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Social media's role in engaging participants in sports events, particularly during the pandemic, is acknowledged. However, previous studies often utilized sports events for diverse objectives but overlooked brand equity's influence on sports event development. And very limited research explores social media's impact on brand equity in esports events, despite its significance. Therefore, this study aims to explore how social media affects esports event brand equity and participants' satisfaction and engagement with social media through brand equity's influence.

The study focused on League of Legends World Championships (LOLWC) participants, who completed a self-judged questionnaire online. The questionnaire included demographic details and latent constructs. Data analysis involved two steps: exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to assess measurement scale validity and structural equation modeling (SEM) to study relationships between traits.

The results reveal that, within the esports event context, controlled communication exerts a meaningful and dual impact – both directly and indirectly – on the fundamental components of brand equity. This, in turn, serves as a catalyst for increasing participant contentment and their posting intention.

This study applies brand equity theories to the esports domain, exploring participant-based brand equity concepts, user behavior and the influence of social media communication on event branding and engagement. It also recommends strategies for event improvement, emphasizes controlled communication for brand equity and highlights marketing's role in brand awareness, association and participant satisfaction. Additionally, it suggests government regulation to address cyber violence during esports events.

In an effort to provide insights that nurture the future of brand relationships, this paper aims to examine the impact of brand communications on consumption behavior during critical events that significantly impact the marketplace. Specifically, this research focuses on external crises (i.e. global health crises, natural disasters and regional conflicts) beyond the control of the corporations that govern brands. It does so by exploring the most effective brand communication strategies at the onset of a crisis when brands may shift promotional content to more sensitive, crisis-related content as a means to connect with consumers. Furthermore, this paper seeks to understand which consumer segment will benefit most from brands’ crisis-related content.

This research introduces two empirical studies (combined sample = 490), using student and online participant samples.

Results from this work demonstrate that at the onset of a crisis, consumers’ attitudes, brand engagement, and self-brand connections significantly increase after visualizing crisis-related versus noncrisis-related brand messages. Results also reveal that consumers who feel less socially connected will react more favorably to brand communications that contain crisis-related content (i.e. informative or emotional content related to the crisis) than non-crisis-related content (i.e. marketing content aimed to promote and advertise the brand, product and/or services).

While the effect of crisis communications on consumption behavior and the moderating effect of social connections is explored, the underlying mechanism of these effects is not investigated in this study. Therefore, future research might consider evaluating the mechanisms that drive these effects.

This work builds on past research to help establish that during early critical times, marketing managers should include crisis-related content in their communications, which will increase consumers’ positive reactions toward the brand.

Another implication of this work is that it underscores the significance of crisis-related brand communications as an inclusive practice because these are particularly well-received among vulnerable consumer segments, such as those who feel less socially connected during critical times.

Proactive communication strategies allow brands to better manage external critical challenges. As brands navigate a postpandemic marketplace, this research highlights the adaptations that managers can make to their communication strategies at peak uncertain times, such as the earlier stages of an external crisis.

This paper aims to examine the role of social media communication, tourist satisfaction and destination brand equity components in enhancing destination brand equity based on the Stimulus – Organism – Response (S-O-R) theory.

The conceptual model and research hypotheses were assessed using covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM). An online survey was used to collect data from 369 domestic tourists who had traveled to Danang and knew about content related to Danang generated by either DMOs or other users on social media.

Except for the effect of DMO-generated social media communication on tourist satisfaction and the impact of destination brand awareness on destination brand loyalty, the findings confirmed the sequential causal relationships between research concepts based on the S-O-R model.

Future research should explore the proposed model based on comparisons of different nationalities to better understand the impact of cultural factors.

DMOs should associate social media with their marketing strategies to enhance destination brand equity, using cutting-edge technologies to create content and update information in a significant way to make communications by DMOs more effective. The findings especially suggest that UGC plays a vital role in improving brand equity dimensions, so DMOs could exploit UGC to engage existing customers and build relationships with potential customers. This research provides guidance for DMOs to improve their brand equity based on social media.

This study has contributed to the destination marketing literature by applying the S-O-R theory to propose a pathway for effectively increasing destination brand equity and highlight the importance of social media communication as a driver to achieve a hierarchical relationship between destination brand equity components and tourist satisfaction from stimulus to organism (e.g. cognition to affect).

Purpose: This study examines sustainability communication’s direct and indirect effects on consumer loyalty and brand reputation. It also aims to identify sustainable practices that enhance consumer behaviour and brand reputation.

Methodology: The study used a cross-sectional survey design and collected data from 500 participants through an online survey. The survey included measures of sustainability communication, consumer loyalty, brand reputation, and demographic variables. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesised relationships between the variables.

Findings: The results of the SEM analysis suggest that sustainability communication has a direct and positive effect on consumer loyalty, which in turn positively impacts reputation. Furthermore, the study identifies specific sustainability practices, such as reducing the carbon footprint and promoting ethical sourcing, that can positively influence consumer behaviour and brand reputation.

