive buying through flow experience and perceived trust across nations. Using SEM, fsQCA, and focus groups, we find expertise, interactivity, attractiveness, and visibility impact flow and trust. Chinese and Portuguese consumers value the combined effect of flow and trust differently, affecting impulsive buying intentions.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how thinking styles influence customer experience perceptions and outcomes in AR-enabled mobile applications across cultures. Through thematic and sentiment analysis, we found that holistic thinkers (Easterners) express more emotional variability in textual reviews, while analytic thinkers (Westerners) show greater consistency between sentiment and user satisfaction in their reviews. Findings highlight the importance of cultural differences in mobile app experience based on thinking styles.

ABSTRACT. Metaverses and gaming platforms engage young consumers through digital identity creation, immersive experiences, and social connectivity. This study examines how Generation Z and Alpha build avatars, their motivations and cultural influences. Interviews with 39 young consumers from Italy and China offer insights for platforms and brands.

ABSTRACT. With the integration of AI technology, fashion trend analysis has advanced significantly. Although the enormous potential and advantages of AI as a tool have been widely recognized by scholars and practitioners, a critical gap remains in understanding the motivations and behaviors of consumers who engage with AI tools. Based on the Uses and Gratifications Theory and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, this study analyzes the impact of AI attributes on consumers' continued usage intentions. Additionally, through consumer interviews and surveys, this research compares Chinese and Korean consumers to identify differences in the influence of AI attributes on their intentions. By bridging this gap, this study provides new insights into the evolving role of AI-driven fashion trend analysis tools within the dynamic landscape of the fashion industry.

ABSTRACT. Research in religious tourism has shown a growing scholarly interest in the subject, indicating an increased engagement of visitor participation. Despite the rising attention, more recent studies have explored the consumption patterns of visitors within religious sites. This work contributes to the conceptualization of visitor behavior in religious tourism, synthesizing the current knowledge on these areas and identifying opportunities for future investigation. The findings are based on a review of 101 journal articles focusing on tourist behavior in religious tourism, including motives, experiences, and behavioral intentions, from 1992 to August 2024. The analysis reveals evolving trends in this field of study. Firstly, non-Western countries, such as India and China, have emerged as popular study sites. Secondly, there has been an expanding trend of religious tourism-themed park perception, accompanied by greater technological integration within these sites. Lastly, some studies have identified a typology of religious tourism visitor motivations. Although the distinction between pilgrims and tourists is becoming increasingly blurred, this typology can assist in examining the diverse motivations in religious tourism, suggesting further research on a more holistic approach to observing visitor behavior in religious tourism, including exploration from different demographic perspectives.

ABSTRACT. Overtourism, a pressing global issue, has significantly impacted urban destinations like Barcelona. This study employs process tracing—a rigorous qualitative method—to analyze the historical evolution of overtourism in Barcelona and conduct a comparative analysis with Venice and Amsterdam. By identifying key causal mechanisms, policy interventions, and socio-environmental responses, this research provides a nuanced understanding of overtourism dynamics and offers evidence-based recommendations for sustainable urban tourism management.

ABSTRACT. Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) is revolutionising every industry and impacting society, gradually replacing the human touch and transforming every walk of life. The tourism industry is in the early stages of incorporating GAI, with increasing investments in this technology, as exemplified by Expedia - a leading online travel agency (OTA) (Gursoy et al., 2023; Expedia Group, 2023). Given the prevalence of GAI-enabled services and applications in the tourism industry, significant concerns regarding societal impacts such as unfair, biased, stereotypical, and discriminatory information conveyed by GAI are a prominent concern (Kim et al., 2023). Emerging research suggests that people trust algorithmic recommendations from GAI less than human recommendations (Castelo et al., 2019), while some perceive that it provides fairer recommendations (less bias) than human (Qin et al., 2023). However, different communities, particularly from different ethnic or cultural backgrounds, may have different levels of trust and perceptions of algorithmic recommendations from GAI. Recent literature has highlighted the related research lacks the foundations of equality, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI) in our society (Tsung-Yu et al., 2024). Despite the implementation of GAI in the tourism industry, previous research has not considered the fairness of algorithms concerning ethnic group users. However, this remains important because the cultural representation of ethnic groups shapes both tourists and organisations. (Yang et al., 2016). In this research, we also investigate how varied communication styles of GAI can affect the user perception when they receive recommendations from the GAI. By exploring whether and how warm-oriented (vs. competent-oriented) messages from GAI can shape user perception of algorithmic fairness and trust in GAI, our work enriches existing literature that has defined competence and warmth as two universal perceptions that form human impressions of another person or service (Belanche et al., 2021). Little is known about how users react when they receive an algorithmic message from GAI and how they respond when confronted with messages containing biased information, hindering their trust to adopt GAI recommendations. We recruited a randomised and balanced pool of minority versus non-minority participants living in the UK who have experience with GAI. We adopt an explanatory sequential design (Creswell et al., 2003) comprising four distinct studies. In Study 1, we examine the baseline model between communication styles and recommendation acceptance. In Study 2, we expand the research model by including sequential mediators (perceived algometric fairness and perceived trust in GAI) and personalisation as a moderator. In Study 3, we will design a scenario-based experiment for a 2 (competence-oriented vs. warmth-oriented) x 2 (minority vs. non-minority) between-subject factorial experiment to examine how the communication types used by GAI influence users’ perceived algorithmic fairness and trust in GAI, subsequently their response to the GAI (accept or not to accept the recommendations). In Study 4, we will conduct qualitative semi-structured interviews with 15 GAI end-users using purposive and snowball sampling strategies to confirm the results of Study 1-3 and offer more comprehensive findings of the ethical issues (EDI perspective) on GAI. By exploring the implications for social norms and identity construction, this study contributes to global sustainable initiatives in the digital age, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG 10 (i.e., reduce inequality), leading to greater social sustainability in tourism consumption, production, and development (Gössling, 2021). Finally, this research will contribute to the literature on human experiences of GAI and provide insights for increasing user acceptance of GAI’s recommendations in the tourism industry.

ABSTRACT. In the highly competitive business hotel market, renovations play a strategic role in maintaining competitiveness by addressing customer needs and enhancing brand equity. Despite their importance, existing research often focuses narrowly on financial metrics, neglecting the broader strategic implications of renovations for brand-building. Furthermore, traditional methods for assessing renovation priorities lack depth and fail to align with customer expectations. This study addresses these gaps by examining the impact of renovations on brand equity and brand relationship quality, systematically evaluating business travelers' needs, and prioritizing renovation items based on their effects on brand performance and customer satisfaction.

A mixed-methods approach was employed, including qualitative interviews with stakeholders, pre- and post-renovation surveys targeting frequent business travelers, and statistical analyses such as t-tests, ANOVA, and correlation analysis. The study involved an upper-upscale business hotel in Hsinchu, Taiwan, strategically located near a major semiconductor hub. Data reliability was confirmed with Cronbach’s α values exceeding 0.7 across all constructs.

Key findings reveal significant improvements in brand equity dimensions—perceived quality, brand loyalty, brand association, and brand awareness—as well as brand relationship quality dimensions, including satisfaction, trust, and commitment, following renovations. Correlation analysis identified 53 renovation items across 12 dimensions with moderate to strong correlations (r > 0.3) to brand equity and relationship quality, with nine items showing consistent strong correlations across all dimensions. These include bathroom and restaurant ceilings, sculptures, water features, and hotel entrance improvements. Comparative renovation evaluations demonstrated that targeted investments in high-impact areas, such as guestroom and bathroom upgrades, significantly enhanced customer satisfaction and brand perception, while secondary areas like fitness centers showed limited impact on brand metrics.

This study makes a contribution by developing a multi-dimensional decision-making framework that integrates brand-building objectives, customer needs, and implementation feasibility. It also introduces a comprehensive 12-dimension, 136-item evaluation checklist for assessing renovation priorities, thereby bridging the gap between renovation decisions and strategic brand-building. These findings provide actionable insights for business hotels to optimize renovation investments and enhance their competitive positioning.

ABSTRACT. This study aims to fill the research gaps in the literature by providing insight into consumer behaviours on micro-credential enrolment. This study examines the factors influencing consumers’ behavioural intention for micro-credential enrolment, underpinned by the COM-B model, which explores the impact of capability and opportunity on motivation. It further extends the model by investigating the impact of motivation on attitude and, subsequently, behavioural intention. A total of 213 online survey responses were analysed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. Findings report opportunities (social and physical) impact on both automatic and reflective motivations, which in turn impact intention via attitude. This study contributes to filling the significant gap in consumers’ voices by applying COM-B model. Further, this study offers insights to help management better develop micro-credential product and communication strategies, and therefore, increase the uptake of micro-credentials.

ABSTRACT. Greenwashing in advertising has become a significant concern as deceptive environmental claims erode consumer trust and corporate sustainability efforts. This study investigates how misleading environmental messaging triggers moral outrage and leads to brand avoidance. By integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Affect-as-Information Theory (AIT), this research explores the emotional and behavioral responses of consumers to greenwashing practices. The results of three experimental studies reveal that vagueness in environmental claims is the most damaging factor. Moral outrage fully mediates the relationship between greenwashing perceptions and brand avoidance, while affective messaging mitigates this effect. Conversely, frequent unverified environmental messaging increases skepticism, with 74% of participants dismissing such claims as "corporate propaganda." The study provides theoretical and practical insights for marketers, policymakers, and consumers, emphasizing the need for transparency in environmental communication and regulatory measures to prevent deceptive marketing.

ABSTRACT. Purpose and Background: This study integrates parasocial relationship theory, source credibility theory, and the theory of planned behavior to examine the influence of parasocial interactions (psi) on consumer purchase intentions. In the evolving landscape of social media marketing, influencers and celebrities serve as powerful endorsers, shaping consumer attitudes and behaviors through perceived relationships with their audiences. Despite growing literature in this domain, empirical findings on the effectiveness of psi remain fragmented, necessitating a meta-analytic approach to synthesize and clarify these relationships.

Methodology: A meta-analytic bivariate analysis was conducted to quantify the relationships between psi antecedents (similarity, attractiveness, engagement, expertise, trustworthiness, brand credibility, sponsorship disclosure, and perceived utility) and consumer responses (attitudes and purchase intentions). Additionally, a moderation analysis was performed to account for contextual (e.g., country growth status, cultural differences) and methodological (e.g., sample size, research method) variations affecting these relationships.

Findings: Results indicate that similarity, engagement, trustworthiness, and brand credibility significantly enhance consumer attitudes, which in turn drive purchase intentions. However, attractiveness negatively influences attitudes, while perceived utility, expertise, and sponsorship disclosure exhibit no significant effects. The moderation analysis reveals that these relationships vary across study contexts and methodologies, explaining inconsistencies in prior research.

Theoretical and Practical Contributions: Theoretically, this study consolidates psi literature by integrating three major theoretical perspectives, offering a comprehensive framework for understanding influencer marketing. It advances knowledge by resolving inconsistencies in prior findings and highlighting critical boundary conditions. Practically, insights from this research can guide marketers in optimizing influencer partnerships, tailoring content strategies, and targeting consumer segments effectively to maximize purchase intentions.

Conclusion: As the first meta-analysis in this domain, this study provides a rigorous synthesis of psi’s impact on consumer decision-making. By uncovering key drivers and contextual moderators, it offers actionable recommendations for both academia and industry to harness the power of parasocial interactions in digital marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. Digital fashion weeks are reshaping the fashion industry by combining technology and creativity to deliver immersive experiences. This study examines how these experiences influence city visit intention, emphasizing the mediating role of city brand attractiveness. Grounded in Experience Economy theory, the research analyzes survey data from participants who attended digital fashion weeks. Using survey data from 400 participants who experienced digital fashion weeks, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is employed to validate the proposed model. The findings contribute to theory by elucidating the role of digital experiences in urban branding and provide practical guidance for cities leveraging fashion events to enhance tourism.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how Virtual Reality (VR) influences public perceptions, emotions, and intentions toward space tourism. While space tourism is transitioning from science fiction to reality, high costs, risks, and psychological barriers remain significant obstacles for potential tourists. VR offers an immersive alternative to experience space indirectly, yet its role in shaping perceptions and behavioral intentions toward space tourism remains underexplored. This research aims to address this gap by utilizing VR simulations of space environments, followed by qualitative interviews to analyze shifts in perception and emotional responses.

The study adopts an exploratory, quasi-experimental design involving 20 participants who engage in two VR simulations: one providing an astronaut-like experience aboard the International Space Station and another featuring interactive planetary exploration. Through pre- and post-experience interviews, participants’ attitudes toward space, emotional reactions, and behavioral intentions are examined. Thematic analysis is employed to identify changes in perception, addressing whether VR fosters enthusiasm or amplifies concerns related to space travel.

Findings are expected to reveal a dual effect of VR experiences on space tourism perception. While some participants may develop a stronger interest and intention to engage in space travel, others might perceive the experience as sufficient, reducing their actual desire to embark on a space journey. Positive emotional responses such as awe, curiosity, and excitement are anticipated, yet concerns regarding isolation, fear, and cost-related constraints may persist. These findings provide critical insights into consumer attitudes, informing marketing strategies for the space tourism industry.

This study contributes to tourism research by integrating VR technology with qualitative methods to explore a relatively uncharted domain. Practically, it offers recommendations for space tourism providers on leveraging VR as both a promotional tool and a means to address psychological barriers to space travel. Additionally, this research highlights the importance of immersive digital experiences in influencing consumer behavior, with broader implications for adventure and extreme tourism markets.

ABSTRACT. This research employs social listening tools (SLTs) to address reputation challenges in Thailand's tourism sector. SLTs empower tourism stakeholders to proactively manage emergencies, correct misinformation, and bolster brand resilience. The study highlights the importance of data-driven strategies to protect Thailand's tourism reputation from misinformation and improve crisis management practices.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates travelers’ choice behavior towards pet-friendly hotels using user-generated reviews from TripAdvisor. A hybrid method integrating segmentation and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) techniques—k-means clustering, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and Classification and Regression Trees (CART)—was employed to analyze 13,604 reviews of travelers who stayed at pet-friendly hotels in the United States between 2020 and 2024. The results revealed that cleanliness is the most influential factor affecting traveler satisfaction in most segments, followed by location and service quality. The k-means clustering method categorizes travelers into four segments based on their reviews and ratings, thus providing a clearer understanding of diverse customer preferences. The TOPSIS analysis ranks key hotel attributes within each segment, showing variations in traveler priorities, whereas the CART analysis generates decision rules that explain how different hotel features contribute to overall satisfaction. Notably, travelers who prioritize cleanliness expect high hygiene standards, especially in pet-accessible areas, while those who value location seek proximity to pet-friendly amenities, such as parks and walking trails. Service quality, including staff friendliness and pet accommodation, also play a crucial role in determining guest satisfaction. These findings offer valuable insights for hotel managers, enabling them to refine service strategies tailored to different travel segments. For example, hotels can enhance guest experiences by implementing stringent cleaning protocols, highlighting pet-friendly amenities in marketing campaigns, and offering personalized services to pet owners. Additionally, leveraging user-generated online reviews can help hotels understand the evolving consumer expectations and foster trust among potential guests. This study provides a data-driven approach for optimizing service quality in the pet-friendly hospitality sector and contributes to a deeper understanding of consumer behavior in this growing market.

ABSTRACT. While blockchain and Web3 technologies have been extensively studied, their application in measuring and managing customer engagement value (CEV) in luxury fashion marketing remains largely unexplored. This conceptual paper introduces a novel framework that bridges this gap by proposing how blockchain data can revolutionize fashion marketing analytics. We advance the theoretical understanding of CEV by conceptualizing how blockchain's inherent characteristics, immutability, transparency, and tokenization, can transform the measurement and management of five key customer engagement constructs: brand value, lifetime value, referral value, influence value, and knowledge value. Specifically, we propose innovative approaches such as proof-of-attendance protocols for measuring brand loyalty, smart contract-enabled referral tracking, and DAO-governed feedback systems, all tailored to the unique needs of luxury fashion brands. This framework not only provides a theoretical foundation for blockchain-based fashion marketing analytics but also offers practical solutions for luxury brands to restore their position as value creators in an increasingly digital marketplace. The paper contributes to fashion marketing literature by presenting the first comprehensive framework that integrates blockchain capabilities with established CEV theory in the context of luxury fashion.

ABSTRACT. Advancements in large language models (LLMs) have significantly advanced AI agent-based simulations, offering a novel approach to studying complex strategic interactions. Unlike traditional evolutionary game theory, which relies on predefined payoff structures and simplified behavioral assumptions, LLM-powered agents introduce a paradigm shift by enabling adaptive, context-aware decision-making. By leveraging natural language processing capabilities, LLMs empower agents to perform essential functions such as reasoning, negotiation, and persuasion, enabling more nuanced simulations of multi-agent dynamics. This approach facilitates a deeper exploration of strategic interactions, where human-like adaptability plays a crucial role in competitive environments.

One such environment is live e-commerce, where four key players, including platforms, streamers, merchants, and consumers, engage in complex strategic interactions. In practice, platforms determine visibility through recommendation algorithms, streamers leverage social capital to enhance product desirability, merchants employ dynamic pricing strategies in response to consumer sentiment, and consumers make purchasing decisions shaped by urgency and trust. Given the complexity and fluidity of these interactions, traditional economic and game-theoretic models struggle to capture real-time strategic adjustments. However, by integrating reinforcement learning techniques with LLM-powered agents, we enable adaptive decision-making processes that mirror human-like reasoning and responsiveness. Building on this, we propose an AI-driven simulation system that offers a high-fidelity representation of competitive dynamics in live e-commerce. This methodological innovation enhances the granularity of market simulations, shedding light on the evolutionary nature of strategic behaviors in response to algorithmic constraints and regulatory interventions.

By bridging the gap between theoretical game theory and AI-driven empirical modeling, this study deepens the understanding of live e-commerce dynamics while establishing a foundation for future research on AI-driven simulations in market analysis. The integration of LLM-powered agents into economic modeling enables a more comprehensive examination of digital marketplaces, where algorithmic decision-making and human-like strategic adaptation interact in complex ways, providing actionable insights for both researchers and policymakers.

ABSTRACT. In the digital age, online reviews have become an indispensable source of information for consumers, particularly in the hospitality industry. The widespread use of platforms has empowered consumers to share and access detailed information about hotels globally. This democratization of opinion has significantly transformed the decision-making process for potential guests, making the study of online reviews a critical area within consumer behavior research. However, despite the well-documented influence of online reviews on consumer choices, there has been limited focus on how different gender and geographical regions influence the impact of these reviews on perceived hotel attractiveness. This gap in the literature highlights the need to explore the psychological mechanisms and emotional responses in which different genders and geographical regions process and respond to online hotel reviews. This study adopts a qualitative, phenomenological approach to deeply investigate the psychological mechanisms and emotional responses of consumers to online reviews on hotel attractiveness, with a focus on different genders and geographical regions.

ABSTRACT. This study explored the relationship between AI shopping agents (AISA) and consumers from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Study1 was conducted through in-depth interviews of consumers and identified 6 service qualities of AISA, including controllability, explainability, information richness, sincerity, ubiquity, enjoyability. Study 2 empirically tested the relationship between AISA service quality and consumers’ companionship and continuous usage intention, and the moderating role of need for human interaction. As a result, we found that all AISA service quality positively affects the companionship and continuous usage intention of consumers, except for integrity. The study also revealed the moderating effect of consumers' need for human interaction in the relationship between companionship and continuous usage intention. The findings can provide practical implications for the development of AISA-related technologies.

ABSTRACT. AI has significantly transformed the business landscape by automating tasks traditionally performed by humans, enabling a range of AI-driven services. The adoption of these services reflects both shifting societal behaviour and firms’ agility in leveraging AI to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. To fully grasp the present and future challenges of AI-enabled services, it is essential to examine past research in this domain. This study aims to identify social, conceptual, and intellectual structures that define AI-enabled marketing services in contemporary healthcare research.

Beyond mapping the research landscape, this study delves into impact of AI-driven healthcare marketing, focusing on applications such as predictive analytics, chatbots, AI-powered content generation, and sentiment analysis. Despite AI's increasing presence in healthcare marketing, there remains a gap in empirical validation of its effectiveness. This study employs stakeholder survey and an in-depth interview to assess AI's role in influencing patient trust, engagement, and decision making. Findings indicate that AI-driven marketing significantly enhances patient interaction and decision-making, though ethical considerations and regulatory frameworks must be addressed to ensure responsible AI deployment in healthcare marketing. While AI offers immense benefits, such as improved efficiency, personalization, and scalability, it also requires careful consideration of its broader societal and economic implications.

ABSTRACT. Virtual reality (VR) is transforming the retail industry by offering immersive and interactive shopping experiences that go beyond traditional e-commerce. This study examines consumer perceptions of virtual reality (VR) shopping using Apple Vision Pro, comparing experiences with luxury (i.e., Gucci) and mass-market (i.e., Target) brands. Through post-experience semi-structured interviews with 21 participants from diverse backgrounds, the study explores key factors influencing consumer engagement, including realism, interactivity, usability, and brand perception.

Findings reveal that VR enhances product exploration and brand storytelling, particularly in luxury retail, where interactive experiences, such as Gucci’s virtual bag customization, foster emotional engagement. However, limitations in texture realism, visual fidelity, and ergonomic comfort hinder its widespread adoption. Participants noted that while VR enables detailed product inspections, material rendering inconsistencies and lack of tactile feedback reduce perceived authenticity. Gucci’s VR store was praised for brand storytelling but criticized for its artificial feel, while Target’s VR shopping experience was viewed as practical but needed improved spatial visualization.

Consumers recognized VR’s potential to bridge the gap between online and in-store shopping, especially for high-end products where detail and exclusivity matter. However, concerns over device weight, eye strain, motion sickness, and interaction mechanics highlight the need for ergonomic improvements and more intuitive controls. Additionally, participants suggested integrating AI-driven recommendations, haptic feedback, and voice-enabled navigation to enhance usability.

Beyond retail, participants envisioned VR’s applications in education, tourism, and social engagement, highlighting its broader transformative potential. This study contributes to experiential marketing by identifying critical elements shaping effective VR shopping experiences. The findings offer insights for retailers and VR developers to refine immersive commerce strategies, emphasizing the need for improved visual quality, interactive features, and user-friendly interfaces to optimize consumer satisfaction and drive future adoption.

ABSTRACT. Consumer preferences in the real estate market vary by demographics, with younger individuals favoring urban rentals and families seeking rural home purchases, necessitating tailored advertising strategies. While some real estate services optimize ad delivery, a systematic method for evaluating the most effective media for different consumer attributes remains underexplored. This study enhances real estate advertising strategies by identifying optimal delivery media for various consumer segments. It analyzes one of the real estate information services, “Suumo,” user attributes (e.g., gender, age, location, occupation) and quantitatively evaluates advertising effectiveness across SNS, search engines, and display ads. Using a hierarchical Bayesian model and consumer data from the Japanese Kanto region, the study introduces an 'SNS usage volume' index to measure ad impact on home purchase intentions. The findings aim to optimize ad distribution, enhance consumer engagement, and refine real estate marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. Unprecedented development in virtual reality (VR) presents challenges in understanding how interactivity built in VRs shapes consumers’ purchase-related behaviors. This study extends the elaboration likelihood model to investigate how VR interactivity influences tourists’ intention to visit the actual destination featured in a VR. The results reveal a significant impact of interactivity on visit intention and identify content engagement and technology engagement fully mediate this relationship. Moreover, the effect of interactivity on technology engagement is stronger for tourists with low tourism motivation than for tourists with high tourism motivation, thereby substantiating the role of motivation as an important moderator of the interactivity effect. Theoretically, this study provides an expanded view of engagement by showing the varying effects of interactivity on information processing modes. The findings also offer practical guidelines for marketers to effectively engage potential customers with their VR-based marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. Luxury brands create myths. Although myths are extensively discussed in the areas of philosophy, literary studies, sociology and theology, there is a lack of research on the use of myths in the context of luxury branding. This study addresses this gap by identifying, classifying and analyzing myths around the eight most valuable luxury brands according to Interbrand’s current Best Global Brand ranking. The study employs a qualitative content analysis of a broad range of online and offline sources of information on those luxury brands (n= 311) to develop a categorization system of myths that they use. The findings show that the top eight luxury brands evoke seven different types of myths. Personal myths and product myths are the most prevalent, with at least one instance of each identified across all brands analyzed. The study presents implications for research on brand myths as well as luxury brand management.

ABSTRACT. Studies 1 and 2 explore the negative spillover of a luxury brand’s crisis on rival brands and positive spillover of its post-crisis apology on the rivals. This highlights the luxury sector’s interconnectedness, showing how a prominent brand’s crisis and its subsequent recovery efforts can shape public perceptions beyond its immediate sphere.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how gender affects Chinese consumers' acceptance of AI-designed luxury goods. Mixed methods reveal that women were less willing to pay for AI-designed luxury goods, while men showed no significant difference compared to human-designed alternatives. The results demonstrate the mediating role of brand transparency underlying the observed effect.

ABSTRACT. Most research on luxury consumption has traditionally centered on conspicuous consumption, where consumers display wealth and status through visible markers. However, studies that thoroughly examine the key drivers of inconspicuous consumption, which involve subtle signals understood only by those with cultural knowledge, remain limited. This research explores the motivations behind inconspicuous luxury consumption and assesses how these drivers vary across cultures. The study analyzes consumers from South Korea and Saudi Arabia (collectivist cultures) and the United States and France (individualist cultures). This study explores how motivations for inconspicuous consumption shape consumer behavior in the luxury context. The findings contribute to both theory and practice by offering insights that help global luxury brands tailor marketing strategies to reflect cultural differences, thereby enhancing engagement and brand resonance in diverse markets.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, luxury brands have increasingly expanded into experiential service sectors, such as hotels, restaurants, and cafés, driven by global diversification and a growing demand for emotional engagement. Along with this trend, this study draws on the attitude-behavior-context (ABC) theory to examine the impact of luxury purchase types (material vs. experiential) on young consumers’ self-gifting, particularly through interactions with affective attitudes and contextual factors (i.e., Veblen effect, Snob effect, and Bandwagon effect). Using a between-subjects design, this research involved distributing online surveys to female luxury consumers in the US, consisting of Generation Z, Zillennials, and Millennials. In total, 1,127 responses were collected. The results indicate no significant difference in the impact of luxury purchase types on affective attitudes. However, affective attitudes were found to increase luxury self-gifting. Further, the Veblen effect and Snob effect indirectly influence luxury self-gifting through affective attitudes, while the Bandwagon does not. Following this, this study reveals the direct effects of the Veblen effect and the Bandwagon effect on luxury self-gifting, whereas the impact of the Snob effect on luxury self-gifting is insignificant. Our results show the democratization of luxury with brand extension in the contemporary luxury market, especially among young consumers. Lastly, this study provides insights into luxury brands strengthening a premium pricing strategy and social media marketing to leverage the Veblen effect and the Bandwagon effect for their targeted young consumers.

