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Due to changing consumer thinking patterns and market dynamics, the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry has changed dramatically in the past few years. Considering this, this study aims to examine the influence of perceived brand globalness and perceived brand localness on consumer word of mouth through brand attitude by considering consumer ethnocentrism and perceived brand origin as moderators.

This study obtained 750 responses from Turkish consumers through a survey and analyzed the data using the maximum-likelihood estimation technique with structural equation modeling.

This study discovered that perceived brand globalness and perceived brand localness are critical components that drive brand attitude, influencing consumers' WOM toward global and local QSR brands. Similarly, perceived brand globalness and perceived brand localness are important brand attributes influencing consumer WOM. Importantly, this study found the significant effects of perceived brand origin on brand attitude mainly toward perceived local brands compared to global QSR brands. Although this study did not uncover the influence of consumer ethnocentrism as expected. However, these insights may assist global and local managers to rethink their strategies toward Turkish consumer settings.

This study was conducted exclusively in Turkey. However, additional studies in other countries, such as the comparative Asian versus European consumers' perspectives, may be considered to generalize the findings.

This study provides recommendations to global and local managers to support them in designing and executing several brand positioning strategies in the QSR industry.

This novel study contributes to the accessibility diagnostic theory and signaling theory by examining consumers' perceptions of local and global brands.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of perceived brand globalness (PBG) and perceived brand localness (PBL) in developing consumer word-of-mouth (CWOM) via brand attitude (BATT) by incorporating the moderating role of consumer ethnocentrism (CET) and perceived brand origin (PBO) as well as considering brand familiarity (BF) as a covariate in the context of global and local quick-service restaurant (QSR) brands in emerging markets.

This study obtained 764 responses from Chinese consumers through an online survey and analyzed the data using the maximum-likelihood estimation technique with structural equation modeling.

After controlling brand familiarity, this study revealed that PBG and PBL are critical components that drive brand attitude, which positively improves CWOM toward global and local QSR brands. Similarly, PBG and PBL are important brand attributes that directly influence CWOM. Importantly, this research found the significant role of PBO on brand attitude toward perceived local brands compared to global QSR brands. Although this study did not discover the influence of CET as expected. However, these insights may assist global and local managers to rethink their strategies in emerging markets.

This study was conducted exclusively in China. However, additional studies may be considered in other countries, such as comparing Asian vs European consumers.

This study provides recommendations to global and local managers to support them in designing and executing several brand positioning strategies in the QSR industry.

This novel study contributes to the accessibility–diagnosticity theory and signaling theory by examining consumers' perceptions of global and local QSR brands.

The education services sector faces ever-changing global market dynamics with creative disruptions. Building knowledge brands can push the higher education sector beyond its geographical boundaries into the global arena. This study aims to identify key constructs, their theoretical background and dimensions that aid in building a global knowledge brand. The authors' research focuses on adapting and validating scales for global knowledge and education services brands from well-established academic literature.

The authors have adopted a mixed methodology approach and a systematic literature review. Authors interviewed 18 subject matter experts as part of content and face validity to arrive at select constructs, dimensions and items. Quantitative methods with random sampling were adopted as the primary methodology. Initially, the survey was administered to 390 students to test preliminary results. The survey was also administered to 5,112 students at a later part of this study. Valid responses stood at 3,244 with a 63% response rate. Further, the authors conducted confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the reliability and validity of scales. This study analyzed composite reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity to finalize items for scales. The authors also validated the hypotheses based on the discriminant validity assessment scores.

Authors' key research findings are that academic stimulus, campus infrastructure and student intent play a significant role in campus culture and events design and experience at campus. Authors were able to bring out 16 key constructs and 55 critical dimensions vital to global education services brand building. This study also adapted and validated 99 items that meet construct validity and composite reliability criteria. This study also highlights that constructs such as student intent, academic stimulus, campus infrastructure scalability, selection mechanism, pedagogical content knowledge, brand identity, events experience and campus culture play a vital role in global brand recognition.

The authors' work is fairly generalizable to education services and the higher education sector. However, this study must be extrapolated and empirically validated in other industry sectors. The research implications of this study are that it aided the authors in building theoretical background for student brand loyalty theory, student expectation theory and study loyalty theory. This study adds to the body of knowledge by contributing to theoretical concepts on students, knowledge culture, events, infrastructure and branding. Researchers can adopt the scales proposed in this study to build research models in higher education branding. This study acts as a catalyst for building theories in education services areas. Researchers can delve deep into proposed research aspects of campus infrastructure, knowledge infrastructure, campus knowledge culture, events design and events experience.

