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Country of origin is a well-studied topic for developed countries that have a favourable image. However, how country of origin image affects the consumers of an emerging country on a frontier market with high uncertainty avoidance still needs to be shed light. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship of country of origin image with consumer purchase intention through consumer uncertainty. The study further explored the conditional effect of brand image between country of origin and consumer uncertainty.

The data for this study was collected from 400 Pakistani consumers. As this study assessed purchase intentions and consumer uncertainty related to high technology products of China, therefore, the consumers of the Huawei brand were selected.

The findings revealed a negative influence of country of origin image on consumer purchase intentions both directly and indirectly through consumer uncertainty. Furthermore, the positive brand image of high tech products was found to moderate the effect of country of origin image on consumer uncertainty.

This study is the first of its kind that explores the intervening role of consumer uncertainty between country of origin image and consumer purchase intention in an emerging market. In addition, the study highlights the importance of strong brand image as it buffers consumer uncertainty because of stereotypes.

This study develops a comprehensive research model and investigates the significant factors affecting positive marketing outcomes in the Metaverse through perceived social benefits and trust.

The authors propose a new research model based on social exchange theory (SET) and examine the impact of cost and reward factors. Using 327 survey samples collected from current Metaverse users in South Korea, dual-stage analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and an artificial neural network (ANN) were employed to test the study’s hypotheses.

The results showed that perceived social benefit and trust had significant mediating effects on marketing outcomes, such as loyalty to the seller, product/service attitude, and purchase intention. All antecedents, except perceived performance risk, had a crucial impact on the two mediators. The most interesting finding of this study is the positive influence of knowledge-seeking efforts on perceived social benefits.

This study is the first empirical research to examine the effectiveness of marketing in the Metaverse. It also proposes a new theoretical model based on SET to investigate users’ behavioral intentions regarding marketing in the Metaverse, and confirms its explanatory power. Moreover, the results of this study also offer suggestions to brands on how to market to consumers in the Metaverse.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the internationalization characteristics of companies from an emerging market (internationalized company stage and presence of a sales subsidiary abroad) moderate the influence of country of brand origin positioning over the companies' financial performance.

The authors performed an ex-post-facto study of internationalized companies from Brazil spanning 16 years. Generalized estimating equations in panel data revealed the results with market share, return on assets (ROA) and Tobin's Q as dependent variables.

The result revealed that country of brand origin positioning is worth doing for internationalized companies from an emerging market, especially for multinationals with sales activity in the destination country. It positively affects all three financial metrics. For exporters, it is effective in increasing market share and returns on assets.

The research demonstrates the effectiveness of the image positioning of exporting and multinational companies that have internationalization initiatives and allocation of external sales activities.

In emerging markets, country of brand origin positioning is a branding strategy used by companies seeking to internationalize. This research shows that the contexts of the characteristics of internationalization strategies change the results, and therefore the need to be considered for testing the effectiveness of country-of-brand-origin positioning.

This study focused on nonconventional marketing (in-game advertisement interactivity) to understand consumers' purchase intentions. Specifically, this study aims to explore the intervening role of feelings of presence between in-game advertisement interactivity and consumer purchase intention. It further explores whether game–product congruence moderates the relationship between feelings of presence in the game and consumer purchase intention.

This study collected data from 386 PUBG mobile players on a convenience basis. The selected players were ensured to have experience in playing mission ignition mode (a Tesla-themed mode of PUBG mobile).

The study noted that in-game advertisement interactivity positively affects consumer purchase intention, and this relationship is further explained through feelings of presence. In addition, game–product congruence was noted to strengthen the association between feelings of presence and consumer purchase intention.

The study used a cross-section design to collect data from players of PUBG through Google Forms on a convenient basis. The study highlights the significance of nontraditional advertisement and game–product congruence that helps businesses to attract customers.

Drawing upon transportation theory, this study is the first of its kind that has explored the mediating role of feelings of presence between in-game advertising interactivity and consumer purchase intention. In addition, this study shed light on the importance of game–product congruence to strengthen purchase intention.

Social risk management has recently come to the fore as a significant feature of project management. This prominence is particularly evident in urban construction projects that take place in cultural heritage and tourism historic sites. Accordingly, this study aims to adopt social network analysis (SNA) to investigate social risks in construction projects occurring in urban districts rife with historically and culturally significant tourism sites.

The present study analyzed a real case study in Iran as an emergent economy and a developing country. Primarily, the study reviewed previous literature on social risks and relevant stakeholders. Next, the judgments of experts through the content validity ratio analysis confirmed 12 social risks and 9 key stakeholders. Finally, SNA is used to determine the relations between the social risks and stakeholders as well as the significance of each risk.

The investigation demonstrated that the most important social risks in the construction projects of the case study are “Psychological disorders”, “Environmental pollution” and “Cultural conflicts”.

The findings could help policymakers, urban planners and project managers in developing countries with a rich cultural heritage to reduce social risks and improve the efficiency of their projects.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is one of the first instances to investigate construction projects implemented in densely populated urban areas hosting cultural heritage and historic tourism sites.

Consumers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) expectations have increased in the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, while many financial institutions have supported society with their health-related CSR actions. This study examines the impact of CSR actions and brand origin on consumer attitudes, CSR perceptions, customer-based brand equity (CBBE) and supportive communication intent in retail banking during the crisis from signaling and stakeholder theory perspectives.