ABSTRACT. Luxury brands are increasingly diversifying their brick-and-mortar retail formats, not only by establishing stores in malls and flagship locations but also by incorporating various non-traditional formats such as pop-up stores (Ye et al., 2023). Through these diverse retail formats, they continue to expand their global presence and actively engage with consumers at these touchpoints.

This strategic approach enables luxury fashion brands to implement global branding strategies while simultaneously offering localized brand experiences tailored to specific markets. Moreover, these physical retail experiences often translate into consumer-generated content on social media, amplifying digital word-of-mouth marketing and extending brand influence to a broader global audience (Koivisto and Mattila, 2020). This evolving marketing practice highlights the dynamic interplay between physical retail spaces, localized brand engagement, and global consumer influence in the digital era.

Existing studies on this topic have primarily focused on examining the impact of individual retail formats on consumer behavior. For example, previous research has explored how pop-up stores influence consumer online engagement (Klein et al., 2019; Taube and Warnaby, 2017) and how sensory marketing in flagship stores affects brand attitudes (Jeong et al., 2025). Even studies that have investigated multiple retail formats (e.g., Miao, 2019) have often been limited to a single-country context, making it difficult to derive insights into global branding strategies.

Given that global luxury brands continue to expand worldwide through diverse physical retail formats, we identify a critical research gap in understanding how global branding strategies manifest within these increasingly diversified retail formats. To address this gap, our study takes an integrated approach to analyzing various retail formats—including flagship stores and pop-up stores—through an international case study framework.

Specifically, this study examines how global luxury brands implement localization and globalization strategies across different retail formats as part of their broader international branding efforts. To achieve this, we analyze architectural design (Kirby and Kent, 2010), interior elements, and sensory marketing (Pal et al., 2025) as key components of global branding strategies, comparing their applications across retail formats, countries, and brands. Furthermore, to understand how these elements shape consumer brand experiences, we explore consumer behavior on social media, investigating how consumers engage with and interpret these retail experiences in digital spaces. To accomplish these research objectives, this study employs a mixed-method approach, integrating both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

The qualitative approach is two-fold. Firstly, the fieldwork on the stores was based on visits to more than thirty retail outlets of luxury fashion brands actively expanding in global markets, including Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Loewe. The sample included traditional versus new brands in different positions of the luxury pyramid. The focus was on major luxury retail markets in Europa and Asia, covering six cities: Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Milan, and Madrid. The fieldwork took place from February to November 2024 using non-participant observation, photographs, and interviews with some store managers to collect data. The stores were analysed according to their architectural elements and sensory marketing characteristics, previously identified through an extensive revision of the academic literature in Web of Science and Scopus, brands’ corporate reports, and specialised architecture practices’ websites. The selected stores were rated according to these features with a binary system (1/0), where 1 indicated the presence of that feature and 0 the absence. Subsequently, a quantitative analysis will be conducted using SPSS to identify which elements are more prominent in specific retail formats and to assess the extent to which they align with global brand guidelines or reflect localization efforts. Additionally, the most engaging social media posts related to the examined brands will be selectively analyzed, to identify the architectural or sensory marketing elements that generate the most buzz around consumer experiences in the stores.

This study is guided by the following three research questions: a) Do architectural elements and in-store sensory marketing elements vary depending on store format, such as flagship stores vs. pop-up stores? b) How do global brands maintain their brand identity internationally while adopting different strategies to incorporate local cultural elements across various countries? c) Do consumers exhibit preferences for specific architectural styles, store types, or design elements?

The findings of this study will provide insights into how the architectural characteristics and sensory marketing elements of luxury fashion stores contribute to global branding across various retail formats while enhancing customer experiences. Through a comparative analysis across retail formats, brands, countries, and cities, this research fills existing gaps and offers a comprehensive perspective on the latest trends in global luxury branding, particularly within major luxury retail markets in Europe and Asia. Furthermore, beyond analyzing elements strategically implemented by brands, this study is expected to provide implications for global fashion branding by incorporating consumer perspectives, specifically their preferences in brand experiences and engagement in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM).

ABSTRACT. The emerging online shopping trend has prompted companies to incorporate augmented reality (AR) into their websites to inspire consumers and enhance the online shopping experience through features such as virtual try-ons and product customisation. However, AR functionalities vary across companies, which may influence consumer interaction with the company and the production process. Such variation affects the magnitude of inspiration generated. While previous research on AR has examined factors influencing AR usage, limited research has recognised and investigated the differences in AR adoption by companies—specifically, variations in AR value co-creation and how these differences impact companies’ efforts to evoke inspiration and, subsequently, purchase intentions. Drawing on customer inspiration and self-affirmation theories, the current research uncovers the psychological mechanism by which customer inspiration is affected by different levels of AR value co-creation, as well as the boundary condition of implicit beliefs. These factors influence how consumers process AR with different levels of co-creation and their motivation to signal personal values using AR. Three scenario-based experiments (n = 478 in total) confirm the mediating role of inspiration in the positive relationship between the level of AR value co-creation and purchase intention. Adding to this, Studies 2 and 3 examine the boundary condition, revealing that entity (incremental) theorists experience stronger inspiration and, consequently, higher purchase intentions when exposed to AR with a lower (higher) level of value co-creation. These findings contribute to the AR and customer inspiration literature, offering valuable insights into segmentation and communication strategies for marketing managers aiming to target or stimulate implicit beliefs in relation to the existing level of AR value co-creation.

ABSTRACT. This study explores how context-rich augmented reality (AR) environments influence consumer behavior by integrating awe-inspiring virtual cues with interactive features. While prior research has primarily examined AR’s role in static or narrowly defined contexts, this study investigates AR settings enriched with dynamic environmental cues that seamlessly merge virtual and physical elements. Guided by the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance (PAD) model and embodied cognition theory, a web-based quasi-experiment involving 214 participants used HoloLens 2 headsets to present AR shopping scenarios with high vs. low levels of awe and interactivity. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and multiple logistic regression revealed that awe evoked by AR cues significantly enhances core affect (pleasure and arousal) and dominance, fostering emotional engagement and enabling consumers to imagine aspirational future scenarios involving AR-displayed products. Interactivity further enhances dominance but diminishes awe when overemphasized. Core affect and possible selves mediate the relationship between emotional engagement and purchase decisions, demonstrating how context-rich AR environments inspire consumer actions. This research provides actionable insights for designing engaging AR experiences to revolutionize online shopping.

ABSTRACT. Our study focuses on the effect of service robots on the effectiveness of free trial marketing. Drawing on the reciprocity theory, consumers anticipate less indebtedness when accepting a free trial provided by service robots (vs. humans), thus are more willing to accept the trial. The effect attenuates for Western consumers.

ABSTRACT. In the era of rapid AI advancement, social media platforms increasingly deploy social robots that leverage deep learning and natural language processing (NLP) to simulate human-like interactions. These robots, which imitate human thought processes and expressions, have become essential components of contemporary social networks. However, existing academic research is lacking when it comes to understanding how the language style of social robots impacts user behavior and attitudes. Specifically, there is a notable gap in studies exploring how the use of humor in the language of social robots influences users, as well as the mediating effect of emotional tendencies on the relationship between humorous language and user social responses. This study aims to investigate how the humorous language style of social robots affects user social responses, drawing on benign conflict theory and group polarization theory. We designed pre-tests and conducted three formal experiments, utilizing online scenario simulations and quantitative analysis methods to examine the impact of affable humor and mocking humor on both individual and community social responses. The experimental materials were derived from a real social media platform and centered on the AI commenting robot “Comment Robert”. To ensure the validity of our findings, we simulated the microblogging interface while controlling for irrelevant variables, such as user nicknames and avatars. Additionally, we employed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale to assess the psychological characteristics of the users involved in the study. The findings of the study indicate that (1) individual users and user communities exhibit contrasting social responses to various humor styles. Specifically, individual users demonstrate a stronger social responsiveness to affinity humor, whereas user communities are more inclined to like and comment on content characterized by mocking humor. (2) Humor appreciation serves as a complete mediator between linguistic style and behavioral feedback, with the perceived intensity of the “benign violation” aspect of humor directly influencing users' willingness to engage; (3) self-esteem levels significantly moderate these responses, as users with high self-esteem display less variability in their reactions to different humor styles, while those with low self-esteem exhibit more pronounced differences in their social responses to humor. The reactions of low self-esteem users to various humor styles show significant variability. This study confirms that AI humor styles significantly influence user social responses, mediated by humor appreciation and moderated by user self-esteem. Theoretically, it advances human-AI interaction frameworks by integrating psychological traits. Practically, it guides platforms in tailoring humor strategies—prioritizing affiliative styles for low self-esteem users and sarcastic styles for communities. The research results provide a theoretical basis for social platforms to optimize the language styles of social robots, which is helpful for enhancing the user interaction experience and strengthening user stickiness. At the same time, it also offers new ideas for enterprises and service providers to apply humorous strategies in digital marketing, promoting the better application of AI technology in the social field. Future research can further expand the sample scope, covering more types of social platforms and social robots, and deeply explore the differences in the impacts of humorous language styles under different cultural backgrounds.

ABSTRACT. INTRODUCTION The recent focus of brands, both luxury (Gucci, Balenciaga) and non-luxury (Forever21, Tommy Hilfiger) to build brand experiences and brand engagement platforms inside the metaverses (Fortnite, Roblox) has created an urgency to understand and predict consumer behavior in this context. This research aims to address a very timely and important question about what how the alignment between virtual contexts (luxury/non-luxury) and the choice of branded outfit (luxury/non-luxury) for virtual avatars, drive consumer’s purchase decision.

THEORY AND HYPOTHESES Extant research show that consumers choose different avatars when participating in different online events (Triberti et al. 2017). This indicates that consumers integrate prominent attributes of the virtual environment into their avatars in order to align their avatars with the virtual context (Vasalou & Joinson, 2009). By wearing certain brands on their virtual avatars, consumers can have an enhanced experience of self-embodiment which may augment their intimate experience. Yee and Bailenson (2007) demonstrated that specific qualities of an avatar's appearance can steer the behavior of its owner, also known as “the proteus effect”. This suggests that the perceived attractiveness of an avatar can enhance users' confidence and social assertiveness within virtual environments (Yee & Bailenson, 2007). Therefore, we hypothesize that consumers who align their avatars to the virtual shopping context will show higher willingness to purchase the virtual products (H1). Consumers who have a high self-brand connection regard the brand as an extension of themselves (Escalas & Bettman, 2003). While creating their virtual avatar, consumers are likely to integrate the prominent attributes of the brand into their situational self-concept.This will significantly increase the self-brand connection consumers experience towards the brand. Prior research has indicated the positive effects of higher self-brand connection can lead to higher brand attachment and loyalty (Japutra et al., 2018). Thus, we propose, (H2) Self-brand connection will mediate the effect of alignment on brand attitude and willingness to purchase.

EXPERIMENTS

Method

We conduct two experiments to test our hypotheses. In Study 1 (N=213 Prolific volunteers, 51% females, Mage= 37.7), the participants were informed that they were visiting a virtual retail store (luxury/non-luxury brand) on a Metaverse platform. In either condition, based on their preferred gender, they were offered a choice between an avatar with luxury vs. non-luxury attributes.  We measured the extent to which the consumers perceived their avatars were aligned with the context (fit, appropriate, aligned; alpha= 0.96) on a 9-point Likert scale (1=Not at all, 9= A lot). They were then showed an image of their chosen avatar visiting the virtual store (luxury vs non-luxury). The participants were asked to spend some time to visualize their avatars in the virtual stores. We further measured purchase intention for the virtual products and willingness to recommend the virtual products outside metaverse on a 9-point Likert scale (1=Not at all, 9= A lot). In Study 2 (N=241 Prolific volunteers, 50% females, Mage= 35.8), we followed the same study design as the previous study. Participants were randomly assigned to either one of the conditions – luxury brand (Louis Vuitton) or non-luxury brand (North Face). Based on their preferred gender, they were offered a choice between a casually dressed avatar (with non-luxury attributes) or a stylish avatar (with luxury attributes). Respondents visualised their chosen avatar in the virtual store and completed the same measures as in Study 1. Additionally, they completed the measure for self-brand connection (Ferraro et al., 2013). We also collected demographic information (age, gender).

Results

Participants who chose avatar with luxury attributes in the luxury condition and participants who chose avatar with non-luxury attributes in non-luxury condition were coded as aligned (54.2%). Respondents who chose situationally aligned avatars had higher purchase intentions for virtual products (MAligned = 4.89, MNon-aligned=4.26, t(210)=1.94, p=0.05) and were more willing to recommend the brand outside the metaverse (MAligned=5.48, MNon-aligned=4.75, t(210)=1.96, p=0.05) which confirmed H1. ANOVA analysis indicates significant interaction between brand type and situational alignment in case of purchase intentions for virtual products (p<0.05) such that situationally aligned avatars have positive effects on brand outcomes for luxury brands but not for non-luxury brands. Results on Study 2 reconfirmed the previous results. Here too consumers with situationally aligned avatars reported significantly higher purchase intentions for virtual products (MAligned=5.43, MNon-aligned=4.65, t(238)=2.1, p<0.05). Mediation analysis using PROCESS model 4 showed significant mediation by self-brand connection (indirect effect=0.19, SE=0.12, 95% CI[0.04,0.47]) which confirmed H2.

CONCLUSION & CONTRIBUTIONS Our findings indicate that situationally aligned avatars have significant positive effects on brand outcomes in virtual contexts due to their self-brand connection. Given the nascent state of literature in this domain, this research has the potential to make impactful contributions to marketing theory and practice. The findings suggest that marketers can advertise their products in accordance with the metaverse context. For example, they can advertise luxury (vs. non-luxury) brands or products when the metaverse context is a luxury (vs. non-luxury) one.

ABSTRACT. Our research delves into the direct influence of AI-generated online review summaries (AIGS) on the sales of experiential products, while also examining the mediating effect of review usefulness, and the moderating influence of business strategy and AI preference groups on these aforementioned effects.

ABSTRACT. Social media has transformed social interaction and marketing, replacing traditional tools with digital platforms that drive business growth. Growing interest in sponsorship disclosures and AI-generated marketing content highlights key gaps in understanding their impact on consumer behavior. Incorporating the attribution theory and the multiple motive inference model, this study examines the differential effects of two sponsorship disclosure types (honest opinions vs. simple) and post design source (AI vs. Human) on consumers’ electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention. Two experimental studies suggested that honest opinions sponsorship disclosure (vs. simple sponsorship disclosure) resulted in consumers inferring higher affective motives and lower calculative motives. Multiple motive inferences and influencer trustworthiness acted as sequential mediators of the relationship between sponsorship disclosure and eWOM intention. Posts designed by AI (vs. human) strengthened the negative effect of honesty sponsorship disclosure on calculative motive inference. These insights advance the understanding of sponsorship disclosures and AI-generated marketing content’s impact on influencer marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. Two online experiments investigated the mechanisms underlying virtual influencers’ (VIs) persuasiveness. VIs’ human-likeness——manipulated (human-like VIs/non-human VIs) and measured——enhanced perceived authenticity and perceived credibility. Notably, perceived authenticity and advertising value facilitated purchase intention and post engagement. While perceived credibility enhanced advertising value, it failed to impact these persuasion outcomes.

ABSTRACT. Brand activism has gained prominence as companies take a stand on societal issues. However, this practice presents a unique challenge: the potential to polarize consumers and fuel conflicts. While brand activism can benefit minority groups, it may adversely affect majority groups, leading to conflicts and customer alienation. Drawing on group threat theory, this work examines how brand activism advertising favoring minority groups impacts non-supportive consumers, creating conflicts among consumers and their brand evaluations. Despite the risks, our study also presents ways that brand activism can be properly used for positive change by exploring two moderators: consumer choice and authenticity. We expect that consumer choice allows individuals to increase their autonomy feelings, mitigating perceived threats, and encouraging constructive dialogue. Authentic brand activism aligns messaging, purpose, and values, reducing polarization by fostering understanding and trust. Inauthentic activism, on the other hand, exacerbates divisions. In conclusion, this research seeks to provide insights for brands to navigate the complex landscape of brand activism, highlighting the potential for constructive engagement and reduced social conflict through strategic approaches.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the interaction of luxury brand sales promotions, self-monitoring, and brand gender in shaping consumer evaluations. Findings indicate that sales promotions negatively impact intrinsic motivation and brand perception, with price reductions having the strongest negative effect. Self-monitoring and brand gender moderate these effects, highlighting their role in consumer perceptions of luxury brands.

ABSTRACT. Heider’s Balance Theory (1946, 1958) stated that a friend of my friend is my friend, and people will try to maintain a balance state. This psychological model is borrowed to investigate charismatic founders of designer labels’ impact on consumers’ brand perception. Charismatic designers are actively directing their labels, I like the designer, I like the brand. Charismatic Fashion Designers’ advertising communicating strategies have been different from other luxury brands, they himself or herself has been, a live promoter and advertiser communicating their brands to their target audience, be friends to different celebrities, creating an impact on consumers’ perception of the brand. What are the advertising communicating strategies employed by fashion designers to sustain their designer labels in this digitized world? The purpose of this article is to examine fashion designers’ impact on consumers brand perceptions and to examine the dynamic changes in advertising practices for designer labels within the fashion and luxury sectors in three studies. Study One is to investigate if brand “Owner”/ charismatic founders of designer labels has an impact on consumers’ perceptions of brand with a development of brand “owner” – consumer – brand model using face-to-face questionnaire survey. Study Two is to investigate social media strategies of these charismatic founders in this digitized world. Study Three is a case study of a sustainable accessible luxury brand Loom Loop and its digital luxury advertising strategies. Findings showed that the brand “owner” - consumer – brand model developed from Heider’s Balance Theory is still applicable and charismatic fashion designers are still actively having themselves as a life promoter and advertiser communicating their brands to their target customers and having an impact on consumers’ brand perception. With the latest advances in technologies, charismatic fashion designers have more choices of facilities communicating with targeted audiences and may have less expensive ways to do so. Advertising strategies employed by fashion designers nowadays are discussed

ABSTRACT. This study examines how augmented reality (AR) advertising creativity impacts AR experience satisfaction, consumer attitudes toward advertisements, and brand attitudes in the luxury sector. Against the backdrop of declining retail foot traffic and a shift toward experiential consumption, the research explores AR's potential to re-engage consumers and transform stores into experiential destinations. Using survey data from Chinese luxury consumers, results show that AR advertising creativity significantly enhances AR experience satisfaction, advertising attitudes, and brand attitudes, with experience satisfaction and advertising attitudes mediating the relationship between AR advertising creativity and brand attitudes. Meanwhile，Age-based differences were also observed that Generation X and Y responded more positively to AR creativity than Generation Z, though brand attitude differences were not significant. This suggests younger consumers, familiar with AR, may require more innovative experiences.

ABSTRACT. Inclusive marketing has been widely explored in mainstream brands, but its effects on luxury brands are less understood. This study investigates how inclusive marketing influences brand warmth, competence, and anthropomorphism in luxury and non-luxury contexts. Results show that inclusive marketing enhances warmth and competence, influencing brand anthropomorphism and attitudes.

ABSTRACT. This study demonstrates that luxury advertisements incorporating high art enhance self-expressive purchase intention by elevating perceived social status, whereas those featuring low art do so by fostering a sense of autonomy. High art appeals more to individuals with high status seeking tendency, while low art is more effective among individuals high in openness to experience.

ABSTRACT. Luxury brands have long relied on heritage and storytelling to construct exclusivity, prestige, and authenticity in the marketplace. As the luxury industry undergoes significant transformation due to digitalisation, shifting consumer expectations, and an increasing demand for cultural inclusivity (Ko et al., 2019; Kapferer & Valette-Florence, 2021), storytelling has emerged as a key driver of consumer engagement. While European heritage brands such as Hermès, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton have successfully embedded their historical narratives into advertising strategies, African cultural heritage remains largely underexplored in the luxury sector (Gbadamosi, 2019). This article examines how Kente, a handwoven Ghanaian textile traditionally associated with royalty, prestige, and historical symbolism, can be leveraged in luxury advertising through brand heritage and storytelling. Drawing on brand heritage theory and narrative advertising frameworks, the study investigates how brands can utilise Kente’s cultural significance to construct compelling advertising narratives that enhance brand equity and consumer engagement. Additionally, it evaluates the challenges luxury brands may encounter in integrating Kente into advertising strategies, particularly regarding authenticity, cultural appropriation, and luxury market positioning. Brand heritage theory posits that a brand’s long-standing history, cultural roots, and authenticity serve as powerful differentiators in luxury markets, reinforcing its exclusivity and prestige (Urde, 2003; Hennigs et al., 2012). The luxury sector thrives on narratives that link craftsmanship, tradition, and exclusivity (Fionda & Moore, 2009), elements that align with Kente's artisanal production and rich historical context. Storytelling in advertising, meanwhile, plays a crucial role in fostering emotional connections between consumers and brands (Gensler et al., 2013). Research suggests that compelling brand stories create deeper consumer engagement and loyalty by embedding cultural and historical meaning within a product’s identity (Escalas, 2004). African textiles, including Kente, offer a distinct and underutilised opportunity for luxury brands to innovate through heritage storytelling. Despite Kente’s significance as a cultural artefact, its integration into global luxury branding has been minimal, raising questions about how it can be repositioned in high-end fashion and lifestyle markets. This study employs a qualitative research approach, integrating case studies, expert interviews, and consumer perception analysis (Thompson & Haytko, 1997; Joy et al., 2014) to explore how Kente can be positioned within luxury advertising. Case studies of heritage-driven luxury branding, such as Hermès’ use of equestrian culture and Chanel’s association with Coco Chanel’s legacy, provide insights into how established luxury brands leverage historical narratives. Additionally, comparative analyses of other culturally significant textiles, such as Japanese kimono fabrics and Scottish tartan, demonstrate how heritage can be reinterpreted for contemporary luxury markets. Semi-structured interviews with luxury branding professionals, advertising executives, and Ghanaian textile experts offer industry perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of incorporating Kente into luxury brand storytelling. Furthermore, consumer focus groups are conducted to explore perceptions of Kente’s luxury potential, emotional resonance, and authenticity.

ABSTRACT. While innovation capability is crucial for B2B firm performance, the boundary conditions that enhance its effectiveness remain underexplored. Drawing on the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities perspective, this study examines how market-sensing capability and network capability moderates the relationship between innovation capability and firm performance in B2B markets. An analysis of survey data from 252 U.S. manufacturing firms reveals that innovation capability positively influences firm performance, and that this relationship is strengthened by both market-sensing and network capabilities. Market-sensing capability enhances the alignment between innovation efforts and market demands, while network capability facilitates resource sharing and collaboration in the innovation processes. These findings extend our understanding of how firms can leverage complementary capabilities to maximize the performance benefits of innovation in B2B contexts.

ABSTRACT. Cross-border business interactions present inherent challenges compared to domestic ones due to the complexity and uncertainty stemming from differences in culture, language, and business practices. Psychic distance refers to an individual’s perception of the difference with a foreign partner when engaging in international business exchanges. A large body of research has underscored the importance of psychic distance in international business exchanges. However, most studies address psychic distance as a managerial perception impacting organizational-level decision-making; relatively little attention has been given to the individual perspective. Moreover, there is also frequent interchangeability of psychic distance and cultural distance, resulting in blurred distinctions between the two concepts. Our conceptual research addressed the aforementioned limitations by taking a cultural lens to explore the cultural antecedents of psychic distance perception and subsequent consequences from the viewpoint of individuals involved in the business dyads. We also underscore how the influence of psychic distance on cross-border interactions may vary depending on the specific relationship stage. This study contributes to psychic distance research by approaching it from the perspective of the boundary spanners and clarifying the distinction and interconnections between psychic distance and cultural distance. It also provides insights for cross-border practitioners navigating the differences and responding to a culturally diverse environment effectively.

ABSTRACT. This study explores how Market Orientation (MO) and Resource-Based View (RBV) synergistically enhance business performance in resource-constrained SMEs. Through JPI Healthcare’s B2B marketing case, the findings validate that integrating MO and VRIN-based RBV resources fosters competitive advantages, offering practical and theoretical insights for SMEs aiming to achieve sustainable growth.

ABSTRACT. In this paper, we investigate differences in the use of humor and styles of humor between countries and explore how these differences affect the performance of the buyer-seller relationship. Two studies were carried out with BtoB buyers of Vietnamese, English, Mexican and French origin. Our research question is: What are the effects of humor on B2B sales performance in different cultures ? The aim of these two four-country studies is to compare the results of country tests with the idea that the use of humor leads to an increase in feelings of relief, which in turn has a positive effect on relationship quality and performance. From for 4 samples of 146-178 professional buyers, we show that when humor is used during a negotiation it leads to an increase in feelings of relief, which are beneficial to the quality of the relationship with the purchaser and the commercial performance. Humor style was included as the independent variable, feelings of relief and relationship quality as the mediating variables, and performance as the dependent variable. Buyers' country of origin was the moderating variable. The hypotheses were tested using a serial mediation analysis (SMARTPLS4 5,000 bootstraps). With these two studies targeting Vietnamese, Mexican, English and French buyers, we explore cultural differences in four different countries. We show the effects on performance according to the style of humor through the serial mediation of relief and relationship quality according to the national culture. Our results show that Vietnamese salespeople minimize offensive humor, while the French are more inclined to use it to ease their anxiety during negotiations. Vietnamese, Mexican, English and French Sales Managers can recommend that their salespeople dare to use constructive humor, particularly during the key phases of financial terms, negotiation and closing. More precisely, self-enhanced humor (of constructive humor) is the best way to talk about price, taking into account the cultural particularities of Vietnamese, Mexican and English buyers.

ABSTRACT. In the past few years, the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) and its deployment, has been accelerated by developments in man-machine interaction involving B2B, B2C and C2C co-creational opportunities. Such a commitment has produced AI-enabled systems that are vital in terms of improving marketing operations as AI-enabled systems aid speedy decision-making based on rapid information analysis. According to Schmitt, (2023), business analytics is a key aspect of how and why organizations adopt various AI/ML-based digital technologies to improve their operations. The realization of benefits associated with value AI-driven decision-making is known to provide various benefits (e.g., cost saving – time and finance, and error reduction) that improve marketing efficiency and its effect on the increase the propensity to compete draw senior marketing managers' attention and advocacy to adopt AI/ML system in their operation.

