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This study aims to introduce and define the concept of phygital brand community (PBC). It discusses the potential conflicts that can arise from engaging in multiple PBCs and propose an enriched netnographic methodological approach to explore the role of PBC engagement overlap and its influence on the phygital experience.

Following a critical analysis of the inherent limitations of netnographic methodological approaches in the context of PBCs, this study develops an enriched netnographic research protocol that accounts for the challenges of engagement overlap among PBCs.

This study proposes two methods of analysis, namely, “participatory netnography” and “witness netnography,” which are derived from a mixed-methodology approach that integrates elements of netnography.

The findings of this study underscore the requisite methodological refinements imperative for enhancing netnographic analysis, particularly in its application for a better comprehension of individual behaviors within the realm of PBCs. In pursuit of this objective, the identified adjustments encompass ethical considerations, evaluation methods and their application in a digital milieu, where intricate mechanics and technologies frequently elude conventional methodologies.

In this study, the authors present a novel conceptualization of PBCs, highlighting their role and development, as well as the challenges they pose. To adequately capture the impact of PBC engagement overlap, the authors propose the need for an enriched mixed-methodological approach.

The purpose of this study is to examine well-being messaging on Instagram to understand what constitutes transformative social media advertising with potential to enhance consumer lives and create change at a community and societal level.

A novel-phased approach using transformative advertising research and positive psychology is adopted for an in-depth examination of Lululemon, a well-being brand advocate. The study combines secondary case data, analysis of brand messaging on Instagram, interviews with brand followers, and six months of Instagram posts consumer responses.

Four themes – inspiring personal journeys and potential, encouraging mindfulness and gratitude, supporting connection and community and advancing diversity and equity – are used to develop a typology of well-being advertising message elements on Instagram.

This study contributes to the call for research on transformative advertising by establishing that Instagram is a powerful platform for well-being messages, particularly from brands committed to social issues. Practical implications for brands and avenues for future research are provided.

This study aims to elaborate on the antecedents of muzakki (zakat payers) paying zakat (Islamic philanthropy) through institutions with social media arrangements, while the drivers of social media engagement are used in the conceptual model with trust and intention.

Overall, the final sample of 230 respondents was obtained through the database of official zakat management institutions. Regarding analytical tools, this study combines the partial least square structural equation modelling and necessary condition analysis approaches to explore research findings.

The findings show that firm-generated information and trust play an important role directly and indirectly. At the same time, other constructions, such as social factors and user-based factors, provide variations in necessary conditions to increase the muzakki’s intention to channel their zakat through institutions.

Zakat institutions must focus on improving social media-based services by integrating important information, such as credibility and transparency, with muzakki’s preferences. Additionally, zakat information on social media must be attractively packaged and contain facilities that muzakki can use in communicating, such as; their opinions, suggestions and input. The findings, in general, underscore the attachment between muzakki and zakat institutions through social media, which can significantly impact the positive environment of zakat institutions.

To the author’s knowledge, this study is pioneering in conceptualizing and testing a theoretical model linking drivers of social media engagement, trust and intention to pay zakat through the institution, particularly in the levels of necessity.

This study examined the influence of university corporate social responsibility (University CSR) on university corporate brand legitimacy through the lens of university brand trust.

The study utilized a cross-sectional research design with a quantitative approach to gather data from a sample of 398 university students. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The findings of the study suggest that University CSR has a significant influence on the legitimacy of a university's corporate brand. Moreover, the study identified the mediating role of university brand trust in the proposed relationship.

The study was conducted in the context of higher education in Tanzania. As a result, the generalizability of the findings to other contexts that significantly differ from Tanzania, a developing country, may be limited.

The study recommends that the management of higher education institutions in developing countries should include CSR practices in the strategic plans of universities. Additionally, faculty members should be empowered to play a significant role as initiators and implementers of CSR programs.

This study is one of the few attempts to examine the interplay between university CSR, corporate brand trust and university corporate brand legitimacy. The study contributes to the state of knowledge in the education sector by highlighting the role of university CSR in building social acceptance, which is a crucial pillar in empowering universities to play a role in social and economic development.

This study aims to explore the motivators of mothers’ experience on their engagement behavior in the case of baby care toiletries. Additionally, the role of Brand trust and commitment have also been evaluated.

The conceptual model was empirically tested based on the data collected through a survey using 320 samples from India and 431 samples from Sri Lanka. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Sensory and behavioral dimensions of brand experience can be considered as key drivers of brand trust and brand commitment among millennial mothers in the context of baby care toiletries. It was observed that brand trust had a significant positive impact on brand commitment. There was a significant relationship between brand trust, brand commitment and customer engagement. It was also inferred that brand loyalty is the consequence of customer engagement.

Marketers should gear up initiatives targeting new mothers through healthy aspects and genuine packaging to strengthen the mother’s trust through periodic uses of the product.

The present study is one of the unique empirical investigations that examine the antecedents of consumer engagement in the less researched context of high inherent risk products like baby toiletries.

The primary objective of this research is to draw a comparative analysis between Turkey and Italy in terms of how festival events function as catalysts for the endorsement of regional culinary delicacies. The study endeavours to elucidate the role of these festivals in fortifying the regional gastronomic landscape of both nations.

Adopting a comprehensive comparative methodology, this study meticulously scrutinises the gastronomy festivals spanning diverse geographical locales in both Turkey and Italy. Consideration is given to the standout food and beverage items spotlighted at these events and the venues where they are hosted. The research design takes into account the extensive cultural and geographical spectrum that characterises Turkey and Italy. The primary research method comprises web content analysis techniques. This method involves analysing textual data from online sources pertaining to gastronomy festival events in both countries. Web content analysis is instrumental in evaluating how such festivals are deployed in promoting indigenous gastronomic products and exploring the intricate dynamics between brand identity and brand image.

