Issue #2 (Volume 22 2026)

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study investigates the influence of Korean popular (K-pop) music values on behavioral intentions toward tourism, positing emotional involvement and referential reflection as mediating variables. Utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), data were analyzed from a sample of 153 Indonesian K-pop fans aged 18 to 50. Data were collected between January and April 2025 via questionnaire, adhering to strict ethical protocols regarding informed consent and confidentiality. The results indicate that four dimensions of K-pop music values —character-visual, imitation-attachment, message-vocal, and idol-aesthetic — exert significant positive effects on tourism behavioral intention through the mechanisms of emotional involvement and referential reflection. Path analysis reveals a sequential process: first, the four K-pop value measures significantly enhance both emotional involvement and referential reflection; second, these mediators positively influence behavioral intention; and third, this intention manifests in four specific tourism-related attitudes, namely familiarity with Korean culture, shopping and travel intentions, interest in Korean cuisine, and motivation to learn the Korean language. Collectively, these findings validate the mediating roles of emotional involvement and referential reflection in translating music values into tourism behavioral intentions.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Direct-to-consumer brands bypass the traditional distribution channel and directly market their products to their target consumers through the internet. In recent years, direct-to-consumer brands have become the preferred choice for Gen Y and Gen Z consumers during online shopping. This study aims to investigate the impact of online ratings and reviews, recommendations, and brand awareness on customer attitudes and brand trust towards direct-to-consumer brands, as well as the roles of brand trust and brand attitude in influencing the purchase intentions of Gen Z and Gen Y in India. This study employed a cross-sectional and quantitative research design, and primary data were collected from Indian Gen Z and Gen Y consumers who frequently purchase food from DTC brands online, providing relevant insights into the buying behavior of DTC brands. Self-administered questionnaire was designed and circulated online via email and LinkedIn platform. Data were collected from 8 December 2024 to 8 January 2025 in Bhubaneswar, a smart city in India. Furthermore, out of the 300 distributed questionnaires, 214 correctly filled questionnaires are considered for further data analysis. This study adopted Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling for data analysis. The study’s findings suggest that review and ratings (β = 0.124, p < 0.05), recommendations (β = 0.276, p < 0.001), and brand awareness (β = 0.475, p < 0.001) all contribute to building brand trust. Further recommendations (β = 0.298, p < 0.001), brand awareness (β = 0.475, p < 0.001), and review and ratings (β = 0.115, p < 0.05) all have a positive influence on brand attitude. Furthermore, attitude (β = 0.710, p < 0.001) and brand trust (β = 0.178, p < 0.05) significantly influenced purchase intention. The findings of this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge on DTC brand buying behavior of Gen Z and Gen Y. This study also offers valuable insights for direct-to-consumer brand managers seeking to enhance the engagement and conversion rates of Gen Z and Gen Y consumers.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Understanding how digital marketing campaigns translate into online purchase decisions remains a critical issue in rapidly growing e-commerce markets. This study explores how digital marketing campaigns translate into online purchase decision by testing a moderated mediation model in which purchase intention serves as a mediator and brand recall functions as a moderator in e-commerce. A two-wave survey design was employed, with data collected at two different time points separated by a time interval, in order to mitigate common method bias and strengthen causal inference. A two-wave survey was conducted among 297 online consumers aged 18 years and above who had prior experience with major e-commerce platforms in Vietnam. Data were collected via structured online questionnaires using a convenience sampling approach and analyzed with R statistical packages to test the proposed relationships. The empirical results indicate that digital marketing campaigns have a significant positive effect on purchase decisions, with purchase intention serving as a key mediating mechanism (β = 0.120, 95% CI [0.058, 0.195], p = 0.001). Besides, the total effect of digital marketing campaigns on purchase decisions was found to be significant (β = 0.485, 95% CI [0.384, 0.596], p < 0.001). The moderated mediation analysis further shows that the indirect effect remains positive across levels of brand recall but is strongest and statistically significant at low levels of brand recall, while gradually weakening and becoming statistically insignificant at higher levels, declining from 0.090 at −2 SD to 0.020 at +2 SD. These findings suggest that when brand recall is low, consumers are more likely to rely on central-route processing, whereby purchase intention plays a pivotal role in translating digital marketing exposure into purchase decisions. As brand recall increases, the influence of this intention-based pathway diminishes. By identifying low brand recall as a boundary condition of central-route persuasion within the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study clarifies how digital marketing effectiveness varies across consumer cognitive states and provides differentiated strategic implications for emerging versus well-established brands in e-commerce contexts.