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Studying the effect of social media advertising on consumer engagement, this study analyzes the impact of shared-experience versus personal message strategies, informational versus transformational creative appeals and low-involvement products versus high-involvement products. It aims to determine how best to combine ad elements to affect consumer engagement on different levels.

Using an online survey among 448 Facebook users, an experimental factorial design of 2 (message strategy conditions) X 2 (creative appeal conditions) X 2 (product types: TV vs. frozen pizza) was used. Each advertisement was evaluated on three facets of engagement: cognitive, psychological and behavioral.

Results indicate that informational appeal is preferable for all conditions. The effectiveness of message strategy differs by product type, and interactions between message and appeal are significant only for the high-involvement product. Additionally, it indicates that message strategy is most significant in affecting behavioral engagement and not necessarily cognitive or psychological engagement.

To develop effective Facebook ads, practitioners should use a personal/informational combination when working with high-involvement products and a shared-experience/informational combination when working with low-involvement products.

An original grid for integrating message strategy and creative appeal is constructed in this paper. Besides behavioral engagement, it also evaluates cognitive and psychological engagement. By comparing products with a high and low involvement level, it provides marketers with actionable recommendations to increase social media campaign effectiveness.

This study aims to propose a model of publics' ethical activism, testing the role of emotional outrage in an extended framework of the previously established STOPS model. Thus, this study aims to investigate (1) how ethical perception of a social issue affects situational motivation that leads to participation in public activism, and (2) how emotional outrage plays a role in mediating between situational motivation and activism behaviors.

The study aims at investigating the mediating role of emotional outrage between situational motivation and activism behaviors, which have not been investigated thoroughly in public relations research. By conducting a national survey with 386 people (N = 386) living in Australia, the study's suggestive model was tested in the context of two ethical issues (e.g. climate change and anti-racism). This study found that people who perceive an ethical issue are likely to be motivated to participate in activism behaviors. Specifically, three situational perceptions (i.e. problem recognition, constraint recognition and involvement recognition) were found to be significant factors affecting situational motivation (SM) in problem solving. A high level of emotional outrage was found to play a mediating role between SM and consequential ethical activism behaviors. The more people feel outraged about an ethical issue, the more likely they will engage in punitive behavior. This study contributes to the theoretical development of public relations by illuminating how situational perceptions lead to emotional outrage that promotes behavioral intentions in an ethical context. This study also suggests that a practitioner should be sought to manage the levels of perceptual factors when setting up a communication plan in response to an ethical public crisis.

This study found that people who perceive an ethical issue are likely to be motivated to participate in activism behaviors. Specifically, three situational perceptions (i.e. problem recognition, constraint recognition and involvement recognition) were found to be significant factors affecting situational motivation (SM) in problem solving. A high level of emotional outrage was found to play a mediating role between SM and consequential ethical activism behaviors. The more people feel outraged about an ethical issue, the more likely they will engage in punitive behavior.

This study substantiates how three perceptual antecedents may conjointly affect situational motivation. Also, the findings in this study also contribute to theoretical development in predicting ethical activism intentions. Another contribution of this study is to demonstrate the mediating role of emotional outrage between situational motivation and ethical activism. The authors strived to explore individuals' perceptions and its impact on intention to boycott against ethical problematic social issues. It should be considered that this study used a hypothetical and manipulated situation where respondents are exposed to the visual stimuli that focus on the moral problems that those specific issues have raised.

First, as problem recognition plays a prime mover role in the overall problem-solving process in an ethical context, organizations should reduce individual's ethical problem recognition. When setting up a communication plan, an organization should showcase their positive role in addressing the ethical problems (e.g. to show Adani's commitment to indigenous people and efforts to protect the environment). The response strategy should be effective enough to create an “ethical dilemma,” which refers to a situation in which one has a difficult choice to make between two ethical options.

This study contributes to theoretical development of public relations by illuminating how situational perceptions lead to emotional outrage that promotes behavioral intentions in an ethical context. This study also suggests that a practitioner should be sought to manage the levels of perceptual factors when setting up a communication plan in response to an ethical public crisis.

Digital technologies have been found to have long-lasting impacts on poverty. This study has been conducted to shed light on the contributions made by digital technologies toward poverty alleviation and also provide future research directions.

The authors thoroughly studied the sample of 258 publications from the Scopus database, covering the period from 1982 to June 2023. Using VOS viewer and Bibliometrix R, various graphs and networks are developed to understand publication trends, research collaborations and intellectual structures.

