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This article examines the impact of banks’ corporate social responsibility communication through social media (CSR-S), electronic word of mouth (eWOM), and brand reputation on consumer behavior during the COVID-19 crisis, with a focus on purchase intention.

The study employed a quantitative approach to analyze data from a survey of 621 Egyptian bank customers who followed the banks’ social media pages and interacted with CSR-S initiatives. A genetic algorithm selected the most relevant variables affecting purchase intention. A Bayesian regression model was used to analyze the impact of CSR-S communication, eWOM, and brand reputation on purchase intention.

CSR-S initiatives, eWOM, and brand reputation were found to influence customer purchase intention. CSR-S initiatives can boost purchase intention by encouraging brand reputation and initiative sharing with friends and other customers. However, CSR-S negatively moderates the positive impact of eWOM and brand reputation on the predisposition to contract products and services with the bank.

This study addresses critical research gaps in CSR literature. Firstly, it examines the impact of CSR-S actions on customer behavior, a perspective less explored in previous research. Secondly, it investigates the intricate relationships between CSR-S, eWOM, brand reputation, and purchase intention, shedding light on their interplay, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this research extends CSR-S investigations to the competitive banking industry and focuses on a developing country context, enhancing the applicability of findings for Egyptian banks. Lastly, the study employs advanced methodologies to improve the accuracy of results.

本文擬探討於2019冠狀病毒病危機期間、銀行透過社交媒體而進行關於企業社會責任的溝通 (以下簡稱社媒企社責溝通) 、電子口碑和品牌聲譽,如何影響消費行為; 研究會聚焦於客戶的購買意向上。

研究以定量方法、去分析來自涵蓋621名埃及銀行客戶的調查的數據; 這些客戶均有追隨銀行的社交媒體頁面,並曾與銀行就企業社會責任提出的倡議進行互動交流。研究人員以基因演算法挑選了與購買意向相關性最密切的變量,並以貝葉斯回歸模型,去分析探討社媒企社責溝通、電子口碑和品牌聲譽、如何影響客戶的購買意向。

研究結果顯示,透過社交媒體傳達的企業社會責任倡議、電子口碑和品牌聲譽,均會影響客戶的購買意向。這類倡議會透過促進品牌聲譽和朋友或客戶間的互相共享而令購買意向提昇。唯社媒企社責溝通會減弱電子口碑和品牌聲譽給客戶購買意向帶來的正面影響,使他們與銀行訂立商品或服務契約的意欲降低。

本研究致力回應企業社會責任文獻內重要的研究空白。首先,研究人員探討社媒企社責溝通對客戶行為帶來的影響,這研究角度從來沒有被充分利用。其次,本研究探討社媒企社責溝通、電子口碑、品牌聲譽和購買意向之間錯綜複雜的關係,這幫助闡明各元素的相互作用,尤以2019冠狀病毒病肆虐期間為甚。再者,本研究把關於社媒企社責溝通的研究擴展至競爭性銀行業,並聚焦於涉及一個發展中國家的背景,這都使研究結果更能應用於分析埃及銀行上。最後,研究人員為了提高研究結果的準確性,採用了先進的方法進行研究。

The current study aims to propose and empirically investigate a conceptual model of the most relevant antecedents and consequences of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) attribution, thus providing a practical and concise model as well as examining brand attachment as a mediator explaining the relationship between CSR attribution and its consequences.

A between-subjects experimental design was employed. The study included two experimental conditions; intrinsic and extrinsic CSR attribution and a control condition. An online self-administered survey was utilised for data collection. The sample was a convenience sample of 336 university students. Both one-way between-groups ANOVA and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) were utilised for hypotheses testing.

