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As the wave of liberalization and deregulation have accelerated to relieve rigid controls over airline routes, capacity, and fare setting regimes, Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) have emerged especially in local aviation markets since the 1970s.

This paper has studied the effects of LCC's entry into the domestic aviation market which was pre-occupied by two major carriers, Korean Air (KAL) and Asiana Airlines. Through a simple model describing two situations, prior and post to LCC's entry, we analyzed changes and trends of each airline's output and profit based on the Cournot and two-stage Stackelberg game equilibrium.

In summary, our conclusion consists of five points: (1) Even though JIN Air's entry reduced KAL's respective output and profit, the more JIN Air produces, the higher the joint-profit of KAL and JIN Air is, (2) From the joint-profit aspect, increasing KAL's output to a level than JIN Air's is more profitable on the Gimpo-Jeju route, on the other hand, increasing JIN Air's output higher than KAL's is more profitable on the Jeju-Busan route, (3) Even though JIN Air's entry increase Asiana Airline's output, the more JIN Air produces, the less Asiana Airlines's profit is, (4) Total output in markets as well as total profits of firms will increase under certain conditions, (5) KAL and JIN Air tend to get caught in an unresolved conflict on level of LCC cost.

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of mainland Chinese hotel firm internationalisation relative to traditional Western internationalisation theory through an analysis of the Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Group’s joint venture with the Thayer Lodging Group to acquire Interstate Hotels & Resorts.

The case study method was used to examine the three firms involved in the joint venture acquisition. The technique of elite interviews was used to collect primary data. Semi-structured personal interviews were conducted with senior corporate executives who were engaged as principals with the conception, execution and administration of the joint venture. Content analysis was performed with the interview data, seeking themes and patterns consistent with the study purpose.

The findings demonstrated specific characteristics that distinguish the internationalisation that Jin Jiang has pursued. The five distinctive characteristics were as follows: a “leap” market entry mode, a pattern of “a small fish eats a big fish”, a preference for purchasing hotels in the West, capital sourcing from Chinese banks and strategic rather than operational control of the acquired firm.

The findings indicate both similarities and differences between the China context of hotel firm internationalisation and that of Western firms. Theoretical implications are examined through an analysis of Dunning’s OLI (ownership, location, internalisation) framework. Generalisability of empirical findings may be limited by the China context and the unique combination of three firms.

The findings advance our understanding of the relationship between Chinese and Western practices, particularly in the approaches that firms take in internationalisation.

The story reported in this paper is about the first firm internationalisation endeavour in the mainland Chinese hotel industry. This is a landmark event for the international hospitality industry that will have historical significance, and represents the leading edge of mainland Chinese hotel firm cross-border expansion. This study contributes an early analysis of how the Chinese hotel sector may approach internationalisation.

Narrow, managerially centered notions of organizational culture remain hegemonic, marginalizing richer, anthropological approaches as well as efforts to understand how the beliefs and practices of organizations are fundamentally shaped by the wider societal dynamics within which they are embedded. In this paper, the authors draw upon recent efforts to explore the interface of scholarship on practice and the institutional logics perspective to highlight the utility of a practice-driven institutional approach to the study of organizational culture that brings society back in. Empirically, the authors present a longitudinal case study of a Chinese private enterprise, and analyze how the unfolding dynamics of a strong community logic increasingly affected by a rising market logic, shaped the formation of political coalitions internally and externally as organizational members aimed to maintain truces between the push and pull of logics over a period of 22 years. Through an analysis of seven episodes that we conceptualize as “cultural encounters,” the authors find that a combination of compartmentalization and overall integration of logics contributes to provisional truces, and that people in the same cohort who share common geographic socialization are more likely to form allies. Our aim is to encourage future scholars to study how societal beliefs and practices work their way into organizations in a variety of explicit as well as more mundane, hidden ways.

The purpose of the study is to provide insights on the COVID-19 pandemic communication from the lessons learned by health communication executives—how they perceived the COVID-19 pandemic and recommend preparing for communication management of future public health crises.

A number of top health communication executives in the United States, who worked in the healthcare industry for at least 25 years and held titles like director, president and chief strategist, were interviewed for their unique perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used the contingency theory of strategic conflict management for qualitative deductive analysis of the following segmentations of key factors that drove organizational communication management decision making during the pandemic: organization characteristics, relationship characteristics, general external climate, external publics and the issue under question.

Health communication executives heavily relied on their past health communication experiences, which led to nuanced understandings of the COVID-19 pandemic. Practically, the health communication executives urged future practitioners to constantly assess risks, hire and use diverse and representative decision-makers; set a communication protocol; and keep the communication in perspective. Theoretically, the contingency theory is furthered—there appears to be a theoretical linkage between the construct of general external climate and the construct of the external public.

The unique perspectives of top health communication executives, based in the United States, provided in-depth insights on the COVID-19 pandemic—its nuances, challenges and main influences (e.g. political, racial, etc.). These takeaways and recommendations can be adapted by other organizations and future health communicators in other parts of the world.

Social media campaigns by fashion brands typically rely on two types of accounts: official brands' accounts and social media influencers' accounts. The current study investigates relevant mechanisms that explain the effectiveness of Instagram posts contingent upon their account types (commercial brand's Instagram account versus influencer's Instagram account) and content types (the absence versus presence of human figures in the posted contents).

Conducting an online experiment (N Females = 195), it was tested if parasocial interaction (PSI) and feelings of social presence moderate the effects of Instagram accounts' promotional posts on consumers' perceived trustworthiness of the endorsed fashion brand. The experiment employed a 2 (Type of Instagram posts: product-only posts versus product posts with a person content) × 2 (Type of Instagram account: a fashion-brand account versus a a fashion-influencer account) between-subjects factorial design.

