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This study aims to explore the effect of the board of directors on the capital structure of listed non-financial firms on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

Using a panel data set of 208 financial Pakistani enterprises from 2015 to 2020, regression analysis is employed to examine the data utilizing independent variables such as board size, outside directors, directors' remuneration and managerial ownership to evaluate board characteristics and the total debt ratio for capital structure.

The results show that the board size positively impacts the debt ratio. However, outside directors, directors' remuneration and managerial ownership are negatively connected with the capital structure. The empirical findings indicate that corporate governance mechanisms play an important role in the capital structure decision of Pakistani non-financial companies.

This research contributes to the literature by addressing the function of the board of directors in the governance of Pakistani enterprises.

Few studies in Pakistan focus on board characteristics and those that do utilize different variables. This research aims to fill a critical gap by investigating the effect of the board of directors' attributes and the capital structure of the listed non-financial sector of Pakistan.

This study aims to examine the perceived values of the metaverse when adopting it in the luxury hospitality business. Based on the cost–benefit perspective, this research provides solid theoretical contributions and actionable managerial recommendations.

An exploratory sequential mixed-method design was used. For the qualitative phase, 21 hotel managers and 24 hotel guests (who often stay in four-star and five-star hotels and resorts) were interviewed after showing them a series of videos about using the metaverse in the hotel business. Based on the results of the qualitative phase, the analytic hierarchy process method was used, and 476 valid questionnaires were analyzed.

The results highlight the perceived benefits (personalized services, immersive experience and positive brand image) and costs (lack of human touch, time and effort and security and privacy) of metaverse adoption for hotel managers and their guests. In addition, the study determines the weight of each value attribute of metaverse adoption for each travel stage (pre-travel, during travel and post-travel).

Regarding metaverse adoption, the research offers practical suggestions for luxury hotels. For instance, the cost of equipment and the time and effort required are perceived costs of metaverse adoption. To address these challenges, hotels may offer free equipment (e.g. VR headsets) and training to their guests to stimulate the use of the metaverse.

This study addresses a gap in the literature by presenting a conceptual framework for examining metaverse adoption in the luxury hotel scenario. Unlike using conventional models like the technology acceptance model or the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology to investigate a technology’s adoption, this study stands out by unraveling the topic through the lens of value proposition. The latter often comes from an efficient value co-creation process, which is indeed shaped by an adequate appreciation of the congruence of perceived values (i.e. perceived benefits and costs) of metaverse from hotel manager and guest perspectives.

The impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continue to devastate supply chain operations. To attain a competitive advantage in the post-COVID-19 era, decision-makers should explore key supply chain strategies to move forward and ready their policies to be implemented when the crisis sufficiently subsides. This is a significant and practical decision-making issue for any supply chain; hence, the purpose of this study is to explore and analyse key supply chain strategies to ensure robustness and resilience in the post-COVID-19 era.

This study conducted an expert survey targeting practitioners and academics to explore key supply chain strategies as means of moving forward in the post-COVID-19 era. Further, the key strategies were quantitatively analysed by applying the best-worst method (BWM) to determine their priority importance in the context of the manufacturing sector.

The results revealed that supply chain resilience and sustainability practices could play a dominant role in this period. The findings of the study can assist supply chain decision-makers in their formulations of key strategies.

This is the first study to investigate key supply chain strategies for the post-COVID-19 era. This study will help practitioners paying attention to resilience and sustainability practices for managing the impacts of future large-scale disruptions.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming consumers' experiences and how firms identify, create, nurture and manage interactive marketing relationships. However, most marketers do not have a clear understanding of what AI is and how it may mutually benefit consumers and firms. In this paper, the authors conduct an extensive review of the marketing literature, develop an AI framework for understanding value co-creation in interactive buyer–seller marketing relationships, identify research gaps and offer a future research agenda.

The authors first conduct an extensive literature review in 16 top marketing journals on AI. Based on this review, an AI framework for understanding value co-creation in interactive buyer–seller marketing relationships was conceptualized.

The literature review led to a number of key research findings and summary areas: (1) an historical perspective, (2) definitions and boundaries of AI, (3) AI and interactive marketing, (4) relevant theories in the domain of interactive marketing and (5) synthesizing AI research based on antecedents to AI usage, interactive AI usage contexts and AI-enabled value co-creation outcomes.

This is one of the most extensive reviews of AI literature in marketing, including an evaluation of in excess or 300 conceptual and empirical research. Based on the findings, the authors offer a future research agenda, including a visual titled “What is AI in Interactive Marketing? AI design factors, AI core elements & interactive marketing AI usage contexts.”

This paper aims to establish and empirically investigate a research model examining the effect of four dimensions of the technology readiness index – optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity – on customer engagement that further influences purchase intention in the context of online shopping through artificial intelligence voice assistants (AI VAs).

Data were collected in India from 429 customers in a self-administered online survey. Data analysis uses the structural equation modelling technique.

Technology readiness dimensions, e.g. optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity, are critical factors driving customer engagement. Customer engagement further results in purchase intention in online shopping through AI VAs.

