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Corporate hypocrisy occurs when a discrepancy exists between corporate talk and actions. As companies assume more extensive economic, societal and global roles, they are more likely to encounter situations in which their words and actions are inconsistent. Therefore, a company’s ability to cope with such situations is becoming increasingly important. This study aims to examine the negative effects of corporate hypocrisy on corporate reputation. First, it reveals the underlying mechanisms by presenting corporate trust and affective commitment as parallel mediators. Additionally, it explores how corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions mitigate the indirect effects of corporate hypocrisy.

Data were collected through an online survey conducted at two time points in the context of Korean retail banking companies. A total of 313 respondents participated in a two-wave online survey using a multistage sampling technique to ensure a representative population sample. This study used the Mplus-based Hayes’ PROCESS Macro to test the research hypotheses.

The results show that corporate hypocrisy negatively affects corporate reputation by impeding customers’ corporate trust and affective commitment. These negative indirect effects are mitigated when customers’ perceptions of CSR are high.

By establishing a parallel moderated mediation model that captures the impact of corporate hypocrisy. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study presents important academic and managerial implications that have not been provided in the literature.

Fast fashion brands in Asia are increasingly incorporating corporate social responsibility (CSR) into their business strategies in response to the mounting environmental and social concerns. The study aims to provide insights into the current landscape of CSR practices and communication within the Asian context through focusing on two prominent Asian brands to understand how these fashion brands articulate and convey their CSR activities on their respective websites.

This study used a qualitative content analysis to critically evaluate the CSR communication used by Uniqlo and Shein, with the incorporation of signalling theory as a theoretical framework to discuss the observed elements on their websites.

The results indicate that the two Asian fast fashion brands actively engage in CSR’s environmental and social dimensions. Notably, the social dimension is more prominently expressed on both brands’ websites than on other dimensions. Through a nuanced interplay of colour, imagery and keywords, these Asian fast fashion brands strategically signify their commitment to environmental stewardship and stakeholder well-being.

This study fills a gap in the literature by examining CSR programs on Asian-owned fast fashion brands’ websites through the application of signalling theory. The research contributes to the theoretical foundation of CSR communication outcome research, offering actionable insights for marketers entering the Asian fashion market to enhance brand reputation and legitimacy.

Sustainability is considered a core trend in the development of the fashion industry. Clarifying the driving factors of consumers’ sharing willingness regarding sustainable image from the perspective of psychology can help fashion brands implement sustainable management and deepen industrial sustainable development.

Based on commitment theory, this paper proposes a conceptual model that includes three antecedents: perception of greenwashing, environmental, social and governance (ESG) and social media content quality. These affect consumers’ sharing willingness regarding sustainable image through affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. Furthermore, 310 participants reported their tendencies in a formal empirical study.

The results show that unlike green perception, which has a significant negative effect, consumers have a significant positive commitment to high perceived levels of ESG and social media content quality. Besides, all three dimensions under the commitment theory play a partial mediating role between consumer perception and sharing willingness.

This study not only extends the research on the commitment theory to the field of fashion marketing and management but also enriches the research context of brand image sharing willingness, which explains the differential effects of different consumer commitments on their information sharing willingness. Moreover, several management implications applicable to the fashion industry have also been proposed based on the conclusion.

This study aims to examine the underlying mechanisms through which entrepreneurial marketing (EM) promotes the development of a favorable brand image and enhances sales growth and market share in new ventures (NVs).

The authors tested the theoretical model using a multi-informant design in which survey data were collected from NV entrepreneurs and marketing managers. Hypotheses were tested using linear regression and PROCESS analysis.

The authors demonstrate the significance of EM as comprising two NV capabilities – first, the level of complementarity between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and market orientation (MO) as a dynamic capability, and second, brand management capabilities (BMCs) as an operational capability – in shaping a favorable NV brand image and promoting market performance.

The authors offer a novel perspective by demonstrating that EO and MO yield complementarities in driving NVs’ BMCs, which, in turn, drive brand image development and market performance for NVs. In doing so, the authors demonstrate novel theoretical implications for the relevance of EM to NV branding, which, to date, has received scant attention in the literature.

