The demand for knowledge transfer and experience sharing in terms of digital government and smart cities among partner countries has significantly increased. Digital government-related projects have been mainly proposed for the convenience of the system providers for the short-term or one-time instance without considering the mid-term to the long-term direction of digital government in partner countries. Due to this limitation, after the Knowledge Transfer projects are completed, the government partner countries that participated in the projects have examined the Knowledge Transfer projects and need to build improvement plans to promote the related project in efficient, effective, and sustainable ways with mid-term to long-term perspectives. This study focuses on the knowledge transfer projects in the digital government and smart cities that the Korean government and major public institutions carried out and analyses the status of digital knowledge transfer or official development assistance (ODA) projects from 2011 to 2020. In doing so, the study looked into establishing public sector systems such as digital government and smart cities and analysed the current status and research results of domestic and foreign studies related to assessment and diagnosis. Through this, major factors that determine the performance of digital government ODA were identified, and an analysis framework was derived for the analysis of existing cases of digital government knowledge transfer implementation.

Digital entrepreneurship refers to the pursuit of business opportunities based on the utilisation of digital media and other information and communication technologies. The use of digital technologies provides an avenue of unleashing female entrepreneurs from the hierarchical and practice of obedience in a high cultural context. In this sense, the potential of digital entrepreneurship in promoting female entrepreneurship can be examined in terms of entrepreneurship as emancipation. Our research contributes to the women entrepreneurship literature on the use of digital technologies in the context of a very hostile environment such as in the case of Yemeni civil war. A semi-structured interview format will be used to gather information on a common set of questions focusing on how digital technology enabled the entrepreneurial activities. The researchers will adopt a qualitative interpretive methodology. This approach focuses on the participants’ own reflections on their experiences.

The rise of social media has led to SMEs adopting some of these platforms into their day to day activities i.e. Facebook, Instagram, twitter, YouTube. Studies on social media adoption and SMEs firm performance are relatively new and fragmented in their focus, however there is an increasing interest from academia and practitioners for further research and investigation within this area. This study’s aim is to understand the factors that influence social media adoption in SMEs; taking into consideration how they apply entrepreneurial orientation, and absorptive capacity plays a role.

Innovative companies after the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic are undergoing significant changes: from new trends in the markets to the growth of remote work in the digital environment. At any stage of development, innovative companies need an adaptive marketing approach to the implementation of the planned strategy. Marketing solutions to the problems of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment (VUCA) in 2023 can rightfully be considered an emergency aid to innovative transformations in emerging markets. The triad “market orientation – innovation – performance” chain has been extended to various innovation types– from technological and product innovation to innovation orientation and capability. Moreover, the market orientation research agenda has, during last 10 years, highlighted customer orientation as a key component of market orientation that drives innovative activities.

Healthy and environmentally friendly food is a subject of increasing prominence all around the world, and especially so in developing countries such as India, where consumption of agricultural goods produced in a sustainable environment with a low reliance on pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and genetic manipulation is a real challenge. Consumer interest in green food items is increasing as safety and health concerns grow, and researchers are calling for further investigation of green food consumer behavior. Although a large number of research was done on environmental performance in industrialized countries, very little research has been conducted among Indian consumers. Furthermore, the gap between intention to consume green food products and actual behavior remains under-investigated. This gap can be investigated through the prism of theory of planned behavior (TPB). This theory has been widely used in green consumer studies: it seeks to explain how individuals make decisions and take actions based on their attitudes, beliefs, and perceived behavioral control. However, the TPB has not been extended to account for cultural values (i.e., Hofstede’s cultural framework), which can play an important role in shaping consumer attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, this research investigates the application of the extended TPB model in the context of green food products with a quantitative survey among Indian consumers (N=387). The results show that long-term (health) orientation and collectivism influence both green purchase intention and behavior. This effect is explained by subjective norms, perceived value, and environmental attitudes of the consumers.

The research aims to estimate the role of SMAs implementation in impacting event image, commemorative product perceived value, and TBIs in the context of sports tourism events. Additionally, this study analyzes the effects of perceived value and event image on TBIs. This article focuses on the following research questions: (1) What is the SMAs' influence on TBIs? (2) What is the impact of SMAs on event image and commemorative product perceived value? (3) What is the role of event image and product perceived value in the relationships between SMAs and TBIs in the sports tourism context? The data collection was done during the Beijing Winter Olympic Games to address the research goals. The study examines the data from 315 valid questionnaires from tourists in the Chinese market by SEM (structural equation modeling).

