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While prior authors have explored the notions of human and/or automated social presence, these concepts have been predominantly assessed either individually or as mutually exclusive theoretical entities. However, we draw on engaged theory to develop the hybrid concept of phygital social presence that comprises aspects of both the human and automated social presence of metaverse avatars. We define phygital social presence as the degree to which a metaverse avatar instils the feeling in other users that they are in the company of a social entity, as elicited by the avatar's (a) human social presence (i.e., the actions taken by its human user, in line with engaged theory's “ways of acting”), and (b) automated social presence (i.e., the avatar's embodiment or its appearance, look, design, and the character that these emit, in line with engaged theory's “ways of being”). We next propose a conceptual framework and a set of propositions, which suggest that metaverse avatars' (a) human social presence primarily impacts metaverse users' positive or negative behavioral engagement in the metaverse, and (b) automated social presence chiefly influences users' positive or negative cognitive and emotional engagement. Moreover, an avatar's ways of relating, as also informed by engaged theory, primarily impact users' positive or negative social engagement.

This study is the first to disentangle influencer- and brand engagement and to explore their interplay in shaping consumer purchases, while considering the mediating role of the strength of parasocial relationships (PSRs) between consumers and influencers. The results reveal that while influencer- and brand engagement independently enhance purchases, high brand engagement can diminish influencer engagement's purchase-enhancing effect through weakened PSRs (representing a "reverse vampire effect"). This negative interplay between influencer- and brand engagement is particularly prominent among the followers of mega influencers, who have millions of followers. High brand engagement can weaken PSRs, particularly with mega influencers, as they may be viewed as manipulative. This research thus provides novel insights into influencer marketing effectiveness, emphasizing the role of PSRs and the need to exercise caution in influencer-brand collaborations, particularly with mega influencers. Overall, this study provides a more realistic understanding of the trade-offs between the benefits and risks of influencer marketing.

Purpose: Masstige (mass-produced and affordable luxury) goods are receiving increasing literature-based attention. However, despite existing advances, insight into how different cultural backgrounds shape consumer perceptions, attitudes and behaviors toward masstige goods remains tenuous. Correspondingly, this study aims to examine the association of masstige luxury with customers’ love for and brand engagement with masstige products across cultures.

Design/methodology/approach: This study used a sample comprising 342 Indian and 354 Canadian masstige customers. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

Findings: The results corroborate brand prestige and identification as key antecedents to customers’ love for masstige brands, which in turn impact their brand engagement. Surprisingly, the authors find that the effects of brand prestige and brand identification on brand love and customer brand engagement do not significantly differ between Indian and Canadian customers. However, the positive effect of brand identification and brand love on customer brand engagement is stronger for Indian customers than for Canadian customers.

Research limitations/implications: This study addresses an important literature-based gap in understanding how cultural backgrounds shape consumer perceptions of masstige brands. It offers key theoretical and practical implications for masstige marketing.

Practical implications: Identifying differential effects among Indian and Canadian customers provides a foundation for tailoring marketing approaches in the masstige sector.

Originality/value: This study addresses a critical literature-based gap in understanding how cultural backgrounds shape consumer perceptions of masstige brands, offering key theoretical and practical implications for masstige marketing.

The pervasive use of smartphones has increased consumers’ exposure to push notifications from mobile apps, which – while potentially beneficial at moderate levels – can compromise wellbeing at excessive levels (e.g., by instigating addiction). We conducted two studies to explore the impact of push notifications on smartphone addiction and its subsequent effect on consumer wellbeing, as mediated by consumer engagement. Study 1 investigates the relationship between push notifications and smartphone addiction and assesses whether engagement-based contributing (vs. consuming) behavior mitigates the adverse effect on well-being. The findings indicate that though push notifications are conducive to addiction, consumers’ active content contributions significantly enhance wellbeing by counteracting these negative effects. Study 2 builds on Study 1 by distinguishing the effects of consumer engagement based on app type (hedonic vs. utilitarian). The results show that consumers’ content-related contributing (consuming) behavior is more beneficial for hedonic (utilitarian) apps, respectively. Based on the results, we identify strategies through which consumer engagement can buffer the detrimental effects of smartphone addiction on consumer wellbeing.

As an integration of cutting-edge digital technologies, the metaverse is set to revolutionize online retailing. This study employed a well-established metaverse automotive retailing platform in China to explore the paths influencing consumers' purchase intention when shopping in the metaverse. We adopted structural equation modeling to analyze the data obtained from 348 respondents who were planning to shop for a new car in the metaverse in China. The findings showed that the perceived social presence of others positively influences consumers’ purchase intention, as mediated by their metaverse identification. Moreover, consumer stickiness and the accompaniment of friends were found to positively moderate the effect of perceived social presence on metaverse identification in metaverse retailing. Likewise, product type positively moderated the effect of metaverse identification on purchase intention. Specifically, when consumers intended to purchase environmentally-friendly (vs. unfriendly) vehicles, a stronger positive impact of metaverse identification on purchase intention was observed. The results provide valuable insight for metaverse retailers.