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Due to intense competition and rapidly changing customer needs, hospitality firms are forced to develop their capabilities, specifically dynamic marketing capabilities and service innovation capabilities․ The current research seeks to study the moderated mediation impact of brand identity on the relationship between dynamic marketing capability, service innovation capability, and hotel performance through service excellence․ To test the mediation and moderation hypotheses, we surveyed 450 senior hotel managers in the Indonesian setting․ Dynamic marketing capabilities (β = 0.420, p < 0․001) and service innovation capabilities (β = 0․380, p < 0․001) were found to have a positive effect on service excellence․ Meanwhile, service excellence also positively influences hotel performance (β = 0․560, p < 0․001)․ The results show that service excellence fully mediates the relationship between dynamic marketing capability and hotel performance (α = 0․281)․ Service excellence also partially mediates the relationship between service innovation capability and hotel performance (α = 0․278)․ Besides, brand identity positively moderates the relationship between dynamic marketing capability and service excellence (β = 0․354) and the relationship between service innovation capability and service excellence (β = 0․317)․ The findings advance the understanding of how hospitality companies can not only develop these capabilities but also deliver and develop service excellence in order to achieve good hotel performance, particularly with strong brand identity․

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
This study examines the state of digital marketing management among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine under conditions of prolonged economic instability and wartime disruption. This paper aims to assess the level of digital marketing tool adoption, identify key organizational barriers, and examine how firm-level characteristics influence strategic readiness for digital transformation among Ukrainian SMEs. The study is based on a structured quantitative survey conducted in 2024 among 100 owners and managers of Ukrainian SMEs operating in the service, trade, and manufacturing sectors across several regions of Ukraine affected by differing levels of full-scale wartime disruption, with data analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis.
The research results show that the basic digital tools are widely adopted, with 98% of SMEs having a website and 79% using online marketplaces for sales, including enterprises from manufacturing, trade, and service sectors. At the same time, the adoption of advanced marketing management tools remains limited: only 19% of enterprises report regular use of CRM systems, 25% use marketing analytics tools, and merely 1% apply email marketing on a regular basis. Strategic digital planning is also weak, as only 11% of surveyed SMEs have a structured digital marketing strategy and 7% report having an SMM strategy. Digital skills among marketing personnel are assessed as low or moderate, with only 15% of respondents indicating a high level of digital competence among staff.
Based on correlation analysis, the findings indicate that digital marketing transformation among Ukrainian SMEs is constrained primarily by organizational and human capital limitations rather than firm size or financial performance, underscoring the need for targeted national support programs to enhance strategic digital capabilities.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Investments such as technological investments in useful marketing intelligence are an important organizational challenge because companies raise the pace of their digital transformation activities. The research is based on the Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Theory and aims to investigate how the data on important organizational and technological enablers’ data-driven culture, technological readiness, top management support, and marketing analytics maturity influence Business Intelligence (BI) capability in marketing functions. The primary data were gathered between February and May 2025 with the help of a structured online survey among the marketing managers, BI specialists, analytics professionals, and IT decision-makers, working in Amman, Irbid, Zarqa, and Aqaba, Jordan. Based on a purposive sampling technique, 602 valid responses were interpreted with the help of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that Marketing Analytics Maturity has the most significant impact on BI capability (β = 0.367, p = 0.001), then Data Culture (β = 0.321, p = 0.001) and Technological Readiness (β = 0.287, p = 0.01). The positive, relatively weak effect (β = 0.224, p < 0.05) is demonstrated by Technology Readiness. The structural model shows significant explanatory power and explains 78.1 percent of the variance on BI capability. Such results indicate that building BI capabilities among emerging market companies is not as much about acquiring technology, but rather about integrating managerial support and analytics maturity, which emphasizes the importance of readiness in an organization in changing digital investments into the value of marketing intelligence.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
In today’s fast-evolving e-commerce ecosystem, personalized advertising utilizing user data such as preferences, behaviors, and demographics to deliver customized ad content has emerged as an essential tool for businesses aiming to connect with customers more effectively. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of personalized advertising on consumers’ impulse buying behavior on TikTok in Vietnam. It investigates both direct and indirect effects through mediators – emotions, advertising value, perceived novelty and perceived relevance – and explores the moderating roles of self-control and privacy and security concerns. A quantitative approach was adopted using an online survey of 330 Vietnamese TikTok users aged 18-40 who had previously purchased via TikTok Shop. Measurement scales were adapted from prior studies and assessed on a five-point Likert scale. Data analysis employed SPSS 25 and AMOS 24, incorporating Cronbach’s alpha reliability tests, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation modeling (SEM), and moderation analysis using Hayes’ macro. Personalized advertising has a significant direct effect on impulse buying behavior and indirect effects via emotions, advertising value, and perceived relevance. Emotions emerged as the strongest mediator, followed by advertising value and perceived relevance. While personalized advertising positively influences perceived novelty, novelty does not significantly affect impulse buying. The moderating role of self-control is negative, reducing the impact of emotions on impulse buying, whereas privacy and security concerns have no meaningful moderation effect. These insights enhance our understanding of the factors driving impulse buying behavior. This helps to suggest strategies for managers to optimize personalized advertising, ultimately improving marketing efficiency and encouraging customer purchases on the TikTok platform.