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This study aims to explore spectators' awareness of and attitudes toward sponsoring firms as well as to propose a model predicting their purchase and word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions toward the sponsors of a major sporting event during a pandemic crisis.

A quantitative method was used to collect the data, with 1,259 questionnaires being effectively collected and analyzed using SPSS and AMOS. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), path analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data.

Factors such as sports involvement, sincerity, social media use, beliefs about sponsorship, sponsor's image, Covid-19 beliefs and emotions, awareness of and attitude toward sponsors were found to significantly predict spectators' purchase and WOM intentions.

The results support the structural equation model, providing a multidisciplinary conceptual framework that highlights the significance of comprehending the role of significant factors in sponsorship efficiency during the Covid-19 crisis. The proposed framework adds to the knowledge corpus of this field.

This study aimed to identify subgroups of esports players based on their gaming behavior patterns across game genres and compare self-efficacy, social efficacy, loneliness and three dimensions of quality of life between these subgroups.

324 participants were recruited from prolific academic to complete an online survey. We employed latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify subgroups of esports players based on their behavioral patterns across genres. Additionally, a one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted to test the association between cluster memberships and development and well-being outcomes, controlling for age and gender as covariates.

LPA analysis identified five clusters (two single-genre gamer groups, two multigenre gamer groups and one all-genre gamer group). Univariate analyses indicated the significant effect of the clusters on social efficacy, psychological health and social health. Pairwise comparisons highlighted the salience of the physical enactment-plus-sport simulation genre group in these outcomes.

This study contributes to the understanding of the development and well-being benefits experienced by various esports consumers, as well as the role of specific gameplay in facilitating targeted outcomes among these consumer groups.

As the tourism industry emerges from full or partial closure caused by the COVID-19 crisis, it is imperative to understand the internal conditions that assisted organizations to maintain positive employee attitudes despite the adverse effects of unpopular cost–retrenchment strategies. Therefore, this study aims to understand the impacts of transformational leadership (TFL), human resource management (HRM) crisis cost–retrenchment and ethical climate (EC) on employee job outcomes affected by COVID-19 pandemic.

Mid-level managers of service organizations from a travel destination heavily reliant on the tourism participated in an online self-administered survey one month after the state eased its COVID-19 travel restrictions. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) examined how TFL and EC influenced cost–retrenchment crisis–management HRM, satisfaction and trust in the organization, followed by PLS multi-group analysis (PLS-MGA) to understand differences between hospitality and non-hospitality employees.

Results revealed an overall positive effect of TFL that diminished the negative affect of HRM cost-retrenchment on employee satisfaction. PLS-MGA showed a significant positive role of other-focused EC on employee outcomes, especially for hospitality organizations, whereas self-focused EC had a negative impact for non-hospitality firms.

This study contributes to contingency theory of leadership by demonstrating that TFL in combination with EC mitigates or overpowers the negative effects of cost–retrenchment crisis management strategies on employees. The study advances knowledge of self-focused and other-focused moral reasoning climate impacts under COVID-19 conditions for hospitality organizations. The industry comparison results highlight the important positive characteristics of hospitality crisis management.

Given that existing retail brand research tends to treat each level of a retail brand as a separate concept, this paper aims to unveil the holistic nature of a multi-level retail brand, considering the distinctiveness of each level and the interrelationships between the images of different levels.

This study uses a scoping review approach that includes 478 retail brand articles. Subsequently, a thematic analysis method is applied.

The brand attributes that shape the distinct image of each retail brand level encompass diverse intrinsic and extrinsic attributes. Moreover, the holistic nature of a multi-level retail brand is formed by the interrelationships between the images of different levels, which are reflected in the presence of common extrinsic attributes and their interplay at attribute, benefit and attitude levels.

Theoretically, this review provides conceptual clarity by unveiling the multi-level yet holistic nature of a retail brand, helping researchers refine and extend existing theories in retail branding, while also providing new research opportunities in this field. Practically, the findings could guide retailers in implementing differentiated branding strategies at each level while achieving synergy across all levels.

Despite a variety of theoretical and empirical studies on work engagement (WE), few have explored the role of individual-level factors. Underpinned by person-environment fit (PEF) and self-determination theory (SDT), the present study aims to pinpoint the fundamental process driving the relationship between WE and perceived fit (PF).

Using the survey method, data were collected from 263 college teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling were applied to test the serial mediation paradigm.

The results of the study accentuate crafting as an important mediator between PF and WE. The current study does not support the mediating role of authentic living between PF and WE. Both authentic living and job crafting (JC) mediate the PF and WE relationship. Employees’ sense of congruence promotes living authentically and JC, resulting in WE.

The WE of employees is harnessed if they get an opportunity to practice authenticity. Authentic employees feel compelled to bring change to the job so that it is in alignment with their core values, thus resulting in WE. The organizations that create a culture in which the administrators allow the practice of individual-factors, namely authentic living, and JC successfully fosters WE.

The variables presented in the serial mediation model explain the underlying mechanisms between PF and WE. This is among the very few studies that explore the individual-level factors that boost individual levels of WE among teachers. Therefore, it adds to the literature on WE.

The role of chief executive officer (CEO) personal characteristics in shaping corporate policies has attracted increasing academic attention in the past two decades. In this review, the authors synthesize extant research on CEO attributes by reviewing 232 articles published in 29 journals from the accounting, finance and management literature. This review provides an overview of existing findings, highlights current trends and interdisciplinary differences in research approaches and identifies potential avenues for future research.

To review the literature on CEO attributes, the authors manually collected peer-reviewed articles in accounting, finance and management journals from 2000 to 2021. The authors conducted in-depth analysis of each paper and manually recorded the theories, data sources, country of study, study period, measures of CEO attributes and dependent variables. This procedure helped the authors group the selected articles into themes and sub-themes. The authors compared the findings in various disciplines and provided direction for future research.

