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In business and management, cross-national and cross-cultural comparisons between countries have been a topic of interest for many decades. Not only do firms engage in business in different countries around the world but also within countries. The population has become more diversified over time, making cross-cultural comparisons within country boundaries increasingly relevant. In comparisons across cultural groups, measurement invariance (MI) is a prerequisite; however, in practice, MI is not always attained or even tested. Our study consists of three parts. First, we provide a bibliometric analysis of articles on cross-cultural and cross-national topics in marketing to provide insight into the connections between the articles and the main themes. Second, we code articles to assess whether researchers follow the recommended steps as outlined in the multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) approach. The results indicate that MI testing is incorporated in the toolbox of many empirical researchers in marketing and that articles often report the level of invariance. Yet, most studies find partial invariance, meaning that some items are not comparable across the cultural groups studied. Researchers understand that MI is required, but they often ignore noninvariant items, which may decrease the validity of cross-cultural comparisons made. Third, we analyze the dissemination of MI in the broader literature based on co-citations with Steenkamp and Baumgartner (1998), a widely cited article on MI in the field of marketing. We conclude by noting methodological developments in cross-cultural research to enable addressing noninvariance and providing suggestions to further advance our insight into cross-cultural differences and similarities.

Many instruments have been developed to measure the perceived luxuriousness of brands, but one of the most frequently used scales is the “brand luxury index” (BLI) from Vigneron and Johnson (2004) that distinguishes between high- and low-luxury brands. Despite its popularity and widespread use in academic research, the scale's psychometric properties and equivalence across cultures have been questioned. Recently, modified versions of the scale have been developed to strengthen the quality of the measurement. However, the performance and the measurement invariance of the modified version have not yet been investigated. The current paper aims to test the model fit of the modified BLI scale and the measurement invariance across gender, age and country groups using nine datasets from a total of three different countries.

This paper conducts a multi-group CFA to examine the measurement invariance of the BLI scale. Nine datasets were used in this study. The data were collected across three countries, the United States (5 datasets), China (2 datasets) and India (2 datasets) from 2016 to 2018.

The results of this analysis suggest that the modified BLI scale has an acceptable model fit and can be interpreted equivalently across gender and age groups. Metric invariance was found among the US, China and India. However, scalar measurement invariance was established only across two countries: the US and India. A follow-up analysis shows that partial scalar invariance can be established across the US, China and India when removing constraints on the parameters of three items: exclusive, precious and sophisticated.

This study is the first study to test the model fit of the modified BLI scale. The findings of this paper contribute to both the academia and industry. The authors recommend scholars and marketers to use a modified 19-item BLI scale to measure the perceived luxuriousness of brands in future research. First, the modified BLI scale tested in the current study offers very good performance with model fit values of a quality that has rarely been seen in prior research. The original scale of Vigneron and Johnson (2004) has been criticized for its poor model fit (Christodoulides et al., 2009). The modified scale of Doss and Robinson (2013) also has problems with the fit value. Second, the modified 19-item scale also shows adequate measurement invariance across different gender, age and countries. For scholars and marketers, the establishment of the metric invariance of the modified 19-item BLI scale implies that the scale can be used across gender, age and countries (the US, China and India) if the purpose of the study is to understand the relationship between some variables and perceived luxuriousness of a brand.

The integration of relevant antecedents into TAM would lead to better understanding of the decision factors which act as enablers for the adoption of internet banking. The purpose of the paper is to determine the influence of the antecedents subjective norm, image, banks initiative, internet banking self-efficacy, internet usage efficacy, trust, perceived risk, trialability and government support on the existing constructs of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and to test measurement invariance and the moderating effect of the demographic variables on the relationship between the latent constructs used in this augmented TAM.

A survey questionnaire was administered on internet banking users and a total of 300 responses were collected. A two-step approach suggested by Hair et al. (2006) and Schumacker and Lomax (2004) was used in this study. The proposed model was assessed using the confirmatory factor analysis approach. The structural model was then tested in order to establish nomological validity. The data based on four demographic dimensions gender, age, income, education were divided into two groups for each of these demographic dimensions. The invariance test was first performed on the measurement model and then on the structural model. The measurement model and structural model were subjected to tests of equivalence of parameters across groups.

