The interest in the study of organizations’ ambidexterity (i.e., the capacity of combining organizational explorative and exploitative capabilities) entails expectations associated to its conceptual value and practical implications related to high-performing companies and long-term survival. In parallel, it is relevant to understand organizational ambidexterity under the marketing lenses, in particular, looking at the notion of co-creation and service-dominant logic. This study addresses the effects of organizational ambidexterity on organizational co-creation and evaluates whether these dynamics are different in SMEs and Large companies. We further assess how they contribute to the enhancement of firms’ performance. To the endeavor, we develop and empirically test a conceptual model.

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.

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).

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 wellness travel industry faces a curious challenge: it experiences high consumer demand for indigenous experiences while also facing growing accusations of cultural appropriation of authentic practices. According to the Global Wellness Summit (2023), “hyper-indigenous” wellness travel is a global trend for 2023, as travelers seek the source of ancient healing knowledge. However, many of these cultural practices have already spread across national borders like the turmeric latte served in Western retreats or yoga that is practiced globally, leading to an established yoga tourism market (Market Research, 2022). How can these conflicting realities, rooted in the concept of authenticity, be reconciled? This study aims to explore this research question by analyzing two wellness narratives: one that commodifies ingenious practices outside their original borders and another that safeguards them within national and cultural boundaries.

This study addresses the influence that the use of social media for posting travel-related content has on holiday destination choice. The study builds upon the Theory of Conspicuous Behavior and the Theory of Planned Behaviour and aims at understanding whether expected Social Return, referring to the amount of positive feedback that travel posts have on social media, is a determining factor of destination decisions. A model entailing E-Word of Mouth, Social Return, Attitudes, Subjective Norm, Perceived Control and Intention to Visit is proposed and tested with a survey of 177 respondents who had an Instagram account. Data was analyzed using Structured Equation Modelling. The results highlight that Instagram promotes social recognition attributed to e-tourists that share a travel experience considered charming and trendy. Such social recognition is tangibilized by the constructs of e-WOM and social return. The study finds that the intention to visit is impacted by e-WOM, Social Return and Subjective Norm. However, the impact of Attitudes and Perceived Behavioral Control on the Intention to Visit was not supported.

This research aims to assess the current status of online trade relations between Kuwait and Portugal. To do so, we examine how firm managers from Portugal and Kuwait use online platforms to engage customers to enhance firm performance. A set of existing constructs was chosen (Online Experience, Customer Inspiration, Online Customer Engagement, Firm Performance, National Culture), which were included in a proposed model of structural equations, in order to assess the contribution of Online Experience and Customer inspiration to the current status of online trade relations (through Online Customer Engagement), and how these can be improved to the further development of e-commerce between the two countries.

The importance of branding strategies, either in terms of brand architecture or the role of brand heritage, has often been put in the scope for the case of larger businesses. Yet, neither aspect has been explicitly investigated in terms of its role and contribution for smaller wine businesses. Focusing on the case of local family wineries in Crete, Greece, helps us identify links with and applications of both brand architecture and brand heritage literature. Findings suggest that most wineries do not use an umbrella brand to create relevant sub-brands but tend to build upon the house of brands or endorsed brands approach. Furthermore, wineries often refer to place brand heritage but family heritage is usually the cornerstone of their branding efforts. Our conclusions confirm the need to re-develop this body of literature in a way more adequate for small, family-owned wine businesses and enrich family wine businessmen’s understanding on the branding strategies.