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Research on international marketing usually involves comparing different groups of respondents. When using structural equation modeling (SEM), group comparisons can be misleading unless researchers establish the invariance of their measures. While methods have been proposed to analyze measurement invariance in common factor models, research lacks an approach in respect of composite models. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel three-step procedure to analyze the measurement invariance of composite models (MICOM) when using variance-based SEM, such as partial least squares (PLS) path modeling.

A simulation study allows us to assess the suitability of the MICOM procedure to analyze the measurement invariance in PLS applications.

The MICOM procedure appropriately identifies no, partial, and full measurement invariance.

The statistical power of the proposed tests requires further research, and researchers using the MICOM procedure should take potential type-II errors into account.

The research presents a novel procedure to assess the measurement invariance in the context of composite models. Researchers in international marketing and other disciplines need to conduct this kind of assessment before undertaking multigroup analyses. They can use MICOM procedure as a standard means to assess the measurement invariance.

Researchers have used the construct of consumers’ perceived value to examine the behavioral attitudes or outcomes from different shopping experiences. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the equivalence of psychometric characteristics of consumers’ perceived value across groups of consumers to support the underlying assumption that the construct is universally equivalent across different shopping contexts.

Confirmatory factor analyses were performed to examine the measurement invariance of consumers’ perceived value in the different types of brand and retailer collaborations in a sample of 856 American consumers.

Based on the sequential tests, the results confirmed the consistent structure of the measurement instrument of consumers’ perceived value. In practical applications, although the invariance of monetary value could not be established at the metric level, the findings suggest that social value, convenient value and epistemic value were invariant across groups of consumers in the different shopping contexts.

This research may provide valuable insights into the measurement invariance of consumers’ perceived value, as well as suggestions for researchers before conducting substantive tests of theories with the construct.

The current challenges international charities face with regards to their deteriorating image, as a result of recent scandals (e.g. Oxfam, Save the Children), provide the impetus for this exploratory research, where the purpose of this paper is to examine the conceptualization and dimensionality of non-profit brand image across national cultures.

The study employs a quantitative research design, using multi-country samples from India, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the UK. The authors first examine the psychometric properties of the non-profit brand image scale via confirmatory factor analysis across countries, identifying the optimal model for invariance testing. Further, the authors use multi-group invariance analysis to evaluate whether non-profit brand image (using an 18-item scale and six factors) provides equivalent measurement across cultures.

The study shows that individuals in the three countries perceive non-profit brand image equally, and as consisting of perceptions of usefulness, efficiency, affect, dynamism, reliability and ethicality. However, the results also indicate that the means of the dimensions of non-profit brand image are not comparable across different cultures.

The study extends limited current literature on non-profit brand image in international contexts, deriving insightful suggestions for further theoretical approaches in this under-developed research domain. It also yields key implications for charities and other non-profit organizations operating internationally, as they can use non-profit brand image and its dimensions as actionable tools in their communication campaigns to shape their brand image.

The purpose of this study is to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure the corporate reputation of large service organizations. The validity of a discipline’s constructs is a prerequisite for effective theory development and testing. Construct validity thus lies at the very heart of both decision-making and scientific progress in marketing. The use of marketing instruments that do not demonstrate sufficient evidence of construct validity can lead to invalid results, erroneous conclusions and poor decision-making. Despite several attempts to develop an instrument to measure the corporate reputation of service organizations effectively, lingering doubts remain about the construct validity of several published instruments.

Empirical data were collected from the clients of service organization using an online survey during three waves of data collection and scale purification. Invariance testing in two different service industries confirmed that the final instrument is completely invariant, suggesting that the measurement parameters of the measurement model are the same in both samples.

Rigorous scale development led to the development of a 19-item instrument that effectively measures a large service organization’s corporate reputation along five dimensions, namely, emotional appeal, corporate performance, social engagement, good employer and service points.

The study was limited to the measurement of the corporate reputation of large service organizations.

Given the fact that corporate reputation has been described as “the ultimate determinant of competitiveness” by some executives, the outcome of this study is a proposal that large service organizations measure this intangible asset along five dimensions, namely, emotional appeal, corporate performance, social engagement, good employer and service points.

Despite several attempts to do so, a valid and reliable instrument to effectively measure the corporate reputation of service firms (particularly large ones) has remained elusive. After more than two decades after the first attempts at measurement, there are many who now call for improved methodologies and more valid instruments to measure corporate reputation, based on more rigorous theoretical and conceptual development. This study addresses a matter of concern for many managers and academics.

