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The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of the feeling awe on individuals' endorsement of conformist attitudes in consumption choices and the mediating role of social connectedness in generating this effect.

We test our hypotheses across three studies. Study 1 used an online survey. Study 2 and 3 conducted two laboratory experiments to induce awe and measured consumer conformity in two consumption choice tasks.

This research shows that both dispositional awe and induced awe can increase individuals' preferences for majority-endorsed vs. minority-endorsed choice alternatives in subsequently unrelated consumption situations, and this effect is mediated by perceptions of social connectedness with other decision-makers.

Marketers can promote the sales of mass-market products through inducing awe.

Public regulators could utilize people's incidental awe as an effective policy intervention to nudge individual cooperation in some cases.

The research is the first to demonstrate a novel consequence of awe on consumer decision-making. It also highlights the significance of desire for social connectedness that explains why the feeling of awe develops conformity to the opinions of unknown people.

Social television (Social TV) viewing of live sports events is an emerging trend. The realm of transformative service research (TSR) envisions that every service consumption experience must lead to consumer well-being. Currently, a full appreciation of the well-being factors obtained through Social TV viewing is lacking. This study aims to gain a holistic understanding of the concept of digital sports well-being obtained through live Social TV viewing of sports events.

Focus group interviews were used to collect data from the 40 regular sports viewers, and the qualitative data obtained is analyzed thematically using NVivo 12. A post hoc verification of the identified themes is done to narrow down the most critical themes.

The exploration helped understand the concept of digital sports well-being (DSW) obtained through live Social TV sports spectating and identified five critical themes that constitute its formation. The themes that emerged were virtual connectedness, vividness, uncertainty reduction, online disinhibition and perceived autonomy. This study defines the concept and develops a conceptual model for DSW.

This study adds to the body of knowledge in TSR, transformative sport service research, digital customer engagement, value co-creation in digital platforms, self-determination theory and flow theory. The qualitative study is exploratory, with participants’ views based on a single match in one particular sport, and as such, its findings are restrained by the small sample size and the specific sport. To extend this study’s implications, empirical research involving a larger and more diversified sample involving multiple sports Social TV viewing experiences would help better understand the DSW concept.

The research provides insights to Social TV live streamers of sporting events and digital media marketers about the DSW construct and identifies the valued DSW dimensions that could provide a competitive advantage.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the exploration is the first attempt to describe the concept of DSW and identify associated themes.

Soil quality is in decline in many parts of the world, in part due to the intensification of agricultural practices. Whilst economic instruments and regulations can help incentivise uptake of more sustainable soil management practices, they rarely motivate long-term behavior change when used alone. There has been increasing attention towards the complex social factors that affect uptake of sustainable soil management practices. To understand why some communities try these practices whilst others do not, we undertook a narrative review to understand how social capital influences adoption in developed nations. We found that the four components of social capital – trust, norms, connectedness and power – can all influence the decision of farmers to change their soil management. Specifically, information flows more effectively across trusted, diverse networks where social norms exist to encourage innovation. Uptake is more limited in homogenous, close-knit farming communities that do not have many links with non-farmers and where there is a strong social norm to adhere to the status quo. Power can enhance or inhibit uptake depending on its characteristics. Future research, policy and practice should consider whether a lack of social capital could hinder uptake of new practices and, if so, which aspects of social capital could be developed to increase adoption of sustainable soil management practices. Enabling diverse, collaborative groups (including farmers, advisers and government officials) to work constructively together could help build social capital, where they can co-define, -develop and -enact measures to sustainably manage soils.

The effectiveness of a message and its attributes have become important for digital media. This study aims to investigate how different elements of a website including both argument-oriented and emotional stimuli based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) can affect the issue involvement and change the attitude of the website visitors of a healthcare service provider.

The Ministry of Health and Education (MOHME) website was selected to explore how its content and design can persuade visitors. An online survey was conducted on 355 adults engaging in health protection behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis showed that one design element, i.e. website navigation and one social cue, i.e. social connectedness, have positive impact on issue involvement, while social presence and website satisfaction have a negative effect on issue involvement because of the random fluctuation suppressor effect. In addition, prior knowledge significantly influenced the issue's involvement. Further, website satisfaction has impacted attitudes directly. There was no significant relationship between argument quality and issue involvement.

Previous works have studied health-related behaviors in offline contexts; however, the scholars have not focused on the individuals' persuasion using ELM regarding the healthcare services provided in online communities. The results of the current study have theoretical and practical implications for scholars, website designers and policymakers.

This study examines the relationship between domain‐based life satisfaction (LS) and subjective well‐being (SWB) as well as the role of spiritual well‐being as a moderator. Domains of LS include family cohesion, social connectedness, career success, and self‐esteem.

A survey was completed by 145 full‐time Hong Kong Chinese employees working in a variety of jobs and organizations.

Multiple regression analyses show that career success, social connectedness, and self‐esteem are associated with both psychological and physical well‐being. Spiritual well‐being moderated the relationship between career success and psychological well‐being. The relationship is stronger for low than for high spirituality.

All data were self‐reported and collected at one point in time. Thus, common method variance may be an issue and causal inferences are not warranted.

Domain‐specific LS and spiritual well‐being appear to be related to employees' well‐being. Managers and human resources professionals may need to adopt a more holistic approach to staff development.

The current study indicates that domain‐specific LS improves the explanation of variations in well‐being. Implications of these findings, the limitations of the study, and directions for future research are discussed.

Social media influencers (SMIs) play an increasingly important role in influencing youth and their shopping behaviours in digital marketing. Research has examined various but fragmented SMIs, which cause inconsistency in empirical results. This research seeks to categorise the most popular SMIs in luxury fashion and examine their distinctive effects on Gen Z consumption in China.

