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Social media has the potential to enable exchange of diverse opinions, foster dialogue on important social issues and exert positive influence on stakeholders and society. However, evidence is contradictory as to whether this is the case; it is possible that millennials' behaviors on social media are mainly driven by conservation (conformity and safety) or self-enhancement (power and achievement). In this research, the authors examine the extent to which different human values (self-transcendence, conservation, self-enhancement and openness to change) influence millennials' activities and behaviors on social media.

The authors conduct three separate surveys on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with 491 millennials (18–34 years of age) in the USA, examining the influence of four higher-order values of the Schwartz human values model (open self-transcendence, conservation, self-enhancement and openness to change) on specific social media activities (consumption, self-focused and sharing nonpersonal content activities).

First, the authors find that for millennial users, human values significantly influence social media activities. Second, conservation values, followed by self-enhancement values, overshadow the expression of open self-transcendence values on social media. Thus, social media platforms may function more as agents of conservation and self-enhancement than agents of personal growth.

This is among the first studies to examine the influence of human values on social media and to find that human values such as conservation and self-enhancement have a strong influence on users' social media activities, while open self-transcendence values, which lead to expansion and growth, do not find genuine expression on social media.

Drawing on the theory of planned behavior and value-belief norms theory, this study aims to explore the causes of pro-environmental behavioral intentions in the context of Sri Lanka.

Data were garnered from 503 subjects with the aid of self-reported questionnaires. The formulated hypotheses were examined using a variance-based statistical approach (PLS-SEM).

The findings of the study revealed that personal values, particularly altruistic and biosphere values, significantly strengthen the psychological drivers of pro-environmental behavioral intentions. The study further found that religiosity enhances the association between personal norms and pro-environmental behavioral intentions and the place attachment augments the relationship between attitude and pro-environmental behavioral intentions.

This study suggests that instilling altruistic and biosphere values in individuals can boost pro-environmental behavioral intentions. Campaigns and educational programs could focus on instilling these values to foster responsibility and empathy. Recognizing the influence of religiosity on pro-environmental behaviors and attitudes, this study suggests collaborative efforts between organizations and religious institutions. Religious leaders can integrate environmental stewardship into teachings, emphasizing ethical responsibilities.

The study pushes back the frontiers of environmental consciousness literature by highlighting the importance of personal values, psychological factors and contextual variables such as religiosity and place attachment in fostering pro-environmental behavior within the specific context of an emerging country – Sri Lanka.

This study aims to integrate the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory into a meta-analytic framework to synthesize green consumption literature.

By integrating the findings from 173 studies, a meta-analysis was performed adopting several analytical methods: bivariate analysis, moderation analysis and path analysis.

VBN- and TPB-based psychological factors (adverse consequences, ascribed responsibility, personal norms, subjective norms, attitude and perceived behavioral control) mediate the effects of altruistic, biospheric and egoistic values on green purchase intention. Further, inconsistencies in the proposed relationships are due to cultural factors (i.e. individualism-collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity–femininity, short- vs long-term orientation and indulgence-restraint) and countries’ human development status.

The authors selected papers published in English; hence, other relevant papers in this domain published in other languages might have been missed.

The findings are useful to marketers of green offerings in designing strategies, i.e. specific messages, targeting different customers based on countries’ cultural score and human development index, to harvest positive customer responses.

This study is the pioneering attempt to synthesize the TPB- and VBN-based quantitative literature on green consumer behavior to resolve the reported inconsistent findings.

The current business environment is characterized by high levels of uncertainty that affect the global economic system and have the greatest impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With an elevated degree of perceived uncertainty, Chief executive officers' (CEOs) of SMEs find themselves in a situation where the old approaches to decision-making are irrelevant and the time to create new ones is limited. The purpose of this study is to examine whether appealing to personal values helps CEOs cope with a high level of perceived uncertainty and make decisions about the further development of the firm by undertaking business model innovations (BMI).

This study follows a multiple case study research design drawing on data collected from 10 Russian SMEs.

