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The COVID-19 lockdown severely impacted organizations in the cultural and tourist business as their products all of a sudden “disappeared”. This study aims to explore if and how the unexpected and disruptive nature of the pandemic accelerated the development of new communication strategies on their social media.

The study draws on data from 24 midsize cultural institutions and tourist attractions in Denmark over the first two months of the lockdown in 2020. Approximately 900 posts on Facebook were collected and analyzed through the netnographic method. The analysis followed a two-layered qualitative approach. First, open coding to identify typologies and enable a comparison with established strategies from the literature review. Then, an exploratory examination was conducted across the typologies.

Nine different content categories were identified in the data and subsequently assessed and discussed in relation to the literature on strategies and dialogic intentions. This resulted in the emergence of two new overarching strategies: hope and host.

While hope is particularly relevant in crisis situations, the utilization of employees in the host role presents an opportunity for further development and engagement. Further, the results call for future research that breaks with the traditional quest for ideal strategies for the benefit of exploring the notion of “strategic doers”.

The identification of the hope and host strategies, along with the analysis of content categories and their alignment with various strategic intentions, contributes to the existing knowledge in this field. Further, the classic perception of engagement as driven by explicit interaction and dialogue is also challenged.

Emotions, understood as evolving mental states, are pivotal in shaping individuals“' decision-making, especially in ambiguous information evaluation, probability estimation of events, and causality analysis. Public–private partnership (PPP) projects represent a confluence of “economic–environmental–social” dimensions, wherein stakeholder behavior follows the sequential progression of “cognition–emotion–action.” Consequently, comprehending the effects of emotional shifts on stakeholder's decision-making processes is vital to fostering the sustainability of PPP projects.

The paper utilizes rank-dependent expected utility and evolutionary game theory to systematically examine the influence of emotional factors on stakeholders' behavior and decision-making processes within PPP projects. The paper integrates three emotional state functions—optimism, pessimism and rationality—into the PPP framework, highlighting the intricate interactions among the government, private sector, surrounding public and the media. Furthermore, the paper amalgamates the evolutionary pathways of environmental rights incidents with the media's role. Through equilibrium analysis and numerical simulation, the paper delves into the diverse interplay of emotions across different phases of the environmental rights incident, assessing the impact of these emotions on the evolutionary game's equilibrium results.

Emotions significantly influence the microlevel decisions of PPP stakeholders, adapting continually based on event dynamics and media influences. When the private sector demonstrates optimism and the surrounding public leans toward rationality or pessimism, the likelihood of the private sector engaging in speculative behavior escalates, while the surrounding public refrains from adopting a supervisory strategy. Conversely, when the private sector is pessimistic and the public is optimistic, the system fails to evolve a stable strategy. However, when government regulation intensifies, the private sector opts for a nonspeculative strategy, and the surrounding public adopts a supervisory strategy. Under these conditions, the system attains a relatively optimal state of equilibrium.

The paper develops a game model to examine the evolutionary dynamics between the surrounding public and private sectors concerning environmental rights protection in waste incineration PPP projects. It illuminates the nature of the conflicting interests among project participants, delves into the impact of emotional factors on their decision-making processes and offers crucial perspectives for the governance of such partnerships. Furthermore, this paper provides substantive recommendations for emotional oversight to enhance governance efficacy.

Fake news stories have become a central element of crises that corporate public relations practitioners have confronted. Whether such stories are rumors, outright lies or deliberate attempts to discredit corporations, they have the same impact and require specific strategies for public relations practitioners to effectively respond. The purpose of this study is to uncover strategies to manage crises that arise from fake news and if and how these strategies differ for other corporate crises.

In this multi-method study of 21 in-depth interviews and a 8-person focus group with senior-level corporate public relations practitioners, authors explored decision-making strategies for responding to fake news crises. Transcripts of interviews and the focus group were thematically analyzed.

Results reveal insights regarding how public relations practitioners determine if and when to respond to fake news crises in corporations; what response strategies public relations practitioners have the autonomy to employ for fake news crises in corporations, and how public relations practitioners control media narratives during fake news crises in corporations.

The findings guide public relations practitioners to craft an autonomous decision-making process and effective online listening strategies—establishing a watchful waiting approach—and determine if the fake news issue is a passing moment or movement swirling into a crisis.