Although organisations are adopting and utilizing AI/ML technology and improve their marketing operations, it is still a relatively nascent phenomenon of adopting AI technology in organizational settings, and much research is needed to more fully understand how the deployment of AI/ML-based technologies advances an organization’s performance and at the same time deal with what are the potential pitfalls (Dwivedi et al., 2021; Mikalef et al., 2021). Improving insights into how the use of AI/ML technologies assist employees to reach higher levels of performance are viewed from the perspective of helping senior marketing managers to deploy AI/ML technology to increase customer satisfaction vis-a-vis planning carefully how employees should work along with AI/ML (Makarius et al., 2020). Taking employees into consideration in the planning process of how to deploy AL/ML-based technology is important as they have knowledge of how customers' utilitarian and emotional needs are transformed into marketing initiatives that bring value to the organization through building and enhancing relationships with customers.

In relation to employee creativity to improve an organization's performance, various research has been carried out such as the role of transformational leadership in facilitating individual and team creativity (Dong et al., 2017)); how to align knowledge processes and employee creativity and firm performance (Imran et al., 2018); whether automated ML (AutoML) fosters human empowerment (Schmitt, 2023); and how AI increases employee creativity (Jia et al., 2024). Our research will build on existing research and investigate how employee’s creativity mediates the relationship between robotic process automation (RPA) in Systems Applications and Products (SAP) and customer satisfaction. In doing so, we will utilize value co-creation theory (Vargo and Lusch, 2016) in explaining what aspect of employee creativity mediates the relationship between robotic service quality (RSQ) and customer satisfaction.

Primary data will be collected from manufacturing and service organizations in Sri Lanka that have implemented RPA in SAP through the survey method and will be analyzed using structural equational modelling. The outcome of the research will unveil which factors may mediate positively the relationship between RSQ and customer service. The findings also help marketing managers in an emerging market, Sir Lanka, to communicate more effectively with staff in partner organizations and improve supply chain operations. The findings will help managers to plan the deployment of AI/ML systems strategically and how to maintain organizational competitiveness in a continuously evolving competitive market environment.

References: Dong, Y., Bartol, K.M., Zhang, Z., Li, C., 2017. Enhancing employee creativity via individual skill development and team knowledge sharing: Influences of dual‐focused transformational leadership. J Organ Behav 38, 439–458. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2134 Imran, M.K., Ilyas, M., Aslam, U., Fatima, T., 2018. Knowledge processes and firm performance: the mediating effect of employee creativity. Journal of Organizational Change Management 31, 512–531. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-10-2016-0202 Jia, N., Luo, X., Fang, Z., Liao, C., 2024. When and How Artificial Intelligence Augments Employee Creativity. Academy of Management Journal 67, 5–32. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2022.0426 Makarius, E.E., Mukherjee, D., Fox, J.D., Fox, A.K., 2020. Rising with the machines: A sociotechnical framework for bringing artificial intelligence into the organization. J Bus Res 120, 262–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.07.045 Schmitt, M., 2023. Automated machine learning: AI-driven decision making in business analytics. Intelligent Systems with Applications 18, 200188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iswa.2023.200188 Vargo, S.L., Lusch, R.F., 2016. Institutions and axioms: an extension and update of service-dominant logic. J Acad Mark Sci 44, 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-015-0456-3

ABSTRACT. Considering the market competition triggered by e-commerce private brand products' manufacturers leveraging brand spillover effects to directly encroach on markets and incorporating platforms' external alternatives, this paper establishes a two-stage game model to analyze how platforms can respond to manufacturers encroachment through "manufacturer replacement" and "platform enablement" strategies. The results show that when consumers have a low perception of the quality of manufacturers' products, the platform adopts a strategy of "no replacement + no enablement". When consumers have a moderate perception of product quality, if replacement costs are low and platform enablement costs are manageable, the platform implements a "no replacement + enablement" strategy enhancing the quality of private brand products to offset profit erosion caused by brand spillover effects. If replacement costs or enablement costs are prohibitively high, the platform opts for a conservative "no replacement + no enablement" strategy. When consumers have a high perception of product quality, the platform prioritizes expanding the perceived quality gap through low enablement costs. However, if enablement efficiency is insufficient and replacement costs are manageable, the platform shifts to a "replacement + no enablement" strategy to ensure long-term control. Under high replacement costs, the platform is compelled to adopt limited enablement to mitigate profit erosion.

ABSTRACT. This study explores how Generative AI (GenAI) revitalizes the hospitality spirit by enhancing service delivery through independent functions and human-AI collaboration. GenAI ensures consistent, automated hospitality experience and areas where collaboration with human staff is essential for high-context emotional interactions, preserving meaningful guest connections, and maintaining the human touch.

ABSTRACT. Why do some individuals have good fortune while others face adversity? Many attributes fortunate experience to one’s past actions, subscribing to the belief that what goes around comes around (Krishan, 1997). This cause-and-effect relationship is encapsulated in the concept of karma. This study introduces the concept of "green karma", exploring how belief in karma influences pro-environmental behavior among consumers. Specifically, it investigates when and why the framing of green messages grounded in karmic investments influences such behavior. The findings would advise on how marketing messages can be crafted to nudge consumer pro-environmental behavior.

Consumers’ implicit beliefs and values, or their unconscious assumptions about the world (e.g., karmic belief), can have a profound impact on their attitudes and behaviors. These beliefs and values often operate outside of conscious awareness, yet they can powerfully shape how individuals interpret information and make decisions (Brough et al., 2016). They can act as powerful drivers or barriers to behavior change, influencing individual decisions and societal-level outcomes. Identifying, understanding, and motivating these unconscious assumptions can thus help to develop targeted interventions to nudge positive behavioral change.

Karmic belief is originated in Asian religious traditions, including but not limited to Hinduism and Buddhism (Bronkhorst, 2011). In plain language, karma refers to the notion that good behavior will be rewarded, and bad behavior will be punished. It is the moral law of causation (Krishan, 1997). Karmic belief has several distinctive characteristics as opposed to other beliefs. First, it is opaque in that the consequences for one’s actions may manifest in future unrelated experiences or a future reincarnation (White et al., 2019). Second, it does not demand devotion, as opposed to religious belief (White et al., 2019). Third, karma believers believe “incidental” karma accumulations, rather than setting explicit objectives or pursuing extrinsic benefits (Xue & Mattila, 2024). One unique aspect for karma is that believers judge individual actions as having greater consequences within and across lifetimes, compared to Christians (Willard et al., 2020). Compared to other magical thinking (superstition, magical thinking, fatalism, etc.) which associates positive outcomes with lucky colors, numbers, or symbols, karma believers hold the assumption that their own good or bad actions can generate corresponding outcomes, respectively (Hamerman & Johar, 2013).

Individuals tend to view random things as being connected (Bressan, 2002; Li et al., 2024). They use karma-like mindset to attribute and explain causality for life outcomes that are usually beyond their personal control (Converse et al., 2012). To pursue good rewards, belief in karma thus fosters a sense of personal responsibility and ethical behavior across various contexts. Individuals with karmic belief demonstrate increased intentions to donate (Kulow & Kramer, 2016) and greater compassion in service failure situations (Valenzuela et al., 2018). However, there is limited research on the effectiveness of leveraging karma to promote pro-environmental behavior. The current research posits that motivation associated with karmic investment can extend to environmental stewardship; consumers with strong karmic beliefs are more likely to engage in pro-environmental consumption.

A pilot study (N = 388, 69.1% female) provided initial evidence on the relationship between karma belief and consumer pro-environmental behavior. Linear regression analysis indicated that individuals with stronger karma beliefs exhibited a greater propensity for pro-environmental behavior (ꞵkarma_belief = .213, S.E. = .051, t = 4.198, p <.001). Subsequently, another study (N = 219, 41.9% female) confirms that approaching karmic rewards is the underlying mechanism that drives people with high karmic belief to choose eco-products (ꞵkarma_belief = .0637, S.E. = 0.0333, 95% CI: [.0121, .1428]). Following studies are planned to further examine whether the effect of karmic belief on pro-environmental behavior varied by its message valence, etc.

Findings would show how marketers can leverage karma beliefs such as the use of karmic reward to encourage environmental actions, especially for people who previously were less prone to pro-environment consumption.

ABSTRACT. This research examines the effectiveness of life-sized character standees and augmented reality (AR) as destination marketing tools in content tourism, particularly focusing on tourism triggered by anime and related media content.

The significance of this research continues to grow alongside the global expansion of the tourism industry. The study is contextualized within the rapid development of international tourism, with global international travel expenditure projected to reach 1.9 trillion dollars in 2024, representing an approximate 20% increase compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. While traditional tourism is driven by destination-specific attributes such as landscapes, cuisine, natural environments, and cultural heritage, content tourism—associated with popular culture elements including anime, manga, films, music, and literature—has emerged as an increasingly significant tourism resource.

We address two critical challenges faced by local governments and firms in destination marketing. The first concerns whether character images related to anime and other content should be installed at associated locations, and the second examines whether physical installations or virtual presentations through AR technology are more effective.

This study focuses on the characteristics of content consumers. They can be categorized based on the extent to which they incorporate content into their self-identity. While some consumers maintain ordinary social lives and enjoy content, others demonstrate a tendency to become more deeply immersed, sacrificing ordinary social activities, as they consider the content as an integral component of their self-identity.

Furthermore, the theoretical examination extends to the application of AR in tourism. AR technology, capable of projecting virtual objects onto the physical world, holds the potential to enhance tourist experiences and facilitate interaction between visitors and destinations. Key characteristics of AR implementation include spatial and physical presence, interactivity, and vividness.

Based on theoretical foundation, we proposed the following hypotheses: Regarding consumers who do not strongly identify content as part of their self-identity, both physical standees and virtual AR images would result in higher visit intention compared to no installation. This prediction stems from the understanding that general consumers require visual cues to comprehend the significance of anime-related sacred sites.

Conversely, regarding consumers who consider content as a crucial element of their self-identity, we predicted that physical installations would result in lower visit intention compared to no installation, while AR installations would lead to higher visit intention. This hypothesis is based on the premise that devoted followers can understand the significance of locations without visual aids and might perceive physical installations as impediments to their pilgrimage experience. However, AR installations, being virtual and optional, were not expected to interfere with the pilgrimage experience.

To examine these hypotheses, we conducted an experiment at Sekizenkan, an inn in Gunma Prefecture that served as a model for the film "Spirited Away." The experiment employed a 2×3 between-subjects design, combining levels of anime self-identity relevance (high/low) with character image presentation methods (physical/virtual/none).

The experimental results revealed that for consumers with low self-identity relevance, both physical and virtual installations demonstrated significantly higher visit intention compared to no installation. Conversely, for consumers with strong self-identity relevance, AR installation yielded the highest visit intention, followed by no installation, with physical installation showing the lowest visit intention. These analytical findings supported our hypotheses.

This research makes academic contributions in several areas: the advancement of content tourism research, the development of technology utilization studies in tourism, and the suggestion of conceptual connections between anime pilgrimage and religious pilgrimage.

From a practical perspective, this study provides specific guidelines for destination marketers. Local governments and firms should select installation methods considering their target audience's level of content self-relevance. Additionally, the content's lifecycle stage should be considered. In the initial stages, when primarily devoted fans are likely to visit, virtual installations may be more appropriate.

This research provides valuable insights for establishing more targeted and effective destination marketing methods in content tourism, a field expected to continue developing. Furthermore, it can be evaluated as pioneering research suggesting new possibilities for enhancing tourism experiences through technological advancement.

ABSTRACT. Travellers often plan their trips to maintain structure and predictability, but rigid plans are associated with the need for goal closure, a psychological state where completing predetermined tasks becomes the focus. This research examines how flexible planning reduces the need for goal closure, enhancing the overall tourist experience.

ABSTRACT. Tourist regret is a common emotional experience among tourists, yet existing research provides limited insight into its types and impacts, particularly with regard to its multidimensional nature within the tourism context. Drawing upon regret theory and attribution theory, this study employs a qualitative analysis of 9,602 online reviews from Ctrip (a leading Chinese online travel agency platform) to identify three types of tourist regret: regret for experience, regret for restricted experience, and regret for missed experience. Attribution of regret is categorized into service-related factors, uncontrollable factors, and self-related factors, leading to negative behaviors, neutral behaviors, and positive behavioral responses. The study proposes a theoretical model of tourist regret which identifies multiple pathways linking attributions, emotional responses, and behavioral responses for different types of tourist regret. The findings offer practical recommendations for tourism management and marketing.

ABSTRACT. This study proposes an instantaneous emotion mining framework for smart tourism by integrating physiological (electrodermal activity, heart rate) and psychological emotion data. Using machine learning, we predict tourists’ emotional states instantaneously, demonstrating the potential of wearable sensors for dynamic emotion tracking and personalized tourism experiences.

ABSTRACT. Ritualized experiences exist in many aspects of life and influence consumer attitudes and behaviors. This paper aims to develop a comprehensive research model to explore how ritualized experience affects consumer well-being and brand loyalty, and how perceived service intelligence moderates the relationship between ritualized experience and consumer well-being. We conducted a questionnaire survey of 244 Chinese consumers on Xiaohongshu (a Chinese social media platform) and tested the hypothetical relationship using a structural equation model. The findings indicate that all the constructs of ritualized experience positively affect consumer well-being and subsequently impact brand loyalty. The relationship between ritualized experience and consumer well-being is influenced differently by perceived service intelligence. Theoretically, this study enriches the understanding of the dimensions of ritual experience and expands the research framework in this area. In terms of practical implications, this paper provides guidelines for marketers on how to deliver a superior ritualized experience to consumers.

ABSTRACT. The massive development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have transformed the digital marketing landscape. AI is becoming increasingly agentic and emotionally adept, but little is known about how these AI capabilities influence humans’ behavior and perception of control in the decision-making process. In this study, grounded in psychological theories of mind perception and perceived control and marketing theories of human-computer interaction and customer experience, we investigate the impact of empathy and agency (high vs. low) capabilities of AI agents on human control, human-AI relationship (AI closeness and trust), and further customer experiences’ outcomes, such as satisfaction and purchase behavior. The study deploys an experimental design with 410 participants. The findings show that when humans make decisions assisted by AI with higher empathy and agency capabilities, humans feel more in control, leading to satisfaction and purchase behavior through closeness and trust in AI. Our study also offers managerial implications for companies enthusiastic about human-centric AI deployment to serve customers online.

ABSTRACT. Artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming the marketing landscape by facilitating rapid data analysis, highly personalized consumer interactions, and agile strategic decision-making processes. Through the application of sophisticated machine learning algorithms to dissect consumer behavior, platforms such as Salesforce Einstein and Google Analytics 360 empower marketing professionals to fine-tune campaigns in real-time—achieving levels of efficiency that were previously inconceivable. This heightened degree of precision fosters a more profound understanding of consumer sentiment and segmentation, thereby laying the groundwork for innovative methodologies in influencer engagement, demand forecasting, and brand positioning. Nevertheless, the potential of AI in marketing is accompanied by various complexities. Ethical dilemmas concerning data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the inscrutable nature of “black box” models can dilute consumer trust and provoke consideration from regulatory bodies and advocacy organizations. Instances of biased advertising—arising from flawed or incomplete datasets—highlight the imperative for stringent oversight and equitable AI governance. Such vigilance becomes increasingly critical as AI-driven personalization obscures the distinction between consumer empowerment and manipulative targeting, engendering inquiries regarding transparency, equity, and social responsibility. Organizations must also confront substantial operational and cultural transformations to incorporate AI effectively. Investments in specialized technological infrastructure, data literacy, and workforce training are essential for harmonizing technological capabilities with organizational goals. Maintaining a balance between automation and the human element remains crucial, especially in sectors where relational trust and consultative selling serve as key differentiators. In the future, explainable AI frameworks, inter-sector collaborations, and comprehensive policymaking will prove essential for guaranteeing the responsible deployment of AI technologies. By elucidating the mechanisms through which algorithms produce outcomes, enterprises can preserve consumer confidence and identify potential biases proactively. Ultimately, achieving equilibrium between innovation and ethical stewardship will dictate the enduring influence of AI on marketing practices. Organizations that proactively tackle these issues—through transparent data management, inclusive model training, and continuous human oversight—will be optimally positioned to leverage AI for sustainable competitive advantage while safeguarding the interests of stakeholders.

ABSTRACT. The global population is aging at an alarming rate and the growth of the elderly population is becoming inevitable. In response, It is crucial to develop sustainable strategies to improve the elderly’s well-being and enhance their consumer experience. Digital technologies are permeating every aspect of consumers' lives globally. Continuous advancements in digital technologies and solutions, such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, virtual reality, augmented displays, and other technology-driven tools, have enabled the enhancement of emerging technologies that incorporate artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and integration of digital and physical aspects (referred to as "physical"), contributing to the development of the Physical Ecosystem. The Phygital Ecosystem can integrate the daily life and healthcare needs of the elderly with digital experiences. However, there remains a lack of comprehensive research on the factors influencing the willingness of the elderly to adopt these new digital technologies. Understanding these key factors influencing the elderly's willingness to use digital technologies will help ensure that technologies are developed appropriately and tailored to their specific circumstances. This article investigates how AI-driven tools and other Phygital innovations meet the unique needs of the aging population, focusing on both health outcomes and overall consumer experience. This article examines a range of relevant literature to establish a theoretical and historical framework that explains how Phygital has evolved to address health and experience issues for consumers, particularly the elderly population. Based on these findings, a focused research approach—including in-depth interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic observations—will provide in-depth qualitative insights into the perceptions, needs, and behaviors of the elderly. Complementing these methods, quantitative research techniques, such as surveys and potential experiments, will yield measurable evidence regarding technology adoption, satisfaction, and its impact on well-being. Integrating these three approaches will provide a comprehensive understanding of current practices and a detailed perspective on user experience, thereby providing evidence-based recommendations for future digital initiatives within the Phygital Ecosystem. Ultimately, this research will provide evidence-based recommendations for technology developers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers, driving innovation that enhances the well-being of the elderly and consumer experience while also ensuring a sustainable, user-centered future.

ABSTRACT. This study explores how perceived product performance risks—visual, tactile, and trial—affect showrooming behavior, particularly the intention to search for information offline and purchase online. The results of the study indicate that lower visual and trial risks lead to more positive attitudes toward products, increased offline information searches, and higher online purchase intent. Retailers can leverage these findings by implementing risk-reduction strategies such as augmented reality and AI-powered fit recommendations to encourage showrooming and boost online sales.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has rapidly advanced, expanding its applications across various industries. In marketing, advertising, and news sectors, AI-driven content creation and optimization are actively being utilized. This highlights the significant role AI plays in technological innovations aimed at enhancing consumer experience and well-being. AI-powered advertising content offers advantages in terms of time and cost efficiency compared to traditional manual methods. Additionally, it enables the quick delivery of personalized content to consumers, contributing to their well-being and enhancing their overall experience. However, questions remain regarding how well AI-generated content and services can reflect human emotional elements and maintain an emotional connection with consumers. In particular, when considering consumer well-being, AI-generated content may sometimes fall short in eliciting emotional empathy. Existing research has primarily focused on analyzing the impact of AI-based content on consumer responses. Some studies have pointed out that despite AI’s ability to rapidly produce large volumes of content, such content may lack emotional and creative depth. Furthermore, research has suggested that when human copywriters add creative elements to AI-generated content, it can enhance emotional connection with consumers. However, these studies have not adequately addressed the specific conditions and differences that affect how AI-human collaboration impacts consumer experience and well-being. This study aims to address these aspects with the following objectives. First, it will examine whether human editing of AI-generated content drafts results in more positive consumer responses compared to fully AI-generated content, and explore the specific conditions under which consumer attitudes and reactions may change. Second, it will investigate the underlying mechanisms by which human editing helps overcome the limitations of AI-generated content and enhances consumer well-being. Finally, this study aims to provide practical insights for marketers on how to effectively design positive consumer experiences using AI.

ABSTRACT. Service robots play a crucial role in the operations of the hospitality industry, and their work efficiency can be significantly impacted by guest behavior (Nielsen et al., 2022; Oliveira et al., 2021). However, service robots are sometimes abused by customers (Beiwan new vision net, 2020; Western decision, 2021), which not only affects the robots' performance but can also affect the overall guest experience and the efficiency of the hospitality service. This study aims to investigate the antecedents of consumers’ voluntary prosocial behavior to hotel service robots, positing that genuine human empathy for robots influences the guest experience. This study seeks to explain and predict human attitudes and social behavior towards robots, aiming to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying human-robot harmony. This understanding is crucial for designing and delivering the increasingly prevalent robotic tourism experience, as well as preparing for the future of robotics in the tourism industry (de Vries et al., 2020; Law et al., 2022). Besides, it will supplement the “computers are social actors” (CASA) framework (Nass et al., 1994). Specifically, this study will test the following hypothesis with lab experiments:

H1: The language cues of robots’ workplace suffering facilitate consumers’ prosocial behaviors towards robots. H2: The facilitation of language cues of robots’ workplace suffering on consumers’ prosocial behaviors towards robots is mediated by empathy towards robots.

The authors plan to conduct three studies, in which the three aspects of prosocial behavior towards robots (i.e., helping robots to perform more efficiently, intervening bully to the robots, and yielding resources to robots) will be tested, respectively (Avelino et al., 2018; Connolly et al., 2020; de Kleijn et al., 2019). In each study, after getting the consent, participants will be randomly assigned to “with suffering” stimuli or “without suffering” stimuli on their way to the lab. Their responses to the robots will be recorded by camera. After they enter the lab, a brief survey will be conducted to measure their empathy towards the robot (Escalas & Stern, 2003).

At this point, a pilot study has been conducted through a scenario-based online survey for each study. The results showed that the prosocial behavior, specifically the willingness to yield resources to robots, was significantly higher in the “with suffering” condition than the “without suffering” condition. Additionally, empathy towards robots was significantly higher in the “with suffering” scenario than the “without suffering” scenario, in the context of prosocial behavior related to intervening in bullying directed at the robots.

ABSTRACT. Purpose: The primary objective of this study is to understand the determinants of travel planners' commitment to use ChatGPT. This research will investigate the key factors by using the investment model to find user satisfaction, quality of alternatives, investment, and commitment in using ChatGPT as a travel planning tool. In addressing this objective, the study aims to answer the following central research questions:(1) What specific features of ChatGPT satisfy travel planners? (2) What qualities of other travel planning tools make them different from ChatGPT? (3) What levels and types of investment do users put into using ChatGPT? (4) How do users commit to continuing to use ChatGPT?

Design/Methodology/Approach: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 respondents, who were recruited via social media platforms and ChatGPT. The interview questions were based on the Investment Model. To analyze the data, we use thematic analysis and the critical incident technique to capture specific, impactful user experiences, both positive and negative, that affected participants’ commitment to ChatGPT.

Findings: The findings highlight that users’ satisfaction with ChatGPT stems from its ability to efficiently provide comprehensive and relevant travel information while personalizing content based on user queries. However, dissatisfaction arises from issues related to information accuracy, depth, and limited functionality, such as misinterpreting user intent. This distinction suggests that the factors driving satisfaction differ from those causing dissatisfaction. To enhance user experience, practitioners should focus on improving content relevancy while addressing accuracy and communication intelligence to ensure seamless interactions. Additionally, the study identifies alternative tools, including Google Search, personal recommendations, and social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube, which offer strengths such as booking capabilities, visual content, and greater perceived trustworthiness. Users appreciate the ease of use and personalization in both ChatGPT and these alternatives, though they view ChatGPT as lacking in functionality compared to other tools.

The study reveals that users spend both direct and indirect resources using ChatGPT, but it doesn't require much cognitive or emotional effort. Users value the ability to share travel preferences, which allows ChatGPT to deliver personalized recommendations. However, they also prefer not sharing personal information like travel itineraries. Users view ChatGPT as a starting point for research, complementing it with other tools for detailed planning, or preferring alternative methods for tasks requiring advanced features. Participants also recognize ChatGPT as a time-saving tool for travel planning and they are open to exploring other tools, indicating a growing openness to AI use. The model suggests that ChatGPT excels in simplicity and personalization but has limitations in functionality and trustworthiness, suggesting it should be used as a complementary tool alongside other platforms.

Originality/Value: this study challenges previous assumptions that greater investment leads to stronger commitment. Instead, users value the low physical and psychological effort required to use ChatGPT, which supports continued engagement. These findings suggest that ease of use plays a crucial role in chatbot adoption and highlight the need for a more holistic approach to understanding user-chatbot relationships.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the role of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic service robots in hospitality. Focusing on warmth and competence perceptions, it investigates how robot characteristics influence customer satisfaction across varying task complexities and service recovery scenarios. Findings will provide insights into optimizing service robot designs for enhanced customer experiences in hotel settings.

ABSTRACT. This study aims to investigate how artificial intelligence (AI) influencers affect visit intention in the tourism industry. AI influencers are ideal for targeting specific markets and collaborating with brands to promote products or services. Despite the growing importance of AI influencers, the utilization of AI influencers in the tourism industry is still in their infancy. In this study, in order to study the influence of the characteristics of virtual influencers in the tourism industry on the intention to visit, data were collected through an online survey targeting people in their 20s and 40s with a high level of understanding of AI influencers, and analyzed using a structural equation model. This study aims to identify how the characteristics of virtual influencers, which are divided into extroverted characteristics and content characteristics, shape consumers’ motivation to visit tourist destinations. It also analyzes the relationship between the characteristics of virtual influencers, perceived credibility and parasocial relationships. In addition, this study emphasizes the moderating role of tourism goal type (utilitarianism vs. hedonicism). This study focuses on the trend of the times and discusses the relationship between virtual influencers and tourism industry consumers, thereby proposing academic implications. In addition, practical implications that can be referenced for utilizing virtual influencers from the perspective of tourism marketing are also proposed.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to develop a generative AI-assisted Questioning Support Tool (QST) to assist hotel marketers generate creative marketing materials. The QST will guide marketers in formulating effective questions for AI, overcoming challenges in eliciting original responses. By analysing how marketers interact with the QST, the study will contribute to both the theory and practice of AI-assisted creativity in marketing.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates how blockchain-visualized sustainability information in tourism souvenirs influences tourists' willingness to pay through two studies. Drawing upon resource-based view theory, we examine the direct relationship and underlying psychological mechanisms of perceived sustainability authenticity and warm glow, with altruism as a moderator. Survey data reveals that blockchain visualization enhances willingness to pay both directly and indirectly through authenticity perception and emotional experience. The findings extend blockchain theory in tourism retail and provide practical insights for sustainable souvenir marketing.

ABSTRACT. The rise of influencer marketing has precipitated a notable shift toward the commercialization of influencer content. This study endeavors to investigate the effects of this commercial orientation on followers’ purchase intentions, with a particular focus on the interplay between parasocial relationships and sponsorship disclosures in shaping this outcome. Employing a four-phase—i.e., main, mediation, moderation, and moderated mediation—quantitative approach, this study analyzes an online survey of social media users in the USA using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). This study reveals that the commercial tilt of influencer content adversely affects followers’ purchase intentions, and that this negative trajectory is amplified by the diminished parasocial relationships that followers have with social media influencers due to this overt commercialization. However, a silver lining emerges with the revelation that transparent sponsorship disclosures can significantly cushion this adverse effect, restoring followers’ propensity to purchase the products endorsed by social media influencers.