The authors categorise SMIs into four groups based on two dimensions, i.e. network interactivity vs social connectedness. Drawing on the social network theory, the authors develop the research model. A sample of 400 survey data is collected and analysed using the PLS-SEM technique.

The empirical results suggest that among the four popular SMIs groups, the effects of celebrities, opinion leaders and friends and peers on luxury fashion consumption of Gen Z are statistically significant while that of advertisers are insignificant; that friends and peers have the most substantial effect among the others.

The study contributes to understanding SMIs and consumer behaviour in digital emerging markets. By categorising SMIs, this study reconciles inconsistencies in the concept. This study contributes to a better understanding of SMIs and their roles in the digital marketing of luxury fashion consumption.

Responding to increasing external pressure, universities are developing new strategies to illustrate the impact of their degrees on graduate employability. This paper investigates how alumni regard the development of their professional networks during their tertiary education in relation to employability and the associated pedagogical implications.

A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with 18 business and arts alumni from a regional university.

The findings reveal the importance of developing a professional network by cultivating social capital while at university. Alumni identify all forms of work-integrated learning (WIL), connectedness through social media, the role of university staff and volunteering as concrete ways to develop a professional network and enhance employability.

This paper has pedagogical implications to develop graduate employability and WIL. Universities should draw from alumni networks to help develop students' bridging capital through industry-facing WIL projects. Educators should design assessment tasks in which students develop contacts and networking capabilities with alumni and other professionals using various platforms (e.g. social media). In addition, educators should promote the benefits of voluntary work and invite alumni and other industry stakeholders to co-design and co-teach areas of curriculum.

Drawing from the experiences of alumni re-routes the channel of communication from institutions expressing the importance of professional networks in relation to employability, to credible industry alumni confirming this importance. Few previous studies have taken this “outside-in approach” to emphasise and validate the importance of developing professional networks in relation to employability, particularly at regional universities.

International evidence demonstrates elevated suicide rates among farming occupations, relative to other occupations. A psychosocial factor commonly argued to contribute to farmer suicide is social isolation and lack of social support, which in turn may indicate a need for policies and programs to support farmers' social participation and connectedness with others. However, there has been very little empirical investigation of perceived levels of social connectedness and social participation among farmers. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study used a cross-section of a nationally representative dataset, the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. This enabled quantification of Australian farmers' self-reported levels of social connectedness and social participation, relative to rural adult males in other occupations.

Levels of perceived social support and social participation among farmers were approximately equivalent to social support and social participation among rural men in other occupations.

Possible mediating variables, such as influences of social support on mental health, were not examined in this study. However, these findings nonetheless suggest the assumption that social isolation is higher among farmers requires careful consideration.

This is the first study that quantifies social support and social participation among farmers, using a comparative approach.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of social isolation and the factors that create social isolation for residents of inner-city high-rise apartment communities. We critically examine how the physical environment and perceptions of safety in apartment buildings and the inner-city implicate the quality of interactions between residents and with their neighbourhood community.

The authors used mixed-methods consisting of survey questionnaires supplemented by semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions using stratified random sampling to access predetermined key strata of inner-city high-rise resident population. Using coefficient of correlation we examine the significance of the association between social isolation, age and ethnicity amongst Auckland's inner-city high-rise residents.

The authors found the experience and expression of social isolation consistent across all age groups, with highest correlation between functional social isolation and “being student”, and older adults (60+ years), length of tenure in current apartment and length of time residents have lived in the inner-city.

As a case study, we did not seek in this research to compare the experience and expressions of social isolation in different inner-city contexts, nor of inner-city high-rise residents in New Zealand and other countries, although these will be useful areas to explore in future studies.

This study is a useful starting point to build evidence base for professionals working in health and social care services to develop interventions that will help reduce functional social isolation amongst young adults and older adults in inner-city high-rise apartments. This is particularly important as the inner-city population of older adults grow due to international migration, and sub-national shifts from suburbs to the inner-cities in response to governmental policies of urban consolidation.

By identifying two forms of social isolation, namely functional and structural social isolation, we have extended previous analysis of social isolation and found that “living alone” or structural social isolation did not necessarily lead to functional social isolation. It also touched on the links between functional social isolation and self-efficacy of older adults, particularly those from immigrant backgrounds.

The purpose of this paper is to examine antecedents of customer engagement on social media and how these platforms can enhance customers’ continuation intention. Customer engagement is manifested by the continued use of social media and is expected to occur when customers have a positive attitude toward social media. Thus, the main objective of this research is to explore the factors that affect customers’ attitude toward social media, which in turn is expected to result in customer engagement. Attitude toward social media is proposed to have an impact on levels of use and satisfaction is proposed to have a direct impact on customer engagement. An extended technology acceptance model (TAM) is used as the basic model guiding this research.

The theoretical model is tested drawing on the results of empirical work in the form of a large scale survey conducted on a random sample of the US general population. Data collection resulted in 388 usable questionnaires. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze data.

Results of this research provide support to the research objectives. Two of the three proposed factors extending TAM, namely, perceived connectedness and enjoyment were found to have a significant effect on attitude toward social media use. Attitude toward social media use was found to have a significant effect on level of use and level of use was found to have a significant effect on continuation intention. Additionally, satisfaction was found to have a significant direct effect on continuation intention.

Findings of this research provide managers with useful insights about what they need to focus on when designing their social media strategies.

This study provides a different way of theorizing customer engagement by incorporating new variables to TAM that are particularly relevant to the social media context. It also draws a link between attitude toward social media and levels of use, which has been understudied in literature.