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The purpose of this study is to provide a nuanced understanding of the marketing placebo effect (MPE) of products with reduced sugar labeling and how it forms certain perceptual underpins (perceived healthiness (PH) and perceived tastiness (PT)), with the potential effect of product category and social class in consideration.

The proposed model is tested using a sample of 822 participants by employing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Hypothetical relationships among MPE, PH, PT, purchase intention (PI) and social class are examined for both hedonic and utilitarian products.

The results highlight the positive role of MPE in leveraging consumer PI through the parallel mediation of PH and PT. The positive effect of MPE on PH and PT was more pronounced for the utilitarian product. In addition, social class negatively moderated the relationship between PH and PI only in the case of the utilitarian product.

This paper contributed to the MPE literature in the food industry by challenging the conventional intuition of “Unhealthy = Tasty” and highlighting the potential of perceived food healthiness to positively influence perceived food tastiness under the effect of MPE. An upper social class would attenuate the positive effect of perceived food healthiness on PI.

This study aims to identify causes of (un)ethical behaviour in research and how they influence adherence to research ethics.

The authors developed and tested a conceptual model that includes mediation and helps to understand the mechanism of adherence to ethical standards of research based on the “social judgment theory” (SJT). In Study 1, the authors conducted an exploratory study using the exploratory factor analysis technique to identify factors responsible for adherence to research ethics. In Study 2, the authors used SJT to provide support for establishing a relationship between key variables.

Two factors, “Proclivity to Egoism” and “Proclivity to Emotivism”, were identified based on the personal beliefs of researchers. These factors were found to play an important role in determining the tendency towards adherence to standards of research ethics (Belmont Report and COPE). SJT successfully explains the mechanism of adoption of ethical standards. Adherence to Belmont principles was seen to mediate relationship between factors identified and tendency to adhere to COPE.

Majorly, this study is unique as it establishes and guides to incorporate researchers’ point of view in formulating ethical standards and guidelines, apart, from various other important theoretical and societal implications.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the construct of phygital experiences and provide ideas that may spur future research on phygital consumer experiences in relation to consumer well-being using qualitative research methods.

With the increase in consumers’ online and offline interactions, there is a greater need for marketers to prompt integrated consumer experiences (i.e. integrated customer experiences through online and offline interactions). The authors developed this essay based on a literature review of phygital experiences and consumer well-being.

This commentary provides suggestions on how to expand the conceptual boundaries of phygital experiences by examining the effects of consumer phygital experiences in relation to consumer need satisfaction, consumer happiness and benefits to the firm. The commentary also includes several methodological suggestions that can guide future qualitative research.

The value of this commentary involves insights about research methods stimulated by the current research on consumer well-being.

As the foundation for understanding the dynamics of the construction sector's corruption, this study examines building contractors' experiences of the stifling of moral, communal and cultural values in the name of modern social and religious principles.

This study's objective was accomplished in two phases. First, a theoretical model was constructed. The theory is then tested using structural equation modeling in the second section. The theory suggests that, based on social norm and institutional theories, social disquietude and religious manipulation influence the interaction and types of corruption in the Nigerian construction sector. From this theory, it was deduced that social malaise (hypothesis 1) and religious manipulations (hypothesis 2) mediate the processes and forms of corruption in the construction sector. To validate the hypotheses, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed and tested.

Native intelligence, new values, social quests and poverty are the social malaises that are profoundly responsible for corruption manifestations in the construction industry. The findings confirmed that construction stakeholders are heavily influenced financially and spiritually by religious organizations. Construction stakeholders engage in corrupt activities as a result of the ravenousness and self-interest bestowed on them by religious manipulation and the significant contribution of social malaise. The study admits that social engineering is required to integrate local wisdom and values into Nigerian society in order to mitigate the negative consequences of social unrest and religious manipulations.

This study has contributed to a branch of the literature on corruption in the construction industry that aims to identify the hidden factors that drive the sector's corruption dynamics. It has shown how many different problems in society and religious beliefs can make building contractors more likely to be dishonest. In order to improve project delivery, this study emphasized the importance of investigating the relationship between religious affiliations, religious doctrines and domination and religious competition on corruption in the construction industry.