This study adds to the literature by understanding how customers’ technology readiness levels drive engagement and purchase intention. However, this study includes customer engagement as a unidimensional construct. Further research can consist of customer engagement as a multidimensional construct.

The findings offer guidelines for e-retailers to enhance customer engagement that matches their personality traits, thereby strengthening their purchase intention through AI VAs.

The research contributes to the literature by empirically investigating a research model, revealing optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity as crucial parameters for customer engagement and purchase intention.

This paper aims to examine the impact of metaverse experiences on customers’ offline behavioral intentions: How do customers’ visits to a hospitality business’s virtual property in the metaverse affect their intentions to visit the physical property in the real world?

Based on the general learning model and social cognitive theory, this research hypothesizes the positive impact of metaverse experiences on customers’ visit intentions and explores two boundary conditions for positive impact: user–avatar resemblance and servicescape similarity. Two experimental studies were conducted.

Metaverse experience has a significant impact on customers’ visit intentions, and this impact is moderated by user–avatar resemblance and servicescape similarity.

This research addresses the call for empirical studies regarding the effects of metaverse experience on people’s behavioral intentions.

As one of the earliest empirical studies on the marketing effects of the metaverse, this research provides a basis for future metaverse studies in the hospitality field.

The purpose of this study is to investigate consumers' emotional responses to artificial intelligence (AI) defeating people. Meanwhile, the authors investigate the negative spillover effect of AI defeating people on consumers' attitudes toward AI companies. The authors also try to alleviate this spillover effect.

Using four studies to test the hypotheses. In Study 1, the authors use the fine-tuned Bidirectional Encoder Representations from the Transformers algorithm to run a sentiment analysis to investigate how AI defeating people influences consumers' emotions. In Studies 2 to 4, the authors test the effect of AI defeating people on consumers' attitudes, the mediating effect of negative emotions and the moderating effect of different intentions.

The authors find that AI defeating people increases consumers' negative emotions. In terms of downstream consequences, AI defeating people induces a spillover effect on consumers' unfavorable attitudes toward AI companies. Emphasizing the intention of helping people can effectively mitigate this negative spillover effect.

The authors' findings remind governments, policymakers and AI companies to pay attention to the negative effect of AI defeating people and take reasonable steps to alleviate this negative effect. The authors help consumers rationally understand this phenomenon and correctly control and reduce unnecessary negative emotions in the AI era.

This paper is the first study to examine the adverse effects of AI defeating humans. The authors contribute to research on the dark side of AI, the outcomes of competition matches and the method to analyze emotions in user-generated content (UGC).

This study explores the role of smart voice assistants (SVAs) as purchase recommenders, a phenomenon the authors term “word of voice” (WOV) communication. By integrating human–computer interaction (HCI) literature and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) research, the authors examine what makes consumers trust in SVA-transmitted WOV communication following their initial interactions with their SVAs during a purchase process (i.e. post-trust); and the authors propose that consumers' perceptions of their SVAs' smart capabilities (i.e. cognitive, emotional and social) are critically important for building this trust. Moreover, the study explores the influence of post-trust on consumers' adherence to WOV communication, measured by three types of behavioural intentions.

Data from a survey of 202 United States (US)-based SVA users who employ them to obtain purchase recommendations were collected and analysed. They confirmed the validity of the measurement scales and provided input for the partial least squares modelling (PLS-SEM).

The results demonstrated that post-trust in WOV communication partially or totally mediates the effect of smart capabilities on consumer adherence to WOV communication; identified the key role of cognitive, emotional and social smart capabilities for building consumers' post-trust in WOV and demonstrated the influence of this trust on behavioural intentions.

The present study contributes by examining the employment of SVAs as recommenders during the purchase process; the authors term this type of communication WOV. It analyses consumers with experience of using SVAs in their purchase processes, revealing that post-trust in WOV communication is the psychological mechanism that explains how the smart capabilities of SVAs determine consumer adherence to the recommendations they receive.

The continuous impact of the pandemic and the downturn of the global economy have brought new challenges to the tourism industry. In this context, effectively attracting consumers and improving user stickiness are the top priorities of tourism platform companies. This study explores the impact of ethical concerns raised by new issues under the multi-governance environment on user stickiness. Based on the trust theory, the authors provide solutions for tourism platforms.

This study adopted a quantitative approach, gathering survey data via an online platform. A total of 400 participants were investigated, and 356 valid questionnaires were returned, with a recovery rate of 89%. Questionnaires that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded, leaving 298 valid responses.

Studies have found that consumers' ethical concerns about platform companies are key factors affecting user stickiness, and among these, consumer trust plays a mediating role. They have found that corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviours help alleviate ethical concerns and improve trust in enterprises. At the same time, enterprises should properly control the number of platform collaborators, and excessive platform cooperation negatively moderates the impact of consumer ethical concerns on competence-based trust.

This study complements the deficiency of previous research with regard to ethical concerns in a multi-governance environment. These findings indicate that subject diversity exacerbates the negative impact of ethical concerns on consumer trust; however, CSR alleviates the impact of ethical concerns on consumer trust.