Consumers sometimes see brands as relationship partners and expect that they conform to certain expectations, or relational norms. However, there is no valid and universal operationalization of these norms for the specific context of consumer-brand relationships. We address this gap by developing and validating a new scale in four studies.

Following the Antecedents, Methods, and Outcomes (AMO) framework, this paper contributes to a better understanding of corporate activism (CA) in an international context. Through an in-depth review of publications over the past 33 years, we aim to shed light on the rising trend of CA and identify its most important antecedents, manifestations, and the short-term and long-term consequences of CA. In this context, we focus particularly on cross-country differences. Guided by the scientific Procedures and Rationales for a Systematic Literature Reviews Protocol (SPAR-4-SLR), this paper offers a framework-based systematic literature review on CA. We observe that the topic of CA is somewhat underexplored in the literature. Moreover, CA is very often misinterpreted, and lines between CA and similar terms, such as Corporate Social Responsibility, CEO activism, and lobbying often remain blurred. Nevertheless, our review identifies a rising trend among companies to express their stance on various controversial issues. Reflecting this trend, we can also witness a substantial increase in the number of studies on CA over the past two years. Through the articles identified in our literature review, we improve the understanding of the common antecedents and manifestations of CA, but also observe a lack of conceptual clarity in many extant contributions on CA. As to the outcome of CA, the literature indicates that the long-term and shortterm consequences of CA also still call for further analysis. The international nature and ramifications of CA, recently highlighted by the considerable CA in response to the war between Russia and Ukraine and its spillover effect worldwide, is neglected in current research. Thus, given the international dimension of some CA there is a particular need to research both, national idiosyncrasies and international consequences of CA.

This abstract summarizes an early-stage research proposal examining the benefits of storytelling in marketing green brands. Many research studies have been published in the last decade observing the growth and popularity of sustainable products (e.g., Bhardwaj et al., 2020; de Souza Correa et al., 2022; Haider, Shannon, & Poschis, 2022; Lunde, 2018; Rajogopal, Mahajan, & Priya, 2021; Skackuskiene & Vilkaite-Vaitone, 2022; among many others). Only some of these products offered immediate economic benefits to consumers when introduced. Consumers were skeptical of the sustainability of the products (e.g., Matthes & Wonneberger, 2014), consumers felt the prices were higher than unsustainable products (e.g., Juan, Hsu, & Xie, 2017), and consumers felt that the company was greenwashing (e.g., Cho & Taylor, 2020). However, the story of these businesses imagining a green future was the main driving force in attracting and convincing consumers to switch regardless of the cost and risk involved in the decision (e.g., Moshood et al., 2022). Getting exposed to these exciting stories, consumers want to join and be part of them by purchasing green products. For example, when sustainable Toyota Prius and Tesla cars were first introduced, there were more economical and best-performing cars in the crowded US market (i.e., Toyota.com, 2023; Tesla.com, 2023). However, unlike conventional combustion engine cars, they had a story to tell. Then, and today, the companies sell the imaginary of a green and sustainable future for humankind. It is the same with the sustainable apparel brand, Patagonia, which has gained popularity throughout the years (Patagonia.com, 2023). Their products are expensive compared to their unsustainable competitors. However, consumers are willing to pay the price to be a part of the story that the brand narrates, promising a more sustainable future.

Sinnlfuencers are a new popular type of endorsers who focus on societal relevant issues. Against this backdrop, the question arises whether their success factors are the same as for traditional influencers or whether new success factors become relevant. In this work, we build up a case of Sinnfluencers for healthy nutrition and examine the five characteristics attractiveness, fitness, expertise, benevolence and obesity. Based on an online experiment involving 1332 data sets analyzed in SmartPLS we find that the traditional criteria fitness and attractiveness are most important. Based on these surprising results we propose implications for research and management.

