Search results

This study aims to examine the impact of firm-generated content (FGC) on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) influencers, focussing on inclusive marketing strategies and enquires the ability of LGBTQ+ influencers to enhance brand engagement and loyalty within diverse communities.

A quantitative approach was utilized, and data was collected via social media platforms. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to explore the relationships between FGC, influencer content, dimensions of place attachment and brand loyalty.

According to the findings FGC positively influences LGBTQ+ influencers, which in turn affect in a significant way place identity and place social bonding. Both dimensions of place attachment were found to have a positive impact on brand loyalty, which indicate that LGBTQ+ influencers have an important role in enhancing brand engagement through inclusive marketing.

Firms in order to increase their brand loyalty and customer engagement, need to adopt inclusive marketing strategies that resonate with LGBTQ+ communities. In order to do so they need to work with LGBTQ+ influencers that can effectively communicate the brand’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, thus fostering a stronger emotional connection with the brand.

This study introduces a conceptual framework that highlights the mediator role of place attachment in the relationship between influencer marketing and brand loyalty. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the effectiveness of leveraging LGBTQ+ influencers in inclusive marketing campaigns.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the thermomechanical response of four well-known lead-free die attach materials: sintered silver, sintered nano-copper particles, gold-tin solders and silver-tin transient liquid phase (TLP) bonds.

This examination is conducted through finite element analysis. The mechanical properties of all die attach systems, including elastic and Anand creep parameters, are obtained from relevant literature and incorporated into the numerical analysis. Consequently, the bond stress-strain relationships, stored inelastic strain energies and equivalent plastic strains are thoroughly examined.

The results indicate that silver-tin TLP bonds are prone to exhibiting higher inelastic strain energy densities, while sintered silver and copper interconnects tend to possess higher levels of plastic strains and deformations. This suggests a higher susceptibility to damage in these metallic die attachments. On the other hand, the more expensive gold-based solders exhibit lower inelastic strain energy densities and plastic strains, implying an improved fatigue performance compared to other bonding configurations.

The utilization of different metallic material systems as die attachments in power electronics necessitates a comprehensive understanding of their thermomechanical behavior. Therefore, the results of the present paper can be useful in the die attach material selection in power electronics.

The purpose of this study is to explore from a place attachment (PA) theory perspective the extent to which and how, a fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experience enhances tourists’ attachment level on-site at a rural destination.

This study applied an exploratory mixed method approach. Respondents were tourists visiting the Lake District National Park who were asked to try a VR experience. In Study 1, interviews were conducted to explore new themes and to develop an enhanced PA framework in VR. Study 1 confirmed existing variables from the literature and highlighted new variables (themes) to be included in the new framework on how PA is formed. In Study 2, surveys were conducted, and the proposed framework analyzed using structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). To fully understand how VR had an impact on enhancing PA, the moderating effect of tourists’ pre-existing PA was considered.

The findings revealed “Accessibility”, “Memories” and “Increased Place Knowledge” as new themes (variables) and confirmed that these and established variables “Aesthetics” and “Presence” enhance PA, leading to increased loyalty. Significant moderating effects of existing PA were found.

VR serves as a complementary and substitutional tool for tourism. Tailored VR experiences for diverse tourist needs may enhance destination marketing and competitiveness. For tourists with low PA, destinations should focus on promoting activities and highlights to enhance engagement and the experiential understanding of the destination. For tourists with high PA, VR experiences should focus on providing a comprehensive view of the destination and unveiling new places. In both cases, the VR experience leads to deeper engagement with the destination and an increase in PA.

Research on the impact of VR on tourists’ PA is limited. To address this gap, this study’s theoretical contribution lies in developing and testing a PA framework within a VR and tourism context. This also includes the validation of new measurement items developed in relation to the new themes.

Although small businesses are important to the economy, few studies have examined how the small restaurant experience influences customer behavior. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop a model and examine the influence of small restaurant attributes (i.e. authenticity) on customers’ positive attitudes and behavior.