A significant amount of the existing literature on the impact of digital technologies on poverty alleviation demonstrates the need for more studies in this area. Lack of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and access exhibits less opportunity for work, social networking and entrepreneurship, directly affecting people’s livelihoods in developing countries.

This study will help country planners, regulatory bodies and academicians get a deeper insight into the impact of digital technologies on poverty alleviation and also develop the future research agenda.

This study employs a considerable period of time, from the year 1982 to June 2023. To the best of authors’ knowledge, the current study is a pioneer in using bibliometric analysis to identify the impact of digital technologies on the alleviation of poverty. This attempt will surely be helpful to academicians, researchers and those working on identifying the impact of digital technology on poverty alleviation.

The discourse on global value chains (GVC) is undergoing a transformation in terms of its conceptualisation, theorisation and pragmatic applications. Today, the production systems have become more complex as global economic order continues to witness marked geo-economic manoeuvring. Thus, the direction of discourse on GVC ought to move from mere theoretical propositions toward becoming more evidence based. There have been recent studies that have used the governance and upgrading propositions by Gary Gereffi and others to seek quantitative evidence. This study aims to decipher the quantitative discourse on GVC and to set the emerging and future research agenda.

Through a systematic literature review, the authors first analyse the quantitative studies on GVC carried out during the last two decades. The authors then outline a future research agenda and examine a few relevant modelling techniques that could potentially be used to solicit newer evidence in GVC research.

The authors categorise the quantitative discourse on GVC into three crucial themes, namely, GVC framework, GVC participation and position, environmental aspects and regionalisation in GVC. The most commonly used quantitative techniques are gravity model, panel data estimation, structural decomposition analysis and computable general equilibrium modelling.

This paper contributes to the GVC discourse in two ways. Firstly, the authors argue that the theoretical frameworks within the GVC discourse should be complemented by evidence-based quantitative studies. Secondly, the authors suggest potential modelling techniques that can be used on the emerging and future research agenda.

Cost overrun in infrastructure projects is a constant concern, with a need for a proper solution. The current estimation practice needs improvement to reduce cost overruns. This study aimed to find possible statistical modelling techniques that could be used to develop cost models to produce more reliable cost estimates.

A bibliographic literature review was conducted using a two-stage selection method to compile the relevant publications from Scopus. Then, Visualisation of Similarities (VOS)-Viewer was used to develop the visualisation maps for co-occurrence keyword analysis and yearly trends in research topics.

The study found seven primary techniques used as cost models in construction projects: regression analysis (RA), artificial neural network (ANN), case-based reasoning (CBR), fuzzy logic, Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS), support vector machine (SVM) and reference class forecasting (RCF). RA, ANN and CBR were the most researched techniques. Furthermore, it was observed that the model's performance could be improved by combining two or more techniques into one model.

The research was limited to the findings from the bibliometric literature review.

The findings provided an assessment of statistical techniques that the industry can adopt to improve the traditional estimation practice of infrastructure projects.

This study mapped the research carried out on cost-modelling techniques and analysed the trends. It also reviewed the performance of the models developed for infrastructure projects. The findings could be used to further research to develop more reliable cost models using statistical modelling techniques with better performance.

The dual epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased substantially in recent years, with cardiovascular disease representing a significant contributor to the regional burden of disease. Very little is known about the cardiovascular health of people deprived of their liberty in the region. The purpose of this study was to collate extant literature on the topic.

A scoping review mapped and described what is known about cardiovascular disease in prison populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. A systematic search of empirical literature with no date limitation was conducted in English. Sixteen studies representing six Sub-Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Nigeria, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Ethiopia) were charted, categorised and thematically analysed.

Seven key themes were identified: custodial deaths and autopsy; cardiorespiratory fitness and exercise; cardiovascular disease and elderly people in prison; cardiovascular disease and women in prison; dietary deficiencies; influence of sleep patterns on cardiovascular disease; and other associated risk factors. Most natural deaths at autopsy of custodial deaths were due to cardiovascular disease. Cardiorespiratory fitness was low in prisons, and poor sleep patterns and dietary deficiencies are likely contributors to the burden of cardiovascular disease in prisons. The needs of elderly and female prison populations are ill-considered.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known attempt to scope extant literature on cardiovascular disease in Sub-Saharan African prisons. A strategic focus on the cardiovascular health of people in prison is warranted. Routine monitoring and expansion of existing prison health-care services and integration of NCD services with infectious disease (HIV and tuberculosis) programmes in prisons are required.