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This paper deals with external audits, which are now commonly used in many industries (e.g. food, automotive and electrical). This study aims to assess whether a given organization meets the specific criteria. If the audit ends with a positive result, information about it is provided to selected interested parties, e.g. clients or contractors. Credibility is pivotal in adding value for all interested parties within the audit processes. This study seeks the factors which, in the opinion of the audited enterprises, have the most decisive impact on the credibility of external audits.

In keeping with the extant literature, research questions were developed regarding the factors influencing the credibility assessment of external audits. Data collected from 100 companies in the Polish food sector were used to construct the model and carry out statistical analyses. Linear regression analyses were also applied to determine the key factors influencing the credibility of audits.

This study is part of the research trend on the rationality of external audits and certification of quality management systems. This paper identifies nine main factors shaping the credibility of external audits. Two of them have the most decisive influence on credibility. The first one is the professional audit method (procedure). The second factor is the auditor’s knowledge of the specificity of the audited area.

This study did not consider the impact that the image/credibility of the organization represented by the auditors may have on the reliability of audits. This is one of the fundamental limitations that should be considered when analyzing the obtained results. To recognize this type of dependence, additional research should be carried out. Another limitation is that the research covers the food industry only. It would be interesting to know the situation in other types of industries.

This paper looks at the possibility of increasing the added value for audited enterprises. The proposed model can be used by managers of organizations conducting external audits and auditors to effectively use resources for process improvement, influencing the maximization of credibility of activities in the area of conformity assessment.

The originality of this study lies in adopting the perspective of audited enterprises in assessing the credibility of audits. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that adopts this approach. This paper contributes to the literature, particularly to better understand audited enterprises’ behavior (trust in audit results, satisfaction with audits, etc.).

The extant literature on expatriate adjustment primarily highlights the role of host country nationals (HCNs) in supporting expatriates during international assignments. However, there is a dearth of research exploring the expatriates’ socialization process in establishing interpersonal relationships with HCNs. Additionally, the pivotal element of expatriates seeking credible HCN sources, fundamental for fostering these relationships for adjustment, remains largely unexamined in the context of expatriate literature. Thus, this study addresses these gaps by proposing a conceptual model to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the expatriate adjustment process.

This conceptual paper draws upon the theoretical framework of social identity theory to elucidate how socialization processes initiated by the parent organization and the expatriate shape the expatriate’s perception of HCN credibility. This perception, in turn, serves as the foundation for building a robust support system, ultimately leading to expatriate adjustment.

The proposed model explores the nuanced dimensions of expatriate adjustment, emphasizing the complex dynamics between expatriates and host country nationals during individualized socialization. This model aims to assess the credibility of HCNs in the eyes of expatriates and understand the role of the institutionalized socialization process. Further, the model investigates the influence of perceived similarity traits in the examined relationship, shedding light on the interplay of these factors and their impact on the expatriate’s adjustment to the international assignment.

The study’s findings offer practical insights for organizations looking to enhance their support systems for expatriates, emphasizing the importance of nurturing interpersonal relationships and the credibility of HCNs.

This study contributes to the expatriate literature by shedding light on the often-overlooked interpersonal relationship between expatriates and HCNs. Doing so opens new avenues for further research, offering a fresh perspective on the expatriate adjustment process.

This study aims to explore the impact of store atmospherics on urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ behavioural intentions to purchase apparel in an emerging African market context. This study also considers purchase antecedents to attitude, perceived behavioural control and social norms as determinants of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ apparel behavioural intentions.

Using non-probability sampling, specifically purposive and interlocking sampling, data collection was secured from 881 economically active Namibian urban bottom-of-the-pyramid respondents through interviewer-administered questionnaires. Covariance-based structural equation modelling assessed the significant relationships among all constructs in the conceptual model.

This study found that for favourable apparel behavioural intentions of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers to occur, apparel retailers should emphasise trust, perceived awareness and self-identity through apparel assortment and groupings, easy-to-read visible signage, together with competent, friendly and respectful sales personnel in their store atmospherics.

The findings of this study may guide apparel retailers in other emerging African markets to develop regional integration, market-based solutions and inclusive economic growth focusing on “non-essential” products, such as apparel, among urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers.

