Background: Various functional tests such as upper quarter Y-balance test (UQYBT) are used to evaluate shoulder stability and mobility in clinical or sports fields. Previous studies have been conducted to determine the correlation between the scapular or trunk muscle and UQYBT. However, the correlation between UQYBT and hip flexor, which can be considered as a core muscle, has not been confirmed. Objects: To verify the relationship between the UQYBT and scapular muscle (scapular protractor and lower trapezius [LT]), trunk muscle, and hip flexor strengths in healthy male participants. Methods: A total of 37 healthy male participants were recruited and underwent UQYBT in the push-up posture. The isometric strength of the scapular protractor, LT, trunk flexor and extensor, and hip flexors were measured using a smart KEMA strength sensor (KOREATECH Inc.). Results: The superolateral direction of the UQYBT was moderately to strongly related to trunk extensor (r = 0.443, p < 0.01), scapular protractor (r = 0.412, p < 0.05), LT (r = 0.436, p < 0.01), and both sides of the hip flexors (supporting-side: r = 0.669, p < 0.01; non-supporting- side: r = 0.641, p < 0.01). The inferolateral direction of the UQYBT was moderately related to the scapular protractor (r = 0.429, p < 0.01), LT (r = 0.511, p < 0.01), and both sides of hip flexors (supporting-side: r = 0.481, p < 0.01; non-supporting-side: r = 0.521, p < 0.01). The medial direction of the UQYBT was moderately to strongly related with the scapular protractor (r = 0.522, p < 0.01), LT (r = 0.541, p < 0.01), and both sides of hip flexors (supporting-side: r = 0.605, p < 0.01; non-supporting-side: r = 0.561, p < 0.01). Conclusion: This study showed that the strength of the scapular muscles, trunk muscles, and hip flexor muscles correlated to the UQYBT. Therefore, the strength of not only the scapular and trunk muscles but also the hip flexor muscles should be considered to improve the UQYBT.

Background: Smartphone addiction has emerged as a significant social problem. Numerous studies have indicated the association between smartphone use and discomfort in the musculoskeletal system of the upper extremities. Objects: This cross-sectional survey aimed to compare the characteristics of musculoskeletal pain in the neck, trunk, and upper limbs between individuals with smartphone addiction and those without addiction. Methods: We collected a total of 326 healthy individuals’ data from China and Korea who had owned and used smartphones for more than 5 years between 20–50s through an online questionnaire consisting of 84 questions in four major sections. The first part contained basic information on the participant's personal characteristics and smartphones. The second part contained questions about smartphone use and posture. The third part was the smartphone addiction. The fourth part was to investigate musculoskeletal pain in various upper body parts. Results: Smartphone addiction has a weak negative correlation with age (r = –0.20, p < 0.01) and a weak positive correlation with the hours of smartphone use (r = 0.376, p < 0.01). Frequent musculoskeletal pain symptoms related to smartphone use were observed in the neck, shoulder, lower back, and wrists. The hours of smartphone use was slightly positively associated with the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the shoulder (r = 0.162, p < 0.05) and lower back (r = 0.125, p < 0.05). The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the neck (χ2 = 3.993, p < 0.05), shoulder (χ2 = 6.465, p < 0.05), and wrist (χ2 = 4.645, p < 0.05) was significantly higher among females than males. Conclusion: The results suggest that smartphone addiction should be recognized as a dual concern encompassing both physical health and psychosocial aspects. Furthermore, healthcare professionals, including physicians and physical therapists, should consider clients' smartphone usage patterns when assessing and treating with musculoskeletal pain.

