AI technology has been increasingly integrated into a wider range of industries – from small-sized home appliances robots to service robots in the hospitality or education sectors. Subsequently, researchers are increasingly interested in understanding how consumers respond to AI robots. Adding to such stream of studies, this research delves into how consumer responses differ depending on the characteristics of AI robots, specifically, the degree of appearance resemblance to a real-life object and the benefit type that the robot is designed to provide. Particularly, this research focuses on the role of perceived fit in shaping consumers’ intention to adopt AI robots as the underlying mechanism.

As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) grows, so do the questions regarding this new technology and its potential uses. Among the various possibilities and employment that could be offered by AI is personalized news technology. Nowadays, it is already possible to produce journalistic content through AI (Carlson, 2014; Graefe & Haim, 2018). Digital storytelling has become a reality through automated journalism powered by AI (Caswell & Dörr, 2018; Galily, 2018; Linden, 2017; Thorne, 2020). “Artificial intelligence applies advanced analysis and logic-based techniques, including machine learning, to interpret events, support and automate decisions, and take actions” (Gartner Group, 2019). In personalized news technology, algorithms are responsible for selecting content and sorting it according to the personalization criteria (Powers, 2017). So far, AI has been studied in different fields with distinct research focuses (Loureiro et al., 2021). Studies of news-personalization technologies have mainly focused on research engines and filtering mechanisms (Darvishy et al., 2020; Haim et al., 2017; Manoharan & Senthilkumar, 2020). Few studies examine news aggregators (Haim et al., 2018; Kwak et al., 2021) and the effects of news personalization on audiences (Merten, 2021; Swart, 2021; Thurman et al., 2019), thus demanding further research. AI is an imminent reality for the future, reshaping the news media (Brennen et al., 2022; Linden, 2017; Thorne, 2020). Hence, it is still necessary to investigate the impacts that this technology potentially offers to users. Therefore, the current study seeks to respond to this need to deepen research into the area of news personalization through AI, by analyzing the response of audiences toward current and future technological tendencies. The main aim of this research is to investigate the levels of trust that users have in AI-generated personalized video news.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is recognized as essential in the 4th industrial revolution (Schwab, 2017), which is capable of interacting with the environment and processing and transforming data information to inform goal-directed behavior (Paschen, Kietzmann, & Kietzmann, 2019). Due to the advances in intelligent systems and the incorporation of AI agents in smart devices, more than eight billion digital voice assistants will be used globally by 2024 (Thormundsson, 2022; Gilkson & Woolley, 2020). For successful and positive consumer-brand relationships, constructs such as trust, satisfaction, and commitment are vital (Garbarino & Johnson, 1999; Nyadzayo & Khajehzadehb, 2016). Unlike humans, Artificial intelligence agents could achieve relationship marketing engagement by encouraging users to anthropomorphize the other parties in their technology-mediated interactions, such as applications like chatbots, virtual assistants, and service robots (Steinhoff et al., 2019). Those applications can also use humanoid traits to engage customers in organizations (van Doorn et al., 2017).

Throughout recent years, many physical establishments were forced to close, and events were canceled due to the outbreak of Covid-19. Consequently, brands, especially luxury brands, saw their contact with consumers greatly diminished and revenues decreased significantly (D’Arpizio et al., 2021). On the contrary, the global gaming industry saw its demand, exposure, and revenues increase. In fact, this industry is expected to exceed $200 billion by the end of 2023 (Gilliland, 2020), and there were more than 2.6 billion players worldwide in 2020 (Palframan, 2021). Thus, in 2020, many luxury brands opted to significantly upsurge their investments in the world of online gaming. The adoption of game advertising also represents a way for the luxury industry to adapt to its current target, as 81% of Gen Z and 77% of Millennials are gamers (Jain, 2021). By 2025, both generations are expected to account for 50% of the market, making them important players in the sector. However, there is still little empirical research regarding consumers’ perceptions of game advertising in the context of luxury brands. Thus, this research aims to study the impact that brand credibility and the use of game advertising have on the perceived coolness of luxury brands and, subsequently, on their equity.

In addition to humanoid and robotic designs, an increasing number of AI-powered services are being represented by non-human species (i.e., zoonotic design). Yet, little is known about the consequential effects of such zoonotic AI on consumer adoption of these services. Drawing on the concept of speciesism and Cognitive Load Theory, the current research seeks to uncover how does using zoonotic (vs. robotic) designs affects consumer adoption.

The focus of this paper was on the establishment of a service design model for digital fabrication. Service design processes and tools were used to identify problems of current digital fabrication systems. Augmented reality was deployed to substantiate two-dimensional information by combining it with digital fabrication equipment to enhance interactivity and engagement. The fuzzy Delphi method was used to consult the expert’s opinions to optimize the model for increasing overall system satisfaction. A two-dimensional quality questionnaire was designed to survey the participant’s opinions on the system’s satisfaction. The result indicated that the participants reacted positively to augmented reality and the service design model. The result of this paper was helpful for the exchange and diffusion of digital knowledge to strengthen people’s interaction with information. It can improve the efficiency of entire value chains, including product development, marketing and service, which is crucial to future innovative design and fabrication practice.