Few studies have examined the perspectives of crisis communication experts about minimizing and managing fake news crises. The study identifies opportunities for future research focused on crises originating from fake news and disinformation.

This exploratory study aims to examine how wine stakeholders' are adopting innovative advancements in smart industry 4.0 application technology (SI4.0AT) coupled with electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) techniques to increase winery visitation and wine sales, prior to and during a global pandemic in the Yarra Valley in Victoria, Australia.

A qualitative interpretivist geographical bounded case study approach was used to collect data from fifteen Victorian wine stakeholder's prior to and during the global pandemic COVID-19. A thematic analysis was applied to interpret participant responses and how they viewed, reacted to and harnessed S14.0AT and e-WOM to continue and increase wine sales.

The findings suggest few wine stakeholders' were actively implementing SI4.0AT prior to the global pandemic, COVID -19. With the forced closure of wineries to visitors across Australia, most small to medium-sized wineries immediately changed their business models to concentrate on domestic e-commerce wine sales and home delivery. To support these new business models, e-WOM techniques were quickly adopted or increased whereas other S14.0AT technologies were not, due to financial restraints.

The number of participants used in this study is a limitation, however, this can be overcome by replicating this study in other wine regions. This research focused on the wine stakeholders' viewpoint only and may not be easily generalised. Future studies may examine the “what” aspect of SI4.0AT is being used and e-WOM content such as investigating what consumers are saying about these wineries, the method of communication and the motivations for consumers to engage with a winery.

The implications for the wine industry and overall results offer insight into the wine stakeholders' perceptions of SI4.0AT and e-WOM and consequent marketing strategy of wineries in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, both pre- and during forced face-to-face winery closures due to a global pandemic. Wineries need to continue to harness and leverage the benefits of e-WOM wine marketing in their marketing strategies and continue to explore the affordability of 4.0 app technology and Tourism 4.0 options.

This study is the first attempt at investigating how wine stakeholders' view; react to and harness SI4.0AT and e-WOM through formalised online marketing strategies which should continue to be investigated in the future.

In a dynamic, continuously evolving sports landscape, social media have become an indispensable tool for sports organizations to cultivate meaningful connections with fans. The rapid pace of technological advancements has elevated these digital platforms from a supplementary role to a pivotal position within strategic management frameworks. The existing literature explores how football clubs can utilize social media, but analyzing social media strategies within the context of football leagues is lacking. The absence of comparative studies benchmarking clubs across different geographical regions while simultaneously analyzing multiple social media platforms is especially noteworthy. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of social media engagement is undertaken within esteemed football leagues spanning Europe, South America and North America.

Drawing on relationship marketing and employing content analysis as a methodological tool, the study examined 10,772 posts from the official accounts of eight football leagues on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Across the leagues, the findings reveal that content quality drives engagement more than frequency. In addition, several format combinations were identified that facilitate engagement and Instagram emerged as the top social media platform for generating fan engagement.

This is one of the first empirical studies focusing on optimizing the use of social media to amplify fan engagement across various geographies and social media accounts and formats simultaneously.

Social media marketers are keen to understand how viewers perceive their brands on a platform and how the learning experiences from content can impact their attitudes toward a brand. This study aims to focus on examining the effect of firm-generated content (FGC) on X (formerly known as Twitter), using Kolb’s experiential learning theory to analyze the viewers’ learning process. In addition, the study investigates how the length of time a viewer follows a brand and the type of brand can influence their attitudes toward it.

This study involved three qualitative studies on X to investigate how content learning affects consumer attitudes toward two brands, namely, Nike and Subway. The study also examined the impact of the duration of following the brands, with participants following the brands for 4, 8 and 12 weeks, respectively, to assess changes in their attitudes.

The results demonstrate that content learning significantly impacts consumer attitudes. By following brands and engaging with their FGC over time, viewers can transition from being occasional or intermittent followers to becoming devoted brand enthusiasts. Through the four-stage experiential learning process, followers undergo cognitive, emotional and behavioral transformations that collectively shape their brand attitudes. The impact of content learning varies according to the brand type, and the duration of following has a positive effect on brand attitudes.

