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Personal influence is one of the most powerful strategies to influence publics’ behaviours. Yet, there is scant attention on how personal influence is leveraged for different public relations purposes in different cultural contexts. This study empirically investigates the presence and use of personal influence among Italian public relations professionals.

A survey was conducted through a self-administrated, web-based questionnaire and was developed from earlier studies investigating personal influence in public relations literature. Survey participants included public relations professionals across public, non-profit and private sectors.

The findings empirically show the presence and regular use of personal influence by professionals from all sectors to cultivate interpersonal relationships. Personal influence is considered a personal resource and used to leverage own influencing power. The findings also document four major manifestations of personal influence, which were named: relational closeness strategy, engagement strategy, expertise strategy and added value strategy.

This study enhances our understanding of personal influence in a specific cultural context and offers strategic insights for international professionals seeking to leverage influence in the socio-political environment of Italy. It also offers elements to improve public relations education and training.

The study offers some preliminary understandings of how Italian professionals leverage their personal influence in their daily public relations activities contributing with empirical evidence to the body of knowledge in public relations.

This study aims to investigate the negative interpersonal antecedents, emotional mediators and boundary conditions of knowledge sabotage behavior.

The authors collected data from 275 Chinese employees using convenience sampling and snowball sampling across three stages. Subsequently, the authors used both hierarchical regression and bootstrap methods to test the proposed hypotheses.

The results confirmed that workplace ostracism has positive effects on employee knowledge sabotage behavior both directly and via employee anger. In addition, the authors found that employee bottom-line mentality (BLM) moderates not only the direct effect of workplace ostracism on employee anger but also the indirect effect of employee anger in this context. Employee conscientiousness moderates only the direct effect of workplace ostracism on employee anger and does not moderate the indirect effect.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study not only explores the influence of workplace ostracism on employee knowledge sabotage behavior for the first time but also elucidates the underlying emotional mechanisms (anger) and boundary conditions (employee BLM and conscientiousness) by which workplace ostracism influences employee knowledge sabotage behavior, thus deepening the understanding of how knowledge sabotage emerges in organizations.

Misperceptions hinder our ability to effectively respond to health crises such as the COVID-19. We aimed to examine the dynamic influences between information exposure, information trust and misperceptions during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we focused on the relative influence of exposure to COVID-19-related information via social media versus interpersonal offline communication.

The current study conducted a two-wave national survey of US adults in May and June of 2020 with a two-week time interval. A professional polling firm recruited participants, and 911 and 679 respondents participated in the first and the second wave survey, respectively. To test proposed hypotheses, researchers conducted path analyses using AMOS 27.0.

Findings show that individuals exposed to COVID-19-related information via social media are likely to hold increased misperceptions. In contrast, exposure to COVID-19-related information offline did not elicit any effects on misperceptions. The exposure to information on social media was positively associated with trust in that information, which, in turn, contributed to an increase in misperceptions. Furthermore, when examining the effects of misperception, it was found that misperceptions increased the likelihood of individuals being exposed to and having trust in COVID-19-related information on social media. The findings provide valuable insights into the role of social media as a platform where a detrimental cycle thrives, shaping the formation of misperceptions and cultivating a heightened dependence among individuals with elevated misperceptions.

The current study significantly extends the findings of prior research by examining the differential effects of social media and interpersonal communication offline on misperception and by revealing the intricate dynamics between information exposure and misperception by focusing on the role of trust. The findings emphasize the detrimental role of social media in generating a vicious information cycle. That said, seemingly superficial discussions about health crises within a social media environment rich in misinformation can contribute to fueling a self-reinforcing loop, making it challenging to effectively counteract misperceptions.

Emphasizing the increasing need for social presence in interpersonal interactions and the irreplaceable aspects of face-to-face communications, this study aims to explore the emotional impact of interpersonal influence on consumers after purchase. As individuals respond differently to others’ feedback (positive and negative/verbal and nonverbal), the author investigates potential moderating factors of the impact of feedback on consumer’s emotions in a postpurchase context.

A qualitative study was conducted using the method of semistructured individual interviews to collect data. The author selected a heterogeneous group of 30 consumers belonging to two categories: 13 adults (including seven women and six men) and 17 adolescents (including eight girls and nine boys). The author took into account this type of sampling in the selection of respondents, as investigating the influence of the respondent’s gender is one of the research objectives.