This study aids educators and brand managers to develop global education services and optimize their effort and budget. Administrators in the education services sector must focus on practical aspects of student perception, campus infrastructure, culture and events experience. Practically administrators can reorient their efforts based on this study to achieve global brand recognition.

This study highlights that students are not customers but are co-creators of value in the education sector. This study provides scales and dimensions needed to build co-creation frameworks and models.

Most research in higher education branding has not covered wider aspects of global brand building. Existing theories proposed in higher education and education services articles cover only narrower aspects of campus infrastructure, culture, events design and branding. This study presents a comprehensive list of critical factors that play a vital role in global knowledge brand building. This study highlights the constructs and scales integral to building a global education services brand.

This study aims to investigate the ecological awareness of Chinese consumers towards fast fashion and examine the effect of social sustainability claims on green brand image and purchase intentions in China, considering China’s unique environmental policy landscape and its significant role in the global fast fashion industry. The study explores the role of altruistic values in promoting sustainability within the well-known fast fashion brand “H” and how they shape brand image, consumer satisfaction and brand equity.

The study collected data from 257 Chinese participants and used a serial mediation model through the PROCESS macro in SPSS to analyse the correlation between green brand image, created through sustainability claims and consumer purchase intentions. The model also assessed the intermediary effects of brand image, satisfaction and equity.

The findings of the research indicate a direct and positive relationship between green brand image and consumer purchase intentions, emphasising the need for clothing and textile industry marketers to strategically promote altruistic values in their sustainability efforts and highlighting the importance of ecological awareness in shaping consumer behaviour in the Chinese context. This approach enhances green satisfaction and green brand equity and ultimately leads to higher green purchase intentions.

This study provides significant insights into the effectiveness of incorporating social sustainability claims in advertising to improve a brand’s green image and influence consumer behaviour. It emphasises the importance of altruistic values in sustainability strategies, offering valuable guidelines for marketers in enhancing green satisfaction and brand equity, thereby boosting consumer purchase intentions in the context of green branding and sustainability advertising. Focussing specifically on the Chinese market, this research sheds light on the impact of ecological awareness among Chinese consumers within the fast-fashion industry. Given China’s substantial role in shaping global fast-fashion production and its evolving environmental policies, this focus adds significant depth to our understanding of sustainability claims’ influence within this crucial consumer base.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review authenticity in the branding context and suggest avenues for future research.

This study applies a systematic literature review process and analyzes a total of 171 articles published from 1988 to 2021 and three items that are books or book chapters.

Brand authenticity has several definitions and dimensions. Although some common ground can be found among researchers, the study of authenticity is very fragmented. Even so, brand authenticity is often associated with a brand being genuine, real, true to itself and its consumers, and with consistent behavior, reflecting its values. A growing number of studies about the topic have been published, most of them empirical, applied in different industries and different geographical contexts. The authors also present several constructs associated with the topic (antecedents and consequences). Finally, this study shows paths for scholars to build on.

The main limitations are associated with the inherent subjectivity related to the inclusion and exclusion criteria defined to select articles for the analysis.

This systematic review maps the past, structures existing knowledge about authenticity in the branding context, and sheds light on what could be future research in this field.

The purpose of this study is to provide information that reflects the true state of affairs and to develop a conceptual model that examines the moderating effect of uncertainty on relative brand trust–love.

Extant empirical studies, conceptual literature and related theories were identified and integrated to develop the conceptual model.

Findings of the study suggest that relative brand trust–love arises because of different components of uncertainty. Relative brand trust–love exhibited by the customer is moderated by uncertainty at the individual level, brand level and technology level. These uncertainties represent the situation that considers if relative brand trust–love can be enhanced. A few propositions have been suggested for such situations to enhance relative brand trust–love.

This paper proposes a conceptual model and also makes research propositions that need to be validated and confirmed empirically. It adds value to theoretical advancements in strengthening the customer–brand relationship. Furthermore, results suggest that relative brand trust–love can be improved over time if these components can be supported by increasing information at different levels. The conclusions will be informative to practitioners and brand managers in strengthening a brand into the market more effectively. Moreover, it can transform the brand into a global brand and help build sustainable long-term relationships. Findings can be useful and interesting information for the researchers who are interested in finding strategic ways for effective decision-making related to brand trust and brand love.