This study expands the intellectual boundaries of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ behavioural intentions towards “non-essential” products. The theoretical framework supports the integration of both the stimulus-organism-response model and the theory of planned behaviour into one single model for empirical investigation. Additionally, adopting a novel theoretical framework helped identify the impact of store atmospherics from a bottom-of-the-pyramid perspective in an emerging African market context, such as Namibia.

In the face of increasing political polarization worldwide, this study explores whether people create biased perceptions of political knowledge and how this affects their selection and evaluation of political content on YouTube.

For this study, an online experiment was conducted with 441 panels of South Korean respondents. In the first phase, participants answered 10 questions designed to capture their level of objective political knowledge, and for each question, they indicated whether they had responded to that question correctly as a means of measuring their subjective political knowledge. In the second phase, two types of YouTube thumbnails were presented to represent progressive and conservative claims on two controversial political issues, and participants rated and selected the content they would like to see.

Participants with low political knowledge perceived their knowledge as more than it really was. In contrast, participants with high political knowledge perceived their political knowledge as less than it really was. This biased perception of political knowledge influences respondents' choice and evaluation of political YouTube channel videos.

At a time when political polarization is increasing around the world, this study sought to explore how perceptions of political knowledge differ from actual political knowledge by applying the Dunning-Kruger effect. The authors also used political YouTube channels, whose role in forming public opinion and political influence is rapidly growing, to study the behavior and attitudes of a group of Korean respondents in the media according to their actual and perceived level of political literacy.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the amount of trust customers have in Somali Islamic banks. Furthermore, the role of gender in CSR activities and Islamic bank clientele is evaluated.

Throughout February and March 2022, 410 clients of Islamic banks in Somalia were surveyed using a questionnaire. The partial least squares approach and the structural equation model are applied to examine the data.

Findings indicate that all variables of CSR activities, such as social product, social legal, social needs, social environment and social employees’ responsibility, are influential and significant predictors of trust in Islamic banks in Somalia. Gender inequalities moderate the relationship between social product, social needs, social environment, social employee and trust. Conversely, only social legal responsibility was unaffected by gender differences in Somalia regarding people’s trust in Islamic banks.

A sample from a developing country such as Somalia is useful for shedding light on the outcomes of consumers’ perceptions of and trust in businesses’ CSR in the developing world. Furthermore, this study contributes to knowledge regarding CSR and how it can help the Islamic banking industry. Its findings will be useful to policymakers and regulatory bodies in the banking industry in their efforts to improve CSR.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical investigation of its kind about the understudied relationship among customer trust, CSR efforts and gender in Somalia context. Furthermore, it investigates how gender specifically moderates CSR in the Islamic banking sector in a developing country.

The purpose of this study is to identify the process of virtual influencer stickiness in the age of influencer marketing, which has received little attention in the literature. This is essential because the research creates a theoretical model of follower loyalty/stickiness to virtual influencer techniques from the standpoint of influencer marketing, which has a substantial effect on the evolution of the global marketing world.

In 2022, 302 people who currently follow an Instafamous virtual influencer took part in an Instagram self-administered online survey.

The findings show that both expertise and trustworthiness have a positive and significant influence on parasocial interaction, which in turn has a significant influence on virtual engagement and stickiness.

This research will specifically assist international readers in understanding how to harness and increase the efficiency and efficacy of interactive marketing strategies and methods to engage and retain followers of Instafamous virtual influencer. Moreover, the findings will be beneficial to opinion leaders, brand managers, company investors, entrepreneurs and service designers.

1. The study pioneers a holistic virtual follower stickiness mechanism that comprises the role of source credibility, parasocial interaction, informational influence and virtual follower’s engagement and their interrelationship to each other.

2. This study is based on parasocial interaction theory and source credibility theory to understand the relationship between virtual followers and influencers stickiness process at social media platforms.

3. In addition, the study examined the subsequent effects of sources of credibility components on parasocial interaction; as well as, on virtual follower engagement and stickiness.

4. This study also categorized and examined the moderating effects exerted by the genres of informative influence of virtual influencer.

The study pioneers a holistic virtual follower stickiness mechanism that comprises the role of source credibility, parasocial interaction, informational influence and virtual follower’s engagement and their interrelationship to each other.

