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Extant research indicates that fear of missing out (FoMO) caused by the negative influence of media and word-of-mouth (WOM) leads to panic buying and generates a negative impact on consumer well-being. However, the mechanism that can minimise or abort this impact remains understudied. Therefore, in this study, we examine how consumer self-regulation functions as a brake mechanism to intervene with the negative influences of media and WOM on FoMO.

Data were collected from a representative sample in Australia. Hypotheses were tested by applying generalised structural equation modelling (GSEM), and analysis was conducted using the statistical software Stata 17.

Self-regulation is negatively influenced by media channels and WOM but is positively influenced by media content. Consumer self-regulation acts as a brake mechanism for FoMO. Panic buying, which is triggered by FoMO, has a significant impact on negative emotional well-being.

The limitations of the study are associated with the survey data collection.

We extend the knowledge of how self-regulation works as a brake mechanism for the complex FoMO construct consisting of a perception of missing out accompanied by irrational behaviours. Self-regulation emerges as a brake mechanism for FoMO. Hence, if self-regulation is practiced at the inception of the media and WOM exposure, it can counteract FoMO and potentially abort its’ impact on panic buying.

From a practical perspective, policymakers could help emotionally vulnerable individuals better engage in self-control practices through support programmes and workshops aimed at assisting the public in coping with overwhelming and intense adverse emotions experienced during and following various crises. Vulnerable cohorts, particularly the younger generation who are arguably more susceptible to FoMO, need to be studied more thoroughly in the marketing domain.

The role of self-regulation has been studied thinly in marketing literature, particularly in relation to offsetting irrational consumer behaviours. The originality of our study is that it extends and broadens the understanding of the role of self-regulation in the context of pandemics and addresses the inconclusive evidence of the impact of self-regulation on FoMO.

The authors argue that privacy is integral to the well-being of consumers and an essential component in not only corporate social responsibility (CSR) but what they term uniquely as social media responsibility (SMR). A conceptual framework is proposed that delineates the privacy issues companies should pay attention to in artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled social media environments.

The authors review literature on privacy issues in social media and AI in the academic and practitioner literatures. Based on the review, arguments focus on the need for an SMR framework, proposing responsible use of consumer data that is attentive to consumers' privacy concerns.

Implications from the framework are a path forward for social media companies to treat consumer data more fairly in this new environment. The framework has implications for companies to reduce potential harms to consumers and consider addressing their power and responsibility. With social media and AI transforming consumer behavior so profoundly, there are a variety of short- and long-term social implications.

Since AI tools are becoming integral to social media company activities, this research addresses the changing responsibilities social media companies have in securing consumers' data and enabling consumers the agency to protect their privacy effectively. The authors propose an SMR framework based on CSR research and AI tools employed by social media companies.

The mounting health misinformation on social media triggers heated discussions about how to address it. Anchored by the influence of presumed influence (IPI) model, this study investigates the underlying process of intentions to combat health misinformation. Specifically, we analyzed how presumed exposure of others and presumed influence on others affect intentions to practice pre-emptive and reactive misinformation countering strategies.

Covariance-based structural equation modeling based on survey data from 690 Chinese participants was performed using the “lavaan” package in R to examine the proposed mechanism.

Personal attention to health information on social media is positively associated with presumed others’ attention to the same information, which, in turn, is related to an increased perception of health misinformation’s influence on others. The presumed influence is further positively tied to two pre-emptive countermeasures (i.e. support for media literacy interventions and institutional verification intention) and one reactive countermeasure (i.e. misinformation correction intention). However, the relationship between presumed influence and support for governmental restrictions, as another reactive countering method, is not significant.

This study supplements the misinformation countering literature by examining IPI’s tenability in explaining why individuals engage in combating misinformation. Both pre-emptive and reactive strategies were considered, enabling a panoramic view of the motivators of misinformation countering compared to previous studies. Our findings also inform the necessity of adopting a context-specific perspective and crafting other-oriented messages to motivate users’ initiative in implementing corrective actions.

After completing this case study, students will be able to understand the issues firms, brands and influencers face due to sponsorship disclosure regulation and the impact of self-regulation on firms engaging in influencer marketing, explain the challenges regulators face in ensuring compliance in an emerging market, explain Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI)’s challenges in adopting influencer guidelines from emerged markets and recommend ethical theory (or theories) and strategies to firms engaged in influencer marketing.

This case study centers on Mr Manish Chowdhary, co-founder of WOW Skin Science, who started the beauty and personal care business with his brother Karan Chowdhary in 2015 in Bangalore, India. The company successfully built its brand through influencer marketing but faced challenges after the ASCI implemented new influencer guidelines. On May 31, 2021, he expressed disagreement with ASCI guidelines during an interview with Akansha Nagar from Buzz in Content, particularly the requirement to label every product or service received by influencers as an advertisement. He expressed concern about certain rules, fearing they might harm organic content and reduce viewership and followers. Subsequently, ASCI registered noncompliance cases against the company and communicated with them about complaints regarding influencer guideline violations. In this situation, Manish needed to evaluate his decision on noncompliance with regulation and required an action plan to strategically manage its influencer marketing campaign by incorporating ASCI’s guidelines. Overall, this case study highlights the journey of WOW Skin Science and its challenges with self-regulatory authorities over its influencer marketing strategy in an emerging market. Additionally, students can gain insight into the marketing communication ethics of a startup operating in an emerging market by embodying the protagonist’s role.

