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).

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.

The capability for Artificial Intelligence in the beauty industry is enormous, as customers are demanding increasingly customized offers that only these strategies can offer. However, there is still a scarcity of empirical research on customer experiences enabled by AI, which highlights this research's relevance, which we intend to bridge.

Religious tourism is one of the most important touristic segments globally. Yet, the cognitive and emotional processes shaping destination loyalty in this context, and the impacts of Augmented Reality (AR) technology were not fully investigated. This study takes a unique approach to examine how awe influences recommendation and revisiting intentions through the mediation of rational (e.g., authenticity) and affective (e.g., emotional) mechanisms. Furthermore, our research unveils the role of AR for reinforcing the future intentions of tourists towards a religious site.

Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Robotics are emerging as a new way of improving services, readjusting and impacting all business industries and relationships among people (Loureiro et al., 2021; Makridakis, 2017; Mingotto et al., 2020). The hospitality industry is no exception to this (Mingotto et al., 2020) since a quick growth in the use of robots and AI in this industry has been seen, registering a turnover of 249 million U.S. dollars (International Federation of Robots, 2021). This demonstrates that these technologies have a huge potential to grow, being relevant to deeply study them. Since very few of the existing studies highlight the robot-human interactions, further studies on the enhancement of human well-being through transhumanistic technologies, close relationship marketing capabilities, and the evolution of the engagement process between humans and AI-enabled machines are needed (Loureiro et al., 2021). To address the existing gaps and consider Susan Fournier’s (1998) study on customer-brand relationships, the main goal of this study is to find support for this researcher by associating customer-brand relationship studies with a customer-robot relationship. It also aims to understand individuals’ attitudes towards different types of social robots and the relationship process between social robots and humans, in the hospitality industry, and the influence of identification in the creation of attachment, connection, and commitment. The possible contributions of the customer-robot emotional relationship on customers’ feelings of wellness were also studied.

One of the main challenges brands face nowadays is the ability to provide a real-life experience through online platforms. The aim of this study is to analyze an AR try-on app versus a website, considering consumers self-concept and testimonials. To this end, an online survey was conducted, in which respondents were exposed to two of four scenarios: AR APP or website experience, and positive versus negative reviews presence. Our findings indicate that ideal self-congruence impacts both, purchase intention and confidence. The present study positively contributes to the AR and self-concept literature, while opening new avenues of research for both academics and practitioners.

The current paper aims to understand green behavior from the perspective of Gen Z, the emerging consumers of a new tech-savvy world, driven by social media. We offer a novel definition of green behavior via the lens of consumer activism in the context of social media, the basis for purchase decision-making by Gen Z. Undertaking a review of extant literature, we also identify a conceptual model for green behavior as a form of consumer activism in social media. We identify perceived environmental transgression as a precursor to green behavior. We also study the less-studied moderators of green stigma and green skepticism, which are important both in the context of Gen Z as well as social media.

The research examines the influence of emotions on tourists’ visit intention towards sustainable tourism and evaluation by using the application of an electroencephalogram (EEG). This method can give objective information about tourist emotion reactions towards sustainable tourism experiences that will drive tourists’ visit intention. The main research objective was to observe and evaluate consumer’s brain activity in different brain regions while they were being exposed by sustainable tourism experiences as stimuli. The participants consists of 30 local and foreign tourist, have normal vision, right-handed, and are considered as potential visitors of sustainable tourism destination. The participant’s brain activity was collected using neuroheadset (EEG) with an international 10/20 system. Analyzing of tourists’ emotions may help marketers to build their customer's experience and reach their target markets more effectively and develop strategies to ensure that the consumer’s attracted.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the concept of mindfulness and examine its effects on climate-friendly food perception and choice, thereby uncovering climate-friendly food by parsing out the different effects of mindfulness vs. mindlessness and exploring the key consumer outcomes. The value of this study lies in clarifying the role of climate-friendly food and mindfulness in perceived food value and food choice. This study provides a framework for examining the effects of climate-friendly food and mindfulness, thereby shedding light on climate-friendly food and discovering perceived climate-friendly food value and food choice as main outcomes. This study contributes to the literature on value by clarifying the concept of mindfulness and the relationships between perceived food value and food choice. The findings also offer practical implications for how marketing strategies for value work more effectively and cater to different types of mindfulness.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the bridges to the globalization of trade. The BRI will achieve all its goals and help each participant nation's economy flourish. Expanding international commerce and reducing inequality among participating nations are indicators of stronger economic growth. This study intends to investigate how the Belt and Road Initiative affects global trade and equality among its participants and elaborate the people perception on BRI in Indonesia and Malaysia. This study uses secondary data to compare the BRI members, while the original data was collected using a survey approach. The four factors evaluated in secondary data are globalization, international trade, equality, and business environment. K-mean cluster, One-way ANOVA, and Partial Least Squares were used for data analysis. The survey is conducted in English on two platforms (online and offline), they are analyzed by Homogeneity of Variances test. The findings indicated foreign debt, political stability, level of corruption, education index, and life expectancy are the differences in the business environments that account for this. If the member nations in the Belt and Road Initiative have favorable conditions in terms of political stability, education, and life expectancy, they will succeed in terms of globalization, international trade, and equality. In addition, the nation should have little foreign debt and less corruption. The last, both Malaysia and Indonesia have positive perception on the BRI and support the country to participate on it.

