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The purpose of this research was to explore the stickiness of players' motivation in a virtual community and to explore the important factors for gamers.

In this research, motivation was the independent variable; the virtual community was the mediator; and stickiness was the dependent variable. An online questionnaire survey was conducted, with users of augmented reality (AR) as the research objects. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS and AMOS software to verify the research model and research hypotheses, to understand the relation between player motivation and stickiness and to determine whether there were any changes in the virtual community.

The authors found that the relation between players' motivation in AR-based games and the virtual community had a significant positive impact. Ingress had a significant positive impact on the virtual community and stickiness, and Pokémon had a significant positive impact too. The virtual community of the Ingress game played a completely mediating role in motivation and stickiness, but the virtual community in Pokémon did not have a mediating effect.

The novel approach adopted in this study enabled us to determine the causal relation between player motivation, the virtual community and stickiness, on the basis of the theoretical framework formulated, and the latter was used to construct a path analysis model diagram. The correlation between motivation and the virtual community, between the virtual community and stickiness, and the causal relation between all three was verified. The study results and conclusions may help companies understand how to use virtual communities in AR games to improve stickiness and motivate gamers to continue playing.

This paper aims to investigate a condition under which identity salience effects are weakened. By examining how identity salience influences individuals’ product judgment in a domain of trade-offs, the current research demonstrates that the utilitarian value of a product is an important determinant of the effectiveness of identity salience on product judgment.

This research consists of two experiments. In Experiment 1, the authors examined whether identity salience effects were mitigated when the level of the perceived utilitarian value of an identity-incongruent product was greater than that of an identity-congruent product. In Experiment 2, the authors examined the effectiveness of internal attribution as a moderator that strengthens identity salience effects when the perceived utilitarian value of an identity-incongruent (vs. identity-congruent) product is higher.

In Experiment 1, the authors show that when the utilitarian value of a product with an attribute congruent (vs. incongruent) with one’s salient identity is lower, individuals do not show a greater preference for the identity-congruent (vs. identity-incongruent) product, mitigating the identity salience effects. Experiment 2 demonstrates that when individuals with a salient identity attribute a decision outcome to the self, they display a greater preference for the identity-congruent product even when its utilitarian value is lower compared to that of the identity-incongruent product.

The research contributes to previous research examining conditions under which identity salience effects are weakened [e.g. social influence by others (Bolton and Reed, 2004); self-affirmation (Cohen et al., 2007)] by exploring the role of the utilitarian value of a product, which has not been examined yet in prior research. Also, by doing so, the current research adds to the literature on identity salience in a domain of trade-offs (Benjamin et al., 2010; Shaddy et al., 2020, 2021). Finally, this research reveals that when a decision outcome is attributed to the self, identity salience effects become greater. By finding a novel determinant of identity salience effects (i.e. internal attribution), the present research contributes to the literature that has examined factors that amplify identity salience effects [e.g. cultural relevance (Chattaraman et al., 2009); social distinctiveness (Forehand et al., 2002); different types of groups (White and Dahl, 2007)].

The findings provide managerial insights on identity-based marketing by showing a condition under which identity-based marketing does not work [i.e. when the utilitarian value of an identity-congruent (vs. identity-incongruent) product is lower] and how to enhance the effectiveness of identity-based marketing by using internal attribution.

By exploring the role of utilitarian value, not yet examined in prior research, the present research adds to the knowledge of the conditions under which identity salience effects are weakened. Furthermore, by finding a novel determinant of identity salience effects (i.e. internal attribution), the research contributes to the literature on factors that amplify identity salience effects.

The paper focusses on the intrapersonal vs environmental barriers to women's career advancement to the top leadership positions in the information and communication technology (ICT) business and envisages the individual, organisational as well as societal practices for overcoming such barriers in the given sector.

The study relies on the qualitative research method of expert interviews with top-level women managers in the leading ICT companies in Lithuania. The study allowed identifying and structuring the key barriers to women's careers and three-level practices for overcoming them.

