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This paper aims to examine consumers’ evaluation of and reaction to the coexistence of brand misconduct and sustainability claims through a series of studies.

The research questions are examined across three studies. Consumer’s scepticism of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is considered the driver of brand distance. Brand hypocrisy is postulated to mediate the relationship between scepticism to CSR and brand distance. Furthermore, brand trust and desire for exclusivity are tested as moderators of brand hypocrisy and brand distance.

The findings showed that environmental misconduct leads to perceived brand hypocrisy and brand distancing. When luxury brands take action to remedy their actions, the perceived brand hypocrisy and brand distancing decrease. In addition, brand trust and desire for exclusivity dilute the relationship between brand hypocrisy and brand distance.

The findings show that, standing in a contradictory position, brands can still reduce the consumers’ perceived brand distance by building a strong consumers’ trust toward the brand. At the same time, relating the luxury consumers’ yearning for the exclusive products and services, the findings show that the consumers with a strong desire for exclusivity feel a lower level of brand distance even if the brand gets involved in misconduct.

Este artículo examina la evaluación y la reacción de los consumidores ante la coexistencia de la mala conducta de la marca y las alegaciones de sostenibilidad a través de una serie de estudios.

Las preguntas de investigación se examinan a través de tres estudios. El escepticismo de los consumidores respecto a la RSC se considera el motor del distanciamiento de las marcas. Se postula que la hipocresía de la marca media la relación entre el escepticismo hacia la RSE y la distancia de la marca. Además, se comprueba que la confianza en la marca y el deseo de exclusividad son moderadores de la hipocresía y la distancia a la marca.

Los resultados mostraron que la mala conducta medioambiental conduce a la percepción de hipocresía de la marca y al distanciamiento de la misma. Cuando las marcas de lujo toman medidas para remediar sus acciones, la hipocresía y el distanciamiento de marca percibidos disminuyen. Además, la confianza en la marca y el deseo de exclusividad diluyen la relación entre la hipocresía y el distanciamiento de la marca.

Los resultados demuestran que, situándose en una posición contradictoria, las marcas pueden seguir reduciendo el distanciamiento de marca percibido por los consumidores mediante la creación de una fuerte confianza de los consumidores hacia la marca. Al mismo tiempo, relacionando el anhelo de los consumidores de lujo por los productos y servicios exclusivos, nuestros hallazgos muestran que los consumidores con un fuerte deseo de exclusividad sienten un menor nivel de distancia a marca incluso si la marca se ve involucrada en una mala conducta.

本文通过一系列的研究, 考察了消费者对品牌不当行为和可持续发展主张并存的评价和反应。

研究问题在三项研究中得到了检验。消费者对企业社会责任的怀疑被认为是品牌距离的驱动因素。品牌伪善被假设为介导对企业社会责任的怀疑和品牌距离之间的关系。此外, 品牌信任和对排他性的渴望被测试为品牌伪善和品牌距离的调节因素。

研究结果显示, 环境方面的不当行为导致了人们对品牌伪善和品牌距离的感知。当奢侈品牌采取行动补救他们的行为时, 被感知的品牌伪善和品牌距离就会减少。此外, 品牌信任和对排他性的渴望稀释了品牌伪善和品牌距离之间的关系。

研究结果表明, 站在矛盾的立场上, 品牌仍然可以通过建立消费者对品牌的强烈信任来减少消费者感知的品牌距离。同时, 联系到奢侈品消费者对独家产品和服务的渴望, 我们的研究结果表明, 即使品牌涉及到不正当行为, 对独家性有强烈渴望的消费者也会感到较低的品牌距离。

This paper aims to explore the impacts of remote auditing on auditors’ work and work-life balance.

This paper adopted a qualitative online survey approach using open-ended reflections from 98 highly experienced auditors. The survey design aligns with a “Big Q” approach to qualitative data. The reflections were interpreted through the theoretical lens of the social presence theory.

Auditors underscore that remote auditing has improved their work-life balance since it offers flexibility, greater autonomy and efficient use of time. However, they believe less social contact due to remote auditing can hurt their work.

This study aimed to holistically comprehend the concept of work-life balance in a remote auditing setting. Therefore, the study refrained from making comparisons based on demographic information (e.g. gender, experience and type of audit firm).

The findings highlight the need for adopting flexible work arrangements that prioritise auditors’ well-being. This is critical for making the audit profession attractive and enhancing overall audit quality. Updated regulatory guidance and controls are needed concerning the use of technologies in remote auditing to ensure high-quality audits.