This case study is suitable for postgraduate level students pursuing a Master of Business Administration program. The difficulty level ranges from moderate to complex. It fits well into integrated marketing communication and marketing strategy courses. This case study discusses marketing ethics, advertising and promotion regulation.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The main objective of this study is to identify the variables influencing consumers' perceptions of sustainable purchasing intentions and the effects such perceptions have on actual sustainable purchasing behavior. This paper aims to develop an understanding of the postmillennial generation's consumption of sustainable products.

A structured questionnaire was used to collect data for quantitative analysis. It involved sampling a total of 251 respondents, which were postmillennials belonging to the twin cities of Pakistan. A series of tests were applied through Smart PLS4 for all the variables, including descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling.

The results revealed that there is a significant relationship of social value and electronic word of mouth with digital media usage (DMU). Whereas, link of functional and emotional value with DMU was insignificant. The results also portrayed that there exists a positive link between DMU and sustainable consumption behavior (SCB). Moreover, green purchase intention moderated the relationship between DMU and SCB.

There exists a research gap on the role of postmillennial behavioral regulation and digital media use, as potential influences on their purchase behavior. Despite the fact that digital media has been shown to influence millennials' purchasing decisions in the past, there is still a reluctance among postmillennials to engage in environmentally friendly practices. Consequently, research is necessary to comprehend sustainable consumer behaviors; especially from an unaddressed Pakistani perspective.

This study aims to understand why some social and environmental reporting (SER) regulations are more successful than others in modifying collective corporate reporting behaviour and expectations. More specifically, it presents a qualitative and historically informed exploration of the construction of the enabling conditions for corporate adoption of SER regulation in a national context.

Drawing on insights from structuration theory and the sociological approach to legal studies, the authors examined the normative persuasion of the first regulation in Spain requiring firms to disclose social and environmental information in a stand-alone report: Article 39 of the Spanish Sustainable Economy Law. The case study is based primarily on 38 semi-structured interviews with relevant actors involved in this SER regulation from 2008 to 2014. Other sources such as legal and policy documents, historical documents, books, press reports and field notes from attendance at technical meetings related to the phenomenon under study help inform and complement the analysis of the interviews.

The analysis reveals that the agency of regulators, regulatees and other relevant actors involved in the SER regulation led to the law becoming a dead letter. However, only by examining the structural circumstances, shaped by history and socio-economic context, can the authors understand how the normative persuasion of law is constructed or undermined.

The study underscores the importance of the national context in developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) regulation and the crucial role of history. The results of this research also suggest that significant progress towards a more transformative CSR regulation cannot be achieved without the support of enabling structures/

Recent SER regulations (European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and IFRS sustainability standards, to mention those that are gaining most traction) may not achieve sufficient compliance if those responsible for drafting them do not ensure that the conditions for the emergence of regulatory persuasion are met. Regulators must therefore have a profound understanding of how these conditions are constructed as part of a historical process inextricably linked to the social structures of the environment in which the law is to be applied.

The study reveals the changing landscape of corporate social responsibility, where scientists, academics, NGO activists and civil society organisations struggle to gain some agency in a field populated by actors, such as trade unions or employers, who were constitutive of Western industrial liberal democracies.

This study presents an in-depth and historically grounded analysis of the dynamics involved in creating the conditions that lead to successful SER legislation in a national context.

This paper aims to unravel the relationship between market-driven impacts of climate change and firms’ deployment of renewable energy (RE) innovation. The purpose is to understand how market-related forces, influenced by uncertainty, shape firms’ behaviour in response to climate change challenges.

Drawing on the behavioural theory of the firm (BTOF), the paper develops a conceptual model to decode the relationship between each category of market-driven impacts and the resulting RE innovation within firms. The model takes into account the role of uncertainty and differentiates between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and domestic firms.

The analysis reveals five key sources of market-driven impacts: investor sentiment, media coverage, competitors’ adoption of ISO 14001, customer satisfaction and shareholder activism. These forces influence the adoption of RE innovation differently across firms, depending on the level of uncertainty and the discrepancy between environmental performance and aspiration level.

This paper contributes to the literature in four ways. Firstly, it emphasises the importance of uncertainty associated with market-driven impacts, which stimulates different responses from firms. Secondly, it fills a research gap by focusing on the proactivity of firms in adopting RE innovation, rather than just operational strategies to curb emissions. Thirdly, the paper extends the BTOF by incorporating the concept of uncertainty in explaining firm behaviour. Finally, it provides insights into the green strategies of MNEs in the face of climate change, offering a comprehensive model that differentiates MNEs from domestic firms.