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?

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.

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).

Cancel culture is a social media phenomenon that targets someone for bad behavior in a process of public shaming, or, being “cancelled”. I use qualitative analysis methods to identify elements of cancel culture’s narrative, and how cancel culture is representative of the end of a parasocial relationship.

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.

Social networking sites (SNS) is an image-oriented sharing platform and can form social relationships among users. This allows individuals to create and share the contents which include their stories, ideas, reviews, opinions, and evaluations, etc. Consumers who sympathize with and trust these contents will follow them and form the relationships. Contents created and shared by individual users is more effective than advertisements delivered by brands in generating electronic word of mouth (e-WOM). Accordingly, opinion leaders and influencers who influence potential customers based on their opinions and style related contents have emerged in various fields such as health, fitness, fashion, beauty, food, and high-tech.

In the new digital age, the emergence of user-generated content enables consumers to enjoy greater freedom and control over their behavior on the internet and assume more active roles in sharing brand-related information with others. This research examines the role of brand engagement on consumer psychological ownership, purchase intention, electronic word of mouth (eWOM), and consumers’ willingness to defend the brand on social media. The findings provide evidence of consumer psychological process to demonstrate that companies can use social media to engage with consumers, so consumers are likely to spread positive WOM and be protective of the brand. It is important for marketing managers to assess the level of brand engagement on social media sites and develop tools and techniques to increase consumers’ participation such as using subliminal priming on brand image, with an aim to create a close consumer brand relationship.

The present study compared the effectiveness of virtual influencers (VIs) to human influencers through the theoretical lens of the uncanny valley and parasocial relationship using an online experiment. Specifically, we posited that highly humanlike VIs may evoke the feeling of the uncanny valley, as compared to human influencers or cartoonlike influencers, which, in turn, would act as a psychological barrier to building a parasocial relationship with the specific type of virtual influencer and decrease advertising attitude. The results indicated that people do feel the uncanniness from both highly humanlike and cartoonish influencers as compared to human influencers. This particular psychological experience negatively influenced the parasocial relationship, which, in turn, negatively affected the attitude toward a social media advertisement featuring the VIs. However, importantly, this effect was moderated by individual differences in anthropomorphism. This is one of the first studies that directly compared the effectiveness of different types of social media influencers in a rigorously designed experimental setting and expands the previous research on Vis, uncanny valley, and parasocial relationship. Both theoretical and managerial contributions of the study were discussed.

The sharing economy claims for research on its particularities and implications for management. This paper explores the way hosts of Peer-to-Peer Accommodation (P2P) develop relationship marketing with their guests and how it influences the business. The researchers conducted 30 semi-structured interviews to hosts of Airbnb, in order to obtain their perspective on the importance and application of relationship marketing in this context. Hosts with a B2C and a C2C business perspective were interviewed, and cultural differences in the relationship approach were also considered. The results show that the hosts are aware of the importance of interactions and personal contact with guests. Different results were identified depending on the type of business, accommodation, the culture and nationality of guests. Findings show that relationship marketing is highly explored in P2P sharing accommodation, exploring the interactivity of digital platforms to deepen those relationships.

Drawing from the uses and gratification theory (UGT), the study intends to investigate audiences’ motivation to watch Livestream and its influence on subscription and donation. The roles of viewers’ parasocial relationships and identification with live streamers were also examined. The results also indicate the presence of a mediation effect.

In response to the increasing deployment of brand chatbots in the service sector, this study developed a conceptual framework to examine the psychological processes through which brand chatbots contribute to relationship building efforts. A 2 (interactivity: high vs. low) X 2 (anthropomorphic conversation style: warm vs. competent) between-subject design was conducted in the context of the coffee service business. The levels of interactivity in the chatbots were operationalized by altering the subdimensions of interactivity: modality (i.e., media richness, response latency), message (i.e., interdependency in message exchanges), and source (i.e., customization of content flow). Different linguistic elements (e.g., terms of address, vocabulary, punctuation, emoticons) were used to construct two sets of scripts that emphasized either warmth or competence of the chatbots. Based on the results of the pretests, four brand chatbots via Facebook Messenger were developed using the platform provided by GoSky AI Inc.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how customer relationship termination (i.e., preparation and process), alone or in combination with customer involvement, contributes to the new product development outcome. While termination preparation has a synergistic effect with customer involvement, the termination process has a trade-off relationship with customer involvement.

Emojis have become an important element in human-chatbot interaction to communicate emotion. In addition to facilitating emotional communication, emojis are able to engage consumers, enhance relationship strength and influence consumer behavioural intention. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the use of emojis affects customer-chatbot rapport and purchase intention in the consumption context.