Drawing insights from institutional theory, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the synergistic effects of a range of entrepreneurial framework conditions (EFCs) on the capacity to start a business within different types of economies.

This is a preliminary study that uses data from the National Expert Survey-Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (NES-GEM). Specifically, the data were gathered through the application of a questionnaire to National Entrepreneurship Experts in a cross-cultural context. Two countries – Portugal and Angola – are analysed.

Among the five structural relationships involving institutional drivers analysed, four are found to be statistically significant in the Portuguese sample. Three are found to be statistically significant in the Angolan sample. The results from the multigroup analysis did not support most of the proposed relationship between the two countries.

This study is limited by the number and type of countries selected and by the fact that each sub-sample covers several years. It also relies on the perceptions of national experts on entrepreneurship covering several areas. Another limitation is based on the fact that this study emphasises mainly a macro perspective. Therefore, interpretation of these findings and their generalisation should be made with caution.

First, this study addresses an area of the GEM model that is believed to be under-researched (NES). Second, the model presented is based on latent variables and analysed through a variance-based method, PLS-structural equation modelling. Third, this study compares the proposed relationships between two sub-sample data sets that represent a factor-driven economy and an innovation-driven economy. Fourth, and most importantly, this study responds to the call for the need to use a new procedure for measurement invariance assessment for composite modelling.

The relevant importance of enterprise architecture (EA) to an organization has gained the attention of the public sector. However, its adoption rate remains slow on the uptake. Thus, this study aims to investigate the various factors associated with adoption intention based on the technological, organizational and environmental framework for federal and state types of public organizations to provide greater predictive accuracy and relevance of EA adoption in Malaysia’s public sector (MPS) context.

An empirical study was conducted through an online survey in Malaysia. Based on 255 samples from public organizations throughout Malaysia, a multigroup analysis with partial least square structural equation modeling was performed to identify the respective influencing factors for adopting EA by federal and state organizations in the Malaysian public sector.

Five organizational factors (clear communication, normative pressure, expected benefit, good governance and organization size) and two environmental factors (coercive pressure and mimetic pressure) were found to be significant factors influencing adoption intention for EA. Additionally, clear communication and coercive pressure were noted to be significant factors influencing adoption for both federal and state organizations. Other significant factors for federal organizations include expected benefit and normative pressure, whereas for state organizations, another significant influencing factor was good governance. The predictive accuracy for federal organizations was slightly higher at 74.6% than that of state organizations, that is, at 65%.

These findings imply that federal and state organizations respond to different factors that motivate their intention to adopt EA. These findings guide future intentional practice and ensure greater motivation for EA adoption.

The identification of specific factors that matter to the federal and state public organizations in driving intention to adopt EA in this study has provided significant information that could help in effective decision-making process for these organizations. Common strategies that emphasize on clear communication and coercive pressure can be applied to address EA adoption processes for both federal and state public organizations. Further to that, more specified strategies such as highlighting expected EA benefits and instilling good governance work more effectively for federal and state, respectively.

This study has provided a more extensive view of EA adoption in MPS by differentiating the discerning factors based on the technological–organizational–environmental framework significant for federal and state types of organizations. Hence, this could help in formulating strategies specified to the organization type and ensure greater success in EA adoption in both federal and state organizations.

This study aims to examine the decision-making behaviour of Islamic banking practitioners of the United Arab Emirates with special reference to the operational line heterogeneity by employing factors that are religious in nature such as intellect, satanic force and divine knowledge as encapsulated in al-Ghazali’s ethical philosophy.

A total of 337 samples were collected from the Islamic banking practitioners in the United Arab Emirates using a purposive sampling technique, and the empirical analysis was conducted with the measures of model fit and bootstrapping technique using Partial least square Structural equation modelling and multi-group analysis.

The empirical findings reveal that the dedicated use of intellect in making decisions related to ethical issues where desires and emotions tend to overwhelm reason and human choices. While divine knowledge is found ineffective guidance of the intellect, the element of satanic force is found significantly impacting decision-making. As the lack of religious consciousness is evident among respondents, higher exposure to operational risk is expected. These findings were found identical across the Islamic banking practitioners in different lines of operations.

The span of the study is limited to a single country. Future studies are recommended to replicate the study to more markets where the share of Islamic finance is significant.

Findings of the study highly suggest respective authorities of Islamic financial institutions to intensify the capacity-building programs on the foundation of faith which includes Islamic thought and worldview, to enhance the corporate ethical decision-making. Moreover, equal importance should be given to all the banking practitioners regardless of line of business operations.