To a large extent the results of the study supports the proposed model and thereby contributes to understand the influence of subjective norm, image, banks initiative, internet banking self-efficacy, internet usage efficacy, trust, perceived risk and government support on internet banking adoption. The predictor variables in the augmented TAM were able to explain 29.9 per cent of the variance in the actual usage of internet banking as compared to the TAM which was able to explain only 26.5 per cent variance in the actual usage of internet banking. A significant difference in the relationship between the different constructs of the model was observed when the model was subjected to multi-group invariance testing.

The study suffers from the same limitations as most other studies involving TAM. In this study self-reported measures about the usage were taken as the actual usage. The findings of the study can be of use to marketers for target-specific marketing by customizing the marketing campaign focussing on the factors that were found to be strong influencers leading to the usage of internet banking for each target audience.

The main challenge in this study was to develop the conceptual model for the internet banking adoption by extending the TAM and to get a robust theoretical support from the extant literature for the relevant factors along with their relationship to uncover new insights about factors responsible for the internet banking adoption. The augmented model had an improved predictive capability and explanatory utility.

Economic globalization is leading large companies to focus on international strategic management. Nowadays, the assets referred to as “corporate intangibles,” such as corporate reputation, are becoming increasingly important because they are considered a key factor for the viability of an organization, and companies therefore need to incorporate them into their scorecards for management. The problem is that their measurement is subjective and latent. These two characteristics impede direct international comparison and require demonstrating the accuracy of comparison via a minimum of two tests – construct equivalence and metric equivalence. As regards corporate reputation, construct equivalence was verified by Naomi Gardberg (2006). However, the subsequent studies did not address metric equivalence. Based on the results of a survey provided by the Reputation Institute (n = 5,950, 50 firms evaluated in 17 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia), the degree of RepTrak metric equivalence has been tested, using two different methodologies, multigroup analysis (structural equation model), and a new technique from 2016, the Measurement Invariance of Composite Model procedure from the Partial Least Square Path Modeling family. As one would expect from other cross-cultural studies, reputation metrics do not meet the full metric equivalence, which is why they require standardization processes to ensure international comparability. Both methodologies have identified the same correction parameters, which have allowed validation of the mean and variance of response style by country.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the theoretical problem and identify factors that could explain the level of continuance intentions towards e‐shopping. It aims to propose a revised technology acceptance model that integrates expectation confirmation theory to measure age differences with regard to continuance intentions towards e‐shopping in Saudi Arabia.

The sample (n=465) consists of 68.8 per cent women and 31.4 per cent men, 348 younger than 35 years old and 117 older than 35. A structural equation model confirms model fit. The model explains 65 per cent of the intention to continue shopping online.

Perceived usefulness, enjoyment, and subjective norms are determinants of online shopping continuance. The structural weights are mostly equivalent between the young and old groups, but the regression path from subjective norms to perceived usefulness is not invariant, with that relationship being stronger for the younger respondents.

The research findings imply that usefulness and subjective norm contribute to continuance intentions to some extent, but it is enjoyment that leads to a higher level of continuance intentions. Online strategies cannot ignore either the direct or the indirect effects on continuance intentions in Saudi Arabia.

The paper adds to the understudied area of online shopping continuance intentions in the Arab World in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular, by examining the effects of usefulness, enjoyment, and subjective norms on continuance intentions.

An analysis is proposed of the consequences of the limitations inherent in observation processes PA and PB on the joint, marginal and conditional entropies of two continuous sets A and B of events, observed by means of PA and PB. These events can be statistically dependent. Properties of asymmetry appear which do not exist in the Shannonian model. They induce a new definition of mutual information.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the broad debate regarding universalistic and contingency perspectives of human resource management (HRM). Design/methodology/approach – Building on recent evidence of HRM differentiation within organisations, the present article studies variation in experienced HR practices across job level and whether the impact of HR practices on commitment, intention to quit and well‐being across job level is best explained by universalistic or contingency claims. Findings – Both studies found that employees in higher job levels report a greater number of HR practices. Findings further indicated that the associations between HR practices and the three outcomes were largely invariant across job level, thus supporting universalistic notions of HRM across job levels. Research limitations/implications – Data from both studies were cross‐sectional and single‐source, thus limiting causal inferences. More generally, there is a need to better understand HR differentiation within organisations and whether it offers an effective HR strategy. Originality/value – Few studies have examined systematic variation in HR practices across employee groups and universalistic/contingency arguments within organisations. The studies presented are among the first to offer an evaluative as well as descriptive analysis of the issues under investigation.