The advent of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies have pushed user’s expectation for online experience to a new level. Social connections via texts alone can no longer satisfy appetite for the reality of virtual interaction. Subsequently, the metaverse is invented to reimagine the way people work, play, socialize and live online (Xi et al., 2022). Metaverse is “the post-reality universe, a perpetual and persistent multiuser environment merging physical reality with digital virtuality” (Mystakidis, 2022). The speed at which the Metaverse has evolved both in definition (first coined in 1992 by science fiction author Neal Stephenson) and research but also in practice, has been phenomenal. Earlier visions of what the Metaverse would be were limited to gaming (for example, Roblox, Fortnite, Zepeto), and gaming is still considered to be the most popular service in the Metaverse (Shin, 2022), where reality is replicated through the creation of a virtual 3D space including avatars interacting and communicating. This current immersive extended reality is a space where people not only can play, but work, learn, socialize, buy, and much more (Hollensen, Kotler, & Opresnik, 2022). It could be fair to assume that the potential of Metaverse being much more than simply gaming, took off after Mark Zuckerberg’s continuous references to the metaverse throughout 2020 and 2021, and the subsequent change of Facebook’s name to Meta in 2021. By 2026, it is estimated that 25% of people worldwide will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse for digital activities, including shopping, working, entertainment and social interaction (Johnson, 2022).

Digital humans integrating anthropomorphism into the performance and problem-solving features of AI offer innovative sources of insights and value that promotes a product, service, or brand. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a digital human’s aura and anthropomorphism on perceived interactivity, attitude toward a brand, attitude toward a digital human, electronic word of mouth (eWOM) intention, and purchase intention. An entrenched digital human’s aura and anthropomorphism increase perceived interactivity, attitude toward a brand, attitude toward a digital human, eWOM intention, and purchase intention. This study contributes to the literature by clarifying the concept of the digital human’s aura and anthropomorphism and the relationships between perceived interactivity, attitude toward a brand, attitude toward a digital human, eWOM intention, and purchase intention.

A bibliometric analysis, spanning five decades of knowledge is employed with the aim of: (i) assessing core intellectual knowledge of international services research; (ii) examining the contribution of international services marketing to broader research disciplines; and, (iii) estimating forecasting trends for the most promising international services research directions.

Brand resonance plays a crucial role in customer relationship management and the development of brand equity between customers and the brand. Therefore, effective methods for promoting customers’ brand resonance are critical in the hospitality industry for gaining competitive advantages and establishing sustainable management strategies. The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationships among brand coolness, customer inspiration, and brand resonance in the hospitality industry, as well as the mediating influence of customer inspiration. A total of 451 customers from 25 well-known brand restaurants in Taiwan returned questionnaires. These restaurants are recommended by TripAdvisor and had elements of coolness indicated in the customer reviews. Among the 451 participants, 260 (57.6%) were female and 191 (42.4%) were male; 344 (76.3%) were unmarried; 279 (61.9%) had received a college-degree certificate or above; and most were 21 to 30 years old (36.6%). The results revealed that brand coolness positively affected customer inspiration and brand resonance and that customer inspiration positively affected brand resonance. Furthermore, customer inspiration mediated the relationship between brand coolness and brand resonance. The study contributes to the hospitality literature of brand resonance. These findings can apply for the practice of brand management and customer relationship management in the hospitality industry.