In this study, based on the saturation magnetic flux density experimental values (Bs) of 622 Fe-based bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), regression models were applied to predict Bs using artificial neural networks (ANN), and prediction performance was evaluated. Model performance evaluation was investigated by using the F1 score together with the coefficient of determination (R2 score), which is mainly used in regression models. The coefficient of determination can be used as a performance indicator, since it shows the predicted results of the saturation magnetic flux density of full material datasets in a balanced way. However, the BMG alloy contains iron and requires a high saturation magnetic flux density to have excellent applicability as a soft magnetic material, and in this study F1 score was used as a performance indicator to better predict Bs above the threshold value of Bs (1.4 T). After obtaining two ANN models optimized for the R2 and F1 score conditions, respectively, their prediction performance was compared for the test data. As a case study to evaluate the prediction performance, new Fe-based BMG datasets that were not included in the training and test datasets were predicted using the two ANN models. The results showed that the model with an excellent F1 score achieved a more accurate prediction for a material with a high saturation magnetic flux density.

In the last years, we have witnessed the consolidation of an increasing number of media channels including but not limited to, social media, brand sites, podcasts and the recent developments into the metaverse (Blazquez, 2023). Consumers are exposed to multiple stimuli with shorter attention spans which makes challenging for brands to create meaningful relationships that can sustain brand loyalty. It is important to revisit the role of campaigns that communicate brand-related messages and aim to affect brand image. Christmas advertising has become a part of consumers’ festive rituals (Cartwright et al., 2016) and engendering a positive response is particularly important at this time of year given that it is associated with love, friendship and reconciliation. These campaigns that appeal to a wider target audience, find in traditional media an important channel to get to their customers but also use digital channels which make them more inclusive.

In today's fast-evolving technological environment, the growth of mobile devices has provided businesses with additional knowledge on how to effectively communicate with their targeted audience. As big data generated by mobile users has become a valuable source for improving communication, users’ location data has provided an additional parameter to take into account while trying to enhance the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns. This paper presents a comparative study of the location-based marketing field and tools. It provides an overview of different exploitation methods of location-based mobile services and data for effective digital marketing campaigns and guidelines for future research.

This study aims to investigate how attitudes towards femvertising affects brand credibility, brand authenticity, and purchase intention. Further, the mediation of femwashing on these relationships was investigated. And lastly, the impact of brand credibility and authenticity on purchase intention was examined. The results show that a favourable attitude towards femvertising positively affects brand credibility and authenticity but is not significant for purchase intention. Likewise, the mediation of femwashing on these relationships was not significant. In addition, brand credibility and brand authenticity had a positive impact on purchase intention.

This study quantifies drivers and consequences of positive and negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) engagement on social networking sites building upon social identity theory. Fitting a structural model using software smartPLS 4.0, the analysis compares two distinct groups of respondents. Though these groups seem to belong to the same in-group. Nevertheless, group members differ with respect to the drivers and consequences of their positive and negative eWOM engagement. As engagement is often used in the context of service-dominant logic, we reveal which non-monetary value co-creating and value-reducing consequences result from positive and negative eWOM engagement. This study highlights the impact of eWOM engagement on self-brand connection and self-brand incongruity and identifies commitment as a major driver. For international respondents negative eWOM does not automatically increase self-brand incongruity but low negative eWOM has a positive effect on the self-brand connection.

We are living in a world that is increasingly digital and undergoing dramatic changes as a result. In particular for luxury fashion, growing numbers of online customers as well as fast changing business environment, luxury retailers face the challenge of differentiating themselves by offering a better online customer experience (Chen et al. 2021). By doing so, luxury fashion retailers are increasingly deploying chatbots in their service encounters to enhance customer experience (Roy & Naidoo, 2021). Chatbots are powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Hoyer et al. 2020) and are an example of AI robot that can provide human-computer interactions on a retail website (Lee et al. 2017). Intended to enhance the online customer experience, chatbots have the potential to provide a better understanding of the product performance, enable efficient use of customer time, and help build crucial customer relationships (Rese et al. 2020; Wilson-Nash et al. 2020; Xu et al. 2022). Therefore, chatbots’ potential has been highly valued by fashion retail industry and academia (Jiang et al. 2022).