The thematic content analysis method released a set of propositions the author suggests for future validation: five moderating factors the author established from the literature review (strength of social ties, level of expertise, type of the product and consumer’s age and gender), while four factors sprang from the collected data (consumer’s level of conviction, repetition of the feedback, the feedback’s argumentation and its level of discretion).

The subjectivity of the interviewees’ personal descriptions of their felt internal states affects the accuracy of their responses. In addition, the psychological aspect of the study provoked reluctance and discretion from some respondents. Further research studies could target these limitations to study each identified moderating factor separately and search for the secondary variables that tend to be linked to these factors (e.g. the expertise level is linked to personality variables, such as the perceived level of self-confidence). Furthermore, subsequent studies can go beyond the affective impact of feedback and investigate the behavioral aspect (repurchase intentions).

This study is of great importance in providing more explanations for the reasons why consumers repurchase or abandon a product. The importance of the emotional power of others’ feedback suggests that, when positioning their offers, marketers must ensure that their product has a strong chance of acceptance by consumer’s significant other. In addition, companies must argue their offers, allowing consumers to increase their knowledge about the product. Moreover, interpersonal cues and expertise level are more important competences to find in employees. Who is more than a vendor, for example, to be perceived as having a high level of expertise in his field?

This study stresses the importance of face-to-face interpersonal interaction in a time when social lives are submerged by social media and virtual communications. The findings suggest that offline social power still matters, and its impact is relative to multiple factors that count for consumers. Face-to-face interaction has been viewed as the most efficient way to satisfy individuals’ social needs for connectedness.

This paper provides new insights into the impact of offline interpersonal verbal and nonverbal feedbacks. The feedback-affect process within consumers was explored, and the postpurchase context was precisely emphasized.

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a significant shift in how employees executed their professional responsibilities. Concurrently, the incidence of cybercrime experienced a noteworthy surge due to the increased utilisation of cyberspace. The abrupt transition to telecommuting altered the interpersonal dynamics inherent in traditional work environments. This paper aims to examine the impact of interpersonal factors on the cybercrime preventative measures adopted by telecommuting employees.

A conceptual model, grounded in the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour, is evaluated through an online survey. The data set comprises responses from 209 employees in South Africa, and the analysis uses partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The results reveal substantial predictive power to explain cybercrime preventative behaviours. Notably, the study underscores the significant influence of habit and affect on intention and subsequent behaviour.

The results suggest that practitioners should give due attention to emotional dimensions (affect) as a catalyst for information security behaviour. The formulation of employees’ information security responsibilities should be pragmatic, fostering subconscious compliance to establish routine behaviour (habit).

This research underscores the pivotal roles played by habit and emotions in shaping behavioural patterns related to information security. Furthermore, it provides researchers with an illustrative model for operationalising these constructs within the realm of security. The results contribute additional perspectives on the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on cybercrime preventative behaviours.

Consumer purchasing behavior (CPB) plays a crucial role within the hospitality sector, specifically in restaurants situated in China, as it directly impacts the performance and profitability of businesses. In this context, there is a need to assess the factors influencing CPB. Therefore, this research seeks to inspect the influence of consumer attitudes (CA) on interpersonal influences (II) and CPB. Additionally, seeks to explore the mediation of II and the moderation of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

This study utilized cross-sectional data obtained through online surveys. To analyze the data, structural equation modeling was employed.

The research unveils a substantial and positive association between CA, II and CPB. It also found that II partially mediates CA and CPB association. Moreover, CSR was identified as a moderator in the connection between CA and CPB.

The implications of this study are of great significance for companies operating in the hospitality industry. They indicate that cultivating favorable CA and promoting II, while considering CSR initiatives, can effectively augment overall purchasing behavior. As a result, it can contribute to the achievement of business success.

This study offers a unique perspective on the factors driving purchasing behavior, shedding light on how businesses can enhance their performance and profitability in this specific setting.

Science and technology are transforming our world in ways that have not been seen in a long time, and we live in a rapidly changing world. Despite these changes, as citizens of today, we must not lose sight of the reality that these changes even cause crises that must be managed in order to place ourselves in a true working environment that allows us to survive as employees despite these changes. The main objective of this research is to find the relationship between interpersonal competences and teacher performance in a sustainable university. The methodology used was the quantitative, nonexperimental approach, as the variables will not be deliberately manipulated. In order to verify whether or not there was a relationship between these variables, 84 teachers from the Universidad Nacional Santiago Antunez de Mayolo were surveyed to evaluate the variables under study. The results obtained show a direct and significant relationship (Spearman's Rho = 0.731) between the two variables. Through this research, it was possible to determine that teachers who have developed interpersonal competences have a better performance, while in the relationships between interpersonal competences and the dimensions of teacher performance, a positive correlation was obtained.