This study is to identify the maintenance service quality of eco-friendly cars, which are rapidly increasing recently. Research is conducted by synthesizing research from the perspectives of internal employees and external customers by using the service profit chain model. Specifically, it is to study the overall structural relationship between internal customer satisfaction, physical quality, interaction quality, outcome quality, external customer satisfaction and long-term orientation. For the study, 202 questionnaires were collected from internal employees and 204 questionnaires from external customers. The results of testing the research hypotheses targeting the internal employee group are as follows. As a result of testing hypothesis 1, internal customer satisfaction has a significant positive (+) effect on physical quality and interaction quality. As a result of testing hypothesis 2, the service quality of eco-friendly car maintenance has a significant positive (+) effect on each other. As a result of testing hypothesis 3, physical quality and outcome quality have a significant positive (+) effect on external customer satisfaction. The results of testing the research hypotheses targeting an external customer group are as follows. As a result of testing hypothesis 2, in the relationship between eco-friendly car maintenance service quality, physical quality has a significant positive (+) effect on interaction quality, and interaction quality has a significant positive (+) effect on outcome quality. As a result of testing hypothesis 3, interaction quality and outcome quality have a significant positive (+) effect on external customer satisfaction. As a result of testing Hypothesis 4, external customer satisfaction has a significant positive (+) effect only on intention to reuse. Finally, as a result of examining the difference in perception between the internal employee group and the external customer group in eco-friendly car maintenance service quality and external customer satisfaction, it was verified that there was a significant difference only in outcome quality and external customer satisfaction.

This study investigated the role of competition in academic settings by conceptualizing competitive engagement and examining how competition self-efficacy defined as confidence in one’s ability to outperform others could mediate learner engagement and self-determination to learn English as a foreign language (EFL). Within the context of a videoconference EFL course, a cross-sectional research design was employed during the fourth semester of remote teaching in South Korea due to COVID-19. Statistically significant relationships existed among variables. Students reported high levels of cognitive and behavioral engagement but low levels of competitive engagement. Through structural modeling, competitive engagement emerged as a conceptually unique form of engagement. The relationship between competitive engagement and selfdetermination to learn English when attending an EFL videoconference course was fully mediated by competition self-efficacy. Partial mediation was observed in the relationship between cognitive engagement and self-determination. These findings suggest that both competitive and cognitive engagement are powerful indicators of learning outcomes, especially when learning EFL.

Small ponds, which exhibit unstable succession pattern of plankton community, are less well studied than large lakes. Recently, the importance of small ponds for local biodiversity conservation has highlighted the necessity of understanding the dynamics of biological community. In the present study, we collected zooplankton from three small reservoirs with monthly basis and analyzed their seasonal dynamics. To understand the complicated zooplankton community dynamics of small reservoirs, we categorized zooplankton species into four groups (LALF Group, Low Abundance Low Frequency; LAHF Group, Low Abundance High Frequency; HALF Group, High Abundance Low Frequency; HAHF Group, High Abundance High Frequency) based on their occurrence pattern (abundance and frequency). We compared the seasonal pattern of each group, and estimated community diversity based on temporal beta diversity contribution of each group. The result revealed that there is a relationship between groups with the same abundance but different occurrence frequencies, and copepod nauplii are common important component for both abundance and frequency. On the other hand, species included with LALF Group throughout the study period are key in terms of monthly succession and diversity. LALF Group includes Anuraeopsis fissa, Hexarthra mira and Lecane luna. However, groups containing species that only occur at certain times of the year and dominate the waterbody, HALF Group, hindered to temporal diversity. The results of this study suggest that the species-specific occurrence pattern is one key trait of species determining its contribution to total annual biodiversity of given community.

Ensuring the safe arrival of delivery cargo at its intended destination is of utmost importance. Truck drivers play a crucial role in guaranteeing the secure delivery of cargo without any mishaps. However, there are various factors that may lead to delayed arrival of trucks at their destination, such as late departures or prolonged loading operations. The timely departure of cargo transportation is contingent upon several variables, including the driver's experience, cargo volume, and loading time. If the transportation commencement is delayed, it may increase the risk of accidents due to an elevated operating speed. Consequently, we conducted a study to investigate the correlation between cargo loading time, cargo volume, driving experience, and the likelihood of accidents. Our findings indicate that both cargo volume and driver experience can impact the likelihood of vehicle accidents. Furthermore, all factors can have an interactive effect on the occurrence of accidents. However, extending the loading time may mitigate the impact on the likelihood of accidents.