The authors show that CEOs’ communion values lead to innovations in the revenue model and value architecture dimensions of the business model. CEOs who are inclined to agentic values introduce innovations in the revenue model and value offering dimensions. Those executives who balance between the two types of values tend to also balance between different types of innovations in the elements of the business model.

The results indicate that personal values of CEOs play an important role in managerial processes and the strategic choice of a BMI type. Moreover, personal temporal focus orientation serves as a translation mechanism in the relationship between CEO values and BMI in SME settings.

This study explores the structure of founders’ hybrid personal identities and their relationship to social venture performance. The authors hypothesize that founders experience the tension between the social and commercial goals of their venture as a paradox rooted in their personal values.

The authors surveyed 112 social enterprise founders in Chile and used structural equation modeling to test hypotheses about the relationship between self-transcendent values (i.e. promotion of others’ welfare and care for nature) and self-enhancement values (i.e. pursuing own interests and power over others) on a multidimensional scale of social venture performance.

Self-transcendence and self-enhancement are distinct yet interrelated values that coexist within social venture founders (i.e. they constitute a paradox). Self-transcendence values negatively moderate the positive relationship between self-enhancement values and social venture performance.

Mere benevolence is insufficient for effective social venturing; success depends on the founder’s self-enhancement values or their “drive” to succeed. Founder values can thus inform organizational design choices (e.g. tasks, team composition, structures and processes) and guide public and private investment decisions.

This research empirically assesses the structure of hybrid personal identities, uncovering how the concurrent action of self-transcendence and self-enhancement values influences social venture performance. The authors challenge the belief that balancing social and commercial goals benefits social venture performance. Best-performing ventures are those whose founder’s exhibit high self-enhancement and low self-transcendence values.

This paper aims to draw on values theory, associative network theory and schema congruity theory to examine how consumers attribute human-like values to product categories and products, and how these attributions affect product evaluations.

Study 1 randomly assigned 925 respondents to one of three product categories (cars, mobile phones and vacations). They were asked about their values and to attribute values to an assigned product category. Study 2 randomly assigned 919 respondents to one of the four value-expressive car conditions. They were asked to attribute values to the car, and then about their attitudes and purchase intentions.

Respondents attributed human-like values to product categories and products that were distinct and reflected the motivational compatibilities and conflicts inherent in the circular structure of human values. Moreover, multifaceted value congruity effects were found to positively influence attitudes and intentions to purchase a car, including congruity with product category values-schema, consumers’ personal values-schema and the structure of human values.

The authors demonstrate how a cognitive memory-based view can be used to better understand the complexities of the attribution of human-like values to products and product categories. Moving beyond the attribution of brand personality, this study shows the importance of not only understanding the attributions of values to a product but also considering how these attributions interact with the more abstract product category values to influence evaluations.

The study determined the role of personal values in doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) students’ academic success in Tanzania. Specifically, it looked into the influence of openness to change values, self-enhancement values and conservation values on Ph.D. students’ academic success.

The study employed a cross-sectional survey design, in which 200 Ph.D. students from Tanzanian universities were involved by responding to a questionnaire. The relationship between the variables was determined by using structural equation modeling, and testing of the measurement model was done by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

The results indicate that personal values influence Ph.D. students’ academic success. Particularly, openness to change values have an ß value of 0.209 and p value of < 0.001, self-enhancement values have an ß of 0.173 and p-value of < 0.001 and conservation values have ß of 0.339 and p-value of < 0.001.

In the quest to improve Ph.D. students’ academic success, universities and Ph.D. students should foster openness to change values, self-enhancement values and conservation values in Ph.D. students.

The results of this study extend the use of the Schwartz theory of basic human values in explaining the academic success of Ph.D. students in Tanzanian universities. Past studies that applied this theory were based on secondary school and college students. Moreover, based on the author’s knowledge, this study is one of the early studies to systematically look into the role of personal values on Ph.D. students’ academic success. Thus, the study contributes to the existing literature on personal values and academic success because previous studies on this subject could not examine Ph.D. students’ success in isolation.

