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This study aims to investigate the impact of customer perceptions of Augmented Reality (AR) attributes such as augmentation, interactivity and vividness on attitudes towards AR mobile apps, virtual product and behavioural intentions. Also, the mediation role of customer engagement in the effect of perceptions of AR attributes on attitudes and behavioural intentions is examined using the Theory of Interactive Media Effects.

The study used a cross-sectional design. A total of 456 valid data were collected from the Millennials and Generation Z cohorts using purposive sampling. The conceptual framework was assessed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and Partial Least Squares-Multi Group Analysis (PLS-MGA).

The research revealed that customer perceptions of AR features such as augmentation, interactivity and vividness significantly influenced customer engagement, leading to favourable attitudes towards both the AR mobile app and the Virtual product as well as behavioural intentions. Furthermore, the study substantiates the role of customer engagement as a mediator in the relationship between customer perceptions of AR attributes and both attitudinal and behavioural outcomes.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to investigate the significance of perceived augmentation as an antecedent to customer engagement and the mediating role of customer engagement on the influence of perceptions of AR attributes on attitudinal and behavioural intention.

Existing research on customer journeys has tended to focus on the customer’s purchase decision-making and firm-controlled touchpoints, overlooking indirect touchpoints where customer resources and behaviors influence the firm and other actors, beyond financial patronage. This article develops the concept of engagement journeys and discusses their implications on journey design and management.

This conceptual article synthesizes the customer journey and engagement literature to delineate the concept of engagement journeys. Insights from engagement research are reflected in the current journey management orthodoxy to provide novel implications for the management of engagement journeys.

The engagement journey is defined as the customer’s process of diverse brand-related resource investments in interactions with the brand/firm and/or other customers, reflecting the customer’s cognitive, emotional and behavioral disposition. The analysis outlines the manifestations and nature of different types of touchpoints along the engagement journey, and the novel requirements for journey management.

The developed conceptualization opens up new avenues in both journey and engagement research.

Some commonly held assumptions regarding journey quality and management do not hold true for engagement journeys, so there is a need for new approaches.

Despite the proliferation of both journey and engagement research, only a handful of studies have considered the link between the concepts. The proposed novel conceptualization of an engagement journey breaks free from a predominant focus on purchase decisions. The analysis of engagement journeys and their management advances both customer journey and engagement research.

Three-dimensional (3D)printed skulls for neurosurgical training are increasingly being used due to the widespread access to 3D printing technology, their low cost and accuracy, as well as limitations and ethical concerns associated with using human cadavers. However, little is known about the risks of airborne particles or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released while drilling into 3D-printed plastic models. The aim of this study is to assess the level of exposure to airborne contaminants while burr hole drilling.

3D-printed skull samples were produced using three different materials (polyethylene terephthalate glycol [PETG], white resin and Bone^STN) across three different 3D print processes (fused filament fabrication, stereolithography [SLA] and material jetting). A neurosurgeon performed extended burr hole drilling for 10 min on each sample. Spot measurements of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) were recorded, and air samples were analysed for approximately 90 VOCs.

The particulate matter for PETG was found to be below the threshold value for respirable particles. However, the particulate matter for white resin and Bone^STN was found to be above the threshold value at PM10, which could be harmful for long periods of exposure without personal protective equipment (PPE). The VOC measurements for all materials were found to be below safety thresholds, and therefore not harmful.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the safety of 3D-printed materials for burr hole surgical drilling. It recommends PETG as a safe material requiring minimal respiratory control measures, whereas resin-based materials will require safety controls to deal with airborne particles.

This study investigates the relationship between CEO leadership, gender homophily and corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. We also investigate whether it is essential to have a critical mass of women directors on the board to create a significant power of gender diversity in leadership positions.

Our study is based on firms listed on the London Stock Exchange (FTSE-All-Share) from 2011 to 2019. CEO characteristics and other board variables were collected from BoardEx, and ESG data, and other related variables were collected from Eikon database.

We find a critical mass of female directors contributes to ESG performance suggesting that token representation of female directors on boards limits their effectiveness. We do not find support for the gender homophily perspective, our findings suggest that the effectiveness of female CEOs does not depend on the existence of a critical mass of female directors. Female directors and female CEOs are less likely to be associated with ESG activities when firms experience poor financial performance. We also find that younger female CEOs have a positive impact on ESG performance. Furthermore, we find female CEOs with shorter tenure are more likely to improve ESG performance. Overall, our findings suggest a substitutional effect between having female CEOs and gender diverse boards.

This study contributes to the debate on gender homophily in the boardroom and how that may affect ESG practices. It also complements existing academic research on female leadership and ESG performance and has important implications for senior management and policymakers.

This study aims to investigate the impact of ethical accounting practices on financial reporting quality by using the extended theory of planned behaviour (ETPB) and integrating religiosity as a moderating variable.