Following the findings of this study, the majority of construction stakeholders place their trust in unmerited favor, “spirit money,” prosperity gospels and the payment of offerings and “seed money” to win contracts. This implies that construction stakeholders will most likely be deceptive in their dealings, increasing the quantity of certified work, increasing variation claims and engaging in collusion. This is because their faith in inconceivable favors and the exchange of offerings for blessings would lead them to perceive fraudulent practices as a favor.

This study is unique in that it sought to determine whether construction stakeholders' corrupt tendencies stem from religious manipulations and complex social systems.

The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of corporate reputation (hereafter CR) and the degree of economic development on firms’ cost of capital remains unresolved. This study addresses these issues.

Using a global sample across 20 countries, the study investigates the discrete and joint effects of CR and jurisdictional economic development on the cost of equity (COE) and cost of debt (COD) capital. The analysis encompasses a dual data set, comprising 1,308 observations for COE and 1,223 observations for COD, allowing for a comprehensive exploration of these dynamics.

The findings indicate that CR leads to a reduction in the cost of capital for reputable firms. Nevertheless, the extent of this decrease varies per type of capital and firm’s reputation level and is contingent upon the economic development level within the firm’s jurisdiction. Particularly noteworthy is the moderating effect of economic development on CR, which shows that COE capital tends to be lower for reputable firms operating in economically developed jurisdictions. Albeit, this is not the case for COD capital for reputable firms in similarly developed jurisdictions.

This study illustrates that effective CR management, aimed at reducing the cost of capital, necessitates a combination of the firm’s unique competitive advantage and the economic development context of its jurisdiction to truly achieve its intended goal.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first global study to explore the impact of CR on both COE and COD capital. Furthermore, this study is primarily towards understanding the moderating role of economic development in the relationship between CR and cost of capital.

This study aims to examine the moderator effect of religiosity on the relationship between halal brand awareness and habit towards purchasing decisions of halal products.

The quantitative method is used in this study. Descriptive and statistical (multiple and moderated regression) analyses are employed to test the hypothesis according to the research model. The data is collected using a cross-sectional design from 197 respondents consisting of business owners in North Sumatera, Indonesia.

It is found that both halal brand awareness and habit have a positive and significant effect on the purchasing decision of halal products. Meanwhile, religiosity significantly acts as a moderating variable in the relationship between awareness and purchasing decisions, as well as habit and purchasing decisions.

This study revealed the important factor of religiosity as a moderating factor in purchase decisions of halal products. The government may need to collaborate with Islamic educational institutions to raise awareness of the halal concept and product awareness. It is assumed that individuals who know about the Islamic religion will have a higher degree of awareness of halal products compared to individuals with limited knowledge of Islam; thus, providers of Islamic education play a crucial role in raising the level of awareness of halal products. Schools may serve as catalysts for the dissemination of knowledge of halal products.

Developing halal product markets can be done by enhancing the religiosity level of consumers, one of them through attending formal or informal religious classes.

This study analyzes whether farmers' incomes increase as they participate in online groups.

The study analyzed interview data from 673 farming households in three mountainous provinces of northern Vietnam, utilizing the propensity score matching (PSM) method.

The empirical results reveal that farmers participating in online groups, particularly those engaged in 1–3 groups, experience an increase in their income attributed to the three advantages of sharing-accessing-saving (SAS) information. Farming households engaged in online groups earn higher incomes, ranging from equivalent to 25.78 to 26.96 USD, in comparison to those who do not participate. Notably, farmers participating in 1–3 online groups outpace their counterparts in 4–5 groups in terms of income.

This study exclusively focuses on examining farmers' total income derived from all their agricultural activities and does not quantify the specific impact of online group participation on the income generated by each product. Furthermore, it is important to note that the PSM method has the potential to introduce bias due to unobserved factors, such as social networks and local culture. Consequently, future research should prioritize the segmentation of income from individual agricultural products, distinct from the overall income, to gain a more nuanced understanding of each product’s sensitivity to information exchanged in online groups. Simultaneously, accounting for unobserved factors is crucial to obtain unbiased estimates.

This study represents the inaugural exploration into the comparison of farmers' incomes within a novel context – participation in digital-based groups. Furthermore, it extends the inquiry by delving into the correlation between the number of online groups joined and farmers' income. The empirical findings indicate that farmers may benefit the most by limiting their participation to a select few groups that align with their information needs and analytical abilities.