With undue emphasis is given to the juristic (fiqh) aspects of Shariah compliance in the Islamic banking and finance industry, less has been attempted to explore its ethical dimension (akhlaq) in the compliance parameters that leave a relatively large gap to address prevailing unethical practices in Islamic finance institutions. Findings from this study can be useful as a warning to the Islamic banking firms to enhance the sense of God-fearing and improve existing measures in the organisation in mitigating operational risks that may arise from people or system and consequently ensure the smooth governance of the Islamic banks.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the intricate associations among the performance of ambient atmospherics, emotional experiences, overall image and guest satisfaction and test the influence of these relationships on loyalty intentions by considering the moderating impact of continuance commitment in the upscale hotel context.

A field survey was conducted to collect the data. A quantitative approach was used for data analysis. Structural equation modeling and a test for metric invariance were used to identify the impact of study variables.

The results of this paper indicated that the hypothesized relationships were in general significant, that the proposed theoretical framework satisfactorily predicted guests’ intentions to be loyal and that the role of satisfaction among study constructs was prominent. Findings from the test for metric invariance also showed that continuance commitment significantly affected the associations among emotional experiences, satisfaction and loyalty intentions. Moreover, emotional experiences, overall hotel image and guest satisfaction were found to play a significant mediating role in generating loyalty intentions.

The findings of this paper inform hotel practitioners of the clear role of atmospherics, emotional experiences, image, satisfaction and continuous commitment in building loyalty. In addition, these findings can help hotel practitioners and researchers invent thorough and strategic methods for loyalty enhancement.

The existing hotel literature has provided a limited view regarding the impact of these research variables. The present paper filled this research gap through the successfully development of a robust framework for hotel guest loyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, religiosity, knowledge and Shariah-compliance with intention to hold Shariah-compliant credit card (SCCC) amongst Muslims and non-Muslims.

Researchers used survey questionnaire to collect data and applied a purposive sampling method, then analyzing the data using descriptive statistics and also multi-group analysis of SmartPLS.

For Muslims, attitude, subjective norm, Shariah-compliance, knowledge and religiosity are positively significant. While for non-Muslims, only attitude and subjective norm are positively significant to intention to hold SCCCs.

The behavioural study only focusses on intention to hold Islamic credit cards, which is constraining the extended model of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) without the actual performance of the behaviour, which is holding SCCCs. Secondly, the research caters for a single method, namely, quantitative without including the qualitative method to better understand and explore other factors affecting consumers’ behavioural intention. The qualitative part can be carried out by conducting interviews with practitioners, regulators and customers. Thirdly, the cultural dimensions are not combined as parts of TPBs’ antecedents for extended model that could be affecting intention, as Malaysia has diverse ethnic groups with different religious background.

In terms of managerial implications, the findings will further assist financial service providers to develop more effective marketing strategies for Islamic financial products not just to cater for the Muslims but also the non-Muslims, who are increasingly attracted to Islamic banking. As many Muslims are still holding conventional credit cards, it is timely for the Islamic financial institutions to attract them with the SCCCs.

Financial marketers are expected to be qualified and well-versed on the different Islamic product structures and also the conventional products. By having such enables them to enlighten and create awareness amongst the targeted consumers in seeking Shariah-compliant financial-related products.

The research will contribute to new theoretical knowledge of an extended behavioural model in relation to customers’ perception towards SCCCs’ acceptance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the burdening effect of Shariah knowledge on the sales performance of salesforce in Islamic financial institutions with special reference to gender heterogeneity.

A total of 324 responses were collected from salesforce in Islamic financial institutions of Malaysia, and empirical assessment was conducted with the measures of model fit and bootstrapping techniques using partial least square multi-group analysis.

Empirical findings indicate that burdening effect is evident among salesforce, and the intensity of burdening effect is relatively lesser in female salesforce compared to male salesforce. Empirical findings suggest that respective authorities of Islamic financial institutions to intensify capacity building for their salesforce, particularly in the area where the Shariah knowledge and nature of underlying Islamic contracts are employed in the financial products.

There is a significant competitive advantage in preferring more female salesforce to improve the slow growth of the industry that results from burdening effect of Shariah knowledge. Not least of all, it is highly recommended for Islamic financial institutions to provide more training for the male salesforce to overcome the issue of information overload in sales performance.

While there is ample literature documented that examines the gender effect in conventional sales and marketing discipline, little emphasis has been given to the salesforce in the Islamic finance industry. Further, the findings of this study provide vital implications for the management in formulating crucial policies with respect to the salesforce preference and capacity building in dealing with the burdening effect of peculiar features of the Shariah knowledge in the light of the ongoing slow growth of the Islamic finance industry.