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Adopting the unified theory of the acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) and the theory of substitutability, this study examines both the technical and sensory factors influencing Malaysians' intention to adopt virtual tours (IA) and subsequent intention to visit an actual heritage site (IV) in the heritage traveling decision-making process.

This study collected a total of 278 valid survey responses via purposive sampling. The data were analyzed using SPSS26 and SmartPLS4 software.

The findings support the significant positive effect of IA on IV, which supplements evidence to subdue misapprehensions that virtual tours (VTs) are competitors or substitutes for in-person visitations. Perceived substitutability was found to have an indirect impact on IV through IA, further proving the mediating role of IA in influencing IV. Technical and sensory factors, namely performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, habit and perceived substitutability of IA, were shown to be critical in influencing IA; however, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions were not.

This study offers sustainable and practical implications to the tourism industry as well as potential visitors, who can utilize VTs to determine whether targeted tourism destinations are worthy of investing their resources. The findings suggest that the virtual tour experience contributes to tourists' IV by successfully piquing tourists' interest to physically visit heritage sites in the future. The virtual tour could be utilized to generate demand in times of temporary replacement or closure. Destination marketing organizations and destination management companies should consider the technical and sensory aspects of VTs, specifically prioritizing the hedonic motivation factor.

This study integrates the UTAUT2 and theory of substitutability to shed light on the adoption of technological alternatives in the heritage tourism context. Importantly, this study serves as the pioneer effort in examining the interplay of perceived substitutability in the relationship between IA and IV.

The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise in early 2020. The preventive measures imposed by many countries limited human movement, causing uncertainty and disrupting consumption patterns and consumer decision-making. This study aims to explore consumers’ panic buying (PB) and compulsive buying (CB) as outcomes of the intolerance of uncertainty (IU). The moderating role of sustainable consumption behaviours (SCBs) (e.g. quality of life [QOL], concern for future generation and concern for environmental well-being) were also tested to raise awareness of responsible and mindful consumption amongst the society and business stakeholders.

To empirically examine the grocery shopping behaviours of Malaysian consumers during COVID-19, a total of 286 valid grocery consumer survey responses based on a purposive sampling were collected and analysed during the movement control order period between March and July 2020.

The findings confirmed the statistically significant impact of IU on both PB and CB and the impact of PB on CB behaviour. Amongst the three SCBs tested, only QOL significantly moderated the relationship between the IU and PB.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to construct a framework of consumers’ PB and CB during the pandemic, building upon the stimulus-organism-response model and the concepts of IU and SCB. This study further serves as the pioneering study on the moderating role of SCB in consumer behaviour research in the pandemic context, whereby consumers’ QOL significantly moderates the relationship between their IU and PB. This study has also drawn specific implications for grocery retailers and government agencies for retail and policy planning to promote positive social transformation in consumer buying behaviours during a pandemic or crisis.

Loyal customers are committed to repeat patronage, make business referrals and provide publicity for the business. However, rising customer expectations and price consciousness, advancement of technology, lack of product differentiation and consumer choices have posted more challenges for customer retention. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between transaction specific characteristics (i.e. food quality, service quality, atmosphere, convenience and price perception), customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (behavioral and attitudinal loyalties) in the context of Sabah full-service restaurant. The mediating effect of customer satisfaction and moderating effect of customer innovativeness were also tested.

A total of 225 valid questionnaires was collected via purposive sampling method and analyzed using Smart-PLS software 3.0.

All transaction specific characteristics have positive influences on customer satisfaction with price perception as the strongest predictor. Satisfaction had stronger effect on behavioral loyalty as compared to attitudinal loyalty. The mediating effects of customer satisfaction were only found in some of the relationships. None of the moderating effects of customer innovativeness was significant.

Utilizing the value-percept theory and transaction specific model which combine the evaluations of service and product elements of the full-service restaurant, this study contributed to the better understanding of the relationships between transaction specific characteristics, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The examination of both attitudinal and behavioral loyalties provided valuable insights to practitioners and researchers in understanding full-service restaurant consumers’ repatronage intention, intention to spread positive words-of-mouth (WoM) and commitment.

The purpose of this paper is to identify a need to incorporate Asian perspectives in theories of food consumption and marketing.

This editorial discusses the mutually recursive relationship between food and culture in Asian markets, offers an integrative summary of the special issue and develops several key themes for future research.

Food consumption plays a central role within Asian cultures and markets. Thus, understanding Asian perspectives and contexts provides an important complement and contrast to current theories of food consumption and marketing that have been primarily sited in North American and European contexts. In particular, the complex multiplicity of Asian consumer cultures creates dynamic heterogeneity within Asian food markets.

Although food consumption plays a central role in Asian consumer cultures, extant theory regarding Asian food consumption and marketing is still in its infancy. We highlight important developments in this area that suggest a path for future work.

The authors make three contributions to the literature on food consumption and marketing. First, while engaging with these questions, this issue points to the importance of Asian cultural perspectives into the marketing literature on food consumption. Second, through the articles of this special issue, we trace the relationships between food consumption practices, marketing practices and cultural multiplicity in Asian contexts. Finally, we draw the threads together to provide directions for future research in this area.

Drawing on sensemaking and emotion regulation research, the purpose of this paper is to reconceptualize core contributor withdrawal (CCW) in the context of online peer-production communities (OPPCs). To explain the underlying mechanisms that make core contributors withdraw from these communities, the authors propose a process theory of contributor withdrawal called the core contributor withdrawal theory (CCWT).

To support CCWT, a typology of unmet expectations of online communities is presented, which uncovers the cognitive and emotional processing involved. To illustrate the efficacy of CCWT, a case study of the English version of Wikipedia is provided as a representative OPPC.

CCWT identifies sensemaking and emotion regulation concerning contributors’ unmet expectations as causes of CCW from OPPCs, which first lead to declined expectations, burnout and psychological withdrawal and thereby to behavioral withdrawal.

CCWT clearly identifies how and why important participation transitions, such as from core contributor to less active contributor or non-contributor, take place. By adopting process theories, CCWT provides a nuanced explanation of the cognitive and affective events that take place before core contributors withdraw from OPPCs.

CCWT highlights the challenge of online communities shifting from recruiting new contributors to preventing loss of existing contributors in the maturity stage. Additionally, by identifying the underlying cognitive and affective processes that core contributors experience in response to unexpected events, communities can develop safeguards to prevent or correct cognitions and emotions that lead to withdrawal.

CCWT provides a theoretical framework that accounts for the negative cognitions and affects that lead to core contributors’ withdrawal from online communities. It furthers the understanding of what motivates contributing to and what leads to withdrawal from OPPC.