Despite important research advances in the areas of family firm ownership, social capital, and bribe payments, their three-way theoretical and empirical relationship remains unexplored. To address this gap in the literature we use a sample of 13,639 firms from 25 developing countries and examine whether and how social capital moderates the association between family firm ownership and bribe payments. The results show that greater family ownership is associated with a higher proportion of sales paid in bribes. Consistent with our expectations, country-level social capital moderates this relationship. As country-level social capital increases, the positive impact of family ownership falls and after a certain threshold the relationship between family ownership and bribe payments becomes negative. Social capital also moderates the relationship between family involvement in key managerial positions and bribe payments. Finally, the results show that the moderating role of social capital is facilitated by its components of social and civil participation, personal and family relationships, and social networks; however, the components of interpersonal and institutional trust do not appear to play a moderating role.

This study examines key reasons (for and against) that influence business-to-business (B2B) managers’ intention to adopt generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). We also investigate how GenAI adoption influences firm performance, along with the moderating effect of ethical leadership. Study 1 undertakes a series of in-depth interviews, yielding a set of hypotheses that are tested in Study 2. A total of 277 responses was collected from respondents in the USA, the UK, Canada, India, Australia, Malaysia, and Japan to test the proposed model using structural equation modeling. The findings highlight that need for uniqueness, information completeness, convenience, and deceptiveness significantly impact GenAI adoption. The results also highlight that GenAI adoption boosts firm performance. Finally, ethical leadership was found to moderate the effect of GenAI adoption on firm performance. This study enriches the GenAI, technology adoption, and behavioral reasoning theory literatures while also providing pertinent insights for firms intending to adopt GenAI.

By strategically cultivating customers’ engagement, Customer Engagement Marketing (CEM) boosts the firm's relationships with its customers. However, CEM's isolated customer focus overlooks the importance of cultivating other firm stakeholders’ (e.g., employees’ or suppliers’) engagement with the firm, exposing a pertinent gap in the literature. Addressing this gap, we conceptualize Responsible Stakeholder Engagement Marketing (RSEM) as a theoretical sub-set of the broader corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept. We define RSEM as a firm's deliberate strategic effort to stimulate and empower its stakeholders to make responsible contributions to the firm, other stakeholders, and the environment. We also develop a framework and an associated set of propositions that are informed by stakeholder theory, which suggest that a firm's internal (vs. specific external) stakeholders’ need for the firm's social responsibility differentially affects its instrumental, compliant and moral RSEM strategy, thereby uniquely impacting (a) its stakeholders’ contributions to the firm, other stakeholders, and the environment, and (b) the firm's triple bottom-line performance. We conclude by discussing key implications that arise from our analyses.

Prior research typically models consumer engagement as a multidimensional (cognitive, affective and behavioural) construct, limiting insight into the effects of affective engagement (AE) on consumer behavior. Addressing this gap, we take a social exchange theory perspective to explore the effect of AE on consumers' willingness to disclose their personal data on social media (i.e., reciprocal exchange). Our PLS-SEM results of three studies suggest that AE boosts consumers' willingness to disclose their basic factual personal data (e.g., their full name/email address) on social media directly and as mediated by their willingness to disclose their data in online purchasing (i.e., negotiated exchange; Study 1). The findings also indicate that AE raises consumers' willingness to disclose additional personal information on social media (i.e., about their donation to a charity) both directly and as mediated by their willingness to disclose their personal data in online purchasing (Study 2). Finally, the results reveal that AE directly and indirectly impacts consumers' actual personal data disclosure behavior on social media (Study 3). Overall, AE emerges as a critical determinant of consumers' online intentions and behavior, suggesting its strategic importance for relationship marketing and customer relationship management.

Drawing on the extended model of goal-directed behaviour, we test a framework that examines the impact of tourists’ perceived travel-related risk and their desire to travel on their travel engagement post-the pandemic, which is in turn predicted to impact their subjective wellbeing and site revisit intent (i.e. exposing travel engagement’s mediating role in these associations). Moreover, we suggest that tourists’ emotion regulation (i.e. emotion reappraisal/suppression) moderates the association of their perceived risk and their desire to travel, and of their perceived risk and travel engagement, respectively. To explore these issues, we adopt a mixed-method approach comprising symmetric partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and asymmetric fuzzy-set-qualitative-comparative-analysis (fsQCA). The PLS-SEM results indicate that tourists’ (i) perceived travel risk negatively affects their travel engagement, (ii) desire to travel positively affects their travel engagement, (iii) travel engagement raises their subjective wellbeing and site revisit intent, and (iv) travel engagement mediates, while emotion regulation moderates, the proposed associations. Finally, the fsQCA findings suggest that while tourists’ desire to travel acts as a core condition for their subjective wellbeing, their travel engagement represents a core condition for their site revisit intent.