Issue #4 (Volume 22 2026)

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
The rapid growth of online shopping, coupled with the increasing demand for flexible parcel collection, has promoted parcel locker services (PLKS) as an effective last-mile logistics solution. This study examines the extended role of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) within an integrated TAM-TPB framework in explaining consumers’ intention to use PLKS. A questionnaire survey was conducted primarily in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, between November and December 2025. The analysis was based on 362 valid responses from online shoppers who had not previously used PLKS. PLS-SEM was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings reveal that eWOM has a positive and statistically significant association with the core components of TPB, particularly attitude (β = 0.569; p = 0.000) and perceived behavioral control (β = 0.582; p = 0.000). Attitude was identified as the strongest predictor of intention to use parcel locker services (β = 0.491; p = 0.000). Furthermore, eWOM was positively associated with intention to use both directly and indirectly through the statistically significant mediating roles of attitude (β = 0.28; p = 0.000) and Perceived Behavioral Control (β = 0.083; p = 0.000). However, the results do not support the mediating role of subjective norms in the relationship between eWOM and intention to use (β = 0.024; p = 0.073). The findings offer managerial implications for locker service providers, highlighting the importance of investing in digital communication strategies, fostering positive customer reviews and feedback, and ensuring transparent and accessible service information to strengthen consumers’ adoption intentions.

Acknowledgments
The authors received no financial support or external funding for conducting this research or preparing the manuscript. All analyses and interpretations were carried out independently by the authors.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Collaborative consumption (CC) has become an important alternative to ownership-based consumption models, particularly in emerging economies where digital platforms may expand access to goods and services. Although prior research has examined initial adoption, less is known about factors associated with users’ intention to remain engaged beyond first use. This study analyzes committed participation intention in CC among urban adult consumers in Peru. In line with the empirical design, committed participation intention is operationalized through two indicators, intention to continue participating and intention to recommend CC initiatives. Data were collected in 2019, during an early consolidation stage of CC in Peru, through a face-to-face structured survey of 2,050 adults aged 18 to 64 residing in 28 cities across the country’s five macro-regions. Two-stage cluster analysis first identified three committed participation intention segments, high, moderate, and low. Bivariate analyses were then used to profile these segments, while multinomial logistic regression was estimated as the main multivariate analysis to examine the associations between personal values, sociodemographic characteristics, and segment membership. The findings show that membership in higher committed participation intention segments was mainly associated with greater relative Openness to change over Conservation. The Self-transcendence–Self-enhancement value dimension showed a more complex and less consistent pattern. Among sociodemographic characteristics, generation and educational level remained relevant in the multivariate model, whereas other variables showed mainly bivariate or non-robust associations. The study contributes to CC literature by distinguishing committed participation intention from initial adoption and providing empirical evidence from Peru as a Latin American emerging economy.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Environmental, social, and governance disclosure is increasingly used as a strategic communication tool, yet its immediate marketing consequences remain unclear in emerging markets. The study evaluates the marketing implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure by testing the relationship between the disclosure and value based competitive advantage through its impact on sales growth. A total of 30 Jordanian industrial firms were selected during the time frame (2019-2023) for analysis, yielding 150 firm-year data. ESG disclosure is computed as the arithmetic mean of the disclosure ratios of environmental, social and governance data, and value-based competitive advantage is calculated as return on invested capital minus the weighted average cost of capital. The panel regression results show that ESG disclosure has a positive but statistically insignificant effect on value-based competitive advantage (coefficient = 0.340; standard error = 0.299) and sales growth (coefficient = 13.159; standard error = 23.899). After including value-based competitive advantage in the sales-growth model, its coefficient remains positive but statistically insignificant (coefficient = 29.675; standard error = 19.160). The estimated indirect effect is 10.102, with a 95% bootstrap confidence interval ranging from −8.441 to 23.688, indicating that the mediating effect is not statistically supported. The environmental, social, and governance dimensions are also statistically insignificant. The results suggest that during the period of study this ESG disclosure was not associated with an immediate increase in sales via the proposed value-based channel. The study makes a contribution by exploring a marketing-oriented ESG pathway in an emerging industrial market, and by differentiating between the anticipated strategic gains of sustainability disclosure and the actual observed market impacts of ESG disclosure.

Acknowledgment
This research was funded through the annual funding track by the Deanship of Scientific Research, from the Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia [Grant No. KFU265261].

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
In the era of rapid digital evolution, navigating the digital paradox remains a critical challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking to convert technological capabilities into commercial outcomes. This study examines the relationships between empathetic and flexible leadership behaviors, digital transformation, and marketing performance through the mediating mechanism of marketing process innovation under varying levels of competitive intensity within female-led SMEs. A cross-sectional survey was administered from May to August 2025 to 265 female enterprise owners and senior executives of registered female-led SMEs in Vietnam, recruited via a structured purposive sampling design. Applying Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the empirical findings indicate that empathetic and flexible leadership behaviors and digital transformation are significantly associated with marketing process innovation, with leadership behaviors demonstrating the strongest direct relationship (β = 0.376, p < 0.001). Furthermore, marketing process innovation partially mediates the relationship between digital transformation and marketing performance (indirect effect β = 0.103, p < 0.001; total indirect effect of the system confirms structural transmission), while competitive intensity positively moderates the relationship between marketing process innovation and marketing performance (β = 0.104, p < 0.05). Complementary fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) reveals that high marketing performance is achieved through the configurational alignment of leadership behaviors, digital maturity, and process innovation in highly competitive settings. These findings highlight the strategic value of integrating behavioral adaptability with digital initiatives to optimize marketing processes in female-led enterprises.