The study’s findings have significant marketing implications for social media marketers, suggesting that they should restructure their social media platforms as learning platforms to effectively engage followers. Companies should adjust their content marketing strategies from a learner’s perspective, providing followers with content that resonates with them, enhances their learning outcomes and helps shift their beliefs and brand attitudes, ultimately converting them into loyal consumers.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this qualitative research is the first of its kind to apply experiential learning theories to investigate how users learn from FGC by following brands on social media and how this learning ultimately changes their brand attitude. The study provides a unique perspective on social media marketing, enriching the understanding of content marketing and consumer experiences on social media platforms.

The present study aims to examine the impact of social media marketing activities (SMMAs) on the adoption of food waste reduction behavior among Generation Z consumers within the restaurant service industry in Pakistan. The study focuses on the impact of social media advertisements and investigates the mediating influence of waste reduction intentions on actual behavior. This underscores the significance of contextual and emotional variables in comprehending consumer behaviors.

The study used a cross-sectional research methodology to examine the impact of SMMAs on the behavior of Generation Z consumers in Pakistan’s food service industry with regard to reducing food waste. A study was conducted to investigate the restaurant purchasing behaviors of a sample consisting of 449 individuals belonging to the millennial generation, often known as Generation Z.

The majority of variables related to SMMA, except for interactivity and personalization, were shown to have a positive impact on individuals’ intents to reduce food waste. The study observed a significant relationship between consumers’ intentions to decrease waste and their actual behavior in waste reduction. Furthermore, this relationship was shown to be influenced by the mediating role of waste reduction intention.

Examining how social media affects Pakistani Generation Z’s efforts to reduce food waste is what makes this study distinctive. According to the research, the majority of social media factors positively influence intentions to reduce waste. The relationship between intentions and actual behavior, which highlights the impact of social media campaigns and emotional aspects in promoting waste reduction, is one of the important conclusions.

The purpose of this study is to comprehend how AI aids marketers in engaging customers and generating value for the company by way of customer engagement (CE). CE is a popular area of research for scholars and practitioners. One area of research that could have far-reaching ramifications with regard to strengthening CE is artificial intelligence (AI). Consequently, it becomes extremely important to understand how AI is helping the marketer reach customers and create value for the firm via CE.

A detailed approach using both systematic review and bibliometric analysis was used. It involved identifying key research areas, the most influential authors, studies, journals, countries and organisations. Then, a comprehensive analysis of 50 papers was carried out in the four identified clusters through co-citation analysis. Furthermore, a content analysis of 42 articles for the past six years was also conducted.

Emerging themes explored through cluster analysis are CE concepts and value creation, social media strategies, big data innovation and significance of AI in tertiary industry. Identified themes for content analysis are CE conceptualisation, CE behaviour in social media, CE role in value co-creation and CE via AI.

CE has emerged as a topic of great interest for marketers in recent years. With the rapid growth of digital media and the spread of social media, firms are now embarking on new online strategies to promote CE (Javornik and Mandelli, 2012). In this review, the authors have thoroughly assessed multiple facets of prior research papers focused on the utilisation of AI in the context of CE. The existing research papers highlighted that AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants offer real-time interaction capabilities, swiftly addressing inquiries, delivering assistance and navigating customers through their experiences (Cheng and Jiang, 2022; Naqvi et al., 2023). This rapid and responsive engagement serves to enrich the customer’s overall interaction with the business. Consequently, this research can contribute to a comprehensive knowledge of how AI is assisting marketers to reach customers and create value for the firm via CE. This study also sheds light on both the attitudinal and behavioural aspects of CE on social media. While existing CE literature highlights the motivating factors driving engagement, the study underscores the significance of behavioural engagement in enhancing firm performance. It emphasises the need for researchers to understand the intricate dynamics of engagement in the context of hedonic products compared to utilitarian ones (Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2020). CEs on social media assist firms in using their customers as advocates and value co-creators (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Sawhney et al., 2005). A few of the CE themes are conceptual in nature; hence, there is an opportunity for scholarly research in CE to examine the ways in which AI-driven platforms can effectively gather customer insights. As per the prior relationship marketing studies, it is evident that building relationships reduces customer uncertainty (Barari et al., 2020). Therefore, by using data analysis, businesses can extract valuable insights into customer preferences and behaviour, equipping them to engage with customers more effectively.