Results demonstrate three-way interaction effects among the type of the Instagram account, the type of Instagram posts and PSI/social presence on the perceived trustworthiness of a brand. When the content is coming from a fashion-influencer account, there is no difference between product posts with a person and product-only posts conditions with regard to the positive relationship between PSI/social presence and trustworthiness. In contrast, when the source is a fashion-brand account on Instagram, the positive relationship between PSI/social presence and trustworthiness is stronger for product posts with a person. These findings suggest that Instagram posts that are promoted by fashion influencers would have similar effects of PSI and social presence, even if they do not appear themselves in the branded content.

This research contributes to our understanding of the effective antecedents of trustworthiness in social media-based fashion marketing and fashion brand management. Instagram account types and content types influence the extent to which social media communication allows for the formation of emotional ties with and positive evaluation of the fashion brand.

Luxury fashion brands harness the power of Instagram and fashionistas for strategic brand management. This study aims to test interaction effects among luxury brand posts’ Instagram source type (brand versus fashionista), visual image type (product-centric versus consumer-centric) and consumers’ characteristics (vanity, opinion leadership and fashion consciousness) on brand recognition and trust.

A quantitative 2 (source type: brand versus fashionista) × 2 (branded visual image type: product-centric luxury versus consumer-centric luxury) between-subjects online experiment (N males = 195 and N females = 182) was conducted by recruiting participants from MTurk.

Logistic regression analyses indicated two-way interaction effects between sources and visual images on brand recognition. Brand recognition was higher for product-centric images when the source was the fashionista, whereas brand recognition was equivalent regardless of the image type when the source was the brand. Logistic regression and multiple regression analyses revealed the moderating effects of sources and visual images on the association between consumer traits and branding outcomes.

Meticulously choosing effective methods of showcasing branded content and persuasive luxury visual image strategies via Instagram is more important for fashionistas than for established brands in increasing brand recognition. Instagram fashionistas are more effective in increasing females’ brand trust through delivering product-centric visual images when targeting women with high vanity, opinion leadership and fashion consciousness. Brands as the Instagram profile source are more persuasive in increasing males’ brand trust through delivering product-centric visual images when targeting men with high vanity.

This experiment provides theoretical discussions and empirical findings about social media influencer marketing and managerial implications for Instagram-based luxury branding. This research revolves around the overarching theme of the interactive effects of multifaceted branded contents and market segments in social media influencer marketing environments.

Drawing on the resource-based view and contingency theory, this study aims to investigate the effects of organizational capabilities – technology capability and marketing capability – on small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs’) export performance and the moderating roles of contingent factors in this relationship in the context of a highly competitive export-oriented economy.

The research framework was tested using a three-way stepwise hierarchical multiple regression analysis with data gathered from 531 Korean international SMEs.

In addition to the direct effects of two types of organizational capabilities on export performance, the results show that both capabilities were critical when the export market was competitive, and marketing capability was more important when exporting with a brand name and targeting a developing country.

This study further extends the literature on SMEs’ internationalization in the context of highly competitive export-driven markets and highlights the importance of strategically allocating SMEs’ capabilities to reap optimal export performance by considering dynamic contingencies.

Through two experiments, this study assessed source and message effects of Instagram-based pro-veganism messages.

Experiment 1 (N = 294) examined effects of organization (brand vs nonprofit) and message types (egoistic vs altruistic) on consumer responses to Instagram-based pro-veganism content. Experiment 2 (N = 288) examined effects of source type (celebrity vs noncelebrity) and message valence (positive vs negative) on consumer responses to Instagram-based pro-veganism content.

Results demonstrated significant main effects of organization type, with consumers indicating more positive attitudes and higher credibility toward the brand. Significant main effects of message type were also found, with altruistic messages eliciting higher perceived information value than egoistic messages. Subjective norms had moderating effects on attitude toward the organization, while attitude toward veganism had moderating effects on perceived information value. Results also indicated significant main effects of message valence on perceived information value of pro-veganism Instagram posts and significant interaction effects of the two manipulated factors on intention to spread electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) about pro-veganism.

Implications for use of Instagram-based health marketing communication about veganism were discussed. Specifically, organizations looking to use social media to influence attitudes and behavioral intentions toward health issues should seek to reach their target audiences through selecting endorsers and messages that will optimally present the health issue in a relatable and engaging way.

The purpose of this paper is to test the effects of two types of celebrities (Instagram celebrity vs traditional celebrity) on source trustworthiness, brand attitude, envy and social presence. The proposed theoretical model consists of the celebrity type as the independent variable, social presence as the mediator and self-discrepancy as the moderator.

A randomized two-group comparison (Instagram celebrity vs traditional celebrity) between-subjects experiment (n=104) was conducted.

The results indicate that consumers exposed to Instagram celebrity’s brand posts perceive the source to be more trustworthy, show more positive attitude toward the endorsed brand, feel stronger social presence and feel more envious of the source than those consumers exposed to traditional celebrity’s brand posts. Structural equation modeling (Mplus 8.0) and bootstrap confidence intervals indicate that social presence mediates the causal effects of celebrity type on trustworthiness, brand attitude and envy. Multiple regression analyses reveal the moderating effects of appearance-related actual–ideal self-discrepancy.

Ultimately, managerial implications for social media marketing and Instagram influencer-based branding are provided. From the perspective of marketing planning, the findings speak to the power of influencer marketing as an effective branding strategy.

The paper discusses theoretical implications for the marketing literature on celebrity endorsements.