ABSTRACT. Past research has demonstrated that consumers often exhibit “self-serving attribution” in their interactions with human service employees. Self-serving attribution refers to the tendency of customers to attribute successful service outcomes to their own actions while assigning blame for unsuccessful outcomes to the service provider as a means of protecting their self-esteem. In recent years, the increasing adoption of robots in front-line customer service roles has raised questions about whether this attributional tendency persists when services are delivered by robots. Despite its relevance, empirical research on how consumers attribute outcomes in robot-delivered services remains limited.

To address this gap, the present study examines the influence of robot anthropomorphism and technological autonomy on consumer attributions of service outcomes. This study proposes that for non-humanoid robots, consumers are inclined to perceive robots as machines. As a result, regardless of successful or unsuccessful service outcomes, technological autonomy increases the extent to which consumers attribute service outcomes to the robot. However, for humanoid robots, consumers tend to perceive robots as human-like, leading to a propensity for self-serving attributions. Consequently, as technological autonomy increases, consumers are more likely to attribute successful service outcomes to themselves and unsuccessful service outcomes to the robot.

Specifically, a 2 (anthropomorphism: humanoid vs. non-humanoid) × 2 (technological autonomy: high vs. low) × 2 (service outcome: successful vs. unsuccessful) scenario-based experimental design was employed. The research context involved a restaurant utilizing robot-assisted noodle-cooking services. Customers select ingredients for their noodles, which are subsequently prepared by robots. Under conditions of high technological autonomy, AI-powered robots independently determine the cooking method based on the selected ingredients' characteristics. In contrast, robots with low technological autonomy follow standardized cooking procedures.

The findings revealed that for non-humanoid robots, higher technological autonomy led to greater attribution of both successful and unsuccessful service outcomes to the robots themselves. Conversely, for humanoid robots, increased technological autonomy resulted in consumers attributing successful outcomes more to themselves while enhancing external attribution for unsuccessful outcomes. These results indicate that consumers do not exhibit a self-serving attribution bias when interacting with non-humanoid robots. However, interactions with humanoid robots amplify consumers’ self-serving attribution tendencies.

This study contributes to the literature by elucidating the role of robot design and autonomy in shaping consumer attribution patterns, offering insights for businesses seeking to optimize customer experiences with robotic services.

ABSTRACT. INTRODUCTION

In China, services centered around companionship are gaining significant popularity, such as climbing companion service at Mount Tai and gaming companion service on platforms like Douyu. These services fulfill both functional and emotional needs, shaping unique consumer experiences. Globally, the rise of AI companions has further amplified interest in companionship, with technologies such as ChatGPT alleviating loneliness and fostering emotional connections (Moravec et al., 2024). The growing prominence of companionship services is closely tied to social and technological transformations. The spread of loneliness (Wang et al., 2021) and the rise of experiential consumption (Gilovich et al., 2015) are reshaping consumer intentions and behavior. Advancements in digital technology have also revolutionized the field of companionship, leveraging big data and algorithms to efficiently match consumer needs with the specific skills or resources of service providers.

Despite the rising prominence of companionship services, the extant literature remains fragmented. To address this gap, this study employs a systematic literature review to develop a conceptual framework that integrates empirical evidence and multiple theoretical perspectives. The contributions of this research mainly include three aspects. Theoretically, this study synthesizes fragmented studies to address gaps in understanding companionship. Secondly, this article promotes the existing understanding and emphasis on companionship in the field of marketing. Companionship is not only regarded as a tool to meet emotional and social needs, but also as an important factor to influence consumer decision-making and improve consumer experience. Thirdly, the study will provide valuable advice for improving the quality of companionship services.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study follows Denyer and Tranfield’s (2009) five-step framework: question formulation, locating studies, study selection/evaluation, analysis/synthesis and reporting/using results. This review focuses on three core questions: the value dimensions of companionship, its antecedents and outcomes, and key influencing factors. The review process begins with data collection by using SCOPUS database with the search term “companion” OR “companionship”, and uses cross-referencing and hand search as the supplements. Literatures are evaluated from the perspective of relevance and quality to ensure alignment with the research objectives. Descriptive and thematic analysis methods are employed to synthesize findings.

FINDINGS

Descriptive Findings

The analysis of 64 eligible studies reveals growing scholarly interest in companionship, with research focusing on diverse domains such as tourism, AI, sports, and entertainment. Over the past three years, the field has seen a steady increase in publications investigating the mechanisms and outcomes of companionship. Tourism and AI emerged as dominant research contexts. Theoretical frameworks such as self-expansion theory, social impact theory, and social exchange theory are commonly applied to examine companionship’s role in enhancing group dynamics and improving user experiences. Methodologically, quantitative analysis dominates this field, with survey and experiment appearing most frequently.

Thematic Analysis

Companionship, as a multifaceted construct, although similar to general support, but represents a more comprehensive approach (Le & Cayrat, 2024). Four value dimensions of companionship are summarized through thematic analysis: functional assistance, emotional support, social connectedness, and value co-creation process. The study identifies individual-level and social-cultural factors as key antecedents of companionship, such as loneliness and social isolation (Yu & Fan, 2024), and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (Pan et al., 2024). Companionship generates both positive and negative outcomes, with the negative impacts sometimes being overlooked by marketers (Liu et al., 2024). Based on the thematic analysis, the effectiveness of companionship is influenced by three categories of factors, including companion characteristics, individual factors, and situational elements.

DISCUSSIONS

Current studies on companionship primarily focus on intimate companions, such as family and friends. However, in the context of companionship services, consumers often seek support from strangers to meet emotional and functional needs. The ways in which contextual, individual, and companion-specific factors influence this behavior remain underexplored. Research on AI companions is continuously growing, but further studies are required to examine their impact on consumer psychology and behavior across different contexts. In short, further theoretical investigations and empirical studies are necessary to deepen understanding and advance this emerging field.

ABSTRACT. Assessing consumer acceptance of new products relies on their intention to spread word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations. With artificial intelligence (AI) becoming more prevalent in product design, it offers opportunities and challenges for consumer perceptions. This research, based on mind perception and task-technology fit theories, examines how innovation type in AI-designed products affects WOM intentions. Three experiments show that consumers’ WOM intentions are lower for radical new products (RNPs) designed by AI compared to incremental new products (INPs), with perceived risk as a mediator. However, utilitarian advertisements can effectively mitigate the negative impact on AI-designed RNPs compared to hedonic advertisements. This research provides insights for companies to understand consumer acceptance of AI-designed products and develop effective marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. With the accelerated pace of product innovation in today’s marketplace, the technologies behind new products are getting increasingly difficult for consumers to comprehend. One way to enhance the comprehensibility of technologies is to provide explanation to consumers on why and how the technologies work. To date, research on the role of causal explanation in driving consumer innovation adoption has been scarce. Through one correlational survey study and two experimental studies, the present research shows that consumer ability for causal explanation is positively correlated with innovation adoption tendency (study 1), that offering causal explanation in marketing communication increases consumer innovation adoption by facilitating mental simulation (studies 2 and 3).

ABSTRACT. This research studies how subsistence entrepreneurs learn innovative practices. The data is from the southernmost rural provinces, the poorest provinces in Thailand. Existing social norms and structures impact how traditional knowledge is transmitted. Modern technologies facilitate new marketplace knowledge and sales to external markets, often inverting existing social norms and structures.

Research Overview and Brief Literature Review

Entrepreneurship in global poverty alleviation efforts has resulted in mixed success. Entrepreneurship may improve the lives of the poorest individuals within those communities, but benefits to the broader community are not found. This entrepreneurship path may not be possible for all individuals.

This result is partly because of the relative physical and marketplace isolation of subsistence marketplaces, which have traditionally been relatively closed-loop systems, isolated in varying degrees from developed marketplaces by physical distance and poor infrastructure. From a community-level analysis, benefits from individual entrepreneurship limited to selling within the immediate area become wealth redistribution, rather than wealth creation needed to impact subsistence communities positively.

This points to many important implications. First, community-level perspectives of knowledge and innovation must be studied more (e.g., Anderson and Bilou 2007), particularly concerning how these capabilities can be developed within subsistence communities to connect to modern marketplaces (e.g., Gau, et al., 2014). Prior work has pointed to the impact of traditional vocational knowledge intersecting with close social relations extending from everyday life, into the vocational lives of subsistence entrepreneurs (e.g., Venugopal and Viswanathan, 2019). Here, connections to extended family and other community members can facilitate learning, help overcome individual limitations (e.g., low literacy, lack of education), and otherwise create slack in systems that are otherwise pushed to their limits, given the lack of financial resources that are available to subsistence individuals. The current work builds on this stream of research and explores how subsistence entrepreneurs develop capabilities and are able (or unable) to expand their entrepreneurial efforts and connect with marketplaces beyond their immediate environment especially looking at the roles of technology in shaping behaviors.

Method and Data

We conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs from rural villages in the Southernmost rural, the poorest provinces in Thailand. A total of 30 respondents were interviewed until it reached a point of theoretical “saturation” (Glaser and Strauss 2017).,

Summary of Preliminary Major Findings

A few key themes emerged, organized around 2 broad contexts: life within the village, and connecting to marketplaces beyond the village. Within subsistence marketplaces, individuals may act as both consumers and entrepreneurs, with roles intertwining and influencing decision-making. An entrepreneur must first be a member of the village requiring the negotiation of social capital within existing social structures. In these contexts, traditional vocational knowledge is often shared between family members and across village families. Connections beyond the immediate village were made more possible with modern communications technologies, allowing for knowledge acquisition from beyond the village, and potentially opening up new markets for product sales. Here we find that innovation can be acquired through connections with developed marketplaces but may run into social norms and pressures that impact how work should be done and what markets are available for new entrepreneurs.

Our respondents described learning recipes, techniques, etc. for making traditional products (e.g., clothing, crafts, food items), highlighting the importance of not only “internal” family traditional recipes, but also learning processes that came with collaborations with other entrepreneurs. Here, some factors emerge. The presence of modern education and new technologies drew many from the village to larger cities, where vocational knowledge developed, and was later brought back to the village. Thus, in the past, where different family members would work in the same vocation and develop innovations internally, now there was a greater level of interaction between non-family villagers (e.g., working for other entrepreneurs or sub-contracting when they had larger orders and vice versa). This places a greater level of importance on social capital and the maintenance of relationships, as the interactions with non-family members of the village become a more important source for knowledge sharing.

Our respondents also described the impact of modern communications technologies in connecting to markets beyond the village. The use of social media, such as YouTube, Facebook Live, Instagram, and TikTok was noted as a key factor in acquiring knowledge about external markets, connecting to buyers from external markets, and connecting to other entrepreneurs in external markets. Here, younger generations that were more tech-savvy than the older generation were able to employ these techniques to connect to buyers from outside the communities. The affordable delivery fee makes market expansion possible. This allowed for business success, without the potential for local power norms that may have come with directly competing with older entrepreneurs.

Reference upon request

ABSTRACT. Gift failures, where gifts are not appreciated by recipients, are common. In such cases, recipients may reject or ignore givers’ gifts, which violates social norms and raises ethical concerns. It causes emotional harm to givers and creates a moral dilemma for givers in future gift choices for those recipients, torn between caring for recipients or themselves. Despite the prevalence of gift failures, little is known about the specific emotional harm givers experience or how the moral dilemma affects their future choices. To contribute to this gap, this research distinguishes gift failures as implicit (e.g., ignored) or explicit (e.g., rejected) and examines how feelings of social exclusion givers experience and future choices differ in close vs. distant relationships. The findings show that givers get stronger feelings of social exclusion from distant (vs. close) recipients when experiencing implicit gift failures, which reverses when they encounter explicit gift failures. On the other hand, implicit gift failures do not change givers’ subsequent choices compared with when they do not experience the failures. That said, givers still rely more on unique attributes in selecting gifts for close (vs. distant) recipients. In contrast, explicit gift failures significantly influence givers’ subsequent choices; they become less inclined to seek unique attributes for close recipients, treating close and distant recipients equally in terms of valuing uniqueness in gift selection. Retailers are advised to learn about givers’ prior gift experiences to adjust recommendation strategies to address their emotional harm and the change in gift choices.

ABSTRACT. Tourists are increasingly seeking transformative travel experiences. Cycling tourism, as a challenging form of travel, is highly representative due to its dual demands on physical and psychological aspects. Using Grounded Theory, the study collected data from 28 long - distance cyclists through in - depth interviews and photo - elicitation. It developed a framework that reveals the process from disorienting dilemmas to reflective critical thinking and ultimately to transformative growth. The results show significant growth in self - perception, social relationships, psychology, emotion, and behavior. Travel companions also play a key moderating role. This research not only uncovers the impact mechanism of cycling tourism on personal transformation but also provides a theoretical basis for designing more meaningful travel experiences.

ABSTRACT. This study aims to explain the phenomenon of single-person households worldwide using sociodemographic variables and the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. We carried out three studies to understand this phenomenon. As main result, countries with a shorter distance to power and more feminine societies tend to have more single-person homes.

ABSTRACT. Globalization has fostered a highly interconnected world, exposing consumers to both local and global brands. This research examines how disease threats influence consumers’ preference for local over global brands. Drawing on the behavioral immune system literature, we propose that disease threats increase preference for local brands compared to non-disease threats or neutral stimuli. Empirical evidence supports this effect and sheds light on the underlying process: disease threats amplify in-group favoritism, driving a stronger preference for local brands. Moreover, the findings indicate that this effect diminishes when in-group identity is explicitly highlighted, among individuals with independent (vs. interdependent) self-construal, and when exposed to non-contagious (vs. contagious) disease threats. This research enhances our understanding of how, why, and under what conditions disease threats influence preferences for local brands.

ABSTRACT. This study aims to analyze the influence of cultural background on the recognition of design similarity and to derive suggestions for marketing strategies. Specifically, we compared the differences in the recognition of design similarity and the actions taken in response to it between consumers in the Netherlands, which has an individualistic culture, and Japanese consumers, which emphasizes collectivist culture. Furthermore, we considered the criteria for judging similarity in the design laws of both countries and examined the relationship between the legal framework and consumer awareness. The survey results showed that Dutch consumers tend to perceive design similarity more positively, while Japanese consumers tend to request more extensive design changes. Furthermore, it was suggested that Japanese consumers have a high degree of compliance with design law standards, but that there is a gap between legal standards and consumer awareness in the Netherlands. These findings will be important guidelines when formulating design strategies for each country.

ABSTRACT. Is the Michelin Green Star the pinnacle of accreditations? This study explores whether the Michelin Green Star is superior to green restaurants and also its Michelin only counterparts. Specifically, it applies a between-subjects experimental design to identify differences in perceived value (functional, hedonic, symbolic value, financial, altruistic) and intention to dine, willingness to pay and willingness to recommend. It further explores the differential impacts of these perceived value dimensions on the outcome variables. A total of 373 Australians participated in the experiment and findings noted that Michelin Green Star was only superior in functional value (compared to Green only) and altruistic value (compared to Michelin only), challenging the notion of the Michelin Effect. However, interesting differences were noted for the differential impacts of perceived value dimensions on outcome variables across the three conditions, offering crucial insights into how they may be better promoted.

ABSTRACT. Drawing on the construct of hope, we conceptualise the status game as status hope with three dimensions: belief in status, desire for status, and potential for status attainment. We demonstrate the value of our conceptualisation by showcasing how masstige and counterfeits consumption in the status game can be approached differently.

ABSTRACT. This study highlights the consequences of corporate governance failures, particularly through the lens of nepotism. By applying social comparison theory and inequity frames theory, it explores how negative emotions such as powerlessness, unfairness, relative deprivation, and loneliness—stemming from governance failures—can decrease brand trust. The results show that powerlessness, unfairness, and relative deprivation have a notable impact on brand betrayal, while subjective social status moderates the link between loneliness and betrayal. These findings emphasize the importance of fair governance in preserving consumer trust and protecting brand reputation.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to refine the objectified cultural capital when commodities (specifically luxury fashion brands) possess the ‘Cool’ concept. Specifically, this study focuses on how 'coolness' has specifically influenced the positioning of Burberry and Aquascutum's creative design and how these brands' positioning has enhanced the brand's cultural capital in the minds of consumers. This study utilised a case study as the leading research strategy, focusing on how 'coolness' has specifically influenced the positioning of Burberry and Aquascutum's creative design and how their positioning has enhanced the brand's cultural capital in the minds of consumers. This research critically analyses how the 'Coolness' of the Mods subculture phenomenon during the Swinging Sixties became a new form of cultural capital, based on the objectified state of Bourdieu's Cultural Capital theory. Further helped luxury fashion brands such as Burberry and Aquascutum enhance their brand cultural capital.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the impact of self-concept and cultural capital on engagement behavior with luxury brands on social media, subsequently influencing luxury purchase intentions and brand loyalty. It examines how Public vs. Private Self-Construal shapes social media engagement behavior and how cultural capital (Luxury Brand Knowledge, Traditional Art Engagement, and Pop Culture Participation) moderates these relationships. A survey-based study will be conducted among Chinese luxury consumers, and results will be analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).

ABSTRACT. The rise of digital platforms and social media has transformed the landscape of luxury branding, particularly in China. The aim of this study is to understand the role of influencers in shaping the branding strategies of international luxury fashion firms in the Chinese market. A qualitative study was employed collecting 15 semi-structured interviews with marketing managers of international luxury fashion firms, consultants, professionals working for communications agencies and fashion magazines, and a key opinion leader (KOL). Preliminary results show how international fashion brands adopt influencer marketing in the Chinese market, driven by the distinct roles KOLs or key opinion consumers (KOCs) play and varying consumer perceptions in the local context. Influencers not only increase brand awareness, but also play a crucial role in driving sales and enhancing brand engagement among Chinese consumers. Furthermore, KOL / KOC enhance cultural relevance, making luxury brands more appealing amid the recent trend of guochao.

ABSTRACT. Several scholars have proposed humorous responses as an innovative approach to managing complaints on social media, highlighting their potential benefits in enhancing observer engagement. However, our research challenges this perspective by demonstrating that complainants may respond negatively to such strategies. Across a series of experimental studies, we found that humorous responses to complaints increase complainants’ propensity for punitive behaviors. This effect occurs because humor in complaint handling heightens complainants’ perceptions of inferiority relative to the company, which elicits moral anger and, in turn, intensifies their punitive reactions. These findings suggest that while humorous responses may be advantageous from an observer's standpoint, they are less effective from the complainant’s perspective. Nevertheless, humor can still be a viable strategy when addressing humorous complaints. In the case of non-humorous complaints, its effectiveness improves when framed in an appreciative rather than an apologetic manner.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the impact of AI product autonomy and technological safety on consumer adoption intentions. Autonomous operation of AI products plays a crucial role in consumer perception and adoption, with technological safety being particularly significant in situations involving product malfunctions. The results show that as product autonomy increases, consumer acceptance intentions also increase, and as technological safety improves, AI product adoption is facilitated. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that perceived risk mediates the relationship between technological safety and consumer acceptance. This study explores the impact of AI product autonomy and technological safety on consumer acceptance, drawing on Prospect Theory and Perceived Risk Theory, and highlights the role of risk perception in the technology adoption process. The findings deepen the understanding of AI technology adoption and provide strategic insights for companies to mitigate consumer resistance.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the impact of socio-political activism on crowdfunding success, focusing on whether founders face backlash for expressing support for causes like Black Lives Matter (BLM) or gender equity. While corporate activism has been widely studied, less is known about its effects on individual entrepreneurs who rely on crowdfunding for financial support. Using a between-subjects experimental design, we analyze how activism-related messages in founders’ biographies influence backers’ perceptions and willingness to contribute. Across two studies, we manipulate both the presence of an activism-related message and whether the founder is a direct beneficiary of the cause (e.g., a Black founder supporting BLM or a female founder promoting gender equity). Results show that while activism-related messaging does not significantly impact overall backer support, founders who are direct beneficiaries of the activism they endorse receive more negative evaluations. Mediation analysis suggests this effect is driven by increased perceptions of campaign failure, which lowers financial support. In contrast, external supporters of activism do not experience the same level of backlash. These findings highlight biases in crowdfunding, suggesting that identity-affiliated founders face greater scrutiny when engaging in activism. The study contributes to research on crowdfunding, social identity, and stereotype threat while offering insights into the challenges underrepresented entrepreneurs face in digital fundraising.

ABSTRACT. This paper develops a conceptual framework to aid in understanding how survey gamification impacts respondents' psychological and behavioral reactions based on personality traits. The conceptual framework matches respondents' personality-driven motivations for engaging with games to three types of gamification mechanics, providing a basis for understanding inconsistencies in prior research.

ABSTRACT. As AI technology advances, anthropomorphic design is increasingly used to enhance user trust and interaction. However, excessive human-like features may trigger the uncanny valley effect, reducing user acceptance. This study examines the impact of visual and auditory anthropomorphism on user intention across functional and social scenarios. Using four experimental studies, findings reveal that high visual anthropomorphism increases eeriness and lowers user intention, especially in social contexts. Auditory anthropomorphism, while enhancing engagement, intensifies the uncanny valley effect when combined with visual anthropomorphism. These insights contribute to AI design strategies, emphasizing the importance of balancing anthropomorphic cues for optimal user experience.

ABSTRACT. The growing creator economy continues to transform how luxury brands communicate with consumers, particularly through the emergence of a new type of influencer—VIP-Micro Influencers (VMI)—who are actual VIP customers of the brand. This study investigates how VMI-generated content affects consumer responses, contrasting it with traditional influencer profiles through three experimental studies. Drawing on consumer social comparison and signaling theories, this research focuses on three consumption-related psychological effects: Snob, Bandwagon, and Veblen effects, each representing distinct consumer motivations—exclusivity, conformity, and prestige via price, respectively. A positioning framework differentiates these concepts conceptually and justifies their inclusion. In Study 1, we manipulate influencer follower size (e.g., 80K vs. 500K) to examine how lower visibility creates exclusivity and activates the Snob effect, leading to enhanced luxury purchase intention. Study 2 manipulates brand relationship (VIP vs. non-VIP), testing how perceived insider status of the influencer triggers the Veblen effect, where association with high-price and status reinforces desirability. Study 3 varies the background (fashion expert vs. non-expert) to examine whether relatability, rather than professional credibility, drives the Bandwagon effect in luxury contexts. This research contributes to both theory and practice by proposing a multidimensional framework of conspicuous luxury consumption and exploring how non-traditional influencer traits interact with psychological drivers of exclusivity and social signaling. It offers practical insights into which types of influencer profiles resonate more effectively with luxury consumers—an urgent question as the Creator Economy accelerates the complexity of the digital influence landscape.

ABSTRACT. Digitalization and AI have brought unprecedented change to the advertising industry globally. This investigation focuses on Hong Kong and Istanbul - cities that have seen more disruption than most - finding that while these forces have significantly impacted the industry, they may also provide a catalyst for its necessary reinvention.

ABSTRACT. Social media platforms have become key spaces for both social interaction and advertising, with limited user traffic intensifying competition. This paper explores the effectiveness of different advertising marketing interactions on social media, focusing on the factors that influence marketing outcomes. Three interaction types are examined: One-Way Communications, Two-Way Communications, and Facilitated Interactions. The study aims to: (1) analyze consumer behavior differences using Aaker’s brand assets framework, (2) assess how marketing objectives impact behavior, and (3) explore the role of emotions and word-of-mouth in consumer decisions across these interaction types.

ABSTRACT. Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) is transforming the advertising landscape, yet consumer responses to AI-generated ads remain complex and multifaceted. This research investigates how the interplay between advertisement creator (Gen AI vs. human) and creative advertisement type (relevant vs. divergent) influences advertising effectiveness. Drawing on Task-Technology Fit Theory and Cognitive Flexibility Theory, we propose a matching effect in which AI-generated relevant ads and human-created divergent ads enhance persuasive outcomes.

Across two experiments, we find that AI-generated relevant ads and human-created divergent ads yield higher purchase intention and more favorable advertising attitudes, confirming the hypothesized matching effect (Study 1). Additionally, Study 2 demonstrates that ad credibility mediates this relationship, reinforcing the persuasive advantage of aligned advertisement-creator pairings. A forthcoming Study 3 will examine AI literacy as a moderating factor, testing whether consumers’ familiarity with AI influences their perceptions of ad effectiveness.

This research contributes to the growing literature on AI-driven advertising by clarifying the conditions under which AI-generated content enhances or diminishes persuasiveness. The findings provide theoretical insights into human-AI collaboration in creative domains while offering practical guidance for advertisers on optimizing AI-generated content.

ABSTRACT. Studying inclusion in advertising is of special interest, as it functions as a powerful tool for shaping individuals' attitudes towards cultural groups and their roles. Race inclusion, in particular, expressed by the diversity of skin tone, is important given the white-skinned dominant presence. This study examines the impact of inclusive communication on user engagement. Two studies were conducted. Results indicate that diversity in skin tone negatively affects engagement, with darker skin tones performing worst among mass market cosmetic brands. Otherwise, diversity seems to be well accepted among audiences of premium brands. Mechanism of self-investment seem to offer fruitful theoretical ground to explore the effects. Implications for practice and theory are discussed.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to examine how AI disclosure and perceived AI roles influence consumer responses. Study 1 demonstrates that disclosing AI-generated ad content negatively impacts brand attitudes through perceived honesty and authenticity. Study 2 showcases that priming AI role as a collaborator (versus competitor) can attenuate these negative effects.

ABSTRACT. This study explores how scarcity appeals can motivate materialistic consumers to engage in ethical buying by enhancing perceived product value across four dimensions: performance, economic, social, and emotional. Findings show that scarcity appeals generate more favorable brand attitudes, higher purchase intentions, and increased campaign involvement among highly materialistic consumers, as limited-edition products fulfill their desire for exclusivity and status. Conversely, moderately materialistic consumers respond better to non-scarcity appeals, valuing functionality and economic benefits. This research highlights the role of scarcity in bridging materialism and ethical behavior, offering actionable insights for designing effective cause-related marketing strategies targeting materialistic audiences.