The research outcomes underscore the pivotal role that festival events play in elevating regional gastronomic products' profile in Turkey and Italy. It highlights the top 10 festivals and the most popular local culinary items on digital platforms. Additionally, the study offers a side-by-side comparison of the most celebrated gastronomic products in Turkey versus those that receive prominence in Italy.

This study enriches academic understanding by dissecting the nuances of how festivals contribute to the promotion of local gastronomic treasures. By juxtaposing Turkey and Italy, this research provides valuable insights into the influence of festivals on regional culinary promotion across diverse cultural milieus. This study makes substantial contributions to the fields of gastronomy, tourism, and brand promotion.

Considering the ongoing discourse on diversity, equity and inclusion, brands aim to develop marketing campaigns that demonstrate respect for all individuals. Despite these intentions, many advertisements still provoke strong negative reactions from consumers due to brand transgressions in social media marketing campaigns that violate these values. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the repercussions that such social media marketing campaigns have on brands, categorizing these campaigns as brand transgressions in social media advertising.

This research uses a mixed-method design that includes semi-structured interviews (Study 1), a content analysis (Study 2) and an online experiment (Study 3).

This paper clarifies the elements that qualify as brand transgressions in advertising within the diversity, equity and inclusion discourse. The negative electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) associated with brand transgressions in advertising comprises negative emotions (e.g. anger, contempt, disgust and hate) and behavioural intentions to penalize the brand (e.g. negative word-of-mouth, brand avoidance and protest behaviours). The negative e-WOM stemming from these transgressions amplifies the adverse consequences for consumer–brand relationships by negatively influencing other consumers through sympathy towards the offended parties.

This paper offers brand managers guidelines for preventing and managing negative consumer reactions towards brands based on their responses to marketing campaigns that contradict the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion.

This paper contributes to the literature on brand transgressions related to diversity, equity and inclusion values by exploring their impact on consumer–brand relationships and highlighting the pivotal role of sympathy in perpetuating negative consequences.

In the competitive realm of destination branding, understanding the factors that lead tourists to develop a deep emotional connection with a destination’s brand is essential. At the heart of this emotional bond lies destination brand love – an exceptionally profound sentiment transcending mere satisfaction or preference. This concept has recently garnered attention from both tourism academia and industry practice. However, there remains a void in exploring the factors and mechanisms that pave the way for tourists to develop deep affection for a destination’s brand. This study examines the influences of self-congruence and destination immersion on destination brand love. In addition, the linkages from the four facets of self-congruence to destination brand love via the mediating role of destination brand immersion are also scrutinized.

With data collected from 421 tourists in Vietnam, the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was applied to test the research model and hypotheses.

The results reveal that (1) ideal and ideal social self-congruence impact destination brand love, (2) all four facets of self-congruence impact destination brand immersion and (3) there is an indirect effect of the four facets of self-congruence on destination brand love, mediated by destination brand immersion.

The study’s findings provide evidence that destination characteristics must be symbolic of the destination brand and consistent with its image among tourists, which is essential in understanding the complex behavior of tourists. Indeed, the results indicate that facets of self-congruence significantly influence both destination brand immersion and destination brand love. Therefore, destination marketers should develop marketing strategies that emphasize personal relevance to the tourist destination to increase their sympathy and love for the destination.

Adapting self-congruence theory and the psychology of flow theory, this study presents a model that elucidates both the direct and indirect relationships among the four facets of self-congruence: destination brand immersion and destination brand love based on the aspects of congruence between tourists and destinations. From this, it helps to explore the factors and mechanisms that pave the way for tourists to develop deep affection for a destination’s brand.

Drawing from the literature on internationalization, higher education marketing and place branding, this paper aims to link the internationalization of higher education to country branding. It explores the impact of internationalization within the higher education system on Egypt’s destination brand equity. This investigation offers insights for decision-makers in both the higher education and country branding sectors.

This empirical paper adopts an exploratory approach and serves as an initial step for researchers. It utilizes a quantitative methodology, employing a survey with 366 responses, to examine the effects of internationalization efforts in higher education on country brand equity.

The results reveal a direct correlation between student engagement and the brand equity of international branch campuses (IBCs), as well as a link between IBCs and Egypt’s brand equity. Notably, the study highlights the mediating role of IBC brand equity in the relationship between student engagement and the overall brand equity of Egypt.

This paper is innovative in its method of assessing the impact of internationalization efforts in higher education, specifically at IBCs in Egypt, on Egypt’s destination brand equity. Additionally, the study identifies student engagement as an antecedent to IBC brand equity.

The objective of this paper is to further the understanding of netnography as a research method for supply chain academics. Netnography is a method for gathering and gaining insight from industry-specific online communities. We prescribe that viewing netnography through the lens of the supply chain will permit researchers to explore, discover, understand, describe or report concepts or phenomena that have previously been studied via survey research or quantitative modeling.

To introduce netnography to supply chain research, we propose a framework to guide how netnography can be adopted and used. Definitions and directions are provided, highlighting some of the practices within netnographic research.

Netnography provides the researcher with another avenue to pursue answers to research questions, either alone or in conjunction with the dominant methods of survey research and quantitative modeling. It provides another tool in the researchers’ toolbox to engage practitioners in the field.

The development of netnography as a research method is associated with Robert Kozinets. He developed the method to study online communities in consumer behavior. We justify why this method can be applied to supply chain research, how to collect data and provide research examples of its use. This technique has room to grow as a supply chain research method.