Commercial condom advertisements usually emphasize the sexual pleasure of branded products, which leads to controversial public views. Some people agree that commercial condom advertisements can also benefit public health, whereas others disapprove of such commercial condom advertisements because their contents are usually offensive, low-tasted, and pornographic. Despite controversy over commercial condom advertising, we know little about the spillover effect of commercial condom advertisement. On one hand, sexual-related content in the commercial condom advertisement may have an arousal effect. That is, it can evoke sexual arousal, leading to more sex intercourses. More frequent sex behaviors, especially casual sex behaviors, may then lead to a risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). On the other hand, commercial condom advertisements may have an educational effect. That is, it can persuade people to use condoms, helping people get in the habit of using condoms, thus reducing the STD trends. In the short term when condom commercials are aired, the arousal effect and educating effect coexists, which motivates the net short-term effect as an open empirical question. In the long-term when the condom commercial no longer aired, the educating effect remains, which decreases the STD trends.

The current research introduces a novel relationship between consumer attitudes toward time and consumer well-being, connected to organic food consumption based on the findings from 206 American consumers. Consumer motivations to seek nutritional information appears as a mediator impacting organic food purchase intentions. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

In recent business activities, well-being-based management approaches have become increasingly important. Consideration of consumer well-being is one of them. In particular, social demand and interest in health are incredibly high, and the health-related services market has significantly expanded. However, since the WHO's definition of health was established, the concept of health has become multi-dimensional. There is much overlap with other concepts, such as well-being and quality of life. As a result, even for health-related services that are supposed to contribute to consumers' health, the critical term "health" is still used ambiguously by both service providers and consumers. It could increase the uncertainty of the benefits of the services and cause difficulties in the continued use of services for consumers.

Recent consumer behavior research indicates many consumers overgeneralize the relationship between food energy (i.e., calories) and bodily energy (i.e., physical and cognitive performance). We extend this idea to sport consumers, conducting two experiments among sport fans that demonstrate the imperative role of framing. Our data indicate that rivalry games and vicarious losing both increase fans’ desire to consume high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods (that is, “unhealthy” food) when food is framed as a source of fuel. This effect derives from the overgeneralized belief that the function of food is to provide energy for the body. Conversely, vicarious winning instead results in fans displaying an increased preference for healthy and environmentally friendly foods. Thus, framing, rivalry, and the result of the focal game all play central roles in the healthiness of fans’ behavior. We unpack implications for marketing scholars and consumer managers.

The focus of this research is on midlife women. Middle age is a pivotal period in one’s life course in terms of finding a new or renewed purpose in life, addressing the excesses of youth, reducing work and life stress, and where establishing favorable conditions in early midlife are associated with good health and well-being later in life. Defined as the period between the ages of 45 and 65, midlife is characterised as a time of significant transition and represents 24.6% of the Australian population. Increasing life expectancy has demanded shifting roles and responsibilities for midlife adults especially so for women who tend to have longer life spans and face greater exposure to risk factors such as adverse life events. As midlife women navigate multiple roles and transition though cycles of physical and emotional stress, they have less time for themself, procrastinate through delaying or putting off health related behaviours and experience higher rates of burnout. Understanding how these factors impact on overall psychological wellbeing becomes ever more critical.

Visually superior design provides a competitive edge in the marketplace by attracting consumers and increasing the perceived value of product quality and functionality. Although the positive influences of visual product design on market performance are well documented in the literature, little is investigated on how visual design plays a role in a negative situation such as product failure. The positive halo effect of visual design on product evaluation is called ‘beauty premium’, while little is investigated on how beauty premium changes when consumers face product failure. For example, would the beauty premium continue or fire back when a product with superior design, called a ‘beauty’ in this study, has functional harm? To answer this inquiry, we focus on the following research questions 1) Would the beauty effect protect or damage consumer purchase intention and product sales after product failure, and 2) Under what conditions can beauty effects be positive or negative after product failure?

In pursuit of competitiveness, brands are critical as they represent valuable intangible assets that contribute to creating and sustaining competitive advantages. The emerging idea of brand competitiveness, defined as a brand’s outperformance of competing brands, represents a promising solution to the problem that existing branding constructs fail to incorporate competition as a relative concept. This article addresses three gaps in the current literature on brand competitiveness. It discusses conceptualizations of the construct, arguing for a customer-based perspective and introducing customer-based brand competitiveness (CBBC). It then explores the construct’s nomological network and suggests CBBC as a mediator of the strategic orientations–performance relationship, thus proposing customer-related and firm-related performance as consequences and several strategic orientations as antecedents. It finally reports on the development of a new measurement scale for brand competitiveness.

Digital fashion represents key technologies for the online environment, and it has been used as a new marketing strategy for the fashion industry. As consumer digital experience has been diversified, research on the effect on consumer attitudes and behavior toward digital fashion needs to be investigated. This study examines the effect of visual tactile and presence of VR fashion stores on consumer attitude via consumer surveys. Visual tactile and presence positively influence consumer experience which includes fantasy, feeling, and fun. In addition, these three experiences positively affect consumer attitude. The moderating effect of cyber motion sickness is discussed. Academic and practical implications for digital fashion are provided.