ABSTRACT. From Chanel’s collaboration with celebrities such as Timothée Chalamet and Jennie Kim to Louis Vuitton’s partnership with Emma Chamberlain, a luxury lifestyle influencer with 15.5 million Instagram followers, luxury fashion brands are actively employing influencer marketing and collaborations as part of their marketing strategies. However, despite the increasing prominence of collaborations as a core marketing strategy for luxury fashion brands, limited academic research has investigated the following aspects: 1) the conceptual and operational definition of collaboration, 2) when and who will be selected as a collaboration partner for considering unique characteristics of luxury fashion brand, 3) and the effects of collaboration activities on several different metrics such as consumer engagement. We collected a total of 27,101 Instagram posts (from the account creation date to October 14, 2022) from luxury brands listed in Interbrand’s 2022 Top 100 Best Global Brands ranking (i.e., Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Chanel, Gucci, Cartier, Dior, Prada, Tiffany & Co., and Burberry) using the Python API. We then utilized the cutting-edge natural language processing technique, BERTopic (Grootendorst, 2022), which has been identified as one of the most accurate topic modeling techniques (Egger & Yu, 2022). BERTopic overcomes training and labeled data shortages by adopting a transfer learning approach and leveraging the pretrained BERT language model (Devlin et al., 2018) to classify Instagram posts into collaboration-related topics and other categories. Specifically, we input all text (i.e., captions) into the BERTopic model without text preprocessing, fine-tuning several parameters, and obtained a total of 902 topics. Next, two researchers manually reviewed each topic and identified those related to collaboration or partnerships. Among the 902 topics, 19 topics, comprising a total of 479 posts, were found to be related to collaboration or partnerships.We then applied the nearest neighbor matching method for propensity scores, following marketing literature (e.g., Beichert et al., 2024; Li & Xie, 2020) to accurately isolate the effects of collaboration (i.e., treatment). By matching several covariates that might influence our dependent variable—consumer engagement (i.e., number of likes)—such as brand, word count, hashtags, and post sentiment, we selected 479 posts for the control group and estimated the effects of collaboration. Through negative binomial regression, which accounts for overdispersion in count-dependent variables, we found that collaboration positively influences user engagement levels (β = .20, SD = .07; p = .005, pseudo-R-square: .15) while controlling for other variables.Finally, we extracted more than 100 textual, image, and video features from collaboration-related posts using computer vision techniques. These features included objects in images, the number of people in images, facial expressions, RGB and HSV histograms, the number of lines, the number of parallel lines, the number of corners, video saturation, video hue, and the number of objects in videos. This analysis allowed us to identify the characteristics of collaboration-related posts that achieved higher levels of consumer engagement.

ABSTRACT. The study aims to offer insight of greenhushing, the intended silence on a brand’s environmental performance, influences consumers evaluation toward fashion brand. On the basis of Signaling Theory (Spence, 1978), we examined an interaction effect between a product’s environmental communication type (greenwashing vs. greenhushing) and the type of fashion brand (luxury vs. fast fashion). A between-subject design experiment was conducted and show that (a) luxury fashion brand with greenhushing strategy shows more favorable attitudinal and behavioral outcome compared to fast fashion brand, while (b) no significant difference between luxury of fast fashion brand with greenwashing. The positive effect of greenhushing strategy from luxury fashion is (c) mediated through perceived authenticity brand.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates how advertising model type (metaverse avatars vs. real humans) affects brand attitude, moderated by metaverse familiarity and mediated by telepresence. Findings from a quasi-experiment indicate experienced users favor avatar-based ads, while novices prefer real-human models, offering strategic insights for immersive advertising in the metaverse.

ABSTRACT. MZ customers desire an an uninterrupted agility shopping experience in an integrated environment of luxury brands, with a focus on emotional response(ISE) and motivation through high interest and enjoyment in activities as well as integrated quality. We test the effect of integrated quality and agility on the psychological mechanism for shopping motivation (self-determination) and behavioral consequences (intention). Across three experiments, we observe that the interaction between the integration quality of omni-channel level and the perceived agility level has been demonstrated to have a significant effect on cross-buying intention, and if agile service is provided to consumers who perceive a high level of integration quality of omni-channel, it has a positive effect on cross-buying intention. The findings demonstrate that locating luxury products at different heights in the visual field can influence product preference. In doing so, we build on existing theory ISE and self-determination, uncovering the psychological mechanism of consumers percevied agility.

ABSTRACT. In an increasingly globalized market, business-to-business (B2B) startups, as new ventures, face significant challenges in their internationalization process, including regulatory obstacles, cultural differences and the need to establish awareness in foreign markets. This study explores the role of accelerators and incubators in supporting B2B startups’ international expansion. Through a qualitative approach based on 11 semi-structured interviews with professionals, our findings highlight that incubators and accelerators provide startups with tailored programs for internationalization, mentorship and key resources. Specifically, accelerators facilitate rapid market entry by offering networking opportunities, investor access and training, while incubators provide long-term support to overcome cultural and regulatory barriers and develop the business plan effectively to achieve the growth stage. Finally, this research provides both theoretical and managerial implications for professionals and policymakers operating in the startup’s ecosystem.

ABSTRACT. This study aims at understanding how sustainable and circular economy strategies and practices affect and are affected by business relationships, from a Business network perspective. By developing more sustainable and circular solutions, companies are able to incorporate changes and innovations into their businesses and reach their goals. Circular economy and business networks can be seen as interconnected concepts where a company develops and preserves different relationships with different companies, within a network of companies, as a way to support and be supported in their circular journey. A case study on Alpha Jeans was developed for that purpose. This study highlights the need to build strong, stable, and long-term relationships for a company to successfully transition to a circular economy. At the same time, for this transition to happen, several changes and adaptations need to occur in terms of actors, resources, and activities. Sharing knowledge and different resources between companies is only possible through the development of business relationships, which is extremely beneficial because it can create opportunities for innovation and consequently develop practices that provide advantages, environmental, social, and economic, for both companies that alone, they could not achieve. Finally, small changes and solutions, not directly related to a company's core business, can also have an important impact on the circular economy, over time.

ABSTRACT. This research is focused on the Italian Capital of Culture (Bergamo Brescia 2023) studied through a sequential mixed method based on 1) Social Network Analysis and 2) semi-structured interviews. This allowed to understand the structure of the network and whether boundary objects were in place.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the interplay of coopetition, value co-creation, and AI transformation in enhancing B2B firm’s performance. By analyzing the mediating role of value co-creation and the moderating impact of AI transformation, we provide empirical insights into optimizing corporate strategies for sustainable competitive advantage and innovation in an AI-driven business landscape.

ABSTRACT. This study analyzes the impact of AI transformation, AI technology, readiness, and data-driven culture on perceived usefulness and ease of use in the AI technology acceptance process. It also explores how these factors influence user attitudes and AI adoption intentions, providing strategic insights for companies to effectively adopt and utilize AI.

ABSTRACT. As environmental and social responsibility becomes a core element of global business, firms increasingly engage in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) marketing practices. While ESG’s financial implications have been extensively studied, its influence on customer-based intangible assets, particularly within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in B2B markets, remains underexplored. This study investigates how ESG marketing activities affect strategic marketing orientations (entrepreneurial, market, and relationship orientations), and how these orientations, in turn, influence ESG customer equity comprising ESG value equity, ESG brand equity, and ESG relationship equity.

ABSTRACT. Will people sacrifice to support green initiatives of luxury hotels? With the assumption that consumers with different personal values would have different views on the sacrifice and non-sacrifice green initiatives of hotels, the current study aims at testing the perceived value of luxury hotel consumers in the face of sacrifice and non-sacrifice green initiatives. It will further determine different segments for green luxury hotels baseWill people sacrifice to support green initiatives of luxury hotels? With the assumption that consumers with different personal values would have different views on the sacrifice and non-sacrifice green initiatives of hotels, the current study aims at testing the perceived value of luxury hotel consumers in the face of sacrifice and non-sacrifice green initiatives. It will further determine different segments for green luxury hotels based on different levels of consumer values (self-enhancement and self-transcendent values). Using a between-subjects experimental design, this study will examine differences in perceived functional, symbolic, social, financial, altruistic and hedonic value and intention to stay at a generic versus green luxury hotel as well as identify different segments of green luxury hotel guests. ANOVA are used to evaluate differences in experimental conditions and cluster analysis for consumer segmentation. The experimental results showed significant differences, and sacrificing conditions significantly resulted in higher perceived value, intention to stay and willingness to recommend. This provides support for the binomial identify values and challenges the notion of loss-aversion in the literature. Cluster analysis resulted in three distinct segments, namely “Virtue Signallers”, “Functionalists” and “Pure Altruists”. The perceived value and behavioral preferences of consumers also varied depending on the segmented market. d on different levels of consumer values (self-enhancement and self-transcendent values). Using a between-subjects experimental design, this study will examine differences in perceived functional, symbolic, social, financial, altruistic and hedonic value and intention to stay at a generic versus green luxury hotel as well as identify different segments of green luxury hotel guests. ANOVA are used to evaluate differences in experimental conditions and cluster analysis for consumer segmentation. The experimental results showed significant differences, and sacrificing conditions significantly resulted in higher perceived value, intention to stay and willingness to recommend. This provides support for the binomial identify values and challenges the notion of loss-aversion in the literature. Cluster analysis resulted in three distinct segments, namely “Virtue Signallers”, “Functionalists” and “Pure Altruists”. The perceived value and behavioral preferences of consumers also varied depending on the segmented market.

ABSTRACT. Despite the transformative impact of AI technology on service interactions within the hospitality industry, the effect of AI service assistants’ personalisation in handling service recovery remains underexplored. Drawing on social information processing theory, this study investigates the impact of AI personalisation on customers’ service recovery satisfaction and hotel revisit intention. Scenario-based experiments were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings reveal that AI personalisation significantly boosts customer recovery satisfaction and hotel revisit intention. Moreover, perceived caring is identified as a crucial mediator in this relationship, whereas perceived privacy risk does not mediate this relationship. This research enriches our understanding of the strategic use of AI in enhancing customer relationship management within the hospitality sector, providing both theoretical insights and practical guidance for effectively managing customer-AI interactions in service recovery.

ABSTRACT. As nations develop, to what extent will consumer preferences become more homogenous (convergence), or remain distinct owing to different cultural norms (divergence)? This research question has its basis in the pioneering work of Hofstede on national cultures. The current state of the global economy gives the convergence/divergence (CD) debate new life. Our context is the airline industry, specifically customer perceptions of airline service quality. The study of airlines and airports as elements of air travel service quality is an emerging topic in hospitality research, so our work will contribute to this literature as well as to the relevant CD literature around convergence. Additionally, from a practical perspective, the air travel industry is a major contributor to the world economy. As such, our research has pragmatic significance. Our basic premise is that among people of means globally, there is convergence regarding service quality. On the other hand, we predict divergence among “regular” customers concerning service quality. This is due to a “culture clash” between what the airline considers to be quality and what the customer expects. In short, there is homogeneity among affluent customers and heterogeneity among the rest regarding service quality. Using Skytrax data for nearly 125,000 passengers across 204 countries for the period 2003-2023, we operationalize airline service quality across seven categories: seat comfort, cabin staff, food & beverage, inflight entertainment, ground service, WiFi & connectivity, and value for money. We compare and contrast the perceptions of business-class v. economy-class passengers to proxy for affluent v. regular customers, and we employ Hofstede’s dimensions to measure the gap between the culture of the airline and the passenger. This study used online ratings to identify IPA maps’ dimensions. Performance was measured using the ratings passengers gave their overall airline experience. The importance’ data for each attribute was determined using an indirect approach employing an artificial neural network (ANN). IPA maps are split into four quadrants by crosshairs Using the data-centered method. Passengers from high power distance, collectivist, high uncertainty avoidance, high long-term orientation, and restraint-oriented countries reported greater satisfaction levels. The results of the ANN by traveller type confirmed the relevance of value for money across all passenger groups. Ground service is the second most important attribute for all segments with the exception of passengers from collectivistic countries, from who cabin staff service ranks in second place in terms of importance. The IPA results revealed that airlines’ main strength are value for money and cabin staff service. The service quality attribute with high priority of intervention is ground service. The results of the IPA maps by traveller type showed heterogeneous results. Value for money and ground services are located in Quadrant II for passengers from low power distance countries and in Quadrant I for passengers from High Power distance countries. These attributes are located in Quadrant II for passengers from Individualistic countries, high indulgence, masculinity traits, low long term orientation, and low uncertainty avoidance. This study provides valuable insights into how airlines can utilize IPA to leverage passengers’ online ratings, enhancing service quality and effectively addressing cultural differences among customers.

ABSTRACT. In the rapidly evolving digital age, the tourism industry has undergone a paradigm shift with the emergence of virtual influencers. These computer-generated characters have taken social media and virtual selling platforms by storm, providing companies with unprecedented opportunities to promote their products and services in innovative and impactful ways. Anchored in classical communication theory, the primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of virtual influencers compared to human influencers in persuading viewers' purchase intentions in tourism livestreams. Three experimental studies were conducted among livestream viewers in Mainland China. The notable findings of this study revealed that virtual influencers are perceived as more capable of driving narrative transportation, establishing deeper engagement, and fostering parasocial relationships with viewers. The persuasiveness of virtual influencers in encouraging purchase intentions is triggered by sequential mediating effects. The study also underscores that virtual influencers perceived as highly warm are more capable of establishing close relationships with viewers, while those perceived as highly competent are viewed as more credible in delivering engaging storytelling. Overall, this suite of virtual influencer studies demonstrates how livestreaming platforms have not only complemented but also enhanced traditional frameworks of influencer marketing. These digital creators have effectively humanized the tourism purchase experience, offering new avenues for engagement and persuasion in the digital marketplace.

ABSTRACT. This study focuses on an example of cultural heritage revitalization at the Hotel Central in Macau. Based on the theoretical framework of authenticity, this study innovatively constructs a dual theoretical model: ‘Perception of Authenticity - Consumption Value, Heritage Responsibility - Revisit Intention’ and ‘’Perception of Authenticity - Consumption Value, Heritage Responsibility - Cultural Heritage Conservation Behavior’ to investigate the tourists’ experience of cultural heritage revitalization. Moreover, two experiments were designed in this study. Study 1 uses the text analysis method to conduct word frequency statistical analysis on the ‘Rednote’ platform to systematically sort out and summaries the research hotspots of cultural heritage revitalization. Study 2 is based on the results of Study1 to design a questionnaire to analyze the revisit intention and cultural heritage preservation behaviors of the residents of the Hotel Central. The results show that the development of cultural heritage tourism resources should put the enhancement of tourists’ perception of authenticity in a key position. The perception of authenticity can effectively stimulate tourists’ awareness of heritage responsibility, significantly increase consumption value, optimize the tourists’ experience in all aspects, and motivate them to participate in cultural heritage preservation behavior. In this study, we explore the internal mechanism of cultural heritage revitalization and tourist experience, reveal the core motivation of cultural heritage revitalization, and further improve the theoretical framework of cultural heritage tourism experience. The study also analyses the driving force of cultural heritage revitalization in Hotel Central, and outlines the theoretical mapping of cultural heritage revitalization at the micro level, providing a new theoretical perspective and practical reference paradigm for cultural heritage revitalization research and practice.

ABSTRACT. Il Viaggio Travel pioneers accessible tourism in Costa Rica through tailored travel services, advocacy, and sustainability initiatives. Partnering with the Costa Rica Tourism Accessible Network, it influences policy while promoting Donatapa’s circular economy model and La Inspiración’s adaptive clothing. The study provides insights into best practices, challenges, and opportunities for advancing accessibility in tourism.

ABSTRACT. This study examines whether hiring tech-savvy top managers affects firm performance. The propensity score matching-difference in differences (PSM-DID) method is employed, utilizing data from China’s listed companies between 2008 and 2021. The results show that hiring executives with digital expertise significantly improves business performance, with positive effects persisting into the following year. This impact is particularly pronounced for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and high-tech firms, whereas no significant effect is observed for non-high-tech firms. These findings underscore the tangible benefits that digital acumen in leadership contributes to a firm’s success, emphasizing the strategic importance of cultivating digital expertise within top management teams in an increasingly digitalized business environment.

ABSTRACT. Purpose - Based on flow theory. This study aims to investigate the application of NFTs within the luxury fashion sector. It proposes a conceptual model to examine how the perceived value of luxury brand NFTs in the Metaverse influences consumer well-being, with a particular focus on the mediating role of flow experience. Design/methodology/approach - Data were gathered via an online survey administered to Chinese users. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 26. 0 and AMOS 26. 0. Findings - The findings indicate that both hedonic and utilitarian values associated with luxury NFTs positively impact consumers’ flow experiences. Furthermore, flow experience significantly enhances consumer well-being. Importantly, flow experience partially mediates the relationship between the hedonic/utilitarian values of luxury NFTs and consumer well-being. Originality/value - This research contributes theoretically by exploring the value proposition of NFTs in luxury fashion. By examining the digital assets of luxury brands, this study lays foundational knowledge for the digital transformation of the luxury industry.

ABSTRACT. As Generative AI technology rapidly advances in the financial industry, AI-driven financial advisory services, such as robo-advisors, are becoming increasingly sophisticated (Yang & Lee, 2024; Roongruangsee & Patterson, 2024). However, many consumers still tend to trust human experts more than AI (Zhang et al., 2021). While existing studies have primarily focused on improving AI technology performance (Niszczota & Abbas, 2023), for GAI financial services to gain consumer trust and be continuously utilized, a strategic approach is an essential one that goes beyond mere technological advancements to drive changes in consumer attitudes and behaviors. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of robo-advisors considering the transition to Generative AI (GAI) from the perspective of financial consumers by combining both exploratory and confirmatory research. In the exploratory research phase, field interviews were conducted with Private Bankers (PBs) and Wealth Managers (WMs) at banks to explore how experts perceive and anticipate robo-advisors, as well as to identify key issues. Additionally, the actual behavioral data of robo-advisor users were analyzed to determine the cognitive and motivational factors that can maximize the persuasive effect of GAI-driven financial advisory services. Based on the findings from the exploratory research, a research model was developed by integrating the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT). Moving forward, the confirmatory research aims to empirically examine the impact of GAI-driven financial advisory services on consumer attitude formation and behavioral intention changes. In particular, it is expected that combining AI-generated content technology with psychological motivation factors in finance will further enhance consumer persuasiveness. Through this approach, the study seeks to identify the mechanisms of trust-building and behavioral change in the high-end retail financial market for GAI-driven financial advisory services. By doing so, it aims to provide both practical and theoretical implications for financial service innovation and contribute to enhancing the sustainability and consumer acceptance of GAI-based financial advisory services.

ABSTRACT. With the widespread application of artificial intelligence (abbreviated as AI) technology in the service industry, scholars have identified benefits of services provided by it. However, little research has explored the notion that, in different work scenarios, service providers should meet consumers' discerning psychological preferences through different AI service focuses, rather than simply pursuing the ultimate in speed and efficiency. This research examines the effect of AI service provided in emotional and cognitive scenarios on consumer-perceived service quality. The key hypothesis is that AI services in different scenarios do create significant differences in the quality evaluation of the service process through the mediating variables of perceived fairness and personalization. Evidence from five studies, including one preliminary study, supports this research theorizing. The results show that AI services in different scenarios have different impacts on consumer service quality perceptions, mediated by perceived fairness and perceived personalization. These findings advance the understanding of the psychological forces that govern how consumers choose services in different scenarios, and they have important practical implications for how companies can use AI technologies with different skill requirements to promote better service feedback.

ABSTRACT. Generative AI is reshaping the creator economy, enabling fashion creators to produce unique and engaging user-generated content (UGC) with increasing efficiency; however, the value of fashion AI-generated content (AIGC) and consumer perceptions of it remain underexplored. This study adopts a mixed-methods approach to examine the core attributes of AIGC and its impact on consumer perceptions. Our research involves in-depth interviews with fashion industry experts to identify key characteristics of AIGC and its role in shaping consumer experiences. Additionally, we conducted a quantitative study to analyze consumer attitudes toward different types of fashion AIGC, providing empirical insights into how consumers engage with AI-driven fashion content. Our findings contribute to a deeper theoretical understanding of the evolving role of generative AI in UGC, offering practical implications for brands aiming to integrate AI-driven content strategies. This study highlights how both luxury and nonluxury brands can leverage generative AI to enhance consumer engagement, strengthen brand equity, and drive long-term value through innovative digital experiences.

ABSTRACT. By extending CLT theory, this study incorporates subjective distance as a moderator and provides practical solutions to overcome barriers to adoption of AIH systems in the real world. These measures include reducing social and economic distance, increasing transparency, and simplifying AIH systems to build user trust and promote adoption. The study adopted a between-subjects design with three experimental conditions for each distance: social distance (high, low, and no social distance - Study 1), economic distance (high, low, and no economic distance - Study 2), and technological distance (high, low, and no technological distance - Study 3). Participants were recruited through the Credamo platform and randomly assigned to the corresponding experimental group. Key variables, including subjective distance, resistance to AIH, and willingness to use AIH, were measured using a 7-point Likert scale adapted from previous studies. Social, economic, and technological distance were manipulated through visual cues.

ABSTRACT. The sharing economy, celebrated as a sustainable alternative to conventional consumption, is widely praised for advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 11.6 (reducing urban environmental impact). By promoting access-based consumption, it aims to maximise the use of underutilized resources (Belk, 2014). However, these sustainability claims are often challenged by the rebound effects, where the cost savings and affordability provided by the sharing economy increase consumption, potentially negating environmental externalities (Akarsu et al., 2020; Mosaad et al., 2023; Hobson & Lynch, 2016). For example, cheaper Airbnb options encourage longer, more frequent trips, diminishing net environmental benefits. Similarly, in Manila, Philippines ridesharing platforms like Uber have added an estimated 10,000-15,000 vehicles to the city’s already congested roads as entrepreneurs seized the opportunity to deploy fleets of cars (Zale, 2016).

While platforms like Airbnb have committed to sustainability goals—such as achieving net zero emissions by 2030 and encouraging hosts to adopt practices like switching to renewables (Airbnb, 2021)—consumers tend to prioritise quality and engagement-related attributes, such as host ratings and reviews, over sustainability features (Salmivaara et al., 2021). Despite their sustainability pledges, the mere availability of sustainable options often fails to drive consumer uptake (Salmivaara et al., 2021). To improve sustainability performance, platforms must address and shape the sustainability of customer choices. However, existing studies on host and listing attributes typically examine these factors in isolation (e.g., Shin et al., 2023; Fu et al., 2021; Fu et al., 2024), leaving a gap in understanding how to align consumer preferences with sustainability goals. This discrepancy underscores the need for innovative strategies, such as leveraging policy framings, to guide consumers toward sustainable choices.

Building on Focus Theory of Normative Conduct (Cialdini, 2012) and Institutional Logic (Thornton et al., 2012), our research aimed to answer the following question: How policy framings emphasizing social norms can influence consumer preferences in the sharing economy? This dual approach bridges theories of consumer behaviour and institutional strategy, offering practical insights for designing sustainability-oriented policies in the sharing economy.

In line with theory of normative conduct, which explores how social norms influence behaviour (Cialdini et al.,1990), we investigated the effects of injunctive and descriptive normative framings on consumer preferences for sustainable accommodations in the sharing economy. Injunctive norms reflected what people should do, aligning with socially approved behaviour, while descriptive norms reflected what people are doing, indicating typical behaviour within a community. To answer this research question, we utilized a framing-based conjoint experiment. Using a framing-based conjoint experiment, we recruited 1,700 participants from Prolific and randomly assigned them to injunctive, descriptive, or control conditions.

After providing consent, participants were exposed to either injunctive (emphasizing what people should do) or descriptive (highlighting what people are doing) normative framings, or a control condition with no framing. Unlike traditional factorial designs, conjoint designs allow for the evaluation of the marginal effects of multiple attributes simultaneously, providing greater statistical power with smaller sample sizes (Hainmueller et al., 2014). This approach mirrors realistic decision-making processes that travellers undergo when selecting accommodations, capturing the complexity of their choices.

We employed Average Marginal Component Effects (AMCE) to estimate utility values using multinomial logistic regression (MLR). Our preliminary results reveal that descriptive framings had a stronger influence on consumer choices compared to injunctive framings, particularly in nudging preferences toward eco-friendly accommodations. These findings offer practical insights for crafting sustainability-oriented policies in the sharing economy. By capturing realistic consumer decision-making processes, our research provides a foundation for evidence-based strategies to align consumer behaviour with sustainability goals, addressing critical gaps in both theory and practice.

ABSTRACT. Electronic waste or e-waste contains harmful and hazardous components requiring specialised processing. Consumers play an important role in ensuring e-waste is recycled or discarded in a proper manner to enable formalised processing. As the amount of e-waste increases year on year, there is increasing pressure, especially in densely populated areas, to encourage consumers to recycle or discard of their e-waste through the proper channels. Thus, this study seeks to understand consumer intention and e-waste recycling behaviour. The Theory of Planned Behaviour is used in this study to provide insight into the investigation of consumer e-waste recycling behaviour and is extended with environmental values, moral norms and convenience. Literature suggests that limited research has been undertaken to understand the influence of environmental values on e-waste recycling behaviour even when values can shape the choice of goals. Furthermore, the investigation of moral norms is stressed in this study given that e-waste recycling require effort from the consumer without any potential gains. Thus, it would be beneficial to identify the role of moral norms in consumers pertaining to e-waste recycling. Finally, convenience may play a role in determining whether consumers recycle their e-waste and is investigated in this study. This study used non-probability quota sampling to obtain a representative sample of the population in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. An online questionnaire was administered to the respondents. From a total of 230 respondents, 190 questionnaires were retained post-data cleaning. The questionnaires were omitted due to straightlining. The data was then analysed using PLS-SEM with the use of SmartPLS 4.1. The results showed environmental values to be an important and significant predictor for attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and moral norms. Overall, the results between environmental values, attitude and behaviour show the pathway of value-attitude-behaviour indicating the influence of the motivational force of environmental values. Moreover, attitude, moral norms and subjective norms had a significant effect on behavioural intention. This observation adds on to evidence of consumers holding consistent attitudes with their moral norms and indicates once again, the congruent nature of an environmentally focused motivation. Additionally, e-waste recycling behaviour was also shaped by the social pressure from referent groups significant to the respondents. Also, behavioural intention was observed to predict behaviour suggesting active deliberation when performing e-waste recycling behaviour. The observation explains the behaviour of the respondents, of which 54% claim to have been recycling e-waste for less than three years. Also, perceived behavioural control and convenience did not have a significant effect on behavioural intention and behaviour. It would seem that perceived behavioural control and convenience did not influence the performance of e-waste recycling behaviour in any way. Finally, this study contributes to the formation of policy development and program design to encourage consumers to recycle their e-waste. Therefore, policymakers and local councils may observe the findings to be useful specifically because the consumers indicate that they possess environmental values and act in congruence with their values to form attitudes and intention which in turn result in e-waste recycling behaviour.

ABSTRACT. Bundle promotions are frequently used as an effective marketing strategy, especially for products approaching their expiration date. This research investigates how different bundle promotional strategies (quantity discount vs. price discount) influence consumers’ purchase decisions for near-expired products. Using field and lab experiments, we demonstrate that price discount reduces the near-expired product consumption compared to quantity discount (N = 11711, Study 1). This effect arises because consumers associate price discounts more strongly with the product’s suboptimal attribute (i.e., perceived freshness), leading to lower consumption (Study 2A & 2B). However, this effect diminishes among individuals with heightened health consciousness (Study 3). Additionally, promotional strategies fail to influence consumers’ decisions when concerns about freshness are explicitly salient in consumers’ decision-making processes (Study 4). This research contributes to the behavioral pricing literature and provides implications for managers and political makers aiming to mitigate food waste.