The findings of this study can positively reshape public perception of the audit profession. Firstly, enhanced work-life balance can improve audit quality. Secondly, incorporating emerging technologies in auditing can result in society perceiving auditors as adaptive to innovation and technological advancement that has been touted for their potential for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of audit and audit quality, potentially enhancing societal trust in auditing.

The findings of this study complement the auditing literature that has mainly focused on the traditional work paradigm, requiring in-person presence. The authors identify potential challenges emanating from auditors’ remote work and propose solutions for audit firms to improve work-life balance in a remote work setting.

This study aims to explore the effect of mental health in terms of depression, anxiety, stress, fear of COVID-19 and quality of life (QoL) on the reluctance to be vaccinated in a population of Palestinian adults living in occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

The authors recruited 1,122 Palestinian adults who consented to participate in the study; 722 were females, and the mean age of the sample was 40.83 (SD 8.8). Depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS), World Health Organization QoL-BREF, FCov-19 and reluctance to the vaccine scale were administered; hierarchical regression analysis was applied to test vaccine reluctance as a dependent variable, and mental health, fear of COVID-19 and QoL as independent variables. This study hypothesized influence of such variables on the vaccine choice with differences due to the participants’ geographical locations.

Findings showed an effect of mental health, particularly depression, QoL and fear of COVID on vaccine reluctance, with depression and fear of COVID in the West Bank and Gaza, while in Israel, QoL played a role in vaccination choices.

The future needs to be comprehended more thoroughly to discover mutations and fluctuations over time in vaccine hesitancy and the increasing role of psychological distress, diminished QoL and fear of Covid-19. Online recruitment might not have allowed the study to include the most disadvantaged strips of the Palestinian population.

Human rights perspectives must be considered in public health and public mental health policies to ensure the QoL and well-being for the Palestinian population during and following the pandemic.

The crumbling of the Palestinian health-care system exacerbated the sense of dread among the population and made them less likely to vaccinate. The pandemic-like spread of Covid-19 prompts a plea for the global community to actively advocate for the urgent re-establishment of equity, autonomy and durability of the medical infrastructure in the occupied territories and equal entitlements for the Palestinians in Israel.

The results demonstrated the importance for public mental health to consider the multiple levels implied in the vaccine refusal in Palestine and Israel among the Palestinian population.

Pragmatism is very relevant to workplace management and performance measurement, yet in the accounting literature, it is a term used loosely and in a colloquial manner. By drawing on a framework based on classical pragmatism, this study aims to examine how a pragmatic perspective is discernible in the form and use of management control (MC) practices.

This study collects data using a case study of a firm in the green energy construction sector.

Building on the analytical framework, this study provides evidence that a pragmatic perspective is discernible in both form and use of MC practices, through a clear focus on targets rather than variance analysis, the presence of mutable local MC practices characterised by interaction and problem-solving and the absence of other common MC practices with no clear links to ends-in-view. This study also provides evidence of the potential limitations of a pragmatic perspective including myopia and an exacerbation of the inherent bias in organisations towards exploitation.

This research brings analytical clarity to the study of pragmatism in the accounting literature and insights into how a pragmatic perspective is discernible in the form and use of MC practices. Further, the study shows the potential limitations of a pragmatic perspective for management.

This paper aims to examine how CEO talk of sustainability in CEO letters evolves in a period of increased expectations from society for companies to increase their transition towards becoming more sustainable and to better account for progress and performance within the sustainability areas.

By adopting an interpretive textual approach, the paper provides a careful analysis of how CEO talk of sustainability in CEO letters of large listed Swedish companies developed during 2008–2017.

The talk of sustainability is successively becoming more elaborated, proactive and multidimensional. CEOs frame their talk by adopting different perspectives: the distinct environmental, the performance and meso, the product-market-oriented and the sustainability embeddedness and value creation. The shift towards an embeddedness and value-creation perspective in the later letters implies that the alleged capitalistic and short-sighted focus on shareholder value maximisation might be changing towards a greater focus on sustainability embeddedness as an important goal for succeeding with the transition towards a sustainable business.

The findings are relevant for policymakers and government bodies when developing policies and regulations aimed at improving the positive impact of companies on global sustainable development. Findings are also useful for management teams when structuring their sustainability talk as a response to external pressure.

The findings provide relevant input on how social norms, values and expectations are shaping the corporate discourse on sustainability.

The findings of this study contribute to an increased understanding of the rhetorical response in influential CEO letters to the surrounding sustainability context, including new national and international policies as well as sociopolitical events and discourses related to sustainability. This offers a unique frame of reference for further interpretational work on how CEOs frame, engage in and shape the sustainability discourse.

