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Our editorial argues that categories theory can be advanced by embracing heuristics research, and the insight that audiences often evaluate items based on multiple valued criteria. Thus, rather than building on extant theory – which suggests that categories embody specific evaluative criteria, or that audiences operate according to a set “theory of value” – the authors argue that hybrids research would benefit from attending to the underlying processes that actors use to weigh and balance the diverse considerations that guide their decisions. The authors define and discuss three commonly used heuristics (satisficing, lexicographic preferences, and elimination by aspects), and show how these might lead audiences to support different types of hybrid entities.

The article aims to explore hybrid consumption behaviour as an emergent consumption pattern that may make conventional consumer stereotypes outdated.

The study is an exploratory study in urban environments using qualitative, semi-structured and semi-structured interviews.

It is found that a continuum of hybrid consumption types exists, which includes both omnivorous and polarised behaviour. Hybrid consumers opt for both premium and budget alternatives but ignore midrange alternatives. Both trading-up and trading-down categories and situations are identified. While in previous studies trading up and trading down have been considered product category specific, the results of this study imply that hybrid consumption transcends product category boundaries. Four key themes characterizing hybrid consumption are identified.

The study is explorative. However, as the phenomenon of hybrid consumption behaviour is insufficiently studied in previous research, the article reveals underpinning drivers of such behaviour and suggests directions of further research into the phenomenon.

There are many practical implications of the study. As hybrid consumers do not fall into distinct and stable categories, traditional marketing and segmentation strategies may need to be rethought. Consumers cannot be categorised in such a straightforward manner as conventional segmentation practices suggest.

The authors are not aware of hybrid consumption having been studied and categorised in this way before in academic research. New approaches to studying consumer behaviour, segmentation and marketing are implied.

Much of the current literature on category construction and maintenance has focused primarily on the disciplining effect of audiences that evaluate for conformity. This literature often characterizes categories as benign organizing devices that bring order to social life. However, categories are also contentious political and cultural productions. This is especially so, when the categories are hybrid. Employing a qualitative case study of an impact investing organization operating in Sub-Saharan Africa, we illustrate how the construction and maintenance of hybrid categories can have potentially advantageous effects for certain actors by shaping the architecture of knowledge and transferring legitimacy to otherwise illegitimate actors or nascent practices. The findings of this study highlight how some hybrid categories can be used to create and maintain unequal relations of power.

As hybrid organizations become increasingly common, the authors observe that some hybrid forms are becoming institutionalized and legitimated. The authors explore the implications of the institutionalization of hybridity, addressing both the internal tensions that plague many hybrids and the external tensions stemming from evaluator assessments and stakeholder uncertainty. The authors propose that institutionalization can dampen internal tensions associated with hybridity and also facilitate legitimation and acceptance by external audiences. The authors present identity as a useful theoretical lens through which to examine these questions, as identities are born from, but also have the potential to modify, existing institutional arrangements. The authors present directions for future research at the juncture of identity, hybridity, and institutionalization, suggesting potential avenues of inquiry in this productive stream of research.

In current research on market categories, hybridity (i.e., the association of organizations and/or the products they offer with multiple category memberships) represents an important issue with many practical implications, especially for project-based forms of organizations. This chapter explores the evolution of hybridity and the conditions under which different kinds of project-based organizations develop hybrid projects. By studying the feature film industry in the United States from 1920 until 1970, this chapter contrasts the current perspective based on status-organizing processes and suggests that hybridity is a population-level process that can be interpreted as the result of the construction and interplay of different identities, and on the dynamic of the identity dimensions employed by different actors in such effort. The chapter shows that the development and construction of the identity of a temporary organization is different from other types of organizations, and is linked to identification processes both at the organizational level, with the company or with specific individuals in key roles, and at the institutional/collective level, with pure (single-category) and hybrid (multi-category) genres. This chapter highlights the mutual interactions and constraints between these two levels in different life stages of the film industry.

This study aims to examine the relationship between family business identity disclosure by firms and consumer product evaluations and the moderating impact, if any, of firm size on this relationship. Toward this end, the study seeks to develop a theoretical explanation for how consumers process family business identity information.

A qualitative pre-study was conducted to obtain preliminary evidence that consumers’ perceptions of family businesses originate from both family- and business-based category beliefs. A product evaluation experiment, involving young adult subjects, was used to test the research hypotheses, and the experiment data were analyzed using MANOVA.

The key finding was that the effect of family business identity disclosure on consumer product evaluations is moderated by firm size.

This research has implications for businesses seeking to promote their family business identity in branding communications.

This research provides a theoretical account of why consumers might hold different perceptions of family business brands. The interactive effect of firm size and family business identity information disclosure on consumer product evaluations contributes new insight to family business branding.

COVID-19 disrupted the usual way of working for many people across the globe, making full-time work from home and hybrid models two popular work arrangements. Despite the proliferation and high acceptance of the hybrid model, very little research has focused on the same. This study aims to compare the impact of transitions caused by remote work on work disengagement under two settings: remote work and hybrid model.

The data is collected from three corporate hubs in India: Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Bangalore. This study’s respondents represent two working models: full-time work from home and a hybrid model. Responses were collected using Google forms-based questionnaire, which resulted in the following usable responses: 356 (hybrid) and 398 (work from home).

The findings reveal that the structural model for the hybrid sector explained 11% of the variance in work disengagement, while the same for work from home model accounted for 20% of the variance in work disengagement. The authors also tested for the moderation of individual resilience between work-home and home-to-work conflicts and home-to-work transitions and work-to-home conflict under full-time work-from and hybrid models. Based on 356 respondents from hybrid category and 398 from work from home, the study found that employees experience less work-to-home and home-to-work conflicts in the hybrid model and employees experience more work-to-home and home-to-work conflicts in the full-time work from home model.