ABSTRACT. This study examined the implementation of digital product passports (DPP) in the textiles, apparel, and fashion (TAF) industry, highlighting its role in producer responsibility and data sovereignty. By analyzing global regulations and trends through a literature review and comparative legal analysis, we suggested strategies to strengthen the digital infrastructure required for DPP adoption, ensure alignment with global standards such as data sovereignty and extended producer responsibility (EPR), and support the sustainable transition of the TAF industry. By securing data sovereignty alongside DPP implementation, Korean TAF companies can enhance their competitive advantage, positioning themselves to thrive in the evolving global market landscape. Ultimately, these efforts aim to empower consumers to make informed, sustainable purchasing decisions, fostering a culture of sustainability in consumption practices.

ABSTRACT. The consumption of insects offers a sustainable protein alternative for Western societies. Despite its health and sustainability benefits, acceptance remains limited due to cultural barriers. This study examines how Virtual Reality enhances consumers' willingness to eat insect-based foods, demonstrating through experiments the superior effectiveness of VR compared to other media.

ABSTRACT. The rise of interactive e-commerce models, particularly those incorporating live streaming, chat features, and social media integration, has been altering online shopping patterns. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of academic research on impulse purchases in interactive e-commerce, utilizing bibliometric and textual data collected from 86 existing studies. The bibliometric analysis identifies emerging trends and research patterns, while the textual analysis of study abstracts reveals that features such as real-time engagement with salespeople, social influence, product visibility, consumer promotion and the atmosphere cues in livestream rooms contribute to increased impulse purchases. Furthermore, this study proposes a conceptual framework based on the literature synthesis, outlining the antecedents and mediators of impulse buying behavior from the e-commerce marketing mix perspective. Finally, this study discusses overlooked areas and suggests directions for advancing research in terms of theory development, context, characteristics, and research methodologies. Overall, this research contributes to the literature on online shopping behavior and marketing planning, specifically within the field of impulse buying in interactive online settings.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the impact of content source (human streamer vs. AI generated) on consumer trust and engagement in short-video marketing. Drawing on cognitive dissonance theory, it investigates the moderating effects of AI disclosure and consumer tolerance toward AI-generated content in shaping consumer behaviours in social e-commerce platforms.

ABSTRACT. Due to the impact of global pandemic, there has a notable surge in people’s engagement in online activities encompassing video gaming, social media engagement, online shopping, and video streaming. The purpose of this study is to explore the impacts of video gaming as well as to investigate the intricate interplay between gamer identity formation and well-being. For example, luxury fashion brands have been captializing on online gaming platforms such as Animal Crossing: New Horizon, and forming collaborations with Esports organization Fnatic. This strategic approach aims to generate excitement, reach out to a wider audience and diverse demographic, build brand equity, and offer new product lines. Gaining insights from users’ perspectives on various topics, including gaming experience, co-creation, phygital consumption, and social well-being, is of particular significance. The current study employs a mixed methods approach for examination and triangulation, drawing information from both existing literature and diverse online sources through a rapid review for analysis. It is important to note that this study is currently in its exploratory stage. Therefore, the use of secondary sources is instrumental in developing and shaping a research framework for future investigations.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study is to clarify the antecedents of motivations for engaging in eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) from the perspective of individual self-evaluation and confidence. More specifically, this study attempts to investigate how core self-evaluation and internet shopping self-efficacy are related to positive and negative motivations for eWOM. In recent years, WOM has become predominantly conducted online, leading to significant changes in consumer behavior. Specifically, eWOM conducted not only positive comments but also negative ones. These qualitative differences are influenced by the motivations behind them, and various types of motivations have been explored. However, many studies have focused on how motivations relate to consumer behavior, without addressing the factors that influence those motivations. It is assumed that individual characteristics also affect these motivations. In particular, people's general self-evaluation and self-efficacy related to specific domains are thought to have a significant impact on motivation. Therefore, this study aims to fill these research gaps by empirically examining how core self-evaluation and Internet shopping self-efficacy affect various motivations for eWOM. Additionally, the study explores platform types and perceived platform benefits as potential moderators of these relationships. To this end, this study tested the hypotheses using a sample of 106 individuals who have experience with eWOM online. The results revealed that core self-evaluation is positively related to self-enhancement and enjoyment, while internet shopping self-efficacy is positively related to venting negative feelings and negative altruism. Furthermore, the relationship between internet shopping self-efficacy and venting negative feelings was moderated by platform type, while the relationship between internet shopping self-efficacy and negative altruism was moderated by perceived platform benefits. These findings provide new insights, demonstrating that general confidence and specific confidence related to internet shopping function differently and are moderated by platform type and user perceptions.

ABSTRACT. With the rapid development of e-commerce, online shopping has become the main purchasing method for Chinese consumers and has also broadened the sales channels for organic food. Therefore, building consumer trust has become an important factor in promoting online purchases of organic food. This study uses content analysis to analyze articles related to online purchase intention, formal mechanisms, and consumer trust of organic food from 2015 to 2024, explores formal mechanisms and consumer trust and online purchase intention on organic food, and finds consumer trust can be used as a key factor to connect formal mechanisms (product traceability mechanism and product certification mechanism) and online purchase intention. It helps e-commerce platforms and the organic food industry understand the key role of consumer trust in consumers' intention to purchase organic food online. This study will also provide a reference for relevant scholars and researchers, and provide some ideas and suggestions for future research agendas.

ABSTRACT. The study, conducted through qualitative interviews with micro and small business owners, examines the role of social media in enhancing customer relationships, increasing brand visibility, and supporting decision-making processes, highlighting careful choice of social media platform and management challenges. The implications suggest practical considerations, including platform selection and management, and awareness of potential challenges.

ABSTRACT. Sustainable development is now not only at the core of policymaking but also business strategy and entrepreneurship (Zucchella & Previtali, 2018). In this business model is considered to be a key initiating component of corporate sustainability (Schaltegger et al., 2016a). Yet, the extant research does not address the processes that occur in transforming a traditional business model focused on achieving financial viability towards a sustainable business model built around triple bottom line (Roome & Lauche, 2016). Thus, it remains difficult to see the practical value and applicability of the sustainable business model concept.

An attempt to harmonize for-profit and non-for-profit goals inevitably dovetails with a number of organizational tensions which “emerge from the simultaneous injunction to do both A and its opposite, non-A” (Farney et al., 2019: 1097). The theory of organizational ambivalence and an associated concept of tension provide the necessary conceptual space to understand not only the tension itself but also the complementarity between the elements of a tension that is fundamental to organizational functionality (Ashforth, 2014). Therefore, inspired by the theory of organization ambivalence (Ashforth et al., 2014), the purpose of this paper is to explore the tensions that emerge in the transitioning process from a traditional business model towards a sustainable business model, to understand the mechanisms of mitigating the tensions and their impact on organizational change.

Since business models lack agency, an entrepreneur or a manager is a driving force behind the transition towards a business model for sustainability. Thus, in order to understand the tensions emerging in the transformation process, we need to look into the personal lived experience (Eatough & Smith, 2008). Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) allows exploring in detail the participant’s view of the topic under investigation (Smith et al., 1999). From the data collection perspective, IPA is committed to a variety of qualitative research methods and draws on a small number of accounts varying from 1 to 15 (Eatough & Smith, 2008). In this research, we conduct 8 semi-structure interviews. The key decision-makers in the companies operating at the different stages of a value chain in the mining industry are interviewed. For the data analysis, we employ coding technique as it allows adding value to the research story (Madden, 2010).

From the theoretical perspective, by exploring the tensions in the process of transition towards a business model for sustainability, we answer the call by Graetz and Smith (2008) who argue that the specific dynamics through which dualities play out and are managed are not well understood. In this study we uncover the complex dynamics that emerge in the process of reconciling for-profit and non-for-profit goals. By building upon the theory of organization ambivalence, we not only strengthen the theoretical foundations of business models for sustainability but also answer the call by Schaltegger et al. (2016a) who pose a question how the organizational level theories can be used to explain the business model transformation of established firms. Additionally, we complement the study by Laasch (2018) and focus not only on the value-related aspects in the transitioning process but also consider the issues related to the nature of competitive advantage and business opportunity, thereby creating conceptual space between value, opportunity, advantage and organizational level theories. From the managerial perspective, this study helps practitioners to better understand and visualize the process of changing an established business model towards greater sustainability.

ABSTRACT. Bandwagon cues are phrases, terms, or messages that leverage social proof to influence consumer behavior by suggesting that a product, service, or idea is appreciated or endorsed by others (Li et al., 2020; Yang, 2022). These cues tap into the psychological tendency of individuals to view something as desirable or valuable when they observe others engaging with it or approving of it (Bindra et al., 2022). Applied effectively, bandwagon cues can enhance digital marketing outcomes, such as credibility, ad persuasiveness, trust, and purchase intention (Anantharaman et al., 2023; Li et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2023).

The bandwagon cue literature primarily focuses on popularity as the sole dimension of bandwagon cues (e.g., Fu & Sim, 2011; Kim & Shyam Sundar, 2014; Yang, 2022). While this foundational perspective is valuable, it oversimplifies the complexity of bandwagon cues in contemporary digital marketing practices. Other than popularity, there are other bandwagon cue dimensions. One of them is authority. For instance, a cue of “Obama’s favorite restaurant” on social media content is about authority instead of popularity. It relies on the credibility and influence of a respected figure to create an implicit validation that the restaurant is desirable. The explicit mentioning of how many people patronize the establishment is absent in the cue. A follow-up study is essential to address this literature gap. Without a proper conceptualization and a comprehensive framework explicating the diverse bandwagon cue dimensions, researchers lack the tools to analyze their applications in digital marketing. Driven by this, this conceptual research aims to: (1) redefine bandwagon cues, (2) explain the variety of bandwagon cue dimensions, and (3) propose a bandwagon cue framework.

In achieving the aforementioned objectives, this research defines bandwagon cues as multi-dimensional influence mechanisms that utilize popularity, majority behavior, authority, scarcity, and/or trend alignment to create social proof, activate psychological triggers, and ultimately drive consumer behavior. The popularity dimension reflects indicators of widespread interests, such as “most loved” or “highly rated,” which generate social proof by suggesting that many people prefer the product. The majority behavior dimension emphasizes collective validation, as in “9 out of 10 people recommend this,” reinforcing the idea that others’ choices provide a safe or desirable path to follow. The authority dimension involves endorsements by trusted figures or institutions (e.g., “Critics’ choice” or “Taylor Swift’s favorite book”), where the credibility of the endorser enhances the perceived value through social proof. The scarcity dimension works by implying high demand or limited availability, such as “only a few left,” creating social proof through the perception that others are actively choosing the product. Finally, the trend alignment dimension connects things to emerging cultural or social trends, such as “trending now” or “viral on TikTok,” generating social proof by linking the product to current, widely-followed events. Social proof then activates specific psychological triggers (e.g., conformity, trust, urgency, or aspiration), which ultimately drive consumer behavior.

ABSTRACT. Social innovation (SI) has become an effective approach to addressing complex societal and environmental problems. While traditional forms of innovation focus on technological advancement or profit generation, SI concentrates on how to create social value and improve community well-being. It requires systemic transformation across institutions, governance structures, and societal relationships. SI initiatives aim to improve social cohesion, environmental sustainability, and economic development. On the other hand, digital platforms have revolutionized modern business and innovation ecosystems. Leveraging multi-sided and modular architecture, they facilitate efficient interactions among diverse stakeholders including platform owners, customers, and complementary service/product developers. With governance mechanisms and network effects, they facilitate and scale up value exchange and innovation. The growing interactions of digital platforms with SI initiatives present an opportunity to understand how platforms might enhance scalability and sustainability of social innovations. However, despite their potential, there is limited research on how digital platforms contribute to social innovation. Thus, this paper examines how digital platforms can facilitate SI. The study examines a longitudinal single-case study of a logistics company (the logistics unit of a global e-commerce giant) headquartered in China that utilizes a digital platform for carbon footprint management. It provides an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms through which digital platforms can facilitate social innovation for diverse stakeholders. The findings contribute to the existing literature by proposing a platform-based approach to social innovation such as sustainability. This study also bridges the gap between the platform literature and the social innovation literature. It offers insights into how digital platforms can be leveraged to foster collaboration, governance, and scalability in addressing critical social issues.

ABSTRACT. Visual information entropy, which quantifies the amount of information in visual content, plays a critical yet underexplored role in social media marketing. This research investigates how information entropy influences ad persuasiveness, the cognitive mechanisms driving this effect, and the moderating role of individual beliefs. The findings offer valuable insights for optimizing visual marketing strategies to enhance consumer engagement and campaign effectiveness.

ABSTRACT. This study explores the dynamics of influencer-product fit, perceived altruistic motivation, post type, and sponsorship disclosure on consumer purchase intentions. In Study 1 and Study 2, we demonstrate that influencer-product fit enhances purchase intentions through perceived altruistic motivation. Study 3 extend these findings by revealing the moderating roles of post type and sponsorship disclosure. Results indicate that storytelling posts amplify the effect of congruence on purchase intention, regardless of whether sponsorship is disclosed, whereas informational posts with sponsorship disclosure diminish this effect. This research contributes to influencer marketing literature by offering a comprehensive model that elucidates the multi-faceted interaction between influencer-product fit, perceived altruistic motivation and purchase intention. It also provides actionable insights for marketers aiming to optimize influencer campaigns in a landscape where authenticity and transparency are paramount.

ABSTRACT. The metaverse is transforming tourism with immersive experiences, yet research remains fragmented. This paper presents a synthetic systematic review of the extant literature on metaverse tourism in the marketing domain. It identifies research gaps, proposes future directions, and offers practical insights to enhance tourists’ engagement and satisfaction.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the evolution of South Korean social media influencers (SMIs) through a multiple-case study approach, focusing on how they navigate the celebrification process and build their influence. The research identifies key stages in the SMI journey: discovery, expansion, consolidation, maintenance, and transition or decline. The findings reveal that SMIs strategically leverage fame, utilizing social media platforms and digital tools to monetize their influence from the outset. The study challenges traditional models by highlighting how SMIs blend self-branding, community building, and emotional labor to maintain audience engagement and trust while monetizing their presence. It also explores the impact of platform dynamics, multi-channel networks (MCNs), and the psychological toll of visibility and authenticity pressures. This research extends existing theories to the digital context, illustrating how SMIs create opportunities through adaptable strategies and real-time audience engagement. The implications for digital marketing are discussed, emphasizing the importance of balancing commercial interests with authenticity for sustained success in the SMI domain.

ABSTRACT. This study applies the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model to explore the stock investment intentions of Vietnamese students. Using PLS-SEM analysis on data from 359 respondents, findings reveal that informativeness in financial advertising significantly impacts cognitive attitudes, which strongly drive investment intentions. Practical implications focus on enhancing financial literacy and transparent advertising.

ABSTRACT. INTRODUCTION

Self-discrepancy refers to the difference between one’s actual self and ideal self. It is the inconsistency between a person's perception of one’s real self and how one hopes to see oneself. Today, many people, especially young people experience body image discrepancy because of upwards social comparison, that is, comparing one’s own body image with the ideal cultural beauty standard. According to self-discrepancy theory, when people perceive discrepancies between the real self and ideal self, they are motivated to reduce this discrepancy because it arouses negative feelings such as low self-esteem and disappointment (Higgins, 1997). According to the compensatory consumption model (Mandel et al., 2017), people can cope with the discomforts caused by self-discrepancy by purchasing and consuming products and services. Addictive consumption, compulsive purchase, impulsive buying, self-gifting, and conspicuous consumption are common types of compensatory consumption. It is critical to understand how self-discrepancy affects one’s consumption behavior, especially compensatory consumption behavior. Body image is an important component of self-concept and self-identity. Although some researchers have explored the relationship between self-discrepancy and impulsive buying, few investigated the relationship between body image discrepancy and impulsive buying. Therefore, building upon the theory of self-discrepancy, this research examined how body image discrepancy impacts impulsive buying behaviors and how body malleability beliefs may moderate this relationship.

METHODOLOGY

An experiment was designed to test the hypotheses of the study. For the experiment, the picture priming method was used to manipulate the self-discrepancy of body image because it is an effective method for this purpose (Sobol & Darke, 2014). A total of 168 female participants from a university in Shanghai, China participated in the study. Altogether, 160 valid data were collected (Mage =20.23, SD=1.28). Both t-tests and binary linear regression analyses were used to test hypotheses. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

The findings of the study reveal that body image discrepancy has a significant impact on impulsive urges, but not directly on impulsive buying. The results suggest that body image discrepancy may primarily affect consumers' emotional state and impulsive urges, rather than directly translating into impulse buying behavior. Furthermore, body malleability beliefs moderate the influence of body image discrepancy on both impulsive urge and buying. Specifically, people with low levels of body malleability beliefs are more likely to be impulsive to products related to appearance when experiencing body image discrepancy. The findings of this study contribute to research on body image and impulsive buying by investigating impulsive buying from the perspective of self-identity.

REFERENCES

Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94(3), 319-340. Mandel, N., Rucker, D. D., Levav, J., & Galinsky, A. D. (2017). The compensatory consumer behavior model: How self-discrepancies drive consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 27(1), 133-146. Sobol, K., & Darke, P. R. (2014). "I'd like to be that attractive, but at least I'm smart": How exposure to ideal advertising models motivates improved decision-making. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24(4), 533-540.

ABSTRACT. In the peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation market, amenity innovation has emerged as a critical strategy used for gaining competitive advantage and addressing customers’ escalating demands, but how does amenity innovation affect customers’ booking intentions? Is it a case of the more innovative the better? Based on resource orchestration theory, this study constructs econometric models to examine the effect of amenity innovation on customers’ booking intentions and investigates the moderating roles of host capabilities in leveraging amenity innovation. Using 44,673 listings from Airbnb as the research object, the text mining method is used to comprehensively identify homestay amenity innovation that combines distinctiveness, novelty, and convergence. Host capabilities are classified into three types: amenity information prominence, amenity positive sentiment feedback guidance, and price setting. The findings show that, from a resource-based viewpoint, amenity innovation has an inverted U-shaped effect on customers’ booking intentions. From a capability-based viewpoint, both amenity information prominence and price level strengthen the inverted U-shaped effect of amenity innovation on customers’ booking intentions. Interestingly, amenity positive sentiment feedback weakens, rather than enhances, this effect. This study extends the application of resource orchestration theory to the field of P2P accommodation, enriches the understanding of amenity innovation in homestays, and provides both theoretical contributions and practical implications for P2P accommodation hosts and managers to leverage amenity innovation for sustainable competitive advantage.

ABSTRACT. This case study explores the development of a governance framework to facilitate fractional ownership of real estate assets using blockchain technology. Addressing inefficiencies in traditional property management, such as bureaucracy and lack of transparency, highlights the potential of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) to enhance liquidity, streamline decision-making, and democratize property investment. Properties would eventually transition from traditional structures to a fully decentralized management and governance structure. This would integrate the tokenization of property rights, the automation of most operations, regulatory compliance, and liquidity options, resulting in a participatory model for stakeholders. The governance would be managed by a Decentralized Homeowner Association (DHA) and a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). If property rights were allowed to be tokenized, the Portuguese land registry could directly record security tokens tied to property rights and represent the ownership of individual units vs shared spaces. Integrating municipal licensing, tax authorities, and the national land registry could allow real-time updates for ownership transfers, compliance checks, and tax obligations.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the recent trend of price adjustments in subscription services, focusing on customer perceptions of such adjustments and the primary concern of service providers—subscription cancellations. Based on existing research, we hypothesized that customers' awareness of price increases would be weak due to the relatively small magnitude of these increases compared to credit card payments. Additionally, given that higher usage frequency enhances customer satisfaction, we proposed that customers with higher usage frequency would be less likely to consider canceling their subscription in response to a price adjustment. Nine services that have undergone price revisions in recent years were included in the survey. Through a preliminary screening process, we identified and collected data from active subscribers, restricting our analysis to users who had been subscribed before the price adjustment. The results revealed that, overall, customers' awareness of price adjustments was low. However, customers with higher satisfaction levels were more likely to recognize the price changes. Additionally, while higher usage frequency generally decreased the likelihood of cancellation following a price adjustment, we also identified a subgroup of high-usage customers who were more likely to consider canceling their subscription. This suggests that higher engagement with the service may lead to greater awareness of price changes, thereby prompting more consideration of cancellation decisions.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the psychological, social, and cultural factors influencing Chinese Generation Z’s acceptance of Hanfu rentals at tourist attractions and their impact on cultural identity formation. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Cultural Identity Theory (CIT), this study investigates how autonomy, competence, relatedness, and cultural exploration shape Hanfu rental engagement. The research model incorporates service quality at tourist attractions (SQTA) and social publicity and promotion (SPP) as key external influences.

The study utilizes an online survey of 368 participants from Chinese Generation Z (ages 18–27) and employs multiple regression analysis to test 13 hypotheses. Findings reveal that SQTA enhances perceived competence, while both SQTA and SPP positively influence relatedness. Additionally, SPP plays a key role in fostering cultural exploration and commitment, reinforcing Hanfu’s role as a heritage symbol. The study confirms that autonomy and relatedness significantly predict acceptance of Hanfu rentals (AHR), while competence does not. Moreover, acceptance of Hanfu rentals partially mediates the relationship between psychological needs and cultural identity (CI), highlighting the role of voluntary cultural participation in identity formation.

These findings have theoretical and practical implications. The study extends SDT’s application in cultural tourism by showing that cultural participation is driven more by self-expression and social belonging than by competence. It also expands CIT’s framework, demonstrating the influence of digital media and social engagement on cultural identity development. Practical recommendations include enhancing service quality in Hanfu rental experiences, leveraging digital marketing strategies, and integrating Hanfu into cultural tourism initiatives. The study underscores the potential of Hanfu rental services as a bridge between modern consumer behavior and cultural heritage preservation, offering valuable insights for policymakers, tourism operators, and fashion brands.

ABSTRACT. Despite being a developed country, Japan has a relatively low mobile payment adoption rate compared to other major economies. As smart tourism gains traction, mobile payment has evolved from a mere transaction tool to a key factor in perceived service quality and travel satisfaction. This study examines the relationship between mobile payment usage, perceived service quality, travel satisfaction, and destination image in Japan’s domestic tourism. Using the SERVQUAL model, a quantitative approach will be employed through an online survey targeting Japanese tourists who have used mobile payments during domestic trips. Data will be analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS to identify key influencing factors. Understanding how mobile payment shapes tourist experiences is crucial for expanding discussions on digital technology’s impact on consumer behavior in smart tourism while offering insights to enhance Japan’s tourism industry.

ABSTRACT. In this research, we investigate the effectiveness of bleed logos in tourist destinations from the viewpoint of a container metaphor. Bleed is a technique that enlarges parts of a logo while omitting others. Many firms use a bleed logo to create a dynamic and unconventional aesthetic that appears more effective in capturing consumers' attention. Regarding the issue, we conducted three studies and found that in an uncrowded virtual tourist destination, travelers would feel that the environment is in their control, and they could enjoy the experience. In this instance, local firms and governments could earn a high evaluation of local goods and services with a high bleed brand logo. However, when the virtual tourist destination is crowded with other traveler avatars and, thus, travelers experience negative feelings brought up by their sense of being out of control, a high bleed logo results in their low evaluations of the brand because travelers feel like some contents in the logo are out of the frame.

ABSTRACT. The rise of idealized female virtual influencers (VIs) as marketing tools has sparked concerns regarding their potential impact on women’s body image perceptions. VIs often possess hyper-idealized, digitally perfected appearances. While traditionally the harmful effects of human models have been explained through the lenses of objectification theory and social comparison theory, whether these can be applied to digital humans remains largely unexplored. To fill this gap, the present study investigates the impact of attractive VIs (vs. humans) on individuals' appearance-related outcomes, drawing on objectification theory and social comparison theory. An experimental was conducted among South Korean females. With a focus on the role of perceived similarity, two distinct pathways are proposed and tested. On one hand, the artificial origin of VIs may result in low perceived similarity, thereby reducing appearance comparisons; on the other hand, this sense of dissimilarity may encourage comparisons due to heightened objectification toward the VIs' appearances. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypotheses. Results indicated that participants perceived lower similarity to VIs than human models and experienced less objectification and appearance comparison subsequently. Notably, the act of objectification was negatively associated with VIs. This was because, unlike the prediction, objectification was linearly related to the perceived similarity to the target. This study offers following implications. Theoretically, it extends objectification theory and social comparison theory to the VI media contexts. Practically, it highlights the potential for VIs to mitigate the harmful effects of idealized media portrayals. This is because VI’s artificiality seems to protect individuals from undergoing harmful appearance-related judgments. Therefore, brands and marketers are urged to leverage VIs in ways that emphasize their digital nature. Retaining artificial attributes may help decrease the likelihood of objectification and subsequent social comparison, ultimately fostering healthier body image perceptions among consumers.

ABSTRACT. The aim of the present study is to explore habitus, taste and motives in dark tourism consumption. A sample of 137 Greek residents participated in the study. Results showcase that the annual income and the educational level of participants have a significant relationship with tourism wellbeing. Also, the type of motive depends on social class and affects the amount of self-depression, self-hate and well-being.

ABSTRACT. This study examines audience responses and the perceived credibility of destination promotion content on online video platform. Grounded in Source Credibility Theory, it employs a mixed-methods research design. In Study 1, data mining techniques were used to analyse and compare sentiments, emotions, and discourses between marketers and individual sources across three destinations. The findings highlight distinct patterns in marketer-generated and user-generated content, particularly in sentiment, emotional engagement, and credibility attributes. Study 2 builds on these insights by validating a proposed model entailing credibility, engagement, and immersion through an experimental approach, using Partial Least Squares Path Modelling. This research extends the existing literature on customer experience in online video platforms by integrating factors influencing user behavior. Ultimately, it offers a deeper understanding of how audiences engage with YouTube comments, shaping their perceptions of content credibility and their willingness to visit the destination in the future.