With the buzzword "conversational marketing", especially in the course of a further technological upgrade of marketing management via chatbots, messaging apps etc., the central idea of dialogue-oriented marketing, as has been required since the late 1970s/early 1980s, has received a significant upgrade. However, mostly with a quite narrow focus on the management of transactions and in the sense of a customer-centric and dialogue-driven approach for driving customer engagement, improving customer experience along a very narrowly interpreted customer journey, and growing revenue. There is no question that the consistent use of all available technological options to optimize the exchange processes with customers represents an important challenge. However, conversational marketing should not be interpreted too narrowly. On the one hand, it is important to expand this approach with reference to all stakeholders and not only to refer to 1:1 interactions, but also to explicitly include complex exchange processes within and between relevant stakeholder groups in the consideration. On the other hand, the focus should not be solely on the management of transactions. At the same time, targeted relationship and reputation management as well as consistent context management must be explicitly included in the consideration. This is not least because firstly Marketing measures always tend to have corresponding effects in all three areas, i.e. possible transaction, relationship and reputation as well as context effects must be taken into account and controlled in a targeted manner. Secondly, the developments in market and society are increasingly contributing to the fact that the demands on companies are constantly increasing. On the one hand, this affects the expectations of all stakeholders that companies make significant contributions to the sustainable development of society as a whole through not only the economically successful handling of all their business processes but also consistently pursuing ecological, social and cultural goals. In order to meet these demands, companies must also try to exert a targeted influence on the relevant framework conditions in the market and society and their further development. The range here is extraordinarily large and colorful: from the creation of infrastructural conditions for smart problem solutions (e.g. smart mobility) up to ensuring the sustainable development of social value systems. The latter found its expression, e.g. in various approaches of brand activism ("black lives matter", "everyone is awesome" or the conveyance of a new self-understanding of men in the case of Gillette’s “we believe” campaign).

Although influencers establish their reputation and gain popularity by demonstrating expertise toward a specific topic, there is a huge potential to extend their market by tapping into different topics. Specifically, by promoting different types of product categories. However, previous studies tend to have different predictions about the success of this practice. Such that, according to the match-up hypothesis, it is unlikely that the influencer can successfully promote different product categories. On the other hand, Stereotype Content Model (SCM) suggests that influencers might be perceived as competence that overgeneralized to other domains. By conducting a survey to 302 online consumers in Indonesia, this study aims to test two competing routes toward influencer’s success in promoting product categories other than their initial expertise within the fashion context. The findings of this study revealed the primacy of match-up hypotheses, even when the influencers are perceived as competent, it does not mean that consumers are willing to follow their recommendation if it is outside their expertise domain. Only when there is an influencer-product fit, consumers are willing to accept their recommendation. However, perceived competence of the influencers can promote acceptance to follow recommendation on different product categories only when it established trust on the influencer.

The popularity of the Korean entertainment industry has been growing worldwide. Various forms of media, such as movies, TV series, music, radio and many more, have been used as a platform to launch and promote new products of many brands. For instance, Laneige – a Korean cosmetic company was successfully placed in the Korean drama – Descendants of the Sun. Previous studies have accounted for various factors in analysing product placement in movies, such as brand familiarity, brand fit, and movie genre. However, the effect of the emotional context of where the product is placed remains unclear. The purpose of the present research is to investigate whether the effectiveness of product placement is influenced by the emotions depicted in the scene, and whether the ethicality of the product matters.

Compulsive buying is a problematic behavior that could lead to negative outcomes (e.g., debts and negative relationships with relatives). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people changed their shopping behavior and experienced various life events. This research aims at exploring the relationship between life events and compulsive buying in Indonesia. A qualitative approach using in-depth interviews was employed. Nineteen participants who faced changing course of life, either positive (e.g., give birth) or negative (e.g., sudden death of family), during the pandemic were interviewed. We found that positive life events cause people to feel over-excited and over-grateful and shop compulsively. Negative life events that result in self-doubt and lower self-esteem also lead to a compulsive behavior. The study contributes to the compulsive behavior literature by exploring the antecedent of compulsive buying from the live events perspective and provide implications for policy makers and marketers.

Innovative payment methods, such as Bitcoin, may exhibit effects on consumer behavior besides known pain of paying effects. This study sheds light on spillover effects of innovative payment methods by giving evidence for an increase of consumers’ purchase intention caused by payment method innovativeness and mediated by perceived store innovativeness.