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study aims to examine the factors that determine collaborative consumption intentions in accommodation services. Despite the growing popularity of digital platforms enabling collaborative consumption within the sharing economy, empirical evidence on the technological and behavioral factors that determine consumers’ motivation to access resources owned by others remains limited. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study analyzes survey data collected from 292 platform users in Lithuania who have prior experience in collaborative consumption in accommodation services to understand their motivations, perceived risks, and behavioral intentions in collaborative accommodation services. The findings demonstrate that perceived attitude towards collaborative consumption, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms significantly shape users’ intentions to engage in collaborative consumption (respectively, β = 0.226, p = 0.001; β = 0.215, p = 0.003; β = 0.255, p < 0.001). Distinct motivational patterns of partial mediation emerge with risk minimization, engagement determinants, and external pressures playing critical roles in participation decisions. This study reinforces relevance of the Theory of Planned Behavior in explaining digital platform adoption and highlights how platform features can foster consumer engagement. It advances understanding of consumer behavior in the sharing economy by examining the psychological and social dynamics of dual-role participation and contributes to the growing discourse on how digital platforms can facilitate meaningful peer-to-peer exchanges while promoting consumer well-being.

Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the use of the Anthropic Console, an AI-based assistant, for language editing and proofreading during the preparation of this manuscript. The content and intellectual contributions remain the sole responsibility of the authors.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Livestream commerce has become an increasingly important channel in digital fashion retail because it integrates entertainment, interaction, and real-time purchasing within a single shopping environment. This study aimed to examine how four digital marketing strategy elements — presenter type, layout design, interactivity features, and call-to-action timing — affect consumer engagement, interactivity, and purchase behavior in fashion livestream commerce across the Gulf region (the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia) and Singapore. The study used a contextual multi-armed bandit design across 25 live fashion sessions, generating more than 12,000 usable impressions from approximately 1,500 unique viewers, and estimated causal effects using doubly robust estimation with session-clustered inference. The results show that influencer- or celebrity-led sessions increased engagement by 0.9 minutes relative to staff-led sessions and improved purchase consideration by 0.5 points. Dynamic overlay layouts increased interactivity by 6.5 actions, while interactive features raised add-to-bag outcomes by 3.4 percentage points. Mid-stream call-to-action placement outperformed early and late placement, improving add-to-bag outcomes by approximately 4-5 percentage points. Mediation analysis further showed a significant indirect effect of engagement on add-to-bag through interactivity of 1.2 percentage points. Cross-market comparisons revealed that presenter effects were stronger in the Gulf, whereas layout and timing effects were stronger in Singapore. The findings conclude that effective livestream commerce performance depends on the alignment of presenter credibility, interface design, interactivity, and action timing within specific market contexts.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
The rapid growth in consumption of foods high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) has intensified public health challenges related to obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases, prompting governments to adopt regulatory interventions such as fiscal measures, nutrition labeling, and marketing restrictions. However, the behavioral mechanisms through which public health policies translate into consumers’ intention to avoid HFSS foods remain insufficiently understood. This study aims to explain the psychobehavioral pathways linking public health policy to consumers’ intention to avoid HFSS foods by integrating policy awareness, institutional trust, psychological mediators, and habitual eating patterns. A cross-sectional survey of 300 Indonesian young consumers was analyzed using an advanced Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, incorporating mediation, moderation, and Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA). The results indicate that HFSS policy awareness significantly enhances perceived policy effectiveness (β = 0.257) and attitudes toward avoiding HFSS foods (β = 0.749). At the same time, trust in government strengthens perceived policy effectiveness and attitudes, particularly among consumers with entrenched food habits. Intention to avoid HFSS foods is primarily driven by perceived policy effectiveness (β = 0.564) and attitudes (β = 0.476), whereas health risk perception shows no direct effect. The model demonstrates strong explanatory power (R² for intention = 0.943). These findings suggest that effective HFSS policies operate not merely through risk communication but by strengthening policy credibility, institutional trust, and positive consumer attitudes, offering critical insights for designing behaviorally effective public health interventions.