The research has shown that the key intrapersonal barriers are related to the lack of self-confidence and perceived glass ceiling. The main environmental barriers are male domination and socially gendered professions. The practices for overcoming women's career barriers can be categorised into three levels – individual, organisational and societal. The study has shown that the most important individual practices are the ability to continuously self-educate and self-affirmation. On the organisational level, the following key practices can be applied: mentorship and inclusive company culture. The societal practices for improving women's career advancement in ICT are mainly represented by the visibility of successful leaders as role models and initiatives increasing awareness for an inclusive society.

The research limitations are largely related to the research sample selected for the qualitative research (interviews). The respondents are already established in the top leadership positions, so may only have a retrospective view on the obstacles to the respondents' careers. A larger sample could provide a more generalisable data, whilst a larger number of interview participants for preselected categories, like company category or tenure in a position, would provide insights on the different stages of career growth and company's influence for the individual's growth. The authors encourage extending research to other sectoral and national contexts.

The research sets out the key barriers that can be overcome with the help of individual, organisational and societal practices. This provides a comprehensive list of practices that can be adopted by the organisations (in the ICT and beyond), as well as the policy makers on the societal level.

Addressing the issues of gender balance and women's career advancement in one of the fastest growing industries (ICT) has profound social implications. Qualitative research has shown how the barriers can be overcome at different levels of the social system.

The paper marks one of the first attempts to introduce a three-level approach to addressing the intrapersonal and environmental barriers to the advancement of women's careers with a particular focus on the ICT sectoral context.

This study considered the use of video conferencing virtual backgrounds with employees located in a large multinational corporate organisation in Ireland and the USA to discern if background images evoking gendered stereotypes of leadership can cue stereotype threat in female technology workers undertaking a leadership activity, thus negatively effecting performance. This study aims to contribute to the body of research on stereotype threat by establishing whether virtual backgrounds used in video conferencing software are inherently identity safe or whether their use could have a negative performance impact on marginalised groups.

Using a mixed methods research design with 22 participants in two countries working in the one large organisation, using two quantitative methods (an experiment and a survey) and one qualitative method (semi-structured interviews), the study examined the relationship between performance on the leadership activity and exposure to gendered backgrounds on a video conference call.

It found that female leaders undertaking a leadership test experienced more anxiety and achieved lower scores on average when exposed to a male-gendered virtual background compared to male colleagues or female leaders exposed to a female gendered background. It was also found that these leaders were aware of the stereotype of leadership being White and male, and showed symptoms of prolonged exposure to stereotype threat in the workplace. While the authors still are working through a post-pandemic environment, it may be judicious for organisations to restrict the use of virtual backgrounds to identity-safe ones, specifically chosen by the company.

The study makes several practical recommendations, indicating actions which can be taken at the individual, team and corporate levels. Re-running this experiment in a more controlled environment with a larger sample set could yield more definitive, statistically significant results and contribute more to the literature.

Some individual impacts were found via the interviews. Male leaders in the organisation need to do more to mentor and endorse their female colleagues. By doing this, they can counter the negative effects of solo status and the subsequent performance degradations of their female counterparts, while also setting an example for other leaders. Participation in the mentoring programme and initiatives such as Dare and value, inclusion, belonging, and equity should be encouraged and supported. Reverse mentoring should also be encouraged among the population of male leaders to aid in allyship and bias-awareness.

Teams should note that a democratic vote is not always the best way to decide on the names of teams, projects or meeting rooms. These may skew towards niche interests that can serve to alienate members of the team who do not associate themselves with that interest. Rather, the teams should strive to be fully inclusive and educated on the need for identity-safety. Team events may also serve to alienate members if teams are not mindful of the need to be inclusive. Activities, such as “go-kart” racing and physical or competitive team events have been highlighted as unsuitable for some team members, and should be avoided in favour of inclusivity.

A significant body of research has documented the effect to which stereotype threat can be triggered by both the physical environment and by the use of various technology media. However, there is a dearth of research exploring the relationship between stereotype threat, defined as “the concrete, real-time threat of being judged and treated poorly in settings where a negative stereotype about one’s group applies” (Steele et al., 2002, p. 385), and video conferencing software features, such as virtual backgrounds.

The present study aims to examine whether leisure time posts shared on WhatsApp status drive to travel and tourism consumption among users.