Using a survey method, data was obtained from 371 chartered accountants who were in good standing as of April 2023. The collected data were then analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The results revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between ethical accounting practices (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control and ethical judgement) and financial reporting quality of accounting practitioners. Furthermore, a moderation test was conducted, which demonstrated that religiosity enhances the positive correlation between ethical accounting constructs (attitude, subjective norm and ethical judgement) and financial reporting.

Leading by example, top-level management should actively promote a culture of religiosity that prioritises integrity and adherence to financial reporting requirements.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the very few ethics studies in accounting that demonstrates that the application of the ETPB improves financial reporting quality in a context fraught with allegations of moral breaches by accountants.

E-learning has become a polarizing issue. Some say that it enhances accessibility to education and some say that it hinders it. While the literature on the subject underscores the effectiveness of the pedagogical frameworks, strategies and distance learning technologies, the firsthand accounts of students, parents and practitioners challenge the validity of experts’ assessments. There is a gap between theory and practice and between the perceptions of providers and consumers of online learning. Following a period of lockdowns and a transition to online learning during the recent pandemic, the prevailing sentiment toward a distance mode of instruction became one of strong skepticism and negative bias. The aim of the study was to examine why e-learning has struggled to meet stakeholder expectations. Specifically, the study posed two research questions: 1. What are the reasons for dissatisfaction with online learning? 2. What are the implications for future research and practice?

The study used a mixed methods approach to examine the reasons behind negative perceptions of online learning by comparing the firsthand accounts posted on social media with the literature. To this end, n = 62,874 social media comments of secondary and postsecondary students, as well as parents, teachings staff and working professionals, covering the span of over 14 years (2008–2022), were collected and analyzed.

The study identified 28 themes that explain the stakeholder’s discontent with the online learning process and highlighted the importance of user-centric design. The analysis revealed that the perceived ineffectiveness of distance education stems from the failure to identify and address stakeholders’ needs and, more particularly, from the incongruence of instructional strategies, blindness to the cost of decisions related to instructional design, technology selection and insufficient levels of support. The findings also highlight the importance of user-centric design.

To address dissatisfaction with e-learning, it is imperative to remove barriers to learning and ensure alignment between technology and learners’ needs. In other words, the learning experience should be personalized to account for individual differences. Despite its cost-effectiveness, the one-size-fits-all approach hinders the learning process and experience and is likely to be met with resistance.

Drawing from the extensive literature, the study offers an explanation for stakeholders’ discontent with e-learning. Unlike survey research that is prone to social desirability bias, the sample provides a rare opportunity to observe and measure the visceral reactions that provide a more authentic sense of stakeholders’ perceptions toward online learning. The authors offer recommendations and identify areas for future research.

Considering the ongoing discourse on diversity, equity and inclusion, brands aim to develop marketing campaigns that demonstrate respect for all individuals. Despite these intentions, many advertisements still provoke strong negative reactions from consumers due to brand transgressions in social media marketing campaigns that violate these values. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the repercussions that such social media marketing campaigns have on brands, categorizing these campaigns as brand transgressions in social media advertising.

This research uses a mixed-method design that includes semi-structured interviews (Study 1), a content analysis (Study 2) and an online experiment (Study 3).

This paper clarifies the elements that qualify as brand transgressions in advertising within the diversity, equity and inclusion discourse. The negative electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) associated with brand transgressions in advertising comprises negative emotions (e.g. anger, contempt, disgust and hate) and behavioural intentions to penalize the brand (e.g. negative word-of-mouth, brand avoidance and protest behaviours). The negative e-WOM stemming from these transgressions amplifies the adverse consequences for consumer–brand relationships by negatively influencing other consumers through sympathy towards the offended parties.

This paper offers brand managers guidelines for preventing and managing negative consumer reactions towards brands based on their responses to marketing campaigns that contradict the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion.

This paper contributes to the literature on brand transgressions related to diversity, equity and inclusion values by exploring their impact on consumer–brand relationships and highlighting the pivotal role of sympathy in perpetuating negative consequences.

This paper presents a new conceptualization of digital service anchored in a coconstitutive ontology of digital “x” phenomena, illuminating the pivotal role of the digital qualifier in the service context. Our objective is to provide a theoretically grounded conceptualization of digital service and its impact on the nature of the value cocreation process that characterizes digital phenomena.

Drawing from scholarly works on digital phenomena and fundamental principles of service-dominant logic, this paper delineates the essence of digital service based on the interplay between digitization and digitalization as well as the operational dynamics of generativity and its constitutive dimensions (architecture, community, governance).