The rapid growth of social media has enabled individuals to articulate their thoughts, opinions and emotions related to a brand, which creates a large amount of data for VCC. Meanwhile, AI has emerged as a radical way of providing value content to users. It expands on a broader concept of how software and algorithms work like human beings. Data collected from customer interactions are a major prerequisite for efficiently using AI for enhancing CE. AI not only reduces error rates but, at the same time, helps human beings in decision-making during complex situations. Owing to built-in algorithms that analyse large amounts of data, companies can inspect areas that require improvement in real time. Time and resources can also be saved by automating tasks contingent on customer responses and insights. AI enables the analysis of customer data to create highly personalised experiences. It can also forecast customer behaviour and trends, helping businesses anticipate needs and preferences. This enables proactive CE strategies, such as targeted offers or timely outreach. Furthermore, AI tools can analyse customer feedback and sentiment across various channels. This feedback can be used to make necessary improvements and address concerns promptly, ultimately fostering stronger customer relationships. AI can facilitate seamless engagement across multiple digital channels, ensuring that customers can interact with a brand through their preferred means, be it social media, email, or chat. Consequently, this research proposes that practitioners and companies can use analysis performed by AI-enabled systems on CEB, which can assist companies in exploring the extent to which each product influences CE. Understanding the importance of these attributes would assist companies in developing more memorable CE features.

This study examines how prominent CE and AI are in academic research on social media by identifying research gaps and future developments. This research provides an overview of CE research and will assist academicians, regulators and policymakers in identifying the important topics that require investigation.

The digital contents (d-contents) are vulnerable to various threats either natural or manmade. Digital preservation is the plethora of a wide array of strategies necessary for the long-term preservation of digital objects. This study was carried out to assess the digital preservation practices for information resources in university libraries of Pakistan.

A quantitative survey based on a structured questionnaire was carried out to conduct the study. The questionnaire containing two sets of strategies (general and technical) was distributed amongst the whole population and received 90% response rate.

Overall, progressive implementation of general digital preservation practices was noted in these libraries like checking the digital collections for viruses, keeping the digital media in fire/water/theft proof locations, restricting unauthorized access, maintaining ideal humidity and temperature, and checking the digital media for functionality. Amongst the technical practices, only replication was in practice at a progressive rate, followed by metadata recording and media refreshing that was sometimes practiced in these libraries. The other technical practices were rarely or never practiced in these libraries. Significant variances in general and technical digital preservation practices were noted based on their physical locations (regional distribution).

The study contributes a comprehensive set of digital preservation practices divided into general and technical types to conduct similar studies in other parts of the world.

The findings stress the need for national and institutional policies, funding streams and skill enhancement of library staff.

The study fills the literature gap and contributes a comprehensive set of digital preservation practices divided into general and technical types to conduct similar studies in other parts of the world.

The peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-02-2023-0074

There is emerging evidence in the accounting literature that investors react negatively to corporate greenwashing. But does that hold for all investors, or do different types of investors react differently? This paper aims to study retail investors’ responses to media reports on corporate greenwashing and how these responses depend upon the investors’ social value orientation. The authors argue that media reporting on corporate greenwashing negatively affects the rationale for allocating funds to firms engaging in greenwashing. The authors also expect this reaction to be stronger for prosocial investors compared to proself investors.

The authors conduct an online experiment with 229 participants representing retail investors in the German-speaking countries.

The results show that retail investors who received media reports on deceptive disclosure invest more funds in the company that does not engage in greenwashing (and less in the firm that engages in greenwashing) than investors who did not receive these reports. The authors’ results provide novel evidence that this effect primarily holds for investors with a prosocial value orientation. Finally, the authors’ data show that lower trust in the firm that engages in greenwashing partially mediates the effect of media reports on investor choices.

The authors provide unique evidence how different types of investors react to media reports on greenwashing. The authors find that moral motives, rather than risk-return considerations, drive investor responses to greenwashing. Overall, these findings support the important function of the media as an intermediary in stock market participation and highlight the pivotal role of individual traits in investors’ responses to greenwashing.