In this study, discriminant analysis was employed to test hypotheses and identify essential factors.

The study indicated that the eight most contributing factors are expressing happiness, planning leisure time, views and comments, attractiveness, inquiring about places, preferring to post, nice way of expression and relax. These factors came from the latent variables of attitude, motivation and self-expression. Overall, the main influencing factors are internal (attitude and motivation), followed by an external factor i.e. self-expression. Additionally, the findings indicated that these significantly and positively impact travel and tourism consumption.

The discriminators identified in the study would guide tour and travel agencies and the agencies' managers on how best to adopt WhatsApp and WhatsApp's status application to influence aspiring travelers.

This study enlarges the existing literature by integrating three factors, attitude, motivation and self-expression, into a model to influence the behavioral outcomes of aspirational travelers using WhatsApp status.

The study of shame has a long tradition in intra- and inter-personal psychology. This paper aims to investigate whether consumers can experience brand shame after self-relevant consumption incidents. Specifically, this research proposes that consumers follow a complex shame-inducing process in the aftermath of unpleasant experiences involving their favorite brand. The moderating role of relational tie strength between consumers and their favorite brand existing prior to symbolic failures is examined.

A scenario-based, online survey (n = 660) among consumers who have recently experienced a self-relevant failure with their favorite brand was conducted. Confirmatory factor analysis ensured the reliability and validity of the measurement model. For testing the conceptual model, data was analyzed by means of a moderated mediation analysis. The proposed model was tested against, among others, common method bias and alternative models. The findings were cross-validated with a scenario-based online experiment (n = 1,616).

Results show that brand shame is a key mediator between customer dissatisfaction and brand anger when self-relevant, symbolic failures happen. Moreover, strong consumer-brand identification triggers brand-detrimental effects. It is shown to influence the connection between consumers’ inward- (i.e. brand shame) and resulting outward-directed (i.e. brand anger) negative emotions on brands, which lead to consumer vengeance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to introduce the concept of situational brand shame to the literature on favorite brands. Furthermore, it shows that consumer-brand identification moderates the direct and indirect (via brand shame) unfavorable effects of failure-induced dissatisfaction on brand anger. This research adds insights to the investigation of the “love-becomes-hate” effect arising after self-relevant failures involving consumers’ most preferred brand.

A better understanding of the characteristics and capabilities of women entrepreneurs can significantly improve their chances of success. Therefore, three studies were conducted for this exploratory paper. We have discovered the characteristics of entrepreneurial intelligence among female entrepreneurs through semi-structured interviews based on conventional content analysis. According to the second study, qualitative meta-synthesis was utilized to identify characteristics of women's entrepreneurial intelligence at the international level. As a third study, we examined the evolutionary relationships of entrepreneurs' intelligence components following the discovery and creation of opportunities.

The present paper was based on three studies. In the first study, 15 female entrepreneurs were interviewed using purposive sampling in the Guilan province of Iran to identify the characteristics of entrepreneurial intelligence at the national level. An inductive content analysis was performed on the data collected through interviews. Using Shannon entropy and qualitative validation, their validity was assessed. In the second study, using a qualitative meta-synthesis, the characteristics of women's entrepreneurial intelligence were identified. Then the results of these two studies were compared with each other. In the third study, according to the results obtained from the first and second studies, the emergence, priority and evolution of entrepreneurial intelligence components in two approaches to discovering and creating entrepreneurial opportunities were determined. For this purpose, interviews were conducted with 12 selected experts using the purposeful sampling method using the fuzzy total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) method.

In the first research, this article identified the components of entrepreneurial intelligence of women entrepreneurs in six categories: entrepreneurial insights, cognitive intelligence, social intelligence, intuitive intelligence, presumptuous intelligence and provocative intelligence. In the second study, the components of entrepreneurial intelligence were compared according to the study at the national level and international literature. Finally, in the third study, the evolution of the components of entrepreneurial intelligence was determined. In the first level, social intelligence, presumptuous intelligence and provocative intelligence are formed first and social intelligence and provocative intelligence have an interactive relationship. In the second level, entrepreneurial insight and cognitive intelligence appear, which, in addition to their interactive relationship, take precedence over the entrepreneur's intuitive intelligence in discovering entrepreneurial opportunities. With the evolution of the components of entrepreneurial intelligence in the opportunity creation approach, it is clear that intuitive intelligence is formed first at the first level and takes precedence. At the second level, there is cognitive intelligence is created. At the third level, motivational intelligence and finally, at the last level, entrepreneurial insight, social intelligence and bold intelligence.