This study is based on parasocial interaction theory and source credibility theory to understand the relationship between virtual followers and influencers stickiness process at social media platforms.

In addition, the study examined the subsequent effects of sources of credibility components on parasocial interaction; as well as, on virtual follower engagement and stickiness.

This study also categorized and examined the moderating effects exerted by the genres of informative influence of virtual influencer.

Reacting to the calls in the contemporary literature to further examine the relationship between board attributes and firms’ decisions to obtain corporate social responsibility assurance (CSRA) through the use of pioneering techniques, this study aims to analyse the influence of such attributes together with the existence of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee on the adoption of CSRA using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (Fs-QCA).

Fs-QCA was performed on a sample of nonfinancial European companies listed on the STOXX Europe 600 index over the period 2016–2018.

The study findings indicate that the decision to obtain a CSRA report depends on a complex combination of the influence of the CSR committee and certain board attributes, such as size, experience, independence, meeting frequency, gender and CEO separation. These attributes play essential contributing roles and, if suitably combined, stimulate the adoption of CSRA.

The study findings are important for policymakers, professionals, organisations and regulators in forming and modifying the rules and guidelines related to CSR committees and board composition.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first examination of the impact of board attributes and CSR committees on the adoption of CSRA using Fs-QCA method. It also offers a novel methodological contribution to the board-CSRA literature by combining traditional statistical (logistic regression) and Fs-QCA methods. This study emphasises the benefits of Fs-QCA as an alternative to logistic regression analysis. Through the use of these methods, the research illustrates that Fs-QCA offers more detailed and informative results when compared to those obtained through logistic regression analysis. This finding highlights the potential of Fs-QCA to enhance our understanding of complex phenomena in academic research.

The food industry is continuously developing its online services called food delivery applications (FDAs). This study aims to evaluate FDA's importance–performance and identify strategies to maximize its potential gains from a business partner's perspective.

Data are collected from 208 FDA partners in Indonesia. Importance–performance analysis (IPA) is applied to evaluate the FDA feature and extended the theory of potential gain in customer value (PGCV) to achieve potential gains from FDA business partners.

This study provides a clear and measurable direction for future research to develop FDA performance. Owning customer data, revenue sharing and competitive advantage are the most potential gains from joining the FDA from the business partner perspective.

The respondents are restaurants from the micro, small, and medium enterprises levels. Further research should involve middle to upper level restaurants to discover all business partners' perceptions. This will be very helpful for FDA providers interested in improving the best performance for all their partners.

FDA providers must focus on improving and maintaining the features of owning customer data, revenue sharing, competitive advantage, stable terms and conditions, customer interface, building customer loyalty, online presence, user credit rating, promotion and offers, delivery service and sales enhancement to increase consumer satisfaction and meet the expectations desired by business partners.

This research provides a meaningful theoretical foundation for future work. It extends the theory of PGCV using the value of a partner perspective as a substitute for customer value; hence, the authors call it a potential gain in partner value.

The author examined effects of endorser type and message framing on visual attention and ad effectiveness in health ads, including the moderator of involvement. This paper aims to discuss this issue.

An experiment was conducted with a 2 (celebrity vs. expert) × 2 (positive vs. negative framing) between-subject factorial design. Eye-tracking measured visual attention and a questionnaire measured ad effectiveness and product involvement.

Experimental data from 78 responses showed no vampire effect in the health advertisements. Celebrity endorsement with negative message framing received more attention and had less ad recall than that with positive message framing. Negative and positive message framing attracted the same amount of attention and ad recall in the expert endorsement condition. High involvement participants paid more attention to the ad message with the expert than that with the celebrity, but ad recall was not significantly increased. Low involvement participants exhibited the same attention to the ad message with the expert and with the celebrity, but had greater recall of the ad message with the expert. Visual attention to the endorser was associated with ad attitude but not with ad recall. Ad attitude impacted behavioral intention.

Studies examining influences of celebrity and message framing on ad effectiveness have focused on the response to advertising stimuli, not the information process. The author provides empirical evidence of the viewers' information processing of endorsers and health messages, and its relationship with ad effectiveness. The study contributes to the literature by combining endorser and message framing in health ads to promote public health communication from the information processing perspective.