The most significant antecedents of CSR attribution in order of importance are the firm's approach to CSR communication, past corporate social performance, CSR type and the firm's call for customers' participation in its CSR. CSR attribution exerted a significant direct positive impact on brand attachment and trust. Three significant indirect consequences of CSR attribution were PWOM intention, purchase intention and brand loyalty intention. Whereas trust played a significant mediating role between CSR attribution and its three indirect consequences, brand attachment exerted significant mediation only between CSR attribution and brand loyalty intention. Brand attachment might mediate the relationship between CSR attribution and purchase intention. However, brand attachment failed to play a mediating role between CSR attribution and PWOM intention.

Several studies marginally investigated CSR attribution. Despite the vital role of CSR attribution in how consumers receive firms' CSR engagement, the availability of CSR attribution-centric studies is limited. By introducing a model of the most relevant antecedents and consequences of CSR attribution, this study aids in understanding the psychological mechanism underlying consumers' CSR attribution and provides valuable implications.

Due to the intense rivalry in the smartphone market, manufacturers of mobile phones are becoming increasingly interested in knowing the factors that influence consumers' purchase intention. This paper aims to examine the effect of country-of-origin image, brand image and attitude towards the brand on the purchase intention of smartphone users.

An empirical study was performed based on the information gathered from smartphone users. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was applied to examine the hypotheses.

The authors found that brand image and attitude towards the brand significantly influence consumer purchase intention. Additionally, there is an indirect effect even when the nation of origin image does not directly influence the consumer's purchase intention. Indeed, brand image and attitude towards the brand act as a mediator between the country-of-origin image and purchase intention.

This study presents a conceptual model on the impact of country-of-origin image on the propensity of consumers to buy smartphones in a field where little research has been done. The investigation offers a consumer-focused analysis regarding the country-of-origin image. This suggests a significant shift from the current strategy, which is frequently centered on the viewpoint of the companies.

Emojis are quickly becoming a popular new language in social media and marketing. The capability to express emotions and make message understanding easier is one of the primary reasons for using emojis. The aim of this research was to determine the influence of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, and involvement on customer engagement due to emojis used in digital marketing communications among Generation Z (Gen Z) in South Africa.

Following the descriptive research approach, quantitative research was used in this study. A questionnaire (self-administered) was utilized to test the effectiveness of using emojis among 1,000 young consumers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

The findings of the study yielded positive relationships between the variables, namely between trust and involvement; involvement and the perceived ease of use; involvement and perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness; trust and customer engagement; perceived usefulness and customer engagement; involvement and customer engagement; customer engagement and intention to purchase; trust and intention to purchase; and perceived usefulness and intention to purchase.

This study can help organizations in emerging markets use emojis in their digital marketing communications to engage customers and stimulate intention to purchase among young people, especially the Gen Z cohort, who seek organizations and brands that understand and connect with them.

By investigating the effects of emojis in digital marketing communications, this study contributes to the customer-centric process and the literature on emoji usage while also involving a credible digital language when communicating with members of Gen Z. By extending TAM, the findings of this study contribute to the TAM literature by demonstrating that emoji usage in digital marketing communications positively influences various attitudinal associations among Gen Z consumers.

This study aims to examine the moderator effect of religiosity on the relationship between halal brand awareness and habit towards purchasing decisions of halal products.

The quantitative method is used in this study. Descriptive and statistical (multiple and moderated regression) analyses are employed to test the hypothesis according to the research model. The data is collected using a cross-sectional design from 197 respondents consisting of business owners in North Sumatera, Indonesia.

It is found that both halal brand awareness and habit have a positive and significant effect on the purchasing decision of halal products. Meanwhile, religiosity significantly acts as a moderating variable in the relationship between awareness and purchasing decisions, as well as habit and purchasing decisions.

This study revealed the important factor of religiosity as a moderating factor in purchase decisions of halal products. The government may need to collaborate with Islamic educational institutions to raise awareness of the halal concept and product awareness. It is assumed that individuals who know about the Islamic religion will have a higher degree of awareness of halal products compared to individuals with limited knowledge of Islam; thus, providers of Islamic education play a crucial role in raising the level of awareness of halal products. Schools may serve as catalysts for the dissemination of knowledge of halal products.