Type of the article: Research Article

 Abstract
The growing pressure on tourism systems caused by overtourism, environmental degradation, and uneven spatial distribu-tion of tourist flows highlights the need for adaptive and sustainability-oriented management approaches. This study develops and tests an AI-driven eco-routing and tourist behavior modelling framework (ER-TBM) as a choice-architecture tool for sustainable destination marketing. The framework combines a fixed graph representation of a synthetic destination, Markov decision states, tabular Q-learning, and congestion-sensitive recommendations. To address reproducibility, the benchmark specifies ten points of interest, 22 undirected edges, all edge attributes, tourist preference and fatigue distributions, Poisson arrivals, recommendation compliance, congestion and emission functions, training settings, stopping rules, and random seeds. Five baselines and ER-TBM were evaluated under normal, peak, and event-demand conditions using 30 paired independent runs per scenario with 120, 180, and 240 agents, respectively. Relative to Dijkstra routing, ER-TBM reduced mean congestion exposure by 5.1-5.3% and increased tourist utility by 0.6-0.7%, while mean CO2 remained statistically indistinguishable and monetary route cost was 9.4-9.8% higher. The simulation-based Tourism Sustainability Index ranged from 0.712 to 0.732 for ER-TBM and did not show practically meaningful superiority over optimized baselines. The findings indicate that behavior-aware eco-routing can redistribute simulated visitor flows without a statistically significant increase in emissions, although this benefit is accompanied by higher monetary route costs. From a sustainable destination marketing perspective, the proposed framework represents a computational choice-architecture proposition. Its potential to influence actual tourist behavior, recommendation acceptance, destination image, satisfaction, and revisit intention requires further field-based validation.

Acknowledgment
The research was conducted within the framework of the prospective development plan for the scientific field “Social Sci-ences” No. BF/25-2026 on the topic “Formation of a Competitive Development Model for the Ukrainian Economy: Human Capital, Financial Stability, and the Development of Innovative Industries amid War-Related Challenges and the Emergence of the Sixth Technological Paradigm”.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Omnichannel research emphasizes channel integration but gives limited attention to how customers maintain experiential continuity across digital and physical touchpoints. This study examines hybrid-experience fluency as a customer-side mechanism linking omnichannel system conditions to customer outcomes. Data from 575 consumers in Indonesia who recently completed a shopping episode involving the same retailer’s digital platform and physical store were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The sample covered grocery, fashion, electronics, and home goods. Channel transition smoothness (β = 0.311), cognitive load management (β = 0.281), and temporal synchronicity (β = 0.370) positively influenced hybrid-experience fluency, whereas technological friction negatively influenced it (β = −0.227; all p < 0.001). Hybrid-experience fluency positively influenced customer satisfaction (β = 0.408), behavioral intentions (β = 0.670), and brand loyalty (β = 0.638; all p < 0.001). Shopping involvement weakened the relationship between hybrid-experience fluency and customer satisfaction (β = −0.145, p < 0.001), but strengthened its relationships with behavioral intentions (β = 0.052, p = 0.006) and brand loyalty (β = 0.061, p = 0.007). These findings position hybrid-experience fluency as an experiential mechanism connecting omnichannel system conditions with customer responses and demonstrate that shopping involvement shapes these relationships differently. The study extends omnichannel research beyond structural integration by highlighting customers’ capacity to sustain experiential continuity within hybrid shopping episodes. For retailers, the findings emphasize smoother channel transitions, reduced cognitive demands and technological friction, and synchronized interactions across digital and physical channels to improve customer satisfaction, behavioral intentions, and brand loyalty.

Acknowledgment
The authors express gratitude to the Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Pelita Harapan Tangerang, Indonesia, for supporting this research.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Sustainability transitions are a strategic imperative for SMEs in emerging economies, where institutional and resource constraints limit the direct translation of environmental strategies into performance outcomes. This study explores how green marketing and eco-innovation are associated with business performance through competitive advantage. Data were collected through a quantitative cross-sectional survey, yielding 474 valid questionnaires from owners, managers, and specialists of Vietnamese SMEs in the consumer goods sector. Environmental regulation strengthens the green marketing–competitive advantage relationship, and customer green awareness and market dynamics positively moderate the competitive advantage–performance relationship. The findings showed positive associations of eco-innovation (β = .597, p < .001) and green marketing (β = .230, p < .001) with competitive advantage, which was positively associated with business performance (β = .461, p < .001). The corresponding indirect effects through competitive advantage were significant (β = .275 and .106, respectively; both p < .001), while environmental regulation (β = .164), customer green awareness (β = .083), and market dynamics (β = .091) showed positive moderating effects. The cross-sectional design, non-probability sampling, and industry-specific focus may limit this study’s scope and generalizability in broader contexts. This study advances the sustainability and strategic management literature by providing a mechanism-based account of how environmental strategy, when extended from the Natural Resource-Based View and translated into competitive positioning, generates economic gains for SMEs in resource-constrained emerging economies.

Acknowledgments
This article was developed from a university-level scientific research project conducted in 2026 at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law.