A 2 (foreign vs. local brand) x 2 (COVID-19-related vs. another CSR action) between-subjects factorial design was used to analyze consumer data.

CSR actions of local brands created more positive attitudes, CSR perceptions and greater CBBE and supportive communication intent than foreign banks. However, CSR action (COVID-19-related vs. another) did not significantly influence consumer attitudes, CSR perceptions, CBBE and supportive communication intent.

This research has shown the significant impact of brand origin on consumer perceptions in response to CSR actions during the pandemic. It has suggested an original conceptual framework and presented timely empirical findings for retail banking in the pandemic period, which can exemplify a crisis period shaped by uncertainty. Besides, it extended the previous literature by focusing on the interaction between brand origin and CSR actions in shaping consumers’ CSR and brand perceptions. It is among the first studies examining brand origin’s impact on supportive communication intent.

This study aims to examine how consumers’ propensity to purchase imported wines is influenced by their attitudes and perceptions toward the countries of origin (COO) of those wines.

The questionnaires were distributed online and 298 valid completed questionnaires were received. This study measured the perception of the wines’ countries of origin by adopting two independent dimensions of competence and warmth in the stereotype content model.

The results show a relationship between the purchase intention and the perception of the country of origin of the wine. Furthermore, the perceived image of the country of origin impacts the brand image of the wine and the quality of wine from its country of origin.

This study’s questionnaire was distributed online. Future research would benefit from in-depth qualitative investigation and a wider range of sample sizes across countries.

The results of this study guide imported wine companies in product marketing design and advertising. By promoting the countries of origin of premium wines to target consumers, trust in the quality of imported wine can be improved, thereby increasing consumers’ purchase intention.

This study contributes to the understanding of consumer perception of the country of origin in the context of wine marketing. It provides valuable implications for wine companies’ marketing positioning and strategy, benefiting wine marketers, distributors and importers.

Brand crisis has become an increasingly common phenomenon recently. While corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays a role in mitigating the negative consequences of brand crisis, it is not always effective, especially for foreign companies. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the differential effects of CSR on brand crisis, considering the impact of country of origin and consumer ethnocentrism.

This study used a 2 (country of origins: domestic vs foreign) × 2 (consumer ethnocentrism: high vs low) × 2 (CSR: before vs after related information is presented) between-subjects experiment to simulate a brand crisis. A fictional WeChat Moment posting was used as a stimulus. Data from 210 Chinese respondents were analyzed.

When consumer ethnocentrism is high, the impact of CSR on consumer attitude toward the company undergoing a crisis was greater for domestic than for foreign companies. Conversely, for consumers with low ethnocentrism, the effectiveness of CSR in attenuating the negative impact of the brand crisis (i.e. the insurance-like effect of CSR) was insignificant across domestic and foreign companies.

This study extends the prior literature and clarifies the unclear results of previous studies on the effect of CSR on brand crisis by examining the impact of country of origin and consumer ethnocentrism. Novel insights into the insurance-like effect of CSR in brand crises were obtained.

The current study aims to map the existent modes of engagement used by both individual and organisational actors of Romanian diaspora community in the UK to build public legitimacy and social value in the host society. This study focuses on two main questions: (1) What are the forms of engagement by which diaspora members enact their role as diplomats for ethnic diaspora communities? (2) What is the nature of their communication practices that sustain these forms of diasporic engagement?

This study is based on an analysis of online public documents extracted from different websites, blogs and public social media accounts, complemented by primary data. The research design is a multi-levelled case study.

The main findings are that Romanian diaspora in the UK develops a specific model of diplomacy, focused on cultural and political forms of engagement. Firstly, equality and belonging are two key dimensions that clearly define this diasporic community diplomatic actions and practices. Secondly, the communication that fosters its networked and associative features has shifted towards a more democratic and strategic model.

This paper has multiple original points. Firstly, it deepens the understanding of diaspora diplomacy, connecting the concept with strategic communication. Secondly, the identification and theorisation of specific forms of engagement of diasporic communities reflects a process which is yet underdeveloped in both types of literature. Findings may be instrumental in providing strategies for relationship building, cultivation and the engagement efforts of the UK institutions regarding immigrant integration.

This research intends to undertake a rigorous bibliometric analysis of product quality research trends and patterns, map the intellectual and social structure of the field, identify the predominant themes and propose a transition plan for future work in this discipline.

The procedure was carried out in a step-by-step manner. Following a specified search string, Scopus retrieved 1454 journal articles from the previous 39 years (1984–2022). To comprehend the field’s base, various techniques of performance analysis and science mapping were employed using RStudio and VOSviewer.

In light of the results, both the volume and influence of product quality studies have surged over the past four decades, with most works appearing in prestigious academic journals. A number of cross-country product quality collaborations took place in nations with little geographic, historical, or cultural proximity. Using co-citation analysis, five distinct subfields were identified within the literature on product quality. Finally, the use of co-word analysis helps understand the field’s underlying themes and concludes with a set of potential research avenues built on a content analysis of the articles from each of the five subfields.

To the authors' understanding, this study represents a pioneering effort to examine the research field on product quality using bibliometric analysis. Notwithstanding being rooted in scientometrics, this research’s outcomes are instructive for practitioners, academics and aspiring researchers in the field.