Developing halal product markets can be done by enhancing the religiosity level of consumers, one of them through attending formal or informal religious classes.

Although previous studies have examined the influence of celebrity involvement in behavioural intentions, the role of celebrity dimensions such as attraction, self-expression and centrality in influencing tourists’ intention in the context of developing countries such as Tanzania remains largely unaddressed. This study, therefore, examined the relationship between celebrity involvement and domestic tourists' intentions to visit tourist attractions, attitude being the mediating variable.

A questionnaire was self-administered on a convenient sample of 279 domestic tourists in the Tanzania’s four largest regions, namely, Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Arusha and Mwanza. Employing a quantitative research approach, structural equation modelling was performed to test the cause-and-effect relationships between celebrity involvement and tourists’ intentions before testing the mediating role of attitude in such a relationship. Confirmatory factor analysis was also performed to test the measurement models.

Attraction emerged to be the main determinant of the celebrity dimension that significantly influenced domestic tourists’ travel intentions, whereas attitude partially mediates such a relationship. Moreover, Bongo Fleva musicians, particularly Diamond Platnumz, one of the leading celebrities in this genre, were found to influence most of the respondents’ travel intentions – he posted a picture on his Instagram account of him touring the Serengeti National Park.

The study focused on domestic tourists residing in four of the Mainland Tanzania’s largest regions, hence excluding those residing on the islands of Unguja and Pemba. Due to cultural differences, including the islands not only could unleash new perspectives on celebrity involvement dimensions but also could have introduced new determinants of travel intentions.

This study offers guidance to tourism businesses on designing their marketing campaigns that they should harness celebrity’s attractive qualities effectively. The focus should be directed not only towards linking destinations with celebrities but also on stimulating positive perception of those destinations, aligning with the attitudes of their followers.

The study has set out a new perspective for researchers, practitioners and tourism businesses to refine their promotional strategies and for academicians to gain a deeper understanding of visitor behavioural intention dynamics.

This study has proposed and verified that attraction is a dominant determinant compared to self-expression and centrality in explaining tourists’ travel intentions and attitudes, which play a significant role in explaining such a relationship. Although the study employed a modified theory of planned behaviour in a celebrity involvement study, the findings have broadened the understanding and its applicability in the context of a developing country.

This study proposes that reciprocity appeal may influence consumers helping behavior. The authors suggest that this influence depends on the target of reciprocity (direct vs. indirect), consumer–brand social distance (close vs. distant) and frequency of exposure to the appeal over time.

This research was conducted through three experimental studies. They were carried out both through online experiment (Study 1) and in laboratory (Studies 2 and 3). Study 3 consisted of an experiment combined with longitudinal growth models, supporting the hypothesis that repetitive periods decrease reciprocity over time.

The results demonstrate that consumers close to a brand become more prosocial toward the company when the reciprocity appeal is perceived as direct (vs. indirect). In contrast, the indirect reciprocity appeal influences consumers distant from the company. Furthermore, reciprocity appeal decreases consumer helping behavior over time, but indirect reciprocity appeal attenuates this negative effect only to close customers.

This research contributes to theory by showing that direct reciprocal appeals increase the helping behavior of close customers when company appeals are infrequently made.

This research is the first to empirically investigate the efficiency of voucher campaigns. Furthermore, it innovates by exploring a situation of direct consumer reciprocity in which the consumer decides to help a company with an expectation, but no explicit requirement, that the company will reciprocate.

The research paper examines the impact of perceived social media marketing activities (SMMAs) (interaction, entertainment, customization, trendiness and word of mouth (WOM)) on customer loyalty (CL) toward e-commerce providers. The study also explores the mediating role of customer relationship quality (CRQ) (commitment, trust and satisfaction) on the relationship between perceived SMMAs and CL.