The authors identify a potential avenue for entrepreneurs and NV managers to mitigate the potential failure rates by simultaneously pursuing a higher level of EO and MO and investing in brand-building activities. Such efforts can help enhance brand image, drive sales growth and foster long-term success.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to include brand capabilities as an element of EM, examine EM in NV brand image development and identify the role of EM capabilities relevant to NV brand building and market performance simultaneously.

The aim of this paper, which analyses the use of sports celebrities in advertising discourse, is to understand the strategic use to which brands put them in their commercial and corporate communication on Instagram.

To this end, a content analysis was performed on the Instagram posts of the brands Santander, Movistar, Red Bull and Iberdrola during the period 2021-2022.

The results indicate that, strategically speaking, these brands use the celebrity endorsement strategy to pursue emotional objectives and to adopt a position depending on the type of user. Likewise, these findings show that they single out uniqueness as the principal celebrity characteristic, while also mainly leveraging sports values, especially competence. These values represented by sports celebrities are markedly social in nature, which implies that they enjoy a degree of public recognition that is transferred to the brand to which they lend their image.

The conclusions connect celebrity endorsers with strategic branding issues and aspects of sports.

An empirical approach is followed here to study the representation of sports celebrities in the advertising of well-known brands linked to the sports world.

Conceptual and empirical research over the past 20 years has moved the social media (SM) literature beyond the embryotic stage to a well-developed academic discipline. As the lead article in the special issue in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing on Cutting-Edge Research in Social Media and Interactive Marketing, this review and agenda article has two key goals: (1) to review key SM and interactive marketing research over the past three years and (2) to identify the next wave of high priority challenges and research opportunities.

Given the “cutting-edge” research focus of the special issue, this review and research agenda paper focused on articles published in 25 key marketing journals between January 2021 and March 2024. Initially, the search request was for articles with “social media, social selling, social commerce” located in the article title, author-selected key words and journal-selected keywords. Later, we conducted searches based on terminology from articles presented in the final review. In total, over 1,000 articles were reviewed across the 25 journals, plus additional ones that were cited in those journals that were not on the initial list.

Our review uncovered eight key content areas: (1) data sources, methodology and scale development; (2) emergent SM technologies; (3) artificial intelligence; (4) virtual reality; (5) sales and sales management; (6) consumer welfare; (7) influencer marketing; and (8) social commerce. Table I provides a summer of key articles and research findings for each of the content areas.

As a literature review and research agenda article, this paper is one of the most extensive to date on SM marketing, and particularly with regard to emergent research over the past three years. Recommendations for future research are integrated through the paper and summarized in Figure 2.

Consumer welfare is one of the eight emergent content areas uncovered in the literature review. Specific focus is on SM privacy, misinformation, mental health and misbehavior.

Drawing upon uses and gratifications (U&G) theory and customers' online brand-related activities framework, the present study aims to examine the influence of customers’ motivations to engage with brand-related social media content on different social media engagement behaviors (consumption, contribution and creation) and brand-related outcomes (brand trust and brand loyalty) in the quick service restaurant (QSR) context.

Based on a self-administered survey dataset of 500 social media users who are customers of QSR brands, partial least square structural equation modeling is used to verify the hypotheses.

Results showed that interactivity motivation and information motivation drive all the social media engagement behaviors (consumption, contribution and creation). The results also confirmed the mediating effect of brand trust on the relationship between two levels of social media engagement behaviors (consumption and contribution) and brand loyalty.

To entice customers to engage with QSR brands on social media, social media marketing managers should incorporate elements of interactivity, information, entertainment and incentive into QSR social media brand posts rather than relying solely on delivering social media content in a variety of ways such as photos, videos and status updates.

This study makes a novel contribution to hospitality and social media engagement literature, thus uncovering opportunities for managers to engage their customers on social media.

The purpose of this article is to identify whether there is happiness in the consumption of brands and product categories and to clarify which provides more happiness: consuming the product itself or consuming the branded product.

The research was a survey with 528 Brazilian consumers. Data were analyzed and interpreted through content analysis and regressions: linear, quantile and logistic.

The results show that there is happiness in the consumption of brands and product categories, with culture being the category that most provides happiness; also confirming that individuals who consume branded products are happier than those who consume the product itself.

Studies confirm that there is happiness in consumption, but when we show that there is more happiness in the consumption of branded products than in not consuming the product itself, and when we identify which are the categories of products that bring the most happiness in an emerging country of Latin America, our article deepens and expands the previous literature.