This study has the potential to discover credible and robust approaches for further examining the contextualization of women's entrepreneurial intelligence at both national and international levels, thereby advancing new insights. By conceptualizing various components of entrepreneurial intelligence for the first time and exploring how contextual factors differ across nations and internationally for women's entrepreneurship, this paper challenges the assumption that the characteristics of women's entrepreneurial intelligence are uniform worldwide. It also depicts the evolution of the components of entrepreneurial intelligence.

The authors focus on using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a lens through which to analyze the holistic welfare development of Black male student-athletes, namely their identity development and overall college and career readiness. The authors contend that if structured and delivered well with the appropriate supports, athletics can be more of a mobilizing mechanism for Black males versus an exploitive one. Specifically, athletic identity does not have to be exclusive, but rather one aspect of the student-athletes' multidimensional sense of self. To this end, the authors outline specific research, practice, and policy recommendations that address the unique challenges of Black male student-athletes in K-16.

The study explores Degree Apprenticeship Identity (DAI) conceptualisation to enrich understanding to enhance work-integrated learning (WIL). Lived experiences of degree apprentices (DAs) are examined, and a model of DAI developed to support teaching and learning interventions on this relatively new and significant programme.

It draws pragmatically upon qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship from diverse backgrounds in a higher education institutes (HEI). Data were explored abductively, using thematic analysis to investigate common patterns that influence identity; investigating personal experiences, socio-economic and cultural background, educational context and social interactions.

Influential themes surfaced, including pride in work, supporting others, sharing experiences and belonging, facilitating DAI model formation. The model illustrates that DAI is composed of existing personal, necessary professional and power of learning transformation through social identity by interventions that encourage peer engagement, group reflection and group-actualisation.

As this is a small-scale exploratory study, it is not intended to be representative of wider populations, which results in generalisability of findings. Data were collected from a well-established closed cohort programme led by the researcher, previously programme director. Interviews generated a broad range of anecdotal evidence, surfacing valuable insights relating to DAI formation.

To enhance WIL, tutors can foster social interventions that encourage peer dialogue, heighten DAs sense of self as capable learners and increase confidence growth.

The research provides a DAI Model, a fresh approach to understanding ways to enhance WIL for DAs through a stronger focus on group identity through social interventions. This preliminary model presents an opportunity for further research; other apprenticeships, larger and/or open cohorts.

Recognizing women’s potential and directing their talents to realize these potentials can be of great benefit. Accordingly, this paper aims to identify the characteristics of entrepreneurial intelligence in female entrepreneurs, drawing on a national-level study and the international literature on this topic.

The present paper conducted two studies. First, 15 female entrepreneurs in the Guilan province of Iran, who were selected using purposive sampling, were interviewed to identify the characteristics of entrepreneurial intelligence nationally. The data gathered by interviews were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Then, their validity was tested using qualitative validation and analyzed using Shannon entropy. In the second study, the characteristics of female entrepreneurial intelligence were identified through a qualitative metasynthesis. The results of the two studies were compared together.

This categorized entrepreneurial intelligence into six categories, namely, entrepreneurial insights, cognitive intelligence, social intelligence, intuitive intelligence, presumptuous intelligence and provocative intelligence. Ultimately the characteristics of women’s entrepreneurial intelligence in each category were compared according to the national-level study and the international literature.

This study has the potential to discover credible and robust approaches for further examining the contextualization of women’s entrepreneurial intelligence at both national and international levels, thereby advancing new insights. By conceptualizing various dimensions of entrepreneurial intelligence for the first time and exploring how contextual factors differ across nations and internationally for women’s entrepreneurship, this paper challenges the assumption that the characteristics of women’s entrepreneurial intelligence are uniform across the world.