The study is based on the S-O-R model, which states that characteristics of the environment (stimulus) arouse a cognitive state (organism) that results in positive or negative behavior (response). The present study proposes the characteristics of the e-commerce environment as stimuli (S), the inner state of customers as an organism (O) and consumer behavior as the response (R). This study investigated the responses of 487 social media users through structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results offer three crucial findings. First, the study validated that perceived SMMA comprises five dimensions (interaction, entertainment, customization, trendiness and WOM) in the Indian e-commerce context. Second, perceived SMMA significantly influences CRQ (commitment, trust and satisfaction). Third, CRQ significantly mediates the relationship between perceived SMMA and CL.

The study attempts to understand the effect of perceived SMMA on CL via CRQ in an e-commerce context, especially in an emerging economy like India. The present study argues that the SMMA of e-commerce is likely to be reflected in CL when the consumers experience CRQ through commitment, trust and satisfaction. Thus exploring the mediating role of CRQ is the authors' contribution.

Amidst escalating sustainability challenges, product and brand managers face a pressing need to foster responsible consumption and marketing strategies. Guided by the theory of planned behavior, this paper aims to explore consumers’ motivation to purchase second-hand clothing, a type of product that contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production by democratizing the brand, extending the life-cycle of the product, promoting a circular economy, while reducing economic costs for consumers and environmental costs for companies.

A two-stage study was conducted: 20 consumers were initially interviewed to identify the salient beliefs about second-hand clothing, and following that, a survey was conducted with 449 consumers to statistically analyze consumers’ motivation to purchase second-hand clothing. The data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and necessary condition analysis (NCA).

From a “should-have” perspective (PLS-SEM), the study reveals that behavioral beliefs, injunctive normative beliefs, descriptive normative beliefs and control beliefs positively shape attitudes, injunctive norms, descriptive norms and perceived behavioral control toward second-hand clothing, whereas attitudes, injunctive norms, moral norms and perceived behavioral control positively influence consumers’ purchases of second-hand clothing. From a “must-have” perspective (NCA), the study shows that behavioral beliefs, injunctive normative beliefs and descriptive normative beliefs are necessary conditions to positively shape attitudes, injunctive norms and descriptive norms toward second-hand clothing, whereas attitudes, injunctive norms and perceived behavioral control are necessary conditions to stimulate second-hand clothing purchases.

The study offers a deep dive into consumers’ motivation to purchase second-hand clothing using a multimethod approach that enables not only the elicitation of salient beliefs (through interviews) but also the empirical examination of these beliefs alongside varying subjective norms in motivating consumers to purchase second-hand clothing (via survey). Given that beliefs are deeply rooted, the rigorous unfolding and validation of consumers’ beliefs about second-hand clothing, including the “should-haves” versus the “must-haves,” provide finer-grained insights that product and brand managers can strategically use to encourage consumers to purchase second-hand clothing.

This study aims to investigate the relative impact of firm-created (FC) and user-generated (UG) social media marketing communication on fashionwear customers' purchase intention (CPI) in Sri Lanka. The primary objective is to identify the influence of social media marketing on the purchasing intention (PI) of customers in the fashionwear industry in Sri Lanka.

A standardized online survey was conducted, generating 312 datasets for analysis.

The empirical findings reveal that both firm-produced and UG social media fashionwear marketing communication has a significant influence on CPI. However, firm-produced social media fashionwear brands demonstrate a higher impact on CPI.

This study highlights the importance of social media marketing communication in shaping customers’ PI in the fashionwear industry in Sri Lanka. Both FC and UG content on social media platforms play a crucial role in influencing customers' intention to purchase fashionwear products. However, firm-produced social media fashionwear brands exert a stronger impact on CPI. These findings emphasize the need for marketers to incorporate effective social media strategies, including both FC and UG content, to enhance customer engagement and drive purchase decisions in the fashion-wear industry.