This study aims to determine the solutions to address the Indian attitude-behaviour inconsistency in the green purchasing context and provide the possible combinations of antecedents that aid Indian marketers in designing promotional and advertising strategies.

A non-probability criterion-based sampling technique was used in collecting the data across Hyderabad city of Telangana region through online survey technique. The respondents were the customers who were attracted towards green and eco-friendly products. A total of 129 responses were received. SPSS v26 software was used to conduct the descriptive analysis, and the two-step analysis approach of the measurement and structural model was conducted in SmartPLS.

Results indicate that interpersonal influence has a greater direct influence on green purchase behaviour (GPB); altruism’s influence on green purchase intention (GPI) and GPB is through environmental attitude (EA) and green awareness (GA). EA has a significant influence on GA and green behaviour (GB). The GA and GB individually act as potential mediators between EA and green consumption behaviour (GCB) variables. Perceived environmental knowledge (PEK) does not influence GPB directly or indirectly. Altruism still ranks at the fifth position among the six antecedents, indicating reciprocal determinism and not an altruistic purchase approach in the Telangana region.

The results of this study may be used by government agencies and policymakers to launch awareness campaigns aimed at educating the public and encouraging green buying practices among broader societal segments. These kinds of programmes could lessen the harm that inconsiderate consumption habits do to the environment and to society, increase the green behaviour practices like planting trees, and recycling, and also increase the consumer’s PEK.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first to apply reciprocal deterministic theory along with theory of planned behaviour to predict Indian GCB and address the attitude-behaviour gap. Moreover, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate together the direct and indirect influence of altruism, interpersonal influence and perceived environmental knowledge on green purchase behaviour. Given the growing trend of consumers adopting an eco-friendly mind-set, a novel approach to empirically discuss the behavioural and personal factors will give research the much-needed boost it needs.

Work–family conflict is one of the most challenging stressors for construction industry professionals to cope with emotional problems. This study aims to propose a model linking work–family conflict and high-quality relationships among project team members and explore mediating effects of life and job satisfactions.

A theoretical framework was established based on the spillover theory and social exchange theory. Data were obtained by a questionnaire survey conducted with 328 respondents working in construction projects. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test interrelationships among work–family conflict, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and high-quality relationship.

The results indicate that work–family conflict is negatively associated with both job and life satisfactions of construction professionals. In addition, there were direct and positive relationships between satisfaction domains and high-quality relationship capacity. The findings further support that job satisfaction plays a mediating role between work–family conflict and high-quality relationship among construction professionals, while life satisfaction does not mediate the relationship.

The effects of interrole conflicts on the context of satisfaction have been investigated previously; however, there is a lack of knowledge regarding its influence on high-quality relationship among project team members. This study extends the body of knowledge on high-quality relationships among project team members to understand how conflict and satisfaction factors influence interpersonal relationships in construction project management.

This study aims to investigate the role of interpersonal influence on consumer purchase decisions regarding foreign products, specifically by exploring consumers’ social reaction styles (acquisitive and protective) when confronted with normative pressures and their subsequent impact on consumers’ purchase behavior in the context of situational animosity.

Three studies were conducted in China to empirically examine the proposed research model. The US–China Chip War of 2022 was used as the research context for situational animosity, while the Japan–China relationship representing a stable animosity condition was used for contrast.

This study establishes the mediating role of perceived normative pressure in linking animosity attitudes to purchase avoidance in situational animosity. It also validates that consumers’ social reaction styles (acquisitive and protective) help predict distinct behavioral outcomes, holding significant implications for advancing research in the field of product and brand consumption.

This research provides a novel perspective by exploring consumers’ social reaction styles when dealing with normative pressure in situational animosity. The distinction between acquisitive and protective reaction styles adds depth and originality to the study. Moreover, this study examines consumer behavior in two distinct consumption contexts: switching intentions to local products and purchase intentions for products from offending countries in hidden consumption situations. This dual perspective offers a comprehensive exploration of consumers’ purchase behavior under normative pressure, contributing to the novelty of this research.