Previous studies offered inconsistent empirical results for the influence of customer participation on service satisfaction. One possible explanation for this inconsistency is that existing conceptualizations of customer participation do not clearly differentiate the distinct roles of customer participation in service. To address this gap, Dong and Sivakumar (2015) have proposed an updated classification for customer participation based on “output specificity,” which refers to the degree to that the nature of the output is influenced by the person who provides the resource. The output of the customer participation can either be “specific” or “generic”. The “specific output” is defined as the expected service outcome can be idiosyncratic depending on whether the service is provided by the customer or the employee. In contrast, “generic output” refers to expected service outcome is well defined regardless of whether it is delivered by the service provider or the customer. How output specificity of customer participation influences service satisfaction still lacks of empirical examination.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We can be expected that the experience of damage caused by COVID-19 has had a negative impact on consumers' perceived quality of life. This study identifies factors that governments can positively impact the lives of consumers facing financial difficulties. We consider policy proposals to improve the quality of life of consumers at financial risk when situations like COVID-19 reoccur in the future

Customer loyalty is tested every day in the retail sector and the past years have been challenging for retailers to keep their existing, loyal customers. Covid-19 outbreak caused significant changes in consumers’ purchasing behavior because during the pandemic, consumers were forced to adapt new patterns of shopping which is likely to reflect also in customer loyalty. To better understand the temporal development of customer loyalty, we investigate how cognitive, affective, and social drivers of loyalty differ between 10,044 Trustpilot reviews before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. We investigate customer loyalty in the retail sector using an objective and a novel approach; thus we based this study on user-generated content in the form of online reviews in contrast to the traditional survey-based measures of customer loyalty.

This study aims to integrate the protection motivation theory (PMT) model and attitude to explore the factors influencing consumers’ usage behavior toward online food delivery platform services (OFDPSs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The utilitarian value and hedonic value of OFDPSs, which may influence consumers’ attitude, were also included in the integrated research model. This study collected a total of 384 participants who are with experience in using OFDPSs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan for analysis

This research examines how voluntary simplicity lifestyle can mediate the tourists’ COVID-19 anxiety and the tourism motivation during the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrates how resilience can moderate the effect of the anxiety and pull motivations. The results show the effects of mediation and moderation on the relationship between anxiety and tourism motivations.

In this research, given the recent spurt of luxury brands featuring their products in the metaverse, we examine if the use of luxury brand items to enhance one’s virtual avatar augments the gamer’s sense of confidence, empowerment, and actual performance. We conduct two studies to test the same. In our first study, we simulated a gaming environment on an online survey portal and asked participants to choose their avatar features. We provided them with a branded item (luxury/regular). Consequently, we asked them to indicate their level of confidence, and empowerment. They were asked to play a game to record their actual performance. In our second study, we asked participants to choose their avatar on an online game on their mobiles and similarly provided them with a branded item (luxury/regular). We then measured their confidence, and empowerment and observed their actual performance.

This paper investigates how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in services may potentially have a negative impact on consumer wellbeing due to the fear of being replaced by AI. Drawing on temporal self-appraisal theory, the study proposes that the fear of being replaced by an AI agent (as opposed to a human) has a negative effect on consumers' psychological wellbeing. The research suggests that this fear negatively affects consumers' perceptions of self-continuity, and that self-continuity perceptions mediate the relationship between fear of AI replacement and psychological wellbeing. Furthermore, the study explores how the type of task intelligence replaced by AI, whether thinking or feeling tasks, moderates the effects of AI on self-continuity and wellbeing.

Many companies seek to position their brands as global players to benefit from favorable quality and prestige inferences. Yet, recent research calls into question whether global brand positioning strategies are invariably beneficial. In many Western markets, the political environment becomes increasingly tense, with nationalism and ethnocentrism on the rise. Against this background, we seek to answer the question: How does political ideology influence the effectiveness of global brand positioning strategies? Do global brand positioning strategies create more value in liberal or conservative environments?