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Drawing on the wisdom of ancient Chinese philosopher Xunzi, this paper aims to present a novel mechanism for governing opportunism, referred to as “cultivational governance.” By examining the role of artificial intelligence (AI) resources possessed by e-commerce platforms, the authors explore how these resources contribute to mitigating seller opportunism. The central hypothesis of this study posits that two distinct types of AI resources, namely, AI technology resources and AI human resources, serve as crucial factors in curbing seller opportunism. Furthermore, the authors propose that platform digital empowerment and value cocreation act as mediating variables linking AI resources to opportunism.

Based on the resource-based view and resource orchestration theory, the authors developed a framework and tested it using survey data from sellers. This framework encompasses five key variables: e-commerce platform’s AI technology resources, AI human resources, platform digital empowerment, value cocreation and seller opportunism. Regression analysis was used for data analysis.

The empirical results validate the effectiveness of cultivational governance mechanisms, as both AI resources effectively suppress seller opportunism through digital empowerment and value cocreation. Specifically, e-commerce platforms’ AI technology resources significantly promote value cocreation and platform digital empowerment, while AI human resources primarily contribute to platform digital empowerment. Although platform digital empowerment encourages value cocreation, its direct impact on reducing seller opportunism was not supported. Notably, value cocreation negatively affects seller opportunism.

The present research mainly contributes to the marketing channel governance literature by introducing a new approach to inhibit opportunism, namely, the cultivational governance mechanism.

This scholarly investigation explores the Malaysian golfers' experience in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia golf courses. The study sheds light on the unique attributes of golf tourism in each country, including the courses, facilities, services and overall golfing experiences offered to golf tourists.

Qualitative data were procured through in-depth semi-structured interviews with a cohort of 13 Malaysian golfers.

The findings indicate that golfers' experiences are affected by the quality of service, facilities, price and course condition, ultimately contributing to their satisfaction level. The evidence suggests that Malaysian golfers are comparatively more satisfied with golf courses in Thailand and Indonesia than in Malaysia.

The study underscores the importance of golf course attributes in retaining existing golfers and enticing new ones. Besides, as comparative research on golf course attributes and destination preferences is scant, this study has far-reaching implications, empowering Malaysian golf course managers to augment the appeal and quality of their golf course destination to optimise the behavioural intentions of golf tourists.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous businesses have migrated to an online delivery platform (ODP) to survive and reconnect with their customers. This study aims to focus on how the public perceives ODP. It examined the acceptance of digital platforms for delivering daily necessities, especially food, in Brunei Darussalam during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The online survey collected 350 valid samples, and the online questions were distributed using a snowball sampling method, with the questionnaire’s softcopy prepared in Qualtrics and sent via email and social media as hyperlinks. In 2021, we sent out the questionnaire link via email, WhatsApp and Facebook to people and organizations for about six months.

According to the findings of the study, product quality is a critical factor that consumers consider while making online purchases of different products. The COVID-19 condition positively affects customer acceptance, performance, effort and product quality. This research indicates that service quality, online habits and trust do not influence customer acceptance of an ODP.

The study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding factors influencing the acceptance of ODPs. The factors that influence people’s acceptance of ODPs, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, are assessed as to whether the COVID-19 pandemic influences people’s acceptance and the identified factor that has the strongest influence on the acceptance of digital delivery platforms.

The study contributes to the growing body of knowledge about how customer behaviors triggered by the COVID-19 condition influence customer acceptance of ODP and how behavior influences customer acceptance of ODP.

This paper is useful to academics, practitioners and policymakers in public administration and policy management. The research provides some insights into massive adoption of ODPs that affects the disruption of conventional business practices.

Unlike traditional industries, the e-cigarette is an epoch-making innovative product originating in China and occupying an absolute competitive advantage in the international market. The traditional A-U model describes the laws and characteristics of technological innovation in developed countries. In contrast, the inverse A-U model depicts the process of “secondary innovation” in late-developing countries through digestion and absorption. This paper aims to find out that if the e-cigarette, as a “first innovation” industry in a late-developing country, conform to the A-U model or conform to the “inverse A-U model”.

This paper takes the patent data of e-cigarettes from 2004 to 2021 as the research object, and uses Python’s Jieba segment words to divide product innovation and process innovation, and then uses statistical analysis methods to conduct empirical analyses on these data.

Thus, an improved A-U model suitable for the e-cigarette industry is proposed. In this model, product innovation in the e-cigarette industry appeared earlier than process innovation, but the synchronous development of product and process innovation is not lagging. The improved A-U model in the e-cigarette industry is not only different from the traditional A-U model but also does not conform to the inverse A-U model.

It is conducive to expanding and clarifying the theoretical contribution and applicable boundaries of the A-U model and has sparked thinking and exploration of the A-U model in e-cigarettes and emerging industries.

On this basis, suggestions on the development path and countermeasures of the e-cigarette industry are put forward.

Based on the e-cigarette industry, this paper takes patents as the research object and provides the method of dividing product innovation and process innovation, and proposes an A-U model suitable for the e-cigarette industry on this basis. By comparing the traditional A-U model with the inverse A-U model in latecomer countries, the background and causes of e-cigarette A-U model heterogeneity are analyzed from different stages and overall morphology. Based on this, the heterogeneity characteristics of e-cigarette innovation are summarized and sorted out.