ABSTRACT. To increase internal destination development, DMOs arguably need to focus especially on coordination amongst actors to enhance collective behaviour. A ‘we banner’ creation of collective awareness and activities to internally foster group formation of service suppliers and policy makers is a core task (Gibson et al., 2005). The importance of the degree of feeling of belongingness was referred to by von Friedrichs Grängsjö (2003) who found that belongingness to the group, e.g. tourism industry as a whole, has an impact on the willingness to cooperate with other tourism actors and may be therefore a prerequisite for a sound network. Effective management of a network by focusing on social identification levels requires managers to be aware that individuals hold multiple social identities and thus multiple identification targets. Identities may be nested, as it is often the case in more formal and hierarchical structures, as in organisations in form of chains (e.g. organisation – department – work group) or in geographical space (e.g. Cuba and Hummon, 1993) or cross-cutting (e.g. workgroup - friends) without an obvious nested structure (Ashforth et al., 2008; Ashforth and Mael, 1989). Employing social identity theory and identity theory, this paper introduces the notion that tourism actors hold a complex set of collective identities. This case study of a DMO relies on observations and interviews to uncover multiple social identities and their interrelationships. The results challenge the prevalent understanding that overarching identification targets overwrite differences on lower-order identities to mobilise behaviour beneficial to the collective.

“References Available Upon Request” ____________________ *s.kuenzel@gre.ac.uk

ABSTRACT. Influencer marketing has received significant attention from both industry and academia (e.g., Beichert et al., 2024; Breves et al., 2019; Farrell et al., 2022; Pan et al., 2024; Pei & Mayzlin, 2022; Pourazad et al., 2023) by becoming into a $24 billion industry and 40% of marketers allocate a quarter of their marketing budget to influencer campaign (Salcius, 2024). In particular, within the fashion industry, the global fashion influencer marketing market size reached $6.82 billion in 2024 and has been expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.8% from 2025 to 2030 (Grand View Research, 2024). In addition, pop-up store marketing, a form of experiential marketing utilizing temporary stores for a short period, enables customers to experience a brand's identity and characteristics. It has garnered significant interest in recent years (e.g., Henkel & Toporowski, 2023; Klein, Falk, Esch, & Gloukhovtsev, 2016; Zhang et al., 2019). For instance, in South Korea, the search volume for “pop-up store” reached 60,000 in 2024, representing a 1.6-fold increase compared to 2023. This indicates that more than 80% of people in their 20s and 30s in South Korea reported visiting a pop-up store. However, does a pop-up store indeed help boost revenue for the focal companies? What other marketing mixes, such as influencer marketing campaigns, can moderate the effects of pop-up stores? This question is rooted in the concept of omnichannel marketing, which has been investigated over the last several decades, beginning when the Internet and online marketing were first adopted by many large companies (Gao, Agrawal, & Cui, 2022; Sun, Adamopoulos, Ghose, & Luo, 2022; Tang, Chen, & Raghunathan, 2023). In other words, an omnichannel strategy does not simply utilize multiple sources, such as webpages and social media, but instead focuses on seamless integration to maximize touchpoints for communicating with customers (Timoumi, Gangwar, & Mantrala, 2022). Since Kumar and colleagues (2016) modeled the relationship between social media posting and firms' sales, several studies have attempted to quantify the cross-channel synergy effects. For example, Chandrasekaran, Srinivasan, and Sihi (2018) revealed the relationship between offline advertising and online brand searches, and Tang et al. (2023) investigated the role of offline stores as warehouses for online shopping. Therefore, the objective of the current study is to adopt cutting-edge machine learning techniques and utilize field data, including more than 1,000 individual panelists' transaction data (n = 516,502), location data (millions of data points), and app usage data (millions of data points), to model the impact of firms' offline marketing activities through pop-up stores on focal firms' short-term and long-term sales, and the moderating role of influencer marketing of the focal pop-up store.

ABSTRACT. Digital marketing evolves at a rapid pace, with platforms constantly introducing new features, updating algorithms, and responding to shifting technologies. Universities often rely on demonstrations, simulations that are dated, or partial campaign setups to introduce students to digital marketing platforms. While these methods can convey basic functionality, they frequently lack the real-time accountability and iterative optimization that characterize authentic online advertising. To address this gap, we developed a ‘Digital Campaign Planning’ capstone course in which final-semester undergraduates design, execute, and optimize live campaigns for local businesses and nonprofits, deploying actual budgets and tracking performance data. This paper outlines the design and delivery of this course. Drawing on experiential learning and project-based learning theories, the course challenges students to plan, execute, and optimize digital marketing activities in real time. Students collaborate with local businesses and nonprofit organizations, leveraging platforms like Google Search, Google Display, Facebook, Instagram and Amazon Advertising to run campaigns and achieve client goals. A mixed set of preliminary findings underscores the potential of this approach. Click-through rates (CTR) across groups indicate a significant increase from the project's initial to final weeks, suggesting that students effectively adapted creatives and honed audience targeting over time. Qualitative interviews with participating clients corroborate this data, revealing satisfaction with students’ “fresh perspectives” and “data-driven insights” and highlighting short-term boosts in site traffic and longer-term brand awareness. Additionally, faculty and student interviews suggest enhanced confidence and deeper skill acquisition among participants, partly attributed to the hands-on nature of responding to live performance metrics and client feedback. These observations illustrate the viability of a live, client-based model for advanced digital marketing education. We detail the course structure—from client acquisition and project scoping to live execution and outcome assessment—and explores the challenges inherent in aligning academic schedules, managing client expectations, and ensuring robust learning. We provide the course structure, learning objectives, content outline, and practical guidelines for conducting this course, offering a replicable model for educators. The paper concludes with a framework for marketing educators seeking to implement experiential digital marketing projects.

ABSTRACT. The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the landscape of digital marketing, enabling businesses to leverage sophisticated algorithms for personalized advertising, customer engagement, and predictive analytics. However, the increasing reliance on AI in marketing raises significant legal and ethical challenges, including data privacy violations, consumer manipulation, biased targeting, and accountability for AI-driven decisions. This paper explores these challenges through an in-depth case law analysis, examining key legal precedents and regulatory actions that shape the evolving framework of AI governance in marketing. The study highlights critical legal issues such as compliance with data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA), consumer protection laws, intellectual property disputes, and liability concerns. Furthermore, ethical considerations—including transparency, fairness, bias mitigation, and consumer autonomy—are analyzed in the context of responsible AI deployment. A comparative review of global AI regulatory approaches, including those of the European Union, the United States, and China, provides insights into varying policy strategies. Based on the findings, the paper proposes policy recommendations to enhance AI governance in marketing, advocating for stronger consumer protection laws, increased transparency in AI decision-making, and the development of ethical AI frameworks for businesses. By addressing these legal and ethical challenges, stakeholders—including policymakers, corporations, and regulators—can foster a more accountable and fairer AI-driven marketing ecosystem.

ABSTRACT. There is a need for transformation in culture destinations’ operations, particularly how diverse digital technologies can improve storytelling (Gatelier et al., 2022). This study aims to investigate how to enhance visitor experience for culture destinations by storytelling with digital device. Guided by the co-creation theory (Neuhofer et al., 2012), four domains of the experience economy model (Pine & Gilmore, 2019), and five-layer product level model (Kotler & Keller, 2016), this research examines tourist experience for culture destinations in UK through mix-methods. First, autoethnography was applied, and the researcher visited 8 culture destinations in UK from September 2023 to August 2024. Second, netnography was used. 14,278 online posts containing “digital device” or “audio-guide” or “self guided tour” or “headphone” or “earphone” or “recorded tour” or “tour device” or “headset” or “APP” etc. were collected from TripAdvisor in May 2024. Through data analysis, this study finds digital storytelling can enhance tourist experience by priding historical knowledge interpretation according to different segment markets, offering easy-to-use navigation information, and meeting the depth of aesthetic needs.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates how brand owners, by strategically managing indirect customers (retailers), can strengthen their position in multi-layer distribution networks and thereby increase the dependence of direct customers (agents). Drawing on data from Taiwanese agents and using structural equation modeling, the research explores three governance mechanisms—financial incentives, asset specificity, and guanxi—alongside differing agent arrangements (single vs. multiple). The findings indicate that while financial incentives alone do not bolster retailers’ commitment, organizational-level investments and interpersonal ties substantially enhance it. Heightened retailers' commitment subsequently raises agents’ reliance on brand owners, especially when multiple agents compete for the brand owner’s endorsement. These insights enrich the understanding of triadic channel relationships, showing how brand owners can surpass short-term tactics to cultivate enduring influence in layered distribution networks.

ABSTRACT. The convenience offered by online retailing puts physical retailers under increasing pressure (Grewal et al., 2023) which reinforces the relevance of considering the use of in-store technology. The retail sector is going through unprecedent changes, and the difference of online and offline retailing has vanished giving space to the omnichannel continuum (Grewal et al., 2023). The physical presence though offers unique opportunities to develop immersive experiences that combine convenience and interest which relates to the interplay of hedonic and utilitarian factors (Hagtvedt & Chandukala, 2023). But the reality is that it is not evident what drives consumers to engage with these technologies and how they use their own devices to interact with them and create their own in-store experiences and in doing so, interact with the brand in a holistic way.

This research aims to get better understanding about consumer engagement with in-store technologies establishing what are the key drivers of the in-store experience answering to the following research questions: • What motivates consumers to engage with in-store technologies? • What are their expected benefits from these interactions with technology? • How consumers control and design their own in-store experience? • How this in-store experience contribute to create synergies with other channels?

This field study adopts a mix-methods approach consisting in diaries, focus groups and a survey. Consumers will be exposed to an in-store experience where they will interact (or not) with the technology available in-store, using their own devices when relevant. They will complete an individual diary reflecting on their experience, motivations, benefits, barriers and interaction with other channels. Then, they will discuss their experience with others in focus groups. This qualitative enquiry will be the base to build the questionnaire to test potential relationships between these drivers and branding and marketing outcomes (i.e hedonic and utilitarian drivers, brand love, omnichannel interaction, etc).

Expected outcomes includes an in-depth understanding about how relationships between consumers and brands are formed and mediated through the use of technology, a map of in-store interactions in relation to the omnichannel spectrum and evidence to support the relevance of the store as the hub of omnichannel interaction and integration through the use of technology.

References: Grewal, D., Benoit, S., Noble, S. M., Guha, A., Ahlbom, C. P., & Nordfält, J. (2023). Leveraging in-store technology and AI: Increasing customer and employee efficiency and enhancing their experiences. Journal of Retailing.

ABSTRACT. Many Canadian baby boomers navigate significant life changes while simultaneously caring for other elderly individuals. This study examines caregivers’ shopping experiences through clothing purchases. Findings revealed a complex interplay of factors, such as caregiver-recipient relationships, gender, recipient personality traits, and retail store and product attributes.

ABSTRACT. The rise of nano-influencers has also been caught on by brands, leveraging nano-influencers due to their comparatively lower costs and higher return on investments. With limited research focused on the marketing effects of nano-influencers, this study hopes to fill the research gap on the persuasion effects of nano-influencers. A 2 (information quality: high vs. low) x 2 (popularity metrics: high vs. low) factorial between-subject experiment will be conducted to examine how the information quality and popularity of nano-influencers will affect the audiences’ perceived usefulness and adoption of information and purchase intention, elucidating the persuasion effects of nano-influencers. The results of this study offer theoretical extension based on the Information Acceptance Model and practical implications for managers marketing niche products.

ABSTRACT. The luxury industry is undergoing a profound transformation as artificial intelligence (AI), digitalization, and immersive technologies reshape consumer engagement and brand strategies. Traditionally defined by craftsmanship, exclusivity, and heritage, luxury is now incorporating AI-driven personalization, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and the metaverse (Kapferer & Bastien, 2017; Godey et al., 2020). While these innovations offer new opportunities for brand differentiation, they also present challenges regarding authenticity, sustainability, and the balance between digital and traditional luxury values. This study investigates how AI-driven persuasion can enhance exclusivity and consumer engagement while maintaining the core principles of luxury branding.

ABSTRACT. This study aims to enhance the efficiency of marketing strategies in the mature domestic beer market by analyzing the impact of TV commercials on purchase intent. Focusing on TV commercials as a key promotional tool, the research explores their influence on consumer behavior, particularly in terms of willingness to purchase. Given the high effectiveness of TV commercials in driving purchase intentions, this study employs a sensory marketing approach to analyze the role of visual and auditory elements in shaping consumer behavior. The goal is to quantitatively assess how these sensory factors influence purchase intent and develop a methodology for evaluating advertising effectiveness. The findings will provide actionable insights for selecting sensory stimuli that align with target audience characteristics, ultimately optimizing marketing strategies and maximizing advertising impact.

ABSTRACT. The fast fashion market has encountered tremendous competition. In this demanding situation, could retailer’s CSR image influences loyalty intention? Based on social identity theory, we found that, for collectivism (vs individualism) markets, the impact of CSR image of retailers on loyalty is mediated by consumer’s identification with the retailer.

ABSTRACT. Cobranding (CoB) is noted for its market advantages, but its long-term effects, such as impacts on original products and opportunities for single-branded extensions, are often overlooked. This research, based on associative network theory, investigates: 1) spillover effects between CoB and single-branded original and extended products; 2) how integration level moderates these effects; and 3) whether this moderation depends on product launch sequence. To investigate these, Study 1 involves market values of products launched between 2020 and 2024 from Stock X (n=644), which indicates the positive association between the single-branded products and CoB, moderated by the level of integration. An experiment (n=597) in Study 2 confirms the positive association between products and shows that integration's moderating role depends on the product launch sequence. Our findings highlight product-level CoB spillovers, offering practical insights for brand managers to optimize CoB.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates the effectiveness of brand activism in rebuilding brand trust and enhancing consumer attitudes during crisis and non-crisis situations. Through two online experiments, we examine how consumer traits, such as ethnocentrism, and the fit between crisis and activism influence brand evaluations. Study 1 finds that brand activism advertising significantly enhances brand trust, attitude, and word-of-mouth (WOM) when brands are not in crisis, but not during a crisis. Study 2 reveals that for consumers with high ethnocentrism, high crisis-activism fit (e.g., patriotic CSR initiatives) improves brand trust, attitude, and WOM during a crisis, while low ethnocentrism consumers show no significant differences. The findings suggest that brands should strategically align their activism with consumer values and cultural contexts to optimize post-crisis communication and rebuild trust effectively.

ABSTRACT. To what extent can cultural heritage be leveraged to generate economic and social wealth for the territory in which it is located? How can a tourism destination transform cultural heritage into a set of resources to address both destination branding and sustainability issues and thus safeguard heritage conservation and authenticity? Is the reason and the fundamental purpose for which there are initiatives such as Ovidio Running,cross country in Italy and in other countries of Europe. The demand for research outlines the value of cultural heritage and sporting events to make an amplifier of sustainability. The United Nations Global Compact’s Sustainable Development Goal 2030 Sustainable Development Goals systematize the evidence on concepts, policies and strategies, to provide an interpretative synthesis that illuminates the factors considered critical by researchers for the sustainable integration of heritage and tourism. To achieve the purpose of understanding sustainable tourism in this case. The theme of sustainability combined with integrated planning in a network of sustainable tourism, with sport care, deepened a theme whose approach always focuses on cultural heritage. This document aims to trace the impact of a major event such as Ovidio Running and lay the foundations for future improvement. The goal is not only to report data but also to bring perspectives, stories, and testimonies from the event's stakeholders, whose involvement is fundamental to designing a link. We would like to define a business model in which 5 impact areas of the event relevant to sustainability are considered relevant: Culture Heritage, Well-being, Circularity, Happiness and health, and Education and involvement (Agenda 2030). For this, a questionnaire was generated with questions covering the following dimensions. This phase is based on the collection of qualitative data and involves all key areas and functions of organizations: suppliers, internal organizations, local stakeholders, and partners. The methodological approach allows to collection of information through interviews, public information, and anonymous surveys, and results are represented within a model that allows to identification of virtuous practices and areas of improvement and define concrete actions to start a path of progressive improvement. All this referred to the Ovidio Running sports event. The category "sustainability of tourism" ( similarly mentioned in the text as "sustainable tourism") emerges as a broad theme, characterized by a diversity of approaches and research methodologies used (Bramwell, B., & Lane, B. ,2005) important for the perception of the cultural component as a competitive advantage. This is the study to analyze multiple dimensions: physical, social, economic, cultural, and environmental. The study enhances the value of existing literature on sustainable marketing by providing information on how it is applied in the sports events sector.

ABSTRACT. In the age of digital transformation, where digital technologies are reshaping consumer behavior, sustainable consumption has emerged as a critical component of sustainable living. However, consumers often struggle to adopt sustainable consumption due to marketers price manipulations and never-ending discounts. This study explores how Consumer-based Activity Tracking Systems (C-BATS)—leveraging wearable devices and mobile apps—serve as a nudge to promote sustainable consumption. Drawing from self-regulation theory and nudge theory, we argue that C-BATS function as informational and goal-setting nudges, enhancing self-control, leading to more deliberate and responsible consumption choices. Through a controlled experiment and a store-intercept survey, we demonstrate that C-BATS foster mindful consumption – a key dimension of sustainable consumption, with health consciousness acting as a moderator. The findings offer insights for marketers and policymakers to leverage C-BATS as a tool for encouraging sustainable consumption behavior in the digital age.

ABSTRACT. This study delves into the critical ethical challenges in the service domain, uncovering how consumer responses shift when engaging with AI versus human service employees in the realm of ethical consumption. I propose that consumers exhibit a stronger brand attitude when ethical consumption is promoted by a human employee rather than an AI. This effect of service agent type on brand attitude is driven by a serial mediation of perceived benevolence and trust. Furthermore, this study reveals that consumers' perceived moral identity moderates this effect—those with a strong moral identity are less swayed by the type of service agent. This research offers both valuable theoretical insights and practical guidance. Theoretically, it expands the AI-human interaction literature by bringing ethical consumption into the spotlight, revealing novel psychological mechanisms behind these reactions, such as perceived benevolence and trust. From a managerial standpoint, this study provides crucial insights for marketers leveraging AI as a service interface. It suggests that AI agents might fall short in promoting ethical consumption, where genuine benevolence plays a critical role. Furthermore, our research offers actionable strategies for companies looking to boost AI's effectiveness in ethical contexts. Given that potential drawbacks of AI agent are less noticeable among consumers with a strong moral identity, companies should consider strategies to cultivate this trait. For instance, they could engage customers with incentives such as rewards for participating in ethical quizzes or by consistently providing valuable ethical information.

ABSTRACT. This study examines ESG authenticity, focusing on ESG washing, ESG transparency, and meaning-out propensity. With analyzed data from 379 Korean consumers, findings show that ESG washing weakens consumer perceptions, while transparency enhances brand authenticity and loyalty. These insights help align ESG strategies with consumer expectations, fostering sustainable brand growth.

ABSTRACT. Although online reviews become increasingly essential in consumer decision-making, research on external factors influencing their helpfulness remains limited. This study examines time-of-day as a key determinant of review helpfulness, revealing a nonlinear (U-shaped) relationship: review length decreases until midday and increases toward nighttime. Notably, franchise and reviewer reputation moderately affect this pattern. These findings contribute to research on time-of-day effects consumer behavior and online reviews, highlighting time-of-day as an overlooked but influential factor. From a managerial perspective, strategically timing review solicitations—particularly targeting high-reputation reviewers in the morning and evening—can enhance review helpfulness, improve platform engagement, and support more effective consumer decision-making.

ABSTRACT. This study explores three consumer-AI interaction types (Personalization, Delegation, and Value-in-Use) across purchase contexts. Two experiments show that Value-in-Use, driven by consumer-AI cooperation, is the most effective regardless of context. Findings offer insights for marketers on optimizing consumer-AI interactions to enhance service delivery and consumer experience.

ABSTRACT. Influencer marketing has become a crucial element of digital branding strategies, yet research distinguishing micro and macro influencers beyond follower count remains limited. This study integrates Social Network Theory and Topological Data Analysis (TDA) to examine differences in consumer trust formation and brand engagement between micro and macro influencers. To achieve this, we conduct a survey-based experiment to identify consumer trust differences between micro and macro influencers and apply LDA topic modeling and TDA-based network analysis to explore the actual influence of these relationships. Through this analysis, the study assesses whether data-driven insights can optimize influencer marketing strategies. First, we conduct a survey experiment to measure how consumers perceive micro and macro influencers and analyze key variables affecting trust formation. Specifically, consumer trust varies based on influencer size (micro vs. macro) and interaction frequency (likes, comments, shares, etc.). Micro influencers tend to build stronger trust by fostering closer relationships with followers, whereas macro influencers may experience declining trust due to repeated exposure. Next, we collect user data from YouTube and Instagram to measure engagement levels (likes, shares, comments), trust perception, and purchase intent. By applying LDA topic modeling, we analyze the interaction patterns between influencers and their followers, evaluating the differences in influence between micro and macro influencers. Finally, we utilize TDA-based persistent homology maps to visualize the structural differences in trust networks and compare consumer trust formation within these networks. This study empirically verifies the trust network formation process of micro influencers compared to macro influencers through visualized network structures. The findings contribute to marketing science and AI-driven network analysis, offering valuable insights for optimizing influencer marketing strategies.

ABSTRACT. Many individuals rely on information provided by artificial intelligence (AI) to make their final decisions, and we aim to investigate when and how decision-makers respond more positively to recommendations provided by AI agents. This study predicts that recommendations provided by different agents (Human vs. AI) will differ depending on whether they are consistent with consumers’ prior knowledge. Using behavioral and fMRI studies, we aim to investigate the interaction effect between two agents (Human vs. AI) and recommendations that are consistent (vs. inconsistent) with consumers’ prior knowledge, and how this interaction affects consumers’ evaluations of the recommendations. We aim to suggest which agents could be used to mitigate consumers' negative evaluations when presented with recommendations that are inconsistent with their prior knowledge. This study aims to contribute to consumers’ acceptance of recommendations by strategically leveraging human and AI-provided recommendations.

ABSTRACT. The research underscores the intricate interaction between AI in social media advertising, customer trust, and purchase intention. The analysis adopted a cross-sectional design, using data from a sample of Italian consumers to analyze the interplay between consumers' opinions and reactions towards AI and their impact on trust in social media influencers and purchase choices.

ABSTRACT. Trade liberalization policies such as tariff reductions have faced growing criticism for harming domestic suppliers by intensifying competition. This research investigates whether domestic firms that rely on the government as a major customer exhibit greater resilience to foreign competition. Using the United States’ granting of permanent normal trade relations to China as an exogenous shock, we show that suppliers with major government customers outperform their peers when their industries are heavily influenced by import shocks. The beneficial effect is stronger for firms with greater financial constraints or less business diversification. Further analysis shows that government customers mitigate demand uncertainty, enabling firms to sustain investment and investment efficiency when import competition intensifies. The findings have important policy and managerial implications.

ABSTRACT. With the rise of political consumerism, consumers and other stakeholders often assert pressures on firms to voice their stance on sociopolitical issues. In response to these pressures, multinational corporations (MNCs) have been increasingly engaging in corporate social activism (CSA), which refers to a public statement or action taken by a firm to express its support for or opposition to a sociopolitical issue. In the recent Russo–Ukrainian War, various MNCs (e.g., Apple, Nike and McDonald’s.) announced their withdrawal from the Russian market to demonstrate the stance against the war. These CSA-oriented market-exit decisions are substantially different from the traditional view of market exits with the economic logic of abandoning underperformed markets. Firms engaging in CSA can satisfy target stakeholders, which may benefit the corporate sales. Nevertheless, market exits implicate resources and cost commitments, making the financial return of the CSA-oriented market exits questionable. Thus, taking the MNCs’ market exit from Russia amidst the 2022 Russo–Ukrainian War as the research context, this study explores whether a CSA-driven market exit benefits firm performance. The implications of the results to marketing literature and practices on CSA are discussed.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how virtual reality (VR) technology affects online auction markets by enabling Information Search Autonomy (ISA) - the degree to which users can independently search for, discover, and evaluate product information. Drawing on a dataset of 2.2 million judicial property auctions, we investigate how VR implementation influences bidding behavior and market outcomes. Our empirical analysis reveals that VR-enabled auctions achieve 2-percentage point higher success rates and 12.8-percentage point higher price premiums. These improvements are associated with increased bidder aggressiveness through jump bidding, where bidders place bids substantially above the minimum increment. We establish causality through multiple identification strategies, including propensity score matching and an instrumental variable approach using court-property distance. Our cross-sectional analyses identify two fundamental mechanisms driving VR's effects: (1) an experiential effect, where immersive virtual inspections reduce psychological distance between bidders and properties, particularly for furnished and residential properties; and (2) a confirmation bias effect, where bidders strategically search for attributes aligned with their prior beliefs, enhancing valuation certainty. The latter effect is weaker when objective validations (insurance services) are available and in markets with strict purchase restrictions. Our findings extend auction theory by highlighting how information acquisition mechanisms influence market participant behavior beyond the information itself.

ABSTRACT. Service customization is a valuable operational strategy that accommodates individual preferences, yet it is often constrained by high operational costs. The advent of large language models (LLMs) offers a promising solution to increase employees’ working efficiency in delivering customized services while maintaining cost-effectiveness. This study investigates the impact of LLM adoption on customization efficiency using management responses to online hotel reviews on TripAdvisor. We first demonstrate that LLM-generated responses exhibit significantly higher levels of customization compared to staff-written responses, even at a minimal cost. Leveraging a quasi-experimental variation of LLM accessibility across countries, we employ a difference-in-differences (DiD) approach to estimate the real-world effects of LLMs. Our results reveal that LLM introduction increases response customization observed on TripAdvisor by 2.0 percentage points—a 13.7% efficiency improvement compared with the baseline before LLM introduction. We also find that the response rate increases significantly. Furthermore, experimental findings show that LLM-driven customization enhances customers’ repurchase intent, particularly in addressing negative reviews. These findings provide actionable insights for managers seeking to integrate generative AI into their workflows and highlight the importance of policy that regulates AI usage and disclosure.

ABSTRACT. Entrepreneurial growth aspirations reveal entrepreneurs’ beliefs about the potential of their ventures (Levie & Autio, 2013). Existing studies show that some entrepreneurs have higher aspirations to grow their ventures than others, and that these aspirations are different across countries. Empirical studies have also shown that entrepreneurs’ intentions to scale up their ventures are important predictors of subsequent firm growth (Davidsson, 2006; Stam & Wennberg, 2009). Further, the rate of entrepreneurs who aspire to grow their firms extensively has been found to make more substantial contributions to economic growth than the entrepreneurship rate in general (Hermans et al., 2015).

These findings explain the increasing interest among scholars and policymakers in understanding how institutions influence entrepreneurial growth aspirations. However, further research is needed to explore the impact of both formal and informal institutions on entrepreneurial growth aspirations. This research investigates the influence of bankruptcy laws on entrepreneurial growth aspirations and the moderating role of the fear of failure in this relationship. Drawing on institutional theory, we argue that lenient bankruptcy laws are positively related to entrepreneurial growth aspirations. Furthermore, we posit that the fear of failure negatively moderates this relationship.

We evaluate our hypotheses using a comprehensive cross-country dataset from 2009 to 2012 that integrates individual-level information from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project with country-level data sourced from Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE), and the World Bank Doing Business (WBDB). Our hypotheses are analyzed through a multilevel approach, as entrepreneurs are organized within their respective countries in the context of our research. Our findings indicate that lenient bankruptcy laws and the fear of failure have an interacting effect on entrepreneurial growth aspirations.