Using 181 responses from customers of small restaurants, this study examines how the dimensions of authenticity (i.e. continuity, credibility, integrity, and symbolism) affect customers’ positive behavioral intentions through emotional attachment.

The results of partial least squared–structural equation modeling demonstrate that customer perceptions of symbolism, credibility, and integrity in their experience at a small restaurant influence their attachment, which in turn influences both their word of mouth and revisit intentions. However, continuity has no significant effect on customers’ emotional attachment to service providers. Also, the effects of authenticity on customer behavior vary across demographic categories.

With increasing competition in the small business context, service providers seek to understand how to create positive customer patronization behavior. This study provides guidelines for small business owners who are developing marketing strategies.

Global brands have become increasingly vulnerable to external disruptions that have negative spillover effects on consumers, business and brands. This research area has recently garnered interest post-pandemic yet remains fragmented. The purpose of this paper is to recognize the most impactful exogenous brand crisis (EBC) and its affective and behavioural impact on consumers.

In Study 1, we applied repertory grid technique (RGT), photo elicitation method and ANOVA comparisons, to identify the most significant EBC, in terms of repercussions on consumer purchases. In Study 2, we performed collage construction and content analysis to ascertain the impact of the identified significant crisis (from Study 1) on consumer behaviour in terms of affective and behavioural changes.

Study 1 results reveal Spread-of-diseases and Natural disaster to be the most impactful EBC based on consumer’s purchase decisions. Study 2 findings uncover three distinct themes, namely, deviant demand, emotional upheaval and community bonding that throws light on the affective and behavioural changes in consumer behaviour during the two significant EBC events.

The collated results of the two studies draw insights towards understanding the largely unexplored conceptualisation of EBC from a multi-level (micro-meso-macro) perspective. The integrated framework drawn, highlight the roles and influences of different players in exogenous brand crisis management and suggests future research agendas based on theoretical underpinnings.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which identifies the most important EBC and explicates its profound impact on consumer purchase behaviour, providing critical insights to brand managers and practitioners to take an inclusive approach towards exogenous crises.

The integration of social media and e-commerce has resulted in a rising phenomenon among individual content providers (ICPs), who used to offer free content, to provide consumers with paid content, such as online courses, Q&As or consultations. Despite the prevalence of ICPs’ content monetization, empirical research has rarely studied its underlying mechanism. This paper examines how the characteristics of free content contributed by ICPs on social media platforms influence their paid content sales, focusing on the perspective of human brand.

The empirical setting is an online knowledge exchange platform, where users are allowed to provide free content (e.g. answers) on the social media platform and launch paid content (e.g. lectures) on the e-commerce platform. A machine learning technique is employed to construct measures for the characteristics of free content, and fixed-effects estimation is presented to confirm which factors have a significant influence on the sales of paid content.

The empirical results show that the quality, diversity and expertness of free content have a significant positive impact on the sales of the ICP-paid content, with the brand popularity of ICP playing a mediating role.

This study is the first attempt to demystify the relationship between content contribution and ICPs’ content monetization from the perspective of human brand. The findings validate the effectiveness of the “Selling by Contribution” strategy and provide valuable insights for ICPs and social media platforms.

Drawing from the literature on internationalization, higher education marketing and place branding, this paper aims to link the internationalization of higher education to country branding. It explores the impact of internationalization within the higher education system on Egypt’s destination brand equity. This investigation offers insights for decision-makers in both the higher education and country branding sectors.

This empirical paper adopts an exploratory approach and serves as an initial step for researchers. It utilizes a quantitative methodology, employing a survey with 366 responses, to examine the effects of internationalization efforts in higher education on country brand equity.

The results reveal a direct correlation between student engagement and the brand equity of international branch campuses (IBCs), as well as a link between IBCs and Egypt’s brand equity. Notably, the study highlights the mediating role of IBC brand equity in the relationship between student engagement and the overall brand equity of Egypt.