Green product experience has become an important marketing strategy for corporations to tap potential green consumers. Based on the theory of planned behavior, this article explores the influence of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control on consumers’ green purchasing intentions from the perspective of green product experience with consumers in China, Japan, and Korea as the research objects. Our findings suggest that green product experience of consumers in the three countries can directly affect consumers' green purchasing intentions. Green product experience has an indirect influence on consumers’ green purchasing intention through the mediating effect of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. The multiple group comparison shows the external validity of TPB through an examination of green purchasing behavior in different cultural settings, which will help enterprises implement effective experience marketing strategies.

Given the conundrum of moral washing in CSR communication, this research examines the effectiveness of narrative richness using storytelling in marketing. In the process, the moderating role of moral imagination is further explored. An online experiment with a 2 (Narrative Richness: High vs. Low) x 2 (Moral Imagination: High vs. Low) between-subjects factorial design was conducted with two well-known companies (Shell vs. Facebook) suffered from a reputation crisis as the target brands. The results (N = 287) showed that the effects of narrative richness on consumer responses, including positive emotion, negative emotion, and behavioral intention, were significant for Facebook whereas its effect on positive emotion was significant for Shell. Most importantly, the two-way interaction between narrative richness and moral imagination on attitude toward the brand was significant for Shell, indicating that the effect of narrative richness on attitude toward the brand was augmented by moral imagination. In other words, consumers with high moral imagination view narrative-rich messages with virtuous thoughts to figure out the conundrum of CSR communication for the company, and vice versa. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The economic harm and survival fear caused by environmental conflicts are most likely to become the psychological lever to drive individuals to adopt environmentally friendly behaviours. From the perspective of environmental conflict, this paper will explore the transmission mechanism of environmental conflict on individuals’ pro-environmental behaviour through three experiments.

In this conceptual paper, we use the multiple agency theory to explain the governance issues in cross-sector partnerships. In doing so, we identify five typologies of cross-sector partnerships, each distinct from one another in terms of the governance structure. We also discuss three problems that occur in these relationships, mainly differences in institutional logic, temporal differences, and free-riding and opportunistic behavior, as well as how these problems affect each type of cross-sector partnership. These findings make several significant contributions to the literature and theories. First, this is one of the few studies to use agency theory to examine the governance structures and problems in cross-sector partnerships. Second, our study further contributes to solidifying our understanding of the agency problems arising in cross-sector collaborations. Lastly, our study confirms their presence in other types of cross-sector partnerships as well and we maintain that these problems do not affect each type of cross-sector partnership in the same way, leading us to offer more nuanced implications for researchers and practitioners.

As ESG (environmental, social, and governance) has become a major business trend, many firms put ESG into their business practice to fulfill market and stakeholders' demands (Wang et al., 2016). With a growing emphasis on ESG, firms must decide how to integrate ESG into their organizational strategy. Although ESG is a popular business trend, it is meaningless if ESG reduces firm value. For successful ESG implementation, ESG strategy must be integral to the business model (Duque-Grisales and Aguilera-Caracuel, 2021). With the integration of ESG into the firm's business process, sustainable activities enable firms to improve their economic and social performance by tapping into the synergies between business and societal agendas (Duque-Grisales and Aguilera-Caracuel, 2021). Core competence refers to an organization's accumulated strength compared to other organizations in the industry (Wheelen, 2019). It is the unique integration of leadership, technologies, specialized skills and knowledge, organizational culture, and the working possesses (Wheelen, 2019). Even though the literature on ESG emphasizes integrating ESG into firms’ core capabilities, there are only a few studies that developed ESG implementation and integration framework in specific dimensions (Fatima & Elbanna, 2022) and the literature shows mixed results. Since previous research presents unclear results regarding ESG implementation and firms' core competencies, this study aims to 1) investigate how ESG strategy could integrate with firms' core competencies and 2) clarify ESG embeddedness drivers. The findings provide significant implications for academics and managers by clarifying how firms can enhance their value through ESG with firms' core competencies.

In ethical consumerism, the issue of ethical attitudes not translating to ethical behaviors has been highly debated. While previous studies attribute this attitude-behavioral mismatch to the lack of education, hypocrisy, or low commitment, we propose a novel approach of applying Moral Foundation Theory (MFT) to account for the phenomenon. MFT identifies two dimensions of morality: individualizing moral foundations (INDI) which focuses on justice and harm, and binding moral foundations (BIND) which emphasizes authority and loyalty. Using responses from more than 4,000 consumers from four culturally and regionally diverse markets, we investigate the differing roles of moral foundations in response to a scenario on a sweatshop issue of a supplier whose factory is in a developing country. We use the mediator-moderator model of MFT-anticorporate attitude-boycott behavioral intention sequence to examine the differing role of INDI and BIND. Our results show that INDI and BIND are both positively related to anticorporate attitude; However, BIND is negatively related to boycott behavioral intention while INDI is positively related. That is, consumers with a strong BIND may show an attitude-behavioral mismatch although they are highly ethical.