스타트업은 10명 내외의 직원으로 구성되고 빠른 업무 진행을 위해 CEO와 직접 소통하는 경우가 많다. 또한, 직원 대부분이 소규모 공간에서 근무하기 때문에 모든 직원의 행동을 관찰할 수 있는 특성을 가지 고 있다. 이러한 환경은 CEO가 자신보다 어느 직원과 더 친밀한 관계를 형성하고 있는지 비교할 수 있는 데, 사회적 비교가 어떤 메커니즘을 통해 직원 행동에 영향을 미치는지에 대한 연구는 아직 초기에 머물 러 있다. Vidyarthi 등(2010)은 리더-멤버 교환관계의 사회적 비교(LMXSC)가 조직시민행동에 영향을 준다는 것을 밝히면서 LMXSC와 조직시민행동 간 메커니즘을 밝히는 것이 필요하다고 하였다. 이에 본 연 구는 사회 정체성 이론을 결합하여 LMXSC가 조직시민행동에 영향을 미치는 과정에서 자존감과 조직 동일시가 다중 직렬 매개 역할을 하는지 확인하고자 하였다. 연구 결과 첫째, LMXSC는 조직시민행동에 정적인 효과를 가지며, 자존감과 조직 동일시는 LMXSC와 조직시민행동 사이를 매개하였다. 둘째, 다중 직렬 매개 분석 결과 LMXSC와 조직시민행동 사이에 자존 감과 조직 동일시가 순차적으로 매개하는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 LMXSC가 높은 직원은 자존감이 형성되고, 이는 조직 동일시를 거쳐 조직시민행동에 영향을 준다는 점을 밝힘으로써 창업자가 직원과 관 계를 맺을 때 고려해야 할 점과 인사 실무에서 직원 리더십 관리 및 개발, 정서 관리, 자발적 긍정 행동 증대에 필요한 인사이트를 제공한다.

지난 20년간에 걸쳐 유머 경영은 효과적인 경영전략 기법으로 간주되고 있으며, 유머 경영의 실천적 방안 중 하나인 상사 유머는 부하직원의 태도, 행동에 바람직한 효과를 발휘한다는 결과가 제시되고 있다. 하지만 상사 유머를 설명하는 이론들, 상사 유머의 효과 연구 등에서 상사 유머의 혼재된 결과가 나타나 고 있다. 이러한 논쟁을 해소하기 위하여 상사 유머에 부하직원이 반응하는 데 있어 제한적 조건 (boundary condition)을 고려할 필요가 있다. 본 연구는 수평적인 조직문화가 확산되고 있다는 측면과 더 불어 상사 유머를 하향식 의사소통 방식으로, 부하직원의 발언 행동을 상향식 의사소통 방식으로 보고 상사의 관점을 수용하기 위해서는 개인이 인식하고 있는 권력거리가 중요한 제한적 조건이라고 판단하였다. 이에 권력거리를 낮게 인식할수록 상사의 유머 관점을 쉽게 수용하게 되면서 부하직원은 발언 행동을 증가시킬 수 있지만 권력거리를 높게 인식할수록 상사의 유머 관점을 수용하기 어려워지면서 부하직원은 발언 행동을 감소시킬 수 있다고 보았다. 국내 기업에 종사하는 220명 중간 관리자급을 대상으로 한 연구 결과를 보면 다음과 같다. 상사 유머와 발언 행동 간의 관계에서 권력거리는 조절 효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 구체적으로 권력거리를 낮게 인식할수록 상사 유머는 발언 행동에 정적인 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났지만, 권력거리를 높게 인식할수록 상사 유머는 발언 행동에 부적인 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다. 이상의 결과를 바탕으로 본 연구는 관점수용이론을 토대로 상사 유머의 효과에 대한 제한적 조건 연구 분야를 확장하는 데 기여하고 실무적으로 리더에 의하여 발현되는 하향식 의사소통인 상사 유머와 부하 직원에 의하여 발현되는 상향식 의사소통인 발언 행동 간의 관계에서 권력거리의 인식이 중요한 성향적 조절 효과가 있다는 결과를 제시함으로써 조직 내 의사소통에 유용한 시사점을 제시하고자 하였다.

본 연구에서는 컴퓨터 교육에 참여하는 대학생들의 학습 참 여 동기와 진로의사 결정 성향이 진로준비행동에 미치는 영향 및 진로의사 결정 성향의 매개효과를 규명하는 데 있었다. 아 울러 연구결과를 바탕으로 대학생의 진로준비행동 증진 향상을 위해 방향을 제시하고자 하였다. 본 논문의 연구대상은 중국 랴오닝성 S시(遼寧省S市)에 소재학습참여한 대학생이며, 설문 조사를 실시하였다. 수집한 설문지 응답 자료는 SPSS 21.0 프 로그램을 사용하여 기술 통계분석, 빈도분석, 신뢰도와 타당도 요인분석, 다중회귀 분석, 상관관계 분석 등을 실시하였다. 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 학습 참여 동기가 진로준비행동에 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 학습 참여 동기 가 진로의사 결정 성향에 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 확인 되었다. 셋째, 진로의사 결정 성향은 진로준비행동에 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 넷째, 학습 참여 동기와 진로 준비행동의 관계에서 진로의사 결정 성향의 매개효과가 전체적 으로 나타났으며, 진로의사 결정 성향은 부분 매개 작용을 하 는 것으로 밝혀져 채택되었다. 이와 같은 연구결과는 대학생들 의 학습 참여 동기 및 진로의사 결정 성향는 진로준비행동에 중요하다는 것을 알 수 있다.