The study is also the first to examine the moderating role of individual resilience as a tool to bounce back and handle conflicts. As the full-time work from home model leads to more work-to-home and home-to-work conflicts, individuals have more scope to exhibit resilience, and thus, the moderating relationship is stronger in the full-time work from home model. The paper offers theoretical and managerial implications.

The popularity of research into categories has grown in recent decades and shows no sign of abating. This introductory article takes stock of the research into two facets of categorization, addressing it both as a cognitive and a social process. We advocate a rebalance toward the social process of categorization, paying more heed to the entity to be categorized, the actors involved, their acts, and the context and timing, which informs these activities. We summarize the contributions to the volume in relation to these dimensions and briefly discuss avenues for future research.

Underpinned by three-factor theory, this study aims to: examine the dynamics (asymmetry) of multi-quality low-carbon attributes towards the Thai tourists’ perception and prioritise carbon-tourism attributes on the basis of impact-range performance and asymmetric analysis.

The study applies a multi-method approach to derive the low-carbon tourism (LCT) items before conducting exploratory factor analysis to identify the underlying dimensions. Impact range performance analysis and impact asymmetry analysis were carried out to explore the asymmetric or symmetric relationship associated with tourists’ perception of LCT.

Findings reveal the three dimensions of the LCT attributes. Out of the 29 attributes, nine are regarded as “must-have” categories, such that tourists will be disappointed at the efforts of a low-carbon destination if these attributes are missing, but they will feel neutral if the attributes are present. Six LCT attributes fall into the “hybrid” category, such that tourists will appreciate if they perceive these attributes to be available for LCT and feel disappointed if these attributes are not or poorly offered. Fourteen attributes are considered under the “value-added” category, meaning tourists will only appreciate if they encounter these attributes at the destination, and the lack thereof will not cause any dissatisfaction or negative perception from tourists.

Through the multi-quality asymmetric analysis, the study provides deep insights into the degree of perception of the 29 LCT attributes. The study offers tangible guidelines to destination authorities and pinpoints the necessity to provide attributes, especially in the “hybrid” and “must-have” categories, to avoid tourists’ negative perceptions when they visit a low-carbon destination.

目的-本研究基于三因素理论, 旨在: 1) 探讨多质量低碳属性对泰国游客的积极认知的动态性（即非对称性）; 2) 基于影响范围性能和非对称分析确定低碳旅游属性的优先次序。

本研究在进行探索性因素分析以确定潜在维度之前, 采用了多方法途径推导出低碳旅游（LCT）项目。通过影响范围性能分析(IRPA)和影响非对称性分析(IAA) , 来探索与游客对LCT的积极认知相关的不对称或对称关系。

研究结果显示了LCT属性的三个维度。在29个属性中, 有9个被视为“必备”类别, 这意味着如果这些属性缺失, 游客就会对低碳旅游目的地的努力感到失望, 但如果这些属性存在, 则会保持中立。6个LCT属性属于"混合 “类别, 这意味着如果游客认为LCT有这些属性, 他们会很赞赏, 但如果没有这些属性或提供的属性不佳, 他们则会感到失望。14个属性被认为属于"增值 “类别, 这意味着游客只有在旅游目的地遇到这些属性时才会感到赞赏, 而缺乏这些属性则不会引起游客的不满或负面看法。

通过多质量非对称性分析, 本研究对理解29个LCT属性的认知程度提供了深刻的见解。该研究为旅游目的地管理机构提供了切实的指导, 并明确指出了提供属性的必要性, 特别是在"混合"和"必备"类别中, 以避免游客在前往低碳旅游目的地时产生负面看法。

El estudio aplica un enfoque multimétodo para obtener los elementos del turismo bajo en carbono (TBC) antes de realizar un análisis factorial exploratorio para identificar las dimensiones subyacentes. Se llevó a cabo un análisis de rendimiento del rango de impacto y un análisis de asimetría del impacto para explorar la relación asimétrica o simétrica asociada a la percepción de los turistas sobre el TBC.

Apoyándose en la teoría de los tres factores, el estudio pretende 1) examinar la dinámica (asimetría) de los atributos de baja emisión de carbono de múltiples calidades con respecto a la percepción de los turistas tailandeses y 2) priorizar los atributos del turismo de carbono sobre la base del rendimiento del rango de impacto y el análisis asimétrico.

Los resultados revelan las tres dimensiones de los atributos del turismo de carbono. De los 29 atributos, nueve se consideran categorías “imprescindibles”, de modo que los turistas se sentirán decepcionados por los esfuerzos de un destino con bajas emisiones de carbono si estos atributos faltan, pero se sentirán neutrales si los atributos están presentes. Seis atributos de los TBC entran en la categoría “híbrida”, de manera que los turistas apreciarán si perciben que estos atributos están disponibles para los TBC y se sentirán decepcionados si estos atributos no se ofrecen o se ofrecen de manera deficiente. Catorce atributos se consideran en la categoría de “valor añadido”, lo que significa que los turistas sólo apreciarán si encuentran estos atributos en el destino, y la falta de ellos no causará ninguna insatisfacción o percepción negativa por parte de los turistas.

A través del análisis asimétrico de la calidad múltiple, el estudio proporciona una visión profunda del grado de percepción de los 29 atributos del TBC. El estudio ofrece directrices tangibles a las autoridades de los destinos y señala la necesidad de proporcionar atributos, especialmente en las categorías “híbrida” e “imprescindible”, para evitar la percepción negativa de los turistas cuando visitan un destino con bajas emisiones de carbono.