The authors highlight the role of CEO personal attributes in influencing corporate decision-making and firm outcomes. The authors categorize studies of CEO traits into three main research themes: (1) demographic attributes and experience (including age, gender, culture, experience, education); (2) CEO interactions with others (social and political networks) and (3) underlying attributes (including personality, values and ideology). The evidence shows that CEO characteristics significantly affect a wide range of specific corporate policies that serve as mechanisms through which individual CEOs determine firm success and performance.

CEO selection is one of the most crucial decisions made by corporations. The study findings provide valuable insights to corporate executives, boards, investors and practitioners into how CEOs’ personal characteristics can impact future firm decisions and outcomes that can, in turn, inform the high-stake process of CEO recruitment and selection. The study findings have significant practical implications for corporations, such as contributing to executive training programs, to assist executives and directors attain a greater level of self-awareness.

Building on the theoretical foundation of upper echelons theory, the authors offer an integrated theoretical framework to consolidate existing empirical research on the impacts of CEO personal attributes on firm outcomes across accounting and finance (A&F) and management literature. The study findings provide a roadmap for scholars to bridge the interdisciplinary divide between A&F and management research. The authors advocate a more holistic and multifaceted approach to examining CEOs, each of whom embodies a myriad of personal characteristics that comprise their unique identity. The study findings encourage future researchers to expand the investigation of the boundary conditions that magnify or moderate the impacts of CEO idiosyncrasies.

Considering that corporate social responsibility (CSR) addresses a wide range of claims from multiple stakeholders, companies must determine their CSR scope. This paper aims to examine what factors influence a firm’s decision in its scope of CSR. In exploring what factors influence CSR scope, the authors examine the relationship between a firm’s prosocial orientation and CSR and further examine its boundary conditions by the existence of CSR department.

This study uses a data set – the Social Value Survey – administered by the Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies based in the context of Korean firms. Based on 86 firm responses, statistical models were performed to test hypotheses.

The findings show that a firm’s prosocial orientation is positively associated with CSR scope. Further, this study shows that there is a negative moderating effect of the CSR department for the relationship between the prosocial orientation and CSR scope.

This study attempts to contribute to the extensive line of work on the antecedents of CSR by exploring the simultaneous existence of various drivers of CSR and the interplay between the drivers. And this study enhances the understanding on what factors influence the decision of CSR scope within a complex system of diverse stakeholder relationships. Additionally, this study has potentially shed light on the role of CSR departments to determine CSR scope.

The purpose of this study was to compare four different consumer pathway models based on identity theory, attitude/loyalty theory, lifestyle theory and hierarchy of effects theory, each with associated instruments measuring connection to the team.

The authors did a two-study analysis, first collecting data from people aware of an NFL team (N = 218) and then an MLS team (N = 209) to determine which connection item performed better.

The authors found that the Consumer Pathway for Sport Fandom based on the hierarchy of effects theory and its associated interest measurement item performed better than the other three frameworks and items. The Interest item shared the most variance with games attended, games intending to attend, games watched via media and games intending to watch via media.

The Consumer Pathway for Sport Fandom represents the entire consumer spectrum from non-aware consumers all the way up to die-hard sports fans. This pathway will allow sport marketers to track their consumers from initial awareness of the product or service all the way through the brand relationship to ultimate loyalty.

This study delves into the psychological processes underlying sport fans' post-purchase innovativeness behaviour. This exploratory research aims to establish a theoretical framework that elucidates the formation of sport fans' word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviours, particularly emphasising the structural relationship between motivated consumer innovativeness and satisfaction in using AR live-streaming services.

Utilising an online survey and convenience sampling, the study garnered a total of 243 usable responses from three online baseball fan communities in South Korea. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess the psychometric properties of the constructs. Subsequently, a structural equation model was used to probe the influence of motivated consumer innovativeness on WOM, with a particular focus on the mediating role of satisfaction.

Three dimensions of motivated sport fans innovativeness – functional, hedonic and cognitive – showed a positive association with WOM, partly mediated by satisfaction. In contrast, socially motivated sport fans innovativeness did not directly lead to WOM but influenced it solely through satisfaction. The full mediating role of satisfaction in the relationship between socially motivated fans innovativeness and WOM was found.

This research stands out as one of the scant studies exploring motivated sport fans innovativeness in the context of AR live sport streaming. The findings not only corroborate but also augment the extant literature by empirically confirming that three dimensions of motivated fans innovativeness, coupled with satisfaction, are pivotal antecedents to WOM intention.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming consumers' experiences and how firms identify, create, nurture and manage interactive marketing relationships. However, most marketers do not have a clear understanding of what AI is and how it may mutually benefit consumers and firms. In this paper, the authors conduct an extensive review of the marketing literature, develop an AI framework for understanding value co-creation in interactive buyer–seller marketing relationships, identify research gaps and offer a future research agenda.

The authors first conduct an extensive literature review in 16 top marketing journals on AI. Based on this review, an AI framework for understanding value co-creation in interactive buyer–seller marketing relationships was conceptualized.

The literature review led to a number of key research findings and summary areas: (1) an historical perspective, (2) definitions and boundaries of AI, (3) AI and interactive marketing, (4) relevant theories in the domain of interactive marketing and (5) synthesizing AI research based on antecedents to AI usage, interactive AI usage contexts and AI-enabled value co-creation outcomes.

This is one of the most extensive reviews of AI literature in marketing, including an evaluation of in excess or 300 conceptual and empirical research. Based on the findings, the authors offer a future research agenda, including a visual titled “What is AI in Interactive Marketing? AI design factors, AI core elements & interactive marketing AI usage contexts.”