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In this digitalization age, smart technologies are on the cusp of changing all business sector including retailing. Today’s consumers desire to shop in a smart store where the physical products on display are connected to the internet world. This study aims to propose a model for investigating Generation Z (Gen-Z) consumers’ expectations towards the smart retail technology (SRT) in the Malaysian context through the application of the stimulus-organism-response framework.

By using a purposive sampling technique, a self-administered questionnaire was conducted. A total of 220 usable responses were collected from Gen-Z consumers who had experience in using SRT. The data were analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

This study underscores the role of perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and perceived value on Gen-Z consumers’ attitude and word-of-mouth (WOM). Expectations on usefulness, enjoyment and value provide some ideas on Gen-Z consumers’ value who put a high emphasis on functional value, fun value and value for money when adopting the SRT. On the other hand, the result also demonstrates the mediating role of consumers’ attitude in connecting perceived value and perceived enjoyment on WOM towards SRT.

The findings of this study provide beneficial insights for a retailer who desire to pursue a smart-related acquisition strategy. Retailers are recommended to embrace on the following three key features: innovative solution (high usefulness), reliable benefits (high perceived value) and fun experience (high enjoyment) to provide Gen-Z consumers with compelling experiences. Additionally, retailers are suggested to acknowledge the importance of managing consumers’ attitude in driving positive WOM evaluations.

This paper responds to Ting et al.’s (2018) call in uncovering values and lifestyles of generation in details. In Malaysia, retailers ought to incorporate of the high level of usefulness, value and enjoyment when designing their SRT to constitute the Gen-Z consumers’ expectations. Moreover, similar to Ting’s conclusion, this cohort members are very much into technologies and they tend to embrace SRT in their lifestyles.

The purpose of this paper is to discover authenticity dimensions that draw tourists to Melaka and George Town World Heritage Site. It also examined the mediating effect of attachment and the moderating effect of cultural motivation.

A mixed-method design was used. Qualitative approach was conducted to discover authenticity dimensions followed by a quantitative approach to explore the dimensions’ ability in predicting attachment and intention to recommend.

Findings revealed that objective, existential and food authenticity were significant stimuli of recommend intention. The mediating effect of attachment on constructive authenticity-intention and existential authenticity-intention were also supported. Cultural motivation indeed moderated the relationship between objective authenticity-attachment, constructive authenticity-attachment and existential authenticity-attachment.

Knowing that authenticity can be perceived differently, therefore, a mixed-method study design offers more insight on discovering authenticity elements. Using a qualitative approach, the study began by exploring important authenticity dimensions from both supply and demand groups, and subsequently, these dimensions were verified using quantitative approach. As expected, food authenticity was found as a standalone dimension.