This paper is innovative in its method of assessing the impact of internationalization efforts in higher education, specifically at IBCs in Egypt, on Egypt’s destination brand equity. Additionally, the study identifies student engagement as an antecedent to IBC brand equity.

Nature’s contribution to people (NCP) is a concept that specifically recognizes the relationship of “humans and the natural environment” similarly to concepts of “cultural landscapes” and consistent to “heritage.” These concepts are essential in incorporating a diverse range of stakeholders from different scales, which is important for policy and practice. The paper aims to review the existing peer-reviewed papers in the Philippines, using meta-analysis and systematic review. We addressed the significant interlinkages that help facilitate the transition and strengthen the correlation of cultural ecosystem services (CES) and NCP in a cultural landscape setting.

To distinguish and support claims for NCP from CES, we conducted a meta-analysis and systematic review based on the 30-existing peer-reviewed articles on the Philippine cultural ES in the lenses of “heritage” and “cultural landscape.”

The results generated a few numbers of the Philippine CES studies, yet it has increased cumulatively year by year consistent with previous international studies. We found that most studies are focused on topics associated with “Indigenous People, Ancestral Domains, Protected Areas/Landscapes, and Indigenous and Local Knowledge” on the linkages concurrently distinguishing NCP to CES, and may signify stronger economic valuation in uncovering the sociocultural dimensions of these scholarships through its relational values in the lenses of cultural landscape and heritage.

The authors limited the search to peer-reviewed journal articles published from online databases and did not consider Philippine University based and local publications to have a systematic review. This is to prevent underestimating the vast amount of CES literature and avoid gray literature that is not peer-reviewed; hence, being able to analyze and produce focused, yet, credible data.

In a generalizing perspective, NCP 1, 6, 8, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17 and 18 have the most realized positive correlations of the reporting categories to the Philippine CES studies. The majority of the context-specific perspective NCP has strong conceptual claims in the existing Philippine CES literature through the studies’ variables aside from NCP 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 11 that are still mostly in the nature of generalizing perspective.

In conclusion, our results imply that the previous and existing CES studies in the Philippines harbor more attributes presented by the NCP reporting categories. This is deemed more suitable, and may signify stronger economic valuation in uncovering the sociocultural dimensions of these scholarships through its relational values in the lenses of cultural landscape and heritage.

Although the outcomes arising from firms’ interaction with policymakers is a developed theme, family firms’ political credentials and lobbying remain unexplored. To ignite this discourse, the extent to which these factors influence family firms’ tax experience and perception of corruption obstacles is estimated, as well as the impact on sales performance.

Cross-sectional data from Turkish family firms are examined by a structural equation model. The sample is comprised of 588 family firms spanning 12 regions.

The paths revealed that family firms’ political credentials do not inherently yield a positive tax experience. Rather, membership of a business association provides a medium to engage in lobbying activity. In turn, this leads to a more positive tax experience but also a greater exposure to corruption. Likewise, informed lobbying increases sales performance while corruption has the reverse effect.

The significant influences of political credentials and lobbying make a novel contribution to organisational field theory. Practically, the study appeals to family firms seeking to ease their tax experience while increasing sales and bypassing corruption.

This study aims to examine the role of religion on Indonesia’ Muslim consumers’ emotional bonding and loyalty.

The sample consists of 505 and structural equation modelling was used to confirm research hypotheses.

The results indicated that religion has a positive and significant effect on Muslim consumers’ emotional bonding; furthermore, emotional bonding play an important role in mediating the relationship between consumers’ religiosity and consumers’ loyalty.

Future research is required to confirm the validity of this study throughout the sector and among Muslim banking consumers.

Bank managers also promote their consumers as change agents to recommend their companies to others. It is also essential in strengthening the relationship between consumers and the companies.

This study provided the Muslim consumers’ loyalty standpoint, the study enlightened bank managers about consumers’ loyalty through religiosity and emotional bonding.