This study examined the effects of user interactivity with VR in a digital retail setting on mental imagery and sensory brand app experience and its consequential impacts on perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, attitude toward using VR, and behavioral intent. Mental imagery is understood in relation to quantity, vividness, and valence. The user involvement with the device is employed as a moderator to fully understand the impact of VR in connection with consumer engagement. An IKEA VR application was utilized for this study. A convenient sample of college students was recruited from a large research university in the US. The findings of the study show that user interactivity impacts mental imagery, and it subsequently influences sensory brand app experience, perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, attitude toward using VR, and behavioral intent. Overall, this study provides meaningful and practical information to academicians and practitioners.

Due to the rise of global environmental awareness and concerns, many journal articles related to “fashion sustainability” have been disseminated over the last 20 years. According to Google Search Trends (2010-2021), the number of searches for “sustainable fashion,” “fashion clothing” and “fast fashion” has increased since 2016, particularly “sustainable fashion.” Despite a substantial amount of published papers, many research studies are fragmented and disconnected due to their specific research objectives, focuses, and approaches (Tian et al., 2018). A systematic literature review can identify key research themes, trends, and developmental patterns while also illuminating the complexity of the subjects. This study has three overarching objectives: (1) to provide a comprehensive report of scholarly articles published from 2010 to 2021 focusing on fashion sustainability research, (2) to identify research trends in fashion and sustainability, and (3) to identify significant sustainable and non-sustainable attributes in clothing selection, evaluation, and consumption processes.

The purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of egoistic and altruistic claims in organic cotton apparel advertising. We examined how those claims can influence attitudes toward the product, attitudes toward the brand, and purchase intentions.

Cryptic marketing is a discreet communication strategy using crypted subculture symbols to avoid negative responses from other consumers. This has been used since marketing towards stigmatized subculture groups is challenging as there is a risk of losing consumers from the majority. Nevertheless, studies about the impact of cryptic marketing on prominent marketing variables are still scant. Thus, this study aims to determine the impact of cryptic marketing on brand attitude between LGBT group and heterosexual group in an unfriendly market (Indonesia) and a friendly market (the Netherlands). Using experiments, we tested the impact of three cryptic ads (low, medium, and high) which differ in the explicitness of LGBT symbols. The results revealed that the LGBT group (i.e., gays) in both markets have a more positive brand attitude towards the high cryptic ad. There were no differences in the brand attitude of heterosexuals, except for the gay-friendly participants in a friendly market which showed a preference for the low cryptic ad. This study contributes to the literature on covert marketing strategy as cryptic marketing is rarely discussed.

This research proposes the application of new technologies in tourism advertising to resonate with and respond to unconscious desires that are embodied within consumers. The ethnographic research first questions how consumers form their desires regarding tourism and illustrates that advertising does not create desire; consumer desires for travel, often embodied, exist before consumers are exposed to advertising messages. Such desires derive from past experiences, imagination and sensorial imageries learned from stimuli. Consumers react positively to multi-sensorial, empathetic messages. AI technologies, such as the convolutional neural network algorithm, can be used to apply traditional cultural symbols in art design (Lin 2021). Virtual mirror-based learning technology mirrors back to individuals their social network, identifying their most important contacts, influencers, and communication bottlenecks. The research aims to connect existing and future new technologies that provide the “posthuman mystic,” to offer consumers to experience a new level of their own being, giving room for different kinds of human relations--friendship, connection, and novelty --through one’s avatars (Bolger 2021) and to construct a “decentered, highly relational mode of reality giving agency to everyone, not only to all other humans, but to natural and technological subjects as well” (Delio 2020, p. 115). Such virtual world, with an example like the Metaverse, is “a combination of contextualization and wholemaking from the standpoint of posthumanism and mysticism” (Bolger 2021, p.768). The research then deciphers consumers’ positive reactions to websites that resonate with imagination sensorial desires, past experiences, desired activities and “LIVE” desires. Based on the findings, the research summarizes cross-disciplinary research of tourism advertising and new technologies 4.0 and conceptually illustrates how the applications of new technologies 4.0 may assist with the understanding of consumers’ multi-sensorial desires, imagination, and memories to design empathetic advertising messages. As such, advertisers may be in systematic dialogues with consumers and create multi-sensorial messages that resonate consumer desires.