This research makes several significant contributions to the literature. First, we advance institutional theory by providing fresh insights into how the interaction between formal regulations and informal institutions influences entrepreneurship. By examining the coexistence of bankruptcy laws and the fear of failure in society, this research deepens our understanding of how these dynamics shape entrepreneurs’ aspirations to grow their firms. Secondly, this study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by examining the impact of business failure institutions on entrepreneurship at two distinct levels. This multi-level analysis can enhance our understanding of how business failure institutions affect entrepreneurial decisions and behaviors, taking into account the diverse characteristics of individuals and countries.

ABSTRACT. We explore the ambivalent role of relational capabilities in breakthrough innovations. We specifically distinguish two relational capabilities--channel management and customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities--and we explore how they impact the technological and market radicalness of new products in a sample of high-tech, B2B firms. The results show that channel management capabilities reduce while CRM capabilities foster the technological radicalness of new products. We also find that channel management capabilities weaken market radicalness of new products while CRM capabilities foster it. We also find that technological radicalness helps firms grow their revenues from radical innovations though it weakens firm financial performance. In contrast, market radicalness fosters firm financial performance.

ABSTRACT. Abstract : With the increasing prevalence of the internet, social media, and mobile technology, the retail industry is transitioning toward a multi-channel and omnichannel environment. Existing research on multi-channel retail has primarily focused on consumer behavior across different channels, particularly examining how channel characteristics influence purchase decisions (Verhoef et al., 2015; Yu-Min Wang et al., 2016). However, many of these studies rely on survey-based data that often lacks granularity and is aggregated on a daily or weekly basis, potentially overlooking real-time consumer decision-making. To address this gap, this study utilizes real-time empirical data and incorporates a time-of-day perspective into consumer choice behavior analysis.

Methodology : This study collected over 3 million purchase records from January to June 2022 using mobile applications. The dataset includes detailed purchase timestamps (accurate to the minute), retail channels, store types, and locations. Focusing on food purchases, consumer behavior was classified into three distinct time periods: morning (7:00 AM–9:00 AM), afternoon (11:00 AM–1:00 PM), and evening (5:00 PM–9:00 PM). The analysis examined 45 industry categories, with a specific focus on the three main store types that dominate Japan’s retail landscape: convenience stores, supermarkets, and drugstores. To identify patterns in retail format choice and competitive dynamics, K-means clustering was employed.

Results : The findings indicate distinct temporal preferences for different retail formats. Convenience stores are overwhelmingly popular in the morning, catering to consumers seeking quick service. Supermarkets are preferred in the afternoon and evening, with larger purchases being more common during these periods. Notably, drugstores—traditionally seen as pharmaceutical retailers—have emerged as competitors to both supermarkets and convenience stores, particularly during peak shopping hours. These results suggest that consumer preferences are not static but evolve throughout the day. Further clustering analysis based on consumer behavior during morning, afternoon, and evening shopping sessions identified five distinct consumer clusters. For example, consumers in Cluster 1 predominantly use convenience stores in the morning and afternoon but shift to supermarkets in the evening. This indicates that competition among retail formats intensifies during evening hours. Moreover, consumer profiles were refined based on attributes and business type selection, underscoring the dynamic nature of retail channel preferences.

Discussion and Contribution : This study highlights the necessity of incorporating temporal factors into channel selection analysis. The findings emphasize that consumer behavior in the retail sector is influenced not only by situational and individual attributes but also by the time of day. By integrating real-time, high-granularity data, this research provides new insights into competitive retail dynamics and consumer decision-making. This study contributes to the omnichannel retailing literature by emphasizing the importance of temporal granularity in consumer behavior analysis. Future research should further investigate the underlying decision-making mechanisms driving these behaviors and explore the integration of online and offline channels within a dynamic and temporally detailed retail environment.

ABSTRACT. AI-aided supplier scouting enhances efficiency in identifying high-quality suppliers but is troubled by biases. First-order algorithmic biases and second-order feedback loops reinforce systemic inequalities, limiting diversity and representativeness in outputs. This study proposes a mid-range theory mapping these biases and offers strategies for responsible AI management to ensure ethical, high-utility decisions.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the impact of experiential value typologies—consumer return on investment, service excellence, aesthetics, and playfulness—on consumer satisfaction and behavioral intentions to revisit and recommend agritourism farms. Using survey data from 224 visitors to agritourism farms in the Philippines, findings identified service excellence as a significant positive predictor of consumer satisfaction, while aesthetics emerged as a key driver of revisit and recommendation intentions. Mediation analysis further revealed that consumer satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between service excellence and behavioral intentions. These findings contribute to the literature on experiential value in agritourism contexts by highlighting the importance of service excellence and aesthetics in shaping visitor satisfaction and loyalty. The study offers practical insights for agritourism operators and policymakers, emphasizing the role of experiential value in enhancing visitor experiences and fostering positive outcomes for agritourism destinations.

ABSTRACT. Theories of tourism development have traditionally emphasized resource-based factors. However, could the local population's psychological characteristics (e.g., personality) influence tourism development? This study, through the lens of geographical psychology, investigates the impact of regional Big-Five personality traits on tourism development in the UK from 2009 to 2018. Based on a unique personality big dataset (N = 400,000), findings reveal that a region's psychological makeup matters for tourism. Specifically, regional Openness traits boost local tourism development, while Neuroticism traits inhibit tourism performance. Regional Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness traits show no significant effects. We provide causal evidence for these results through instrumental variable tests. Our work introduces a novel micro-psychological perspective to tourism development literature and urges policymakers to consider the local population's psychological characteristics for achieving competitive and sustainable tourism development.

ABSTRACT. Souvenirs are essential for traveling and are typically bought at foreign destinations. However, souvenir vendors have hesitated to sell online, as the traditional significance of souvenirs is tied to the travel experience. To understand this paradox, this study explores consumer perceptions and intentions regarding online souvenir purchases. Drawing on Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory, we hypothesize that the curiosity surrounding souvenirs diminishes when they are available for online purchase and that consumers are likely to prefer familiar products due to the perceived risks associated with online transactions. Using a mixed-method research design that integrates experiments, electroencephalogram (EEG) data, self-reported surveys, and interviews, this study presents how cultural differences negatively impact the intention to buy souvenirs online. The results suggest that cultural differences diminish purchase intention, and self-reported data may diverge from results obtained through EEG tools.

ABSTRACT. ABSTRACT The voice stands as a potent tool for communication. A significant portion of this is achieved through linguistic exchanges. Beyond the linguistic communication, non-linguistic speech cues within vocal expressions play an important role in conveying information and influencing the viewer. The manner in which a speaker delivers a message can be as significant as the content of the message itself. This study employs audio analysis techniques to investigate the effect of live streamers' speech voice cues on viewer live comments.

INTRODUCTION Individuals can rely on non-linguistic speech cues, such as pitch, loudness, and pace, to assess the speaker's expertise and emotion (Barnes, 2023). In live streaming, the voice of a live streamer is critical in crafting compelling information for the viewer. However, the voice as a field of study in tourism has been overlooked (Dubey et al., 2018). This oversight is partly attributed to the challenges associated with analysing voice and its behavioural implications in a realistic, scalable, and reliable manner. Recent advances in data analytics, particularly in artificial intelligence and machine learning, have sparked renewed academic interest in exploring how audio features impact consumer behaviour (Barnes, 2023). Yet, the full potential of audio analytics is largely untapped in the field of tourism research. Presently, audio studies mainly rely on experimental and field studies, instead of deeply analysing voice features from genuine, unaltered data and their links to actual human behaviours. Therefore, this study employs audio analysis techniques to investigate the effect of live streamers' speech voice cues on viewer live comments. The empirical findings of this study can offer a detailed understanding of the impact of speech voice cues from travel live streamer on viewer engagement in travel live streaming. The inverted U-shaped relationship between speech pace and real-time comment engagement underscores a complex interaction, indicating that a moderate pace optimizes viewer engagement in live streaming. While a fast speech rate may attract attention and encourage interaction, an excessively fast rate could overwhelm viewers, thereby reducing engagement. These insights suggest that speech voice cues can be managed to optimize viewer engagement within a manageable range. Moreover, the study examined the consistent negative correlation between pitch and loudness with the level of real-time comments. This observation might reflect a preference among viewers for a calmer, less harsh auditory experience during travel live streaming. The negative correlation with pitch aligns with existing literature, suggesting that a lower pitch is often perceived as more pleasant and comfortable, potentially creating a more appealing and engaging environment for viewers. Similarly, the negative impact of loudness on comment levels suggests a preference for softer, clearer audio, promoting an environment conducive to sustained viewer engagement. This research used a new method of audio analysis to explore how different speech voice cues (like pace, pitch and loudness) affect viewer engagement (measured by the number of live comments). Theoretically, this provides to our understanding of non-verbal speech cues in tourism research. From a methodological perspective, the use of big data techniques helps analyse different types of data, including text and audio. Practically, this study provides tips for travel live streamers on how to use these non-verbal cues to draw in more viewers.

ABSTRACT. Starting from the brand authenticity crisis of an intangible cultural heritage product, taking Yanghe Baijiu as a typical representative, this article goes beyond traditional research on evaluation, which regards authenticity as the result, instead of tracing it back to the process of authenticity production. Through interviews and structural equation two-stage research design, we constructed a tourist cognitive model of brand authenticity production under the theoretical framework of constructivism, contributing to providing the first puzzle piece for the tourist cognitive map of brand authenticity production. Specifically, the article contributes four pieces of knowledge: (1) The unique structure of the front-back stage of brand authenticity, in which a cognitive gap led by the split, isolated, and distance gap between the front-back stage of brand authenticity is an important reason for the crisis of brand authenticity. Through active strategies to promote intangible cultural heritage tourism industry, tourists are pulled back to the production site to gain knowledge about the production process of intangible cultural heritage. This knowledge helps form object-oriented authenticity perceptions and subject-oriented existential authenticity experiences, which could further help enhance their evaluation of brand authenticity. (2) The combination of traditional craftsmanship and modern technology in the production process of intangible cultural heritage does not weaken tourists' evaluation of brand authenticity. It is entirely feasible for intangible cultural heritage production to continue on the path of "upholding integrity and innovating" in response to changes in the technological environment. (3) The cultural awe experienced by tourists at production sites has become a key intermediary for brand authenticity recognition, which stems from the shock of traditional craftsmanship and historical cultural authenticity. The process of authenticity production helps demonstrate to tourists that authenticity is not only secular, including objective qualities, appearance, color, etc., but also a civilization with a sacred aura constructed by humans from daily secular production and life, which embodies human intelligence, values, and philosophy. (4) Increasing brand authenticity further promotes brand identity and word-of-mouth communication, resulting in positive market feedback. At a higher level of advancing authenticity research in the field of tourism, this study has three contributions: (1) This study contributes to the advancement of authenticity research from "authenticity as a result" to "authenticity production process", thus opening a new chapter in the field of authenticity research. (2) This article integrates cultural authenticity with brand authenticity, promoting better integration of authenticity research in the fields of culture and heritage with marketing and management. (3) This study expands the essential understanding of authenticity in that the aura of authenticity arises from the production process of intangible cultural heritage and is projected onto intangible cultural heritage products. (4) In short, this study enriches the theory of authenticity, highlights the importance of showcasing the production process of intangible cultural heritage for brand authenticity and cultural heritage, reveals tourists' cognitive structure toward brand authenticity production, and provides theoretical support for brand marketing practices and brand crisis response strategies for intangible cultural heritage products.

ABSTRACT. Luxury upcycling, the process of creatively transforming existing luxury materials into new, high-value products, is increasingly adopted by luxury brands seeking innovative ways to enhance consumer appeal. Drawing upon contagion theory, this research explores how luxury upcycling influences consumer perceptions and brand attitudes through the concept of “creator’s essence,” defined as the perception that a luxury product embodies the identity, skill, and meticulous effort of its creator. Across multiple experimental studies, results consistently show that explicitly highlighting the heightened effort involved in luxury upcycling significantly enhances consumers’ perceptions of the creator’s essence. These heightened perceptions, in turn, positively influence brand attitudes. Additionally, the findings indicate that the creator’s essence may explain consumer responses beyond other factors, such as sustainability appeal, uniqueness and perceived quality. Theoretically, this research contributes to luxury marketing literature by identifying the creator’s essence as a critical mechanism underlying consumer evaluations of upcycled luxury products. The findings offer practical and actionable guidance for luxury brands on how to effectively communicate luxury upcycling initiatives to increase consumer appeal and product desirability.

ABSTRACT. This research shows that the kerning of a brand logo’s typeface—the spacing between its letters—affects consumers’ perception of brand prestige. Through three experiments and an archival dataset, we demonstrated that, compared to a tightly kerned logo, a loosely kerned logo more effectively enhances consumers’ premium perception of a brand. Through using the Facebook Split Test conducted in the field, we discovered that when promoting a premium brand, logos with loose kerning significantly increased ad click-through rate (CTR). Subsequent online experiments further validated this effect: loosely kerned logos not only made consumers perceive the brand as more premium (Study 2) but also enhanced the perceived prestige of the advertised product, thus increasing consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price (Study 3). By using machine learning methods, we conducted a visual image analysis of 697 real-world brand logos from a dataset, and the results were consistent with those of previous studies. These findings not only deepen the theoretical understanding of how logo kerning shapes brand image but also offer important insights for marketers. When promoting premium brands, subtle adjustments to logo kerning—an often-overlooked design detail—can enhance perceived brand prestige, ultimately increasing commercial value.

ABSTRACT. Intertemporal choices, deciding between immediate smaller rewards and delayed larger rewards, significantly impact consumer well-being. Mindfulness—nonjudgmental, present-focused awareness (Brown & Ryan, 2003)—may encourage delayed gratification by altering subjective time perception. Drawing from subjective time perception (Block & Zakay, 1997) and future time perspective theories (Carstensen & Lang, 1996), we propose mindfulness slows perceived time, expanding future horizons, thus enhancing delayed reward preferences. We tested our hypotheses across six empirical studies, including two field experiments and four laboratory studies. In Study 1a (field), participants who completed a mindfulness walking meditation chose a delayed reward ($10 gift card a week later) significantly more often than participants in the control group (69.0% vs. 35.6%, p = .002). Study 1b (field, commercial context) replicated these findings, showing that bakery customers exposed to mindful eating cues were more likely to choose delayed gratification (77.5% vs. 51.1%, p < .001). Laboratory studies further demonstrated the underlying psychological mechanism. Specifically, Study 3 revealed a significant serial mediation effect: mindfulness slowed subjective time perception, which expanded consumers' future time perspective, ultimately increasing delayed gratification choice. Additionally, moderation experiments showed that mindful consumers were less sensitive to longer waiting periods for rewards, confirming that mindfulness alters consumer sensitivity to time delays (Study 4a), but not economic rewards (4b). This research contributes to mindfulness and consumer self-regulation literature, emphasizing subjective time perception (Hafenbrack et al., 2022). Practically, it informs interventions promoting long-term beneficial behaviours, assisting marketers and policymakers in fostering healthier financial decisions, loyalty, and consumer savings.

ABSTRACT. A brand’s prior good deeds make consumers more willing to excuse—or license—its subsequent, morally questionable behavior. Moral licensing theory suggests that consumers excuse brand transgressions through two mechanisms: moral credits and moral credentials. The moral credits model treats morality like a bank account, where good deeds accumulate credits that can offset later transgressions. In contrast, the moral credentials model changes how consumers construe or interpret ambiguous wrongdoing, making it seem less severe or even non-transgressive. This research examines political ideology as a key moderator in how consumers apply these mechanisms when evaluating brand transgressions. Study 1 finds that liberals are more likely to grant moral licensing through moral credits, forgiving brands with prior good deeds. Study 2 shows that conservatives rely on moral credentials, by construing the ambiguous transgression more favorably. Study 3 tests both mechanisms in a 2 (political ideology) × 3 (licensing condition: control vs. credit vs. credentials) design, confirming that liberals and conservatives differ in how they justify brand misconduct. These findings provide insights into how ideological differences shape consumer forgiveness and offer strategic implications for brand crisis management.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the intricate interplay between self-control and self-esteem in shaping consumer financial decision-making and resilience against financial hardship. Grounded in Dual-Process Theory, the research posits that self-control, aligned with the deliberate and logical processes of System 2, typically reduces impulsive spending and promotes sustainable financial behavior. Self-esteem, on the other hand, bolsters resilience and coping mechanisms but may also foster overconfidence that undermines logical decision-making. Analyzing longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), the study evaluates how varying levels of self-esteem influence the effectiveness of self-control in mitigating financial vulnerability. Findings reveal that while self-control and self-esteem independently reduce financial hardship, their interaction can yield counterproductive effects when self-esteem leads to overconfidence. These results highlight the need for targeted financial interventions that balance confidence with realistic self-assessment to ensure sustainable financial well-being. By bridging psychological insights with financial outcomes, the study contributes to a nuanced understanding of consumer behavior and offers actionable implications for policymakers, financial educators, and sustainability-driven initiatives.

ABSTRACT. This study aims to apply stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model as a research framework to examine whether people’s climate change perceptions (CCPs) of threat and risk will affect people’s pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) through the organic mechanism of climate change anxiety (CCA). The effects of gender and age on people’s CCA and their PEBs will also be examined. Structural equation modeling analysis results indicated that people’s CCPs not only facilitate their PEBs but also enhance their CCA. Such CCA further facilitates their PEBs. In addition, there were no gender differences in CCA, but only gender differences in PEBs. But there were age differences in both CCA and PEBs. The findings contribute to enhancing the application of the S-O-R theoretical model to explain people’s PEBs through CCA in environmental psychology studies. In addition, the effects of the demographics of gender and age have to be considered in explaining people’s CCA and PEBs.

ABSTRACT. This qualitative study examines the fundamental issues driving excessive consumerism and proposes solutions from the consumers' viewpoint. The research employs thematic analysis to investigate user-generated comments from a Reddit post, revealing unique experiences, perspectives, and proposed strategies for addressing overconsumption. The findings identify primary factors influencing consumerism, including technological impact, societal norms, and the pursuit of novelty, while also emphasising consumer-led solutions such as second-hand shopping, clothes rental, and reduction of triggers. The study leverages the perspectives of online communities to elucidate the value-action gap and presents actionable ideas for promoting more sustainable fashion consumption. This research contributes to the discussion on sustainability and consumption, highlighting the significance of grassroots viewpoints in addressing such a critical contemporary dilemma.

ABSTRACT. Referral reward programs (RRPs) are increasingly popular across industries, particularly in competitive markets where the cost of acquiring new customers is fast rising. In this paper, we introduce uncertain rewards as an innovative approach to encourage referral participation. Through a series of field and laboratory experiments, we examine the effectiveness of uncertain rewards and explore the boundary conditions of this effect. In a field experiment (Study 1), we find that referral senders respond more favorably to RRPs offering uncertain rewards compared to certain rewards of equivalent economic value. We propose that uncertain rewards better align with senders’ intrinsic motives, reducing the potential conflict between their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and thus lowering senders’ perceived social cost of referring (Study 2). Furthermore, we identify key boundary conditions where the positive effects of uncertain rewards are mitigated: when the reward scheme is recipient-benefiting (Study 3), when the sender and recipient are in exchange relationship norms (Study 4), and for high-endorsed products that require less justification (Study 5). These findings contribute to the literature on referral behavior and offer actionable insights for designing more effective RRPs.

ABSTRACT. While user-generated content (UGC) is often considered the primary driver of social media engagement, this study highlights the trust-building power of brand-generated content (BGC) in the tourism context. We examine the mediating role of source credibility in the relationship between content type (UGC vs. BGC) and trust, the link between trust and engagement, and the moderating effect of repost source (reposted by individual users vs. organizations). Across three experiments using simulated posts from X and Instagram, we find that BGC is perceived as more trustworthy than UGC, and higher trust leads to greater engagement. Source credibility mediates the content type–trust relationship. Additionally, UGC generates more trust when reposted by individual users, whereas BGC fosters more trust when reposted by organizations. Our findings advance social media marketing research by clarifying how content type and repost source shape consumer perceptions and offer actionable insights for marketers optimizing digital engagement strategies.

ABSTRACT. Short video platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have transformed digital ecosystems, reshaping content consumption and trust dynamics. This study develops a typology of user engagement and trust behaviors, categorizing users into six types based on motivations, cognitive processing, and trust. Insights guide theoretical advancements and practical strategies.

ABSTRACT. Through analyses of field data and controlled experiments, the authors establish how the texture of the image impacts consumer perception of visual data. More textured images are found to enhance engagement and brand evaluations. The authors also find that brands that use visual textures consistently receive greater liking and commenting.

ABSTRACT. By partnering with food delivery platforms, restaurants can accelerate their digital service innovation. However, several aspects of the relationship between restaurants and food delivery platforms remain unexplored. This study proposes a comprehensive model, which suggests that a platform’s social sustainability influences a restaurant’s evaluation of the social and economic components of such a relationship.

ABSTRACT. Drawing on dual-route theory, this study examines the impact of systematic and heuristic factors on tourists' cognitive and affective images of ski destination, as well as the influence of the ski destination images on winter sports tourists' future revisit intentions. The moderating effect of perceived security is also examined. Perceived security moderates the relationships between systematic and heuristis factors and ski destination images. The reserch findings will will make significant contributions to the literature on smart winter sports tourism and the information systems (IS). Additionally, our analysis will offer valuable insights for the winter sports tourism industry.

ABSTRACT. With the 2024 transition of Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) broadcasts to a paid streaming model via TVING, a notable shift has emerged: KBO now allows unrestricted sharing of game footage under 40 seconds on social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram. This decision challenges traditional sports broadcasting models that strictly protect media rights and raises critical questions about its impact on official broadcast viewership. This study examines whether influencer-generated baseball content on YouTube complements or substitutes official KBO broadcasts. Using daily-level data from the 2023 season, covering 720 game days, we analyze the relationship between the volume and engagement of influencer-generated videos and the consumption of official broadcasts. Key metrics include video count, total duration, cumulative views, and audience sentiment. An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model is applied to determine the short- and long-term effects between influencer content and official broadcast consumption. Findings will contribute to the broader discourse on digital media strategies in sports, informing whether leagues and broadcasters should leverage social media for audience growth or reinforce media rights protections to sustain subscription-based revenues.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the cross-cultural differences in Olympic athlete branding and social media engagement across the United States, China, and South Korea during the 2024 Olympic Games. Utilizing content analysis and integrating Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions with Goffman’s self-presentation theory, the research explores how cultural contexts influence athletes’ self-presentations on social media and their impact on brand endorsement and follower engagement. The study investigates frontstage and backstage behaviors of athletes, analyzing engagement metrics such as likes, shares, and comments. Practical implications suggest that global brands can optimize marketing strategies by tailoring athlete endorsements to align with cultural values, enhancing the effectiveness of partnerships and campaigns.

ABSTRACT. Research Question: Adopting China as an example of a state-led market, the goals of the present study are to focus on: 1) the roles of the state and its agencies in transitioning eSports from marginal to mainstream 2) the underlying state-led mechanisms for mobilising its agencies to deploy bureaucratic, administrative, and legal interventions to different actors to navigate eSports transition at both industrial and macro-levels, and 3) the theoretical and practical implications of this transition. Research Methods: Using multisource databases, we collect 2,775 pages of textual data documenting how eSports evolves between 2002 and 2023 and utilise a qualitative hermeneutic approach for data analysis. Results and Findings: We theorise the marginal-mainstream transition of eSports in China as a three-phase state-led governmentality practice: market demarcation, stabilisation, and invigoration. In each phase, we identify two aspects of the governmentality efforts to mobilise disciplinary, legal, and security apparatus with various strategic governmentality functions. Implications: Our findings, which are deliberately attentive to meso- and macro-level in state-led markets, supplement and extend the extant studies examining 1) how eSports evolve, by highlighting the significance of states in codifying multilevel orders of responsibility for stakeholders, especially consumers, in addressing social criticisms that challenge the legitimacy of eSports; 2) why eSports evolve, by pinpointing the crucial need for fine-tuning the development paths eSports following prevailing yet changing state agendas

ABSTRACT. Digital technology has brought disruptive changes to nearly every industry; the sports industry is no exception. Among the most noteworthy advancements, wearable technology has emerged as a central innovation changing how athletes train, how fans engage with sports, and how marketing practitioners promote new products. Drawing on enhanced communication technology, microelectronics, sensor capabilities, data analytics, and the Internet of Things, wearable devices have moved beyond novelty items to become essential tools for tracking performance, monitoring activity, and improving overall health and safety in athletic contexts. These developments offer not only new opportunities for consumers but also considerable challenges for organizations as they integrate emerging technologies into their marketing and operational strategies.

Despite the potential of wearable technology to improve efficiency, reduce injuries, and bolster performance, adoption rates among sports consumers remain inconsistent. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the factors that influence user acceptance and sustained usage of wearable sports devices. The analysis is grounded in three primary theoretical frameworks: the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT), and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). These theoretical frameworks guide the exploration of how performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions collectively shape consumer attitudes and behaviors toward wearable technology. Additionally, the analysis considers psychological and social factors that may encourage or inhibit user engagement over time.

The methodology under scrutiny combines quantitative survey data with qualitative insights from focus group interviews, thereby providing a holistic view of consumer perceptions. The survey offers broad statistical evidence on user intentions, preferences, and satisfaction levels, while the focus groups yield deeper context and richer explanations of consumer motivations. This integrated approach, leveraging the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative methods, facilitates the identification of pivotal factors influencing consumer acceptance. Additionally, it sheds light on potential barriers to widespread adoption, such as privacy concerns, cost sensitivity, and inadequate technical support. The integration of empirical evidence and theoretical constructs fosters the development of a comprehensive framework that sheds light on the intricacies of consumer interactions with wearable technology and further elucidates the strategies through which organizations can effectively address the needs and concerns of consumers, thereby fostering a more nuanced and informed understanding of the dynamics between consumers and the wearable technology sector.

This study makes a direct contribution to marketing and consumer behavior studies by illuminating the pathways through which emerging technologies gain market traction and sustain consumer engagement. In particular, our findings offer insight into how sports marketers can tailor product messaging, pricing strategies, and distribution channels to encourage initial adoption and long-term loyalty. By clarifying the role of performance expectancy, perceived ease of use, social influence, and facilitating conditions, this work enables businesses to craft more targeted marketing campaigns that resonate with tech-savvy consumers and casual sports enthusiasts alike. By capturing both the marketing implications and the consumer-oriented drivers behind wearable technology use, this study provides valuable guidance to researchers and practitioners in the sports industry and beyond. The insights generated can help shape strategies that lead to sustainable adoption, enhanced consumer experiences, and competitive advantages in an increasingly digitized marketplace.