The current challenges international charities face with regards to their deteriorating image, as a result of recent scandals (e.g. Oxfam, Save the Children), provide the impetus for this exploratory research, where the purpose of this paper is to examine the conceptualization and dimensionality of non-profit brand image across national cultures.

The study employs a quantitative research design, using multi-country samples from India, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the UK. The authors first examine the psychometric properties of the non-profit brand image scale via confirmatory factor analysis across countries, identifying the optimal model for invariance testing. Further, the authors use multi-group invariance analysis to evaluate whether non-profit brand image (using an 18-item scale and six factors) provides equivalent measurement across cultures.

The study shows that individuals in the three countries perceive non-profit brand image equally, and as consisting of perceptions of usefulness, efficiency, affect, dynamism, reliability and ethicality. However, the results also indicate that the means of the dimensions of non-profit brand image are not comparable across different cultures.

The study extends limited current literature on non-profit brand image in international contexts, deriving insightful suggestions for further theoretical approaches in this under-developed research domain. It also yields key implications for charities and other non-profit organizations operating internationally, as they can use non-profit brand image and its dimensions as actionable tools in their communication campaigns to shape their brand image.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of volunteer's motivation at major sporting events, how those affect future voluntary engagement, and whether there are differences in motivation based on the type of event.

A quantitative research design was chosen and volunteers at two major events in handball (n=96) and equestrian (n=83) were surveyed. Structural equation modelling was used based on a multi‐group analysis to answer the guiding research questions.

The results reveal that the expression of values and personal growth are the strongest factors influencing volunteer motivation and future behaviour. The factor “love of sport” had surprisingly no major effect on volunteer motivation at the handball event. Significant differences in volunteer motivation based on the type of event were detected.

A limitation of this study is the rather small sample sizes. Nonetheless, the results appear reliable. One implication of this research is that a model proposed in previous research to investigate volunteer motivation at mega sport events can be applied to major sport events and the multi‐group approach is useful when analysing different events.

Practitioners should try to find a good match between the interests and abilities of the volunteers and their tasks at the event, which includes their motivations.

The value of this research lies in applying a new methodological approach using multi‐group analysis to volunteer research.

The impact of managerial coaching on frontline employee performance has received initial support in literature in recent years. However, no studies have explored if this impact should vary according to the career stage that the employee is in. If an interaction effect exists, then managers should expect different results when coaching people in different stages of their careers. Otherwise, all employees (independently of their career stage) can benefit from the positive impact of coaching and, thus, the manager can expect a continuous positive outcome on employee performance throughout their careers. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the moderation effect of an employee’s career stage on the relationship between managerial coaching and performance.

A sample of 318 financial advisors from two Canadian banks was used to collect data on the amount, and quality, of managerial coaching received by the employees, as well as their performance. multigroup confirmatory factor analysis ran in AMOS was used to test the moderation effect of experience.

Results confirmed the positive effect of managerial coaching on frontline employee behavioral and sales performance, but no moderation effect was found. The measuring and causal models showed invariance for employees in their early (one to seven years of selling experience), middle (8-15 years), and late (more than 15 years) career stages, suggesting that managerial coaching will make a consistent contribution to performance throughout all the stages of the employee’s career.

The study makes two main contributions to the scientific literature. First, it offers an original study examining the effect of managerial coaching on frontline employee performance in the banking sector. Second, it examines the role of selling experience as a moderator in coaching processes, thus contributing to the limited literature on career stages.

The study suggests that managers should equally devote their coaching efforts to all employees, independently of their selling experience. Contrary to the belief that rookies will benefit more from coaching, and that “you cannot teach an old dog new tricks,” results suggest that managerial coaching makes a continuous contribution to performance throughout all the stages of an employee’s career.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the moderation effect of selling experience on coaching consequences, and one of the few to present evidence of the positive effect of managerial coaching on frontline employee performance in the banking sector.