This paper aims to explore the attitude-behaviour gap consumers experience when transitioning from buying fast fashion to embracing sustainable fashion consumption. Despite being driven to make sustainable fashion purchases, consumers are confronted with certain retail barriers that impede them from making the shift.

This study draws from the theory of planned behaviour and the behavioural-reasoning theory approaches to theoretically develop and assess five key fashion consumption barriers that moderate the relationship between sustainable fashion consumption motivations and actual behaviour. These are the steep price of sustainable fashion, low visibility, restricted availability, limited cognisance of the deleterious consequences of fast fashion and low trust in sustainability claims. Under heightened levels of moderators, the relationship between motivation and behaviour was predicted to be weaker. The author's data sample of 376 consumers validated the hypotheses.

This article contributes to the field of sustainable fashion retail consumption in three ways: (1) it reveals that the expensive cost of sustainable fashion is not an obstacle to its adoption, and consumers are willing to pay more but struggle to access the styles they prefer; (2) it unveils that, in contrast to recent scholarship, the lack of knowledge of the adverse environmental effects of fast fashion is still a barrier to transitioning to sustainability and (3) it implies that consumers are less motivated to lower their consumption of clothing when they feel dubious about fashion companies' sustainability claims.

The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge on green consumption by shedding light on the complex dynamics between moderating factors and the transition from intention to behaviour in sustainable fashion consumption.

The research aims to understand how smart speakers are perceived by their actual and potential users, their attitude towards smart speakers and consequently their intention to use them.

The authors apply a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to test the research hypotheses through data coming from a structured questionnaire.

The results show that the higher the importance attributed to usefulness and ease of use, the higher the positive attitude that in turn positively affects the intention to use smart speakers. A significant relationship also emerged between task technology fit and attitude towards smart speakers, as well as between perceived enjoyment and attitude towards smart speakers. Perceived privacy risk, innovativeness and social attraction have been found to not significantly impact attitudes towards smart speakers.

Although several academic studies have focused on various aspects of smart technologies, only a few studies discuss the factors that push consumers to use smart speakers for activities related to commercial transactions. Therefore, looking at the rapid rise of smart speakers for daily tasks and the gradual acceptance of voice interaction with digital tools, the authors proposed a study about Italian users' intention to use smart speakers. Specifically, to fill the gap in the existing literature, the authors applied a SEM approach to identify utilitarian and hedonic benefits that motivate the use of these devices.

As the comparability concept has recently garnered increased attention of policymakers and standard setters in the sustainability reporting (SR) arena, this paper aims to provide a reflexive viewpoint of this concept in this context.

To inform the authors’ viewpoint and disentangle the concept of comparability into different facets, the authors review policymakers’ and standard setters’ (including the Global reporting initiative) comparability principles, as well as relevant studies in the field. To provide insights into the different ways in which the comparability facets can be approached, the authors use multi-perspective reflexive practices and focus on the multiple purposes that reporting can serve. To empirically animate the authors’ reflection on the facets, the authors analyse the sustainability disclosures of two Italian banks over three years.

This study reveals that three facets form valuable starting points for extending the understanding of the meanings the comparability concept can carry in the SR arena. These facets are materiality and comparability, benchmarking/monitoring and comparability and operationalisation and comparability.

This study is intended to elicit policymakers’ and standard setters’ thoughts on the role of comparability and its complexities in SR.

By taking a critical and reflexive approach, the authors encourage policymakers and standard setters to reconsider the comparability principle, so it effectively embeds the accountability purpose of SR.

In this paper, the authors propose three facets for disentangling the concept of comparability.

This paper aims to investigate how actors in the farmer’s network influence the adoption of smart farming technology (SFT) and to understand how social media affects this adoption process, in particular focusing on the influence of social media on trust in knowledge dissemination within the network.

The methodology used a two-stage process, with semi-structured interviews of farmers, augmented by a netnographic approach appropriate to the social media context.

The analysis illustrates the key role of the farmer network in the dissemination of SFT knowledge, bringing insight into an important B2B context. While social media emerges as a valuable way to connect farmers and promote discussion, it remains underused in knowledge dissemination on SFT. Also, farmers exhibit more trust in the content from peers online rather than from SFT vendors.

Novel insights are gained into the influence of the farming network on the accelerated adoption of SFT, including the potential role of social media in mitigating the homophilous nature of peer-to-peer interactions among farmers through exposure to more diverse actors and information. The use of a social network theory lens has provided new insights into the role of trust in shaping social media influence on the farmer, with variances in farmer trust of information from technology vendors and from peers.