A limited number of studies have aimed at understanding behavior towards animal welfare. However, there are indications that consumers make an important distinction between land animals and fish. As no studies have attempted to explain the factors that influence consumer behavior towards the welfare of fish, this study aims to explain the behavior using the value–belief–norm (VBN) model. In addition, we extend the model by using empathy as a factor influencing the formation of personal norms. This study argues that by adding empathy to the model, we will improve the ability of the VBN to explain moral behavior.

The study is based on survey data from 416 Norwegian consumers. A structural equation modeling analysis with latent constructs is used to test the hypotheses.

The findings validate the ability of the VBN model to explain consumer intention to buy products containing fish with better welfare. We also showed that empathy and beliefs strongly influence personal norms. The extended VBN model increased the explained variance of personal norm by 11,54%. Consumers with biospheric values are strongly likely to have empathetic feelings towards fish suffering and believe that fish can feel pain. However, consumers with hedonistic values are significantly negatively related to beliefs and empathy.

By understanding the role of empathy, companies can develop marketing strategies that appeal to consumers' values, empathy and beliefs and ultimately encourage them to make purchases that support fish welfare.

Practically, this study explores consumers' beliefs towards fish welfare and identifies consumers who are more likely to purchase products containing fish with better welfare based on their values.

Understanding how attributes, consequences and values (A-C-V) influence the predisposition to purchase and buying intention of organic food consumers (OFC) is crucial for its stakeholders. This study aims to (1) investigate whether OFC perceptions of the A-C-V impact their predisposition to purchase and buying intention; (2) examine the mediating effect of predisposition to purchase on the relationship between OFC personal values and their buying intentions and (3) verify whether consumers with distinct levels of organic food-buying intention perceive differently of the A-C-V, predisposition to purchase and consumption frequency.

This quantitative study comprised 307 consumers who filled out a form about their perceptions of organic foods’ A-C-V and their consumption frequency, purchasing predisposition and buying intention. Partial least squares strutural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) tested the hypothetical model that resorted to the means-end chain (MEC) theory (Gutman, 1982). Cluster analysis based on OFC’s buying intentions compared their perceptions of the A-C-V, purchasing predisposition and consumption frequency.

The OFC’s perception of the attributes of these foods impacts the consequences of their consumption and values. Such values positively influence their purchase predisposition and buying intention. Predisposition to purchase measured the relationship between OFC values and purchase intention. Three OFC clusters were identified according to their buying intentions. Such groups perceive the A-C-V singularly and have different purchasing predispositions and consumption frequencies.

OFC values directly influence buying intentions. However, the predisposition to purchase strongly mediates the relationship between values and buying intentions, producing an indirect impact more notable than a direct one. It brings academic and managerial contributions to organic food stakeholders.

This study aims to examine differences in the perceived value of luxury as drivers of luxury purchase intentions between individualist and collectivist cultures (at a country level) and consumers of Muslim versus Christian religious backgrounds. Moreover, this study investigates how consumers’ acculturation to the global consumer culture (AGCC) impacts their perceived luxury values.

The authors conducted two online survey studies. The first study compares Muslim consumers in Kuwait versus Muslims consumers in the UK. The second study compares the UK Muslim sample to a UK Christian sample. The authors collected data from 600 and 601 respondents, respectively. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to test this study’s research hypotheses.

The perceived personal values of luxury primarily drive consumers’ luxury purchase intentions. The hedonic value of luxury impacts luxury purchase intentions significantly more for Muslims in the UK than in Kuwait. No significant differences were observed between religions. Consumers’ AGCC exerts a positive impact on all included perceived luxury values and more strongly impacts perceived uniqueness for Muslims than for Christians.

The paper builds on an integrative luxury values framework to examine the impact of luxury values on consumers’ purchasing intentions by studying the moderating effect of culture and religion on these relationships. The study is partly set in Kuwait, an understudied country, and investigates a Muslim minority in the UK.