Implications: The study underscores the significance of adept sustainability communication for fostering consumer loyalty and boosting brand reputation. Focusing on initiatives like loyalty programs and personalised offers can harness this connection. Additionally, the research identifies critical sustainable practices – carbon reduction, ethical sourcing, and renewable energy investment – that foster positive consumer behaviour and brand reputation.

Originality/value: This study provides new insights into the mechanisms by which sustainability communication can influence consumer behaviour and brand reputation. The study identifies the importance of consumer loyalty as a mediator between sustainability communication and brand reputation. It recommends companies seeking to enhance their brand reputation through sustainability practices.

Drawing on symbolic interaction theory (SIT), this study aims to identify what makes corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication more favorable to customers in the chain restaurants context. Specifically, this study examines the direct relationships between the interactivity of CSR communication, brand trust and brand sincerity. In addition, the mediating role of brand trust (i.e. separate dimensions of brand reliability and intentions) and the moderated mediating role of self-congruity are explored.

A total of 418 US consumers with past experiences of participating in CSR campaigns organized by chain restaurants on social media were recruited using the online survey method of nonprobability sampling through Amazon Mechanical Turk in December 2021.

The results of this study revealed that the interactivity of CSR communication on social media affects brand sincerity; brand reliability and brand intentions mediate the positive effect of interactivity of CSR communication on brand sincerity; and customer’s self-congruity moderated the positive mediation effect via brand reliability.

Chain restaurant marketers need to understand the important role of interactivity as a key element of CSR communication on social media to help develop brand trust and brand sincerity in chain restaurants.

This study expands on SIT to support the symbolic benefits of interactive CSR communication on social media.

Though current literature has started to recognize the significant role that online faith-holders play in the context of brand reputation crises, extant research lacks a theoretical framework to explain the process in which online faith-holders endure the harm in brand reputation while collectively rebuilding the reputation. We propose and test a dual-challenge model for a more systematic understanding of faith-holder communities in brand reputation crises.

Focusing on collective-level communication activities, we quantitatively compared the volume, valence and variance of a faith-holder community’s communication (441,611 posts by 3,228 fans over 14 days) before and after a brand reputation crisis.

Our longitudinal data demonstrated that the crisis was a significant threat to group sentiment and cohesion. Nevertheless, the community was highly resilient and adaptive. Their emotions quickly recovered, and they promptly restored group cohesion and coordinated crisis response efforts after the crisis.

This study challenges the traditional assumption that online users are independent, static and reactive during brand crises. Instead, it conceptualizes online faith-holder community as a connected, proactive and dynamically adaptive group in crisis situations. This dual-challenge model highlights the importance of internally fostering collective resilience while externally coordinating crisis responses in a faith-holder community.

Drawing upon the service-dominant logic (S-D logic) and elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this paper provides an integrative model to investigate how argument quality and source credibility of CSR communication affects customer value co-creation behavior, resulting in increased brand trust. Additionally, it unveils how brand trust and the perception of COVID-19 risk influence both brand love and subjective well-being.

The data of this study were collected through survey questionnaire from 304 coffee shop customers using convenience sampling and tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique to validate its model.

The research findings confirm the positive association between source credibility and customer value co-creation (i.e. customer participation and citizenship behavior). By contrast, argument quality is revealed to have a significantly positive effect on customer citizenship behavior (CCB) but a non-significant effect on customer participation behavior (CPB). Additionally, the study identifies that customer value co-creation behavior significantly promotes brand trust. Finally, findings indicate that brand trust and the perception of COVID-19 risk significantly influence brand love and subjective well-being.

This study contributes to the literature on CSR communication and S-D logic and provides new insights for marketers and advertisers to manage brands in the post-pandemic scenario through CSR communications. Furthermore, this study theoretically extends the ELM model to the CSR communication research. Finally, this study expands the relevant literature by clarifying the relationships between the perception of COVID-19 risk, brand love and subjective well-being.

Previous research acknowledges the importance of stakeholders for destination branding. However, there is a lack of studies examining which specific online user discourses are triggered by stakeholder responses to destination brand communication. To address this gap, the purpose of this study is to analyze online user discourses initiated by stakeholder’s reactions to a destination image video and thus enhance knowledge on brand communication and management.

The authors investigated 2,187 online comments to 19 medial stakeholder reactions to a destination management organization (DMO) image video both by running a manual as well as a software-based content analysis. The explorative empirical study identifies seven major categories reflecting online user discourses triggered by stakeholder reactions to destination brand communication.

The explorative study indicates that stakeholder reactions to destination brand communication trigger online comments evolving within both the inner and outer tourism system. The discourse subjects, in turn, reflect both user-generated content of brand cocreation and brand codestruction. The findings expand literature in that previous studies on brand cocreation mainly refer to service encounters.

By identifying which online user discourses are triggered by stakeholder reactions to DMO brand communication, the authors provide managerial implications. Specifically, the authors suggest guidelines for all stages of destination communication campaigns to support online user discourses reflecting brand value cocreation and preventing brand value codestruction.