Despite being one of the world's largest coffee exporters, Indonesia's coffee output for the international market has recently been dropping. Smallholder coffee growers and their cooperatives faced production challenges due to a lack of market demand knowledge, financial assistance, cultivation and processing equipment, and business practice expertise, according to a case study investigation of these groups. The research then conducted a quantitative survey of 84 international customers from 29 countries and enhanced it by speaking with ambassadors of the Indonesia Trade Promotion Centre in nine different nations. These global players' insights produce helpful information, such as product details, pricing ranges, and quality standards. The results show that for smallholder farmers and cooperatives to fulfil the demands of the global market, relevant commercial actors must assist them. As a result, this study creates a model of the coffee value chain that demonstrates how market demand data motivates cooperatives and smallholder coffee farmers to increase coffee output in a diverse business environment. Marketing might contribute to smallholder farmers' and cooperatives' economic prosperity and well-being by using varied insights from foreign consumers.

This research addresses financial market communication of marketing information (i.e., information related to firms’ organic growth opportunities) through depth interviews (Study 1) and quantitative data on conference calls and stock market reactions (Study 2). The investigation (1) reveals that marketing, despite high potential relevance for financial markets, often plays only a marginal role in firms’ financial market communication and (2) develops a framework for effectively communicating marketing to financial markets.

This research focuses on analyzing the impact of a recommendation system on customer behavior in the e-commerce industry. The study examines the use of big data-driven product recommendations and tailored promotions to enhance customer engagement, conversion rates, and revenue generation. The importance of prioritizing customer engagement in the early stages of the purchasing process is emphasized, and key statistics related to customer behavior in e-commerce are presented. The objective of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of a recommendation system in influencing customer behavior and driving conversions in the e-commerce industry. The research design incorporates a case study analysis of a prominent marketplace in Indonesia. Data was collected from three automation trigger campaigns: browsing abandonment, wishlist/cart abandonment, and purchase reminders. The findings of the research indicate that a recommendation system based on big data has a significant impact on costumer behavior in the e-commerce industry. The research highlights the importance of prioritizing customer engagement and implementing effective recommendation systems to drive conversion rates and revenue in the e-commerce industry.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought significant changes to today’s life. Human contact is regarded as a source of risk. Thus, the low-contact services provided by service robots have gained more attention in the hospitality industry. However, a relatively smaller proportion of empirical research exists about service robots on the consumer side. Moreover, technology acceptance theories were mostly used in the adoption of new technology products, but the psychological aspects of consumers were rarely explored. Therefore, the stimulus- organism-response model (SOR model) was applied to explore consumers’ acceptance of adopting service robots and to understand what factors will successfully stimulate consumers’ subsequent value and behavioral responses. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship among stimulus (coolness and affinity), organism (utilitarian value and hedonic value) and response (intention to use and word-of-mouth recommendation). This study used convenience sampling and tested the hypotheses with SPSS and Smart PLS.

Social media has emerged as a prevalent tool for businesses in recent years through which brands actively engage in promotions. This development has resulted in several social media trends aimed at garnering increased consumer engagement on various social media platforms that brands utilize routinely. We investigate one such prevalent social media trend: brands sharing memes. Several popular brands, such as Netflix, regularly post memes on social media platforms. Therefore, it is important to study the brands’ use of memes and their resultant impact on consumer behavior.

Technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics are emerging as a new way to improve services, readjusting and impacting all business industries and relationships among people (Loureiro et al., 2021; Makridakis, 2017; Mingotto et al., 2020). The hospitality industry is no exception to this (Mingotto et al., 2020) since a quick growth in the use of robots and AI in this industry has registered a turnover of 249 million U.S. dollars (International Federation of Robots, 2021). However, very few of the existing studies highlight the customers’ perspective and sentiments on service robots (Luo et al., 2021) or the robot-human interactions/ customer service experience (Choi et al., 2021). Thus, further studies in the enhancement of human well-being through transhumanistic technologies, close relationship marketing capabilities, and the evolution of the engagement process between humans and AI-enabled machines are necessary (Loureiro et al., 2021). This research intends to understand how different types of robots influence customers’ perception of the service provided. Therefore, the following research questions are proposed; Can humans develop feelings of identification with a service robot? Can the identification that customers perceive between themselves, and service robots be strong enough to influence the creation of a close relationship between both parties? What are the features of service robots that heighten customer well-being?