The conceptual model, and the propositions related to different levels of uncertainty, and its effect on relative brand trust–love, is a new approach in enhancing relative brand trust–love and hence helpful in strengthening the quality of customer–brand relationships.

This study aims to examine differences in the perceived value of luxury as drivers of luxury purchase intentions between individualist and collectivist cultures (at a country level) and consumers of Muslim versus Christian religious backgrounds. Moreover, this study investigates how consumers’ acculturation to the global consumer culture (AGCC) impacts their perceived luxury values.

The authors conducted two online survey studies. The first study compares Muslim consumers in Kuwait versus Muslims consumers in the UK. The second study compares the UK Muslim sample to a UK Christian sample. The authors collected data from 600 and 601 respondents, respectively. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to test this study’s research hypotheses.

The perceived personal values of luxury primarily drive consumers’ luxury purchase intentions. The hedonic value of luxury impacts luxury purchase intentions significantly more for Muslims in the UK than in Kuwait. No significant differences were observed between religions. Consumers’ AGCC exerts a positive impact on all included perceived luxury values and more strongly impacts perceived uniqueness for Muslims than for Christians.

The paper builds on an integrative luxury values framework to examine the impact of luxury values on consumers’ purchasing intentions by studying the moderating effect of culture and religion on these relationships. The study is partly set in Kuwait, an understudied country, and investigates a Muslim minority in the UK.

The proliferation of digital communication on social media provides new opportunities for businesses to take advantage of Internet memes to boost customer engagement. Academic literature on digital communications mostly focuses on popular forms such as selfies, branded posts, and branded emoticons. Less attention has been paid to brand memes and their implications for brand management. Based on the cue utilization theory, this research aims to investigate the informational cues of brand memes foster brand partnerships.

The structural equation modeling and importance-performance matrix analysis were used to empirically validate the research hypotheses with 595 respondents to an online survey.

Three informational cues of brand memes (i.e. comprehensibility, novelty, and meme-brand congruity) stimulated consumers' attitudes, which in turn impacted consumer-brand relationships. Another brand meme informational cue, sarcasm, negatively moderated the relationships between the three informational cues and consumer-brand relationships.

Our findings indicate that a brand can engage consumers in conversations on social media and foster long-term consumer-brand relationships through brand memes.

This study examined perceived brand attractiveness of and identification with fashion luxury brands given different levels of sexuality in advertisements. Sex in advertisements has become increasingly more common to generate attention and interest in fashion luxury products, with limited research on its influence on the consumer. However, the use of sexuality in luxury advertisements may counter the ethical expectations of brands by the current consumer in the United States.

A sample of 1,266 males and females completed a survey on brand attractiveness and identification after examining an advertisement of a luxury fashion product. Participants were assigned an advertisement that featured a same-gendered model at one of four levels of sexuality (fully clothed to nude). IBM SPSS Statistics was used to analyze the data which included descriptive statistics and a two-way multivariate analysis of variance followed by an analysis of variance.

The results indicated that less sexuality in luxury advertisements was better in generating attractiveness to and identification with the brand. The advertisements with models fully clothed were rated highest on brand attractiveness and identification. These relationships were statistically significant among groups of men and women.

These findings are important to scholars and marketers of luxury brands as sexuality in luxury brands continues to increase and becomes more provocative, as well as socially conscious.

Through a systematic literature review, this paper aims to endeavor to present a thorough historical perspective on the evolution of employee-based brand equity (EBBE), offering a comprehensive understanding of its development. The study explores the general model, causes and effects of EBBE, as well as the role of culture, leadership and brand management in building EBBE. The paper proposes an integrative framework to understand the interrelationships between the various dimensions of EBBE and offers practical guidelines for future research and the business world.

The paper uses a systematic literature review approach to analyze and synthesize 30 studies on EBBE retrieved from SCOPUS and Web of Science. The analysis involves a thematic and content-based examination of the literature, which is organized into three thematic groups.

The review highlights the importance of EBBE as a driver of organizational performance and success. The paper identifies the evolution of the major themes, trends and debates in the literature and suggests areas for future research. It underscores the need for more qualitative, multi-level and longitudinal research on EBBE, as well as the exploration of the links between EBBE and other forms of brand equity.

This paper is one of the first systematic literature reviews of EBBE, offering a comprehensive and integrated view of the existing literature since the beginning of this concept. The paper’s originality lies in its proposed integrative framework that captures the interrelationships between the various dimensions of EBBE and provides practical guidelines for future research and the business world.