The study responds to a lack of research on online user discourses initiated by stakeholder reactions to DMO brand communication. Contrary to previous studies, the authors identify specific online user discourses relating not only to the inner but also to the outer tourism interest system. Revealed discourses, in turn, reflect brand cocreation and brand codestruction.

先前的研究确认了利益相关者对于目的地品牌塑造的重要性。然而, 目前缺乏研究探讨利益相关者对目的地品牌传播的反应, 会引发哪些特定的线上使用者论述。针对这个缺口, 本研究分析由利益相关者对目的地形象影片的反应所引发的线上使用者论述, 进而增进品牌传播与管理的知识。

作者通过手动和软件内容分析, 调查了 2,187 条在线评论, 涉及 19 个媒体利益相关者对目的地管理组织形象视频的反应。这项探索性实证研究确定了七个主要类别, 反映了利益相关者对目的地品牌传播的反应所引发的在线用户讨论。

本探索性研究表明, 利益相关者对目的地品牌传播的反应, 引发了在旅游系统内部和外部演变的在线评论。话语主体反过来反映了用户生成的品牌共创和品牌共建内容。 以往关于品牌共创的研究主要涉及服务接触, 而我们的研究结果拓展了这一研究领域。

通过确定利益相关者对目的地管理组织品牌传播的反应引发的在线用户话语, 我们提供了管理方面的启示。具体来说, 我们为目的地传播活动的各个阶段提出了指导方针, 以支持反映品牌价值共创和防止品牌价值共毁的在线用户话语。

我们的研究回应了由利益相关者对目的地管理组织品牌传播的反应所引发的线上使用者论述研究的缺乏。与先前的研究相反, 我们发现特定的线上使用者论述不仅与内部旅游利益体系有关, 也与其外部有关。所揭示的论述反过来反映了品牌共创和品牌共建。

Investigaciones anteriores reconocen la importancia de las partes interesadas en la creación de marcas de destino. Sin embargo, faltan estudios que examinen si los discursos específicos de los usuarios en línea son desencadenados por las respuestas de las partes interesadas a la comunicación de la marca de destino. Para colmar esta laguna, el presente estudio analiza los discursos de los usuarios en línea iniciados por las reacciones de los grupos de interés a un vídeo de imagen de un destino, mejorando con esto los conocimientos sobre comunicación y gestión de marcas.

Los autores investigan 2.187 comentarios en línea a 19 reacciones de grupos de interés mediáticos a un vídeo de la imagen de una OMD mediante un análisis de contenido tanto manual como basado en software. El estudio empírico explorativo identifica siete categorías principales que reflejan los discursos de los usuarios en línea desencadenados por las reacciones de las partes interesadas a la comunicación de la marca de destino.

El estudio exploratorio indica que las reacciones de las partes interesadas a la comunicación de la marca del destino desencadenan comentarios en línea que evolucionan dentro del sistema turístico interno y externo. A su vez, los temas del discurso reflejan tanto el contenido generado por los usuarios como la cocreación y la codestrucción de la marca. Nuestros hallazgos amplían la literatura en el sentido de que los estudios anteriores sobre cocreación de marcas se refieren principalmente a encuentros de servicios.

Al identificar qué discursos en línea de los usuarios desencadenan las reacciones de las partes interesadas a la comunicación de marca de los OMD, aportamos implicaciones para la gestión. En concreto, sugerimos directrices para todas las fases de las campañas de comunicación de los destinos, con el fin de apoyar los discursos en línea de los usuarios que reflejan la cocreación del valor de la marca y evitar la codestrucción de dicho valor.

Nuestro estudio responde a la falta de investigación sobre los discursos en línea de los usuarios iniciados por las reacciones de las partes interesadas a la comunicación de marca de las OMD. A diferencia de estudios anteriores, identificamos discursos específicos de usuarios en línea relacionados no sólo con el sistema de intereses turísticos interno, sino también con el externo. Los discursos revelados reflejan a su vez la cocreación y la codestrucción de la marca.

The purpose of the project was to identify a mechanism of causal relationship between Brand Public Relations (BPR) and societal change in the perception of women gender roles.

Experimental evidence was obtained in three countries (N = 378) to examine the mechanism of societal impact of BPR. Effects of spillover of evaluations between two sub-brands of a house of brands company, caused by positive publicity about communication co-created by Public Relations (PR), were analysed.

Findings supported the existence of a positive spillover of evaluations. A mechanism of the societal impact of PR was also captured: an indirect effect of news stories about a non-objectifying portrayal of women in the male reference brand on the typicality of a non-stereotypical women role in society was demonstrated.

Experiments were conducted over a period of three years, during which publics perception of brands' communication about gender portrayal might have changed.

The paper argues for greater recognition of brand public relations professionals as co-creators of promotional brand communication. It gives evidence that one of the unique competencies of BPR is insight into publics and predicting long-term consequences of brand communication.

The findings of the research project suggest a mediated nature of influence of BPR on the perception of typicality of gender (women) roles in society. PR communicators should learn what areas of practice of PR require specific skills for the function of PR to develop the new competence.

This paper is the first one that aimed at establishing a common terminological framework of the societal impact of public relations.

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.