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This paper aims to examine the relationship between four leadership approaches (i.e. transactional leadership, transformational leadership, entrepreneurial leadership and authentic leadership) and organizational citizenship behaviour from the Islamic perspective (OCBIP) in the central offices of private banks in Tehran, Iran.

A correlative descriptive research method is used. Partial least squares modelling is applied to analyze the data from 384 employees and managers of the banks.

The results show that transactional leadership and transformational leadership positively and significantly affect OCBIP. However, entrepreneurial leadership and authentic leadership do not predict followers’ OCBIP. Also, transformational leadership has a greater power to influence on OCBIP than transactional leadership. The empirical findings also indicate that each of leadership behaviours influences certain types of OCBIPs so that transactional leadership predicts altruism, civic virtue and advocating high moral standards; transformational leadership predicts altruism, civic virtue and removal of harm; authentic leadership predicts advocating high moral standards, significantly; and entrepreneurial leadership predicts civic virtue, negatively.

OCBIP is a new construct that has been conceptualized, recently. In the past decades, many studies have examined the relationship between different leadership approaches and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCB) of followers. However, the relationship between leadership approaches and OCBIP has not yet been investigated. Furthermore, only a few studies have compared the influence of different leadership approaches on OCB and OCBIP. This paper contributes to the literature by identifying the distinct impact of the four leadership approaches on the different types of OCBIPs. Furthermore, examining the impact of some leadership approaches (e.g. entrepreneurial leadership) on OCBIP has remained unknown.

In the preceding decades, due to the advancement of social media, traditional marketing has become less significant. Managers and entrepreneurs are seeking novel, effective and efficient ways both for new and technological products/services. Drawing on the theory of reasoned action, information adoption model and technology acceptance model, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of viral marketing on purchase intentions of mobile applications users in Iran.

Statistical population includes those Iranian users who have used two social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Line, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Telegram, Twitter, Viber, WeChat and WhatsApp) at least. Invalid questionnaires are excluded and 624 are used for the data analysis. Structural equations modelling is used to test the proposed model.

The findings show that the most effective factor on apps perceived usefulness is argument quality of information, followed by source credibility and quantity of information. Perceived usefulness is also predicted by perceived ease of use through the indirect effect of argument quality. Furthermore, it is also found that purchase intention is affected by perceived ease of use, followed by perceived usefulness through attitude towards the purchase.

This research is limited to the Iranian mobile apps market. Future studies on viral marketing in app markets should collect data from multiple industries and multiple countries in order to achieve a more comprehensive perspective on the effects and consequences of viral advertising. Furthermore, rather than social networks, similar research can be conducted on different communication channels of the internet such as blogs, e-mails, chat rooms, online communities, discussion boards, corporate websites, e-commerce and social commerce websites (e.g. Amazon). It is also suggested that the conceptual model of the research can be extended considering other useful factors on purchase intentions than attitude (e.g. subjective norms and perceived behavioural control). Furthermore, future research should consider the role of mobile apps features in forming purchase intentions.

For the firms that develop mobile applications (particularly in Iran’s app market), increasing sales requires exploiting social media viral marketing to effectively change potential customers’ perceptions about usefulness and ease of use of their products. The findings suggest that a viral marketing strategy should be developed with high argument quality, followed by high source credibility and a large amount of information on social media.

This is one of the earliest studies investigating the viral effects of social networks on purchase intention in the mobile applications context. Although very few papers practically recognised the impact of viral marketing on purchase intention, the effect of this concept on mobile applications purchase intention had remained unknown.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need to use specific marketing strategies and approaches due to their limited resources and capabilities. Entrepreneurial marketing (EM) is an alternative marketing management approach under the special conditions that describe SMEs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether EM has a positive and significant effect on different aspects of performance of Iranian halal food SMEs.

A correlative descriptive research method is used and 384 questionnaires with five-point Likert scale are distributed among managers of Iranian halal food SME producers chosen by simple random sampling method. To analyze the data, structural equations modeling based on partial least squares is applied using SmartPLS 3.

The result of data analysis indicates a positive and significant effect of EM on the market and innovative performances of halal food SMEs. Nevertheless, the effect of EM on production performance of aforementioned companies is not confirmed. The findings also show that production, market and innovative performances of halal food SMEs result in their financial performance.

The study’s sample is limited to halal food SMEs of Iran. Although the objectives of the study have been aimed, more research can be done investigating this relationship in other companies from different sectors, contexts and countries. Similar studies can be conducted cross-culturally and in different Islamic countries.

For halal food SMEs that tend to achieve better performance, obtaining improved innovative and market performances requires using EM activities effectively. This paper suggests that halal food SMEs should be innovative, proactive, opportunist, risk-taker and customer-oriented to achieve better market and innovative performances and consequently earn higher profits.

This is one of the earliest studies investigating the effects of EM in the halal food industry. Although very few papers practically recognized the impact of EM on the performance of SMEs and entrepreneurial ventures, the effect of this concept on halal food SMEs has remained unknown.