We suggest that companies associate their brands with culture to balance profit with sustainable purpose. For this, we provide a framework as a tool for this association.

The topic of our article is relevant, timely and current, its originality lies in confirming that those who consume the branded product are happier and those who consume the product itself are less happy, and also by identifying which categories provide the most happiness.

El propósito de este artículo es identificar si hay felicidad en el consumo de marcas y categorías de productos y esclarecer cuál proporciona más felicidad: consumir el producto en sí o consumir el producto de marca.

La investigación fue una encuesta con 528 consumidores brasileños. Los datos fueron analizados e interpretados mediante análisis de contenido y regresiones: lineal, cuantil y logística.

Los resultados muestran que existe felicidad en el consumo de marcas y categorías de productos, siendo la cultura la categoría que más felicidad brinda; confirmando también que los individuos que consumen productos de marca son más felices que los que consumen el producto en sí.

Sugerimos que las empresas asocien sus marcas con la cultura para equilibrar las ganancias con un propósito sostenible. Para ello, proporcionamos un marco como herramienta para esta asociación.

Los estudios confirman que hay felicidad en el consumo, pero cuando demostramos que hay más felicidad en el consumo de productos de marca que en no consumir el producto en sí, y cuando identificamos cuáles son las categorías de productos que más felicidad aportan en un mundo emergente país de América Latina, nuestro artículo profundiza y amplía la literatura anterior.

El tema de nuestro artículo es relevante, oportuno y actual, su originalidad radica en constatar que quienes consumen el producto de marca son más felices y quienes consumen el producto en sí son menos felices, y también en identificar qué categorías aportan más felicidad.

This study aims to contribute to the darker side of consumer–brand interactions by examining the relationship between consumer-related antecedents, particularly consumer personality traits, in triggering brand-hate emotions. Additionally, the link between brand hate and brand forgiveness was also taken into account, as well as the moderating impact of personality attributes. The impact of brand forgiveness on consumer coping behavior was investigated, particularly for brand switching (flight) and negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) (fight) on Indian e-commerce shopping websites/apps.

Using a structured questionnaire survey and a nonprobability purposive sampling approach, data were obtained from 438 online shoppers who had experienced hate directed at a particular shopping website or app. The hypotheses were tested statistically using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling with SmartPLS 4 software.

First, the findings demonstrate that agreeableness, extraversion and neuroticism significantly affected brand hate. Second, the results indicate that personality traits, particularly extraversion and conscientiousness from the Big-Five model, play a substantial role in moderating the relationship between brand hate and brand forgiveness. Third, the study also reveals the significance of brand forgiveness in mitigating the adverse consequences of NWOM and brand switching in the context of e-commerce platforms.

Practical steps such as complaint-management processes and prompt resolutions through an appropriate means of active interaction and understanding the consumer’s personality when their concerns are heard and handled can help brand managers earn customers’ forgiveness and reduce brand hate toward e-commerce websites/apps.

Based on the authors’ understanding, this study is the initial one to incorporate brand hate, brand forgiveness and coping strategies into the model in a service context with the interaction effect of consumer personality traits.

Organisations are confronted with the challenge of navigating various pressures arising from activities that shape environmental and social impacts, which stakeholders find significant. This research endeavours to ascertain a process facilitating the analysis and seamless integration of sustainability into corporate strategy. The goal is to establish an “integrated” ESG governance framework adept at effectively managing institutional pressures.

This research employs an action research approach, focusing on a leading company within the sugar industry. The investigation delves into the relationship dynamics associated with business issues through a process that engages, either directly or indirectly, board members, top managers, as well as industrial and commercial customers, along with final consumers.

The formulation of a sustainability strategy serves as a guiding framework for the Board of Directors in effectively navigating tensions arising from environmental, social and economic pressures.

The research contributes to bridging the realms of business governance and institutional theory (viewed under a paradoxical lens). On a managerial level, the study introduces a structured process aimed at seamlessly integrating sustainability objectives into governance, aligning with international ESG guidelines (OECD, 2023; WEF, 2020).

The originality of this research lies in crafting a sustainability strategy by the BoD that takes into account the impact of governance and responds to the demands of strategic stakeholders.