COVID-19 has had various effects on women’s labour supply worldwide. This study investigates how women’s labour market outcomes in the MENA region have been affected by the stringency of governments’ COVID-19 responses and school closures. We examine whether women, particularly those with children at young age, reduced their labour supply to take care of their families during the pandemic.

To investigate whether having a family results in an extra penalty to women’s labour market outcomes, we compare single women to married women and mothers. Using the ERF COVID-19 MENA Monitor Household Surveys, we analyse the key conditions underlying women’s labour market outcomes: (1) wage earnings and labour market status including remaining formally employed, informally, unpaid or self-employed, unemployed or out of the labour force and (2) becoming permanently terminated, being suspended, seeing a reduction in the hours worked or wages, or seeing a delay in one’s wage payments because of COVID-19. Ordered probit and multinomial logit are employed in the case of categorical outcomes, and linear models for wage earnings.

Women, regardless of whether they have children or not, appear to join the labour market out of necessity to help their families in the times of crisis. Child-caring women who are economically inactive are also more likely to enter the labour market. There is little difference between the negative experiences of women with children and child-free women in regard to their monthly pay reduction or delay, or contract termination, but women with children were more likely to experience reduction in hours worked throughout the pandemic.

These findings may not have causal interpretation facilitating accurate inference. This is because of potential omitted variables such as endogenous motivation of women in different circumstances, latent changes in the division of domestic work between care-giving and other household members, or selective sample attrition.

Our analysis explores the multiple channels in which the pandemic has affected the labour outcomes of MENA-region women. Our findings highlight the challenges that hamper the labour market participation of women, and suggest that public policy should strive to balance the share of unpaid care work between men and women and increase men’s involvement, through measures that support child-bearing age women’s engagement in the private sector during crises, invest in childcare services and support decent job creation for all.

One key aspect of European curriculum reforms is to empower students with the skills needed to engage actively in the pluralistic and multicultural global society of the 21st century. This study aims to examine the extent of multicultural education within the national core curricula of three European countries: Hungary, Finland and Ireland, focusing on its role in fostering social acceptance through education.

A qualitative research applying discourse analysis was conducted to identify key multiculturalism concepts within the curricula. The analysis concentrated on understanding how multiculturalism is portrayed through various perspectives, emphasizing situational meanings and frameworks. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of the findings was carried out.

The research found that all three curricula contain the concept of multicultural education, although the extent of emphasis varies. The Hungarian National Core Curriculum (NCC) primarily emphasizes national values and sporadically addresses multicultural issues, often from a local perspective. In contrast, the Irish NCC is tolerance-oriented, stressing not only the understanding of different cultures but also the importance of accepting them. The Finnish NCC reflects a global perspective and emphasizes respect for different cultures and minority groups, with a pluralistic approach.

This study enhances our understanding of the discourse of multiculturalism within the curricula of three European countries, emphasizing both their similarities and differences. Additionally, it underscores the crucial role that curricula can play in effectively implementing multicultural education.

The COVID-19 outbreak reached a critical stage when it became imperative for public health systems to act decisively and design potential behavioral operational strategies aimed at containing the pandemic. Isolation through social distancing played a key role in achieving this objective. This research study examines the factors affecting the intention of individuals toward social distancing in India.

A correlation study was conducted on residents from across Indian states (N = 499). Online questionnaires were floated, consisting of health belief model and theory of planned behavior model, with respect to social distancing behavior initially. Finally, structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

The results show that perceived susceptibility (PS), facilitating conditions (FC) and subjective norms are the major predictors of attitude toward social distancing, with the effect size of 0.277, 0.132 and 0.551, respectively. The result also confirms that the attitude toward social distancing, perceived usefulness of social distancing and subjective norms significantly predict the Intention of individuals to use social distancing with the effect size of 0.355, 0.197 and 0.385, respectively. The nonsignificant association of PS with social distancing intention (IN) (H1b) is rendering the fact that attitude (AT) mediates the relationship between PS and IN; similarly, the nonsignificant association of FC with IN (H5) renders the fact that AT mediates the relationship between FC and IN.

The results of the study are helpful to policymakers to handle operations management of nudges like social distancing.

The research is one of its kind that explores the behavioral aspects of handling social nudges through FC.