The paper defines digital service as a sociotechnical process of value cocreation, where participants dynamically architect, govern and leverage digital resources. This perspective highlights the organic development of digital service and the prevalence of decentralized control mechanisms. It also underscores how the intersection between generativity’s dimensions—architecture, community and governance—shapes the dynamic evolution and outcomes of digital services.

Our conceptual framework sheds light on our understanding of digital service, offering a foundation to further explore its nature and implications for research and practice, which we illustrate using the case of ChatGPT.

Nuclear power is a stable and reliable energy source that can improve energy structure while reducing carbon emissions, which is of great significance for environmental protection and combating climate change. As a unique industry, it is facing rare development opportunities in China and has broad market prospects. However, the characteristics of technical difficulty, loose organizational structure and uneven regional distribution limit the expansion of the nuclear power industry. This paper aims to a better understanding of the accumulation process for innovation capability from the perspective of network evolution and provides policy guidance for the market development of the nuclear power industry (NPI).

Methodologically, social network analysis is used to explore the co-evolution of multidimensional collaboration networks. First, the development and policy evolution of the NPI is introduced to divide the evolution periods. Then, the authors identify and analyze the core organizations, technologies and regions that promote nuclear power patent collaboration. Furthermore, three levels of collaboration networks based on organizations, technologies and regions are constructed to analyze the coevolution of patent networks in China’s NPI.

The results show that nuclear power enterprises always play the foremost role in the organizational collaboration network (OCN), and the dominance of foreign enterprises is replaced by Chinese state-owned enterprises in the third period. The technology hotspot has shifted from nuclear power plant construction to the control system. The regional collaboration network was initially formed in the coastal areas and gradually moved inland, with Guangdong and Beijing becoming the two cores of the network. The scale of three collaboration networks is still expanding but the speed has slowed down.

In response to the pain points of the NPI, this research focuses on multidimensional collaborative innovation, investigates the dynamic evolution process of collaborative innovation networks in China’s NPI and links policy evolution with network evolution creatively. The ultimate result not only helps nuclear power enterprises integrate innovative resources in complex environments but also promotes industrial upgrading and market development.

The social acceptance of wind energy is increasingly conditioning the Italian Government and regions to authorize the construction of these plants. The proposal of offshore wind farm in the south-west of Sardinia has raised many perplexities both from the marine environmental point of view and from concern about increasing the electricity production in a region that already exports electricity to the peninsula. The purpose of this study is to evaluate what are the factors that most affect the coastal residents’ acceptability of an offshore wind farm.

The data is based on a Sardinia-wide in-person survey with about 512 participants in the period between May and June 2023. Respondents were selected randomly from five different locations in Carloforte region. Multiple regression analysis investigates the factors that influenced acceptability to construction and development of offshore wind power plant. Four independent variables were selected in the regression models such as (i) interest towards wind energy, (ii) attitude towards renewable energy production, (iii) perceived regional energy policy and (iv) attitude towards offshore wind farm. The dependent variables are the rates of coastal local residents’ acceptance of offshore wind farm for respondents in five coastal towns.

Fishermen and summer tourism operators’ respondents expressed significant reluctance to accept the new project because they perceive a strong risk of environmental impact on both tuna fishing and marine recreational activities in the vicinity. The distance between the turbines at sea and local residents along the coast and surrounding small islands does not have an influence to accept wind energy. The energy policy of the Region of Sardinia, which is perceived by respondents as an expansive energy policy in the production of electricity that exceeds their needs, not being accompanied by a scenario of reducing that from fossil fuels, is the variable that led about 70% of respondents to express a negative opinion towards this project.

A potential problem associated with the survey is that local response produced sample selection bias. The proportion of respondents with secondary education and no school certificate is quite high. It is possible that respondents who provided valid questionnaires were more low-educated and therefore, the sample may be biased towards lower-educated people. While this does not invalidate the results of this study, it is important to note that the sample was on average less educated than the overall population in Italy. In addition, people with lower incomes were more likely to complete the questionnaires; the results are more representative of a portion of the population with incomes below the national average.

Results showed how coastal communities are in favour of wind energy within their island, but not within a marine protected area that is considered unique for its beauty and marine ecosystem. Wind energy developers should, before submitting a proposal for an offshore wind farm project, consider among other things the long approval time and understand the activities carried out by local communities and their attachment to those places. Politicians and developers should develop a coherent energy transition policy based on a long-term vision of zero emissions, because according to the findings of this study, it was the regional energy policy that is the most controversial reason for residents to reject the project.

The contribution of this study is to fill a part of the research gap linking to ongoing energy transitions. In particular, this study analysed for the first time in Italy the acceptability level of an offshore renewable energy project considering the environmental implications and risks in the fragile marine ecosystem of Carloforte waters. This study also made it possible to analyse the impact of the regional energy policy on the acceptability of residents towards the development of offshore wind farms, which is scarcely discussed in the literature.