Acknowledgments
This research is funded by the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) on behalf of the Indonesian Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, and managed under the EQUITY Program (Contract No 8/IT2/T/HK.00.01/XI/2025 & No 3594/PKS/ITS/2025).

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
As consumer awareness of sustainability concerns advances, brand hatred has become increasingly significant in the textile industry. The emergence of brand hatred has prompted apprehensions regarding its impact on consumer purchasing decisions. This article explores the role of brand hatred factors on consumer purchasing decisions in the Ghanaian textile industry, proposing perceived brand authenticity as a moderating variable. The results showed that ideological incompatibility (β = 0.15, p < 0.007), symbolic incongruity (β = 0.27, p < 0.000) and unmet expectation (β = 0.37, p < 0.000) have a positive influence on consumer purchasing decision. Perceived brand authenticity was found to positively moderate ideological incompatibility and symbolic incongruity but negatively moderate unmet expectation. Anti-consumption and attribution theory were employed to develop the theoretical model. Using a purposive sampling technique, 339 questionnaires were collected from young consumers across various textile industries in Ghana between March and June 2025. These questionnaires were validated and analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach in SmartPLS 3. This study contributes to the expanding corpus of marketing literature by emphasizing the connection between consumer purchase decisions, perceived brand authenticity and factors influencing brand hatred.

Acknowledgment
The authors are grateful to the Internal Grant Agency of IGA/FaME/2025/003: Digitization of the CRM process and its impact on brand image: A comparative study in Europe, Asia, and Africa. No.IGA/FaME/2025/010 “Closed and open innovation: role of human resource, servant leadership, digitalization and uncertainty” for supporting this research.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Recent tourism studies increasingly emphasize tourists’ active roles in destination experiences, prompting closer examination of how different forms of participation relate to destination brand outcomes. This study examines how corrective engagement, empowerment experience, and perceived authenticity influence destination brand love and, in turn, destination brand evangelism among international tourists in Vietnam. Data were collected from 257 international tourists and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that destination brand love is a strong predictor of destination brand evangelism. Empowerment experience and perceived authenticity show positive effects on destination brand love, highlighting the roles of perceived autonomy and culturally genuine experiences in strengthening tourists’ emotional attachment. Corrective engagement exhibits a dual effect: it positively affects destination brand love but negatively affects destination brand evangelism, suggesting that improvement-oriented participation may coincide with a temporary reluctance to advocate for the destination. These results indicate that participatory behaviors do not translate uniformly into destination brand advocacy and reinforce the importance of distinguishing emotional attachment from advocacy-oriented outcomes in destination branding research. In addition, empowerment experience shows a significant positive influence on both destination brand love and destination brand evangelism, suggesting that tourists who perceive greater autonomy and participation are more inclined to advocate for the destination. Perceived authenticity also demonstrates a positive but weaker direct effect on brand evangelism, indicating that authentic experiences primarily strengthen emotional attachment that subsequently encourages advocacy behavior.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This research aims to investigate the impact of algorithmic personalization, exposure to content, social interaction and live commerce experiences on impulse buying among Generation Z users of TikTok Shop in Indonesia with real-time engagement acting as a mediator and perceived trust acting as a moderator. This study relates directly to the increasing influence of recommendation algorithms and interactive live commerce on consumer behavior and specifically on Generation Z who are digital natives and very often make impulse purchases. A quantitative survey was conducted using purposive sampling to collect data from valid participants aged 17-27 living in Indonesia and actively using TikTok Shop between January and April 2025. Ethical principles were applied, including voluntary participation, informed consent, anonymity, and confidentiality in relation to the use of data. 576 data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling and Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS). Findings reveal that algorithmic personalization (β = 0.069; p = 0.048); content exposure (β = 0.881; p < 0.001); and social interaction (β = 0.088; p = 0.017) have significant positive influence on impulse buying. All three of these relationships are mediated by real-time engagement with small but significant (β = 0.011; p = 0.037) effect size. The relationship between perceived trust and live commerce experience moderates the effects of live commerce experience and enhances the strength of the effect; however, the moderating effect of perceived trust on algorithmic personalization and social interaction was not as strong. The results of this research indicate that the main motivating factors of impulse buying in social commerce are based on algorithmic recommendations through personalization, social connection, and live commerce.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Amid escalating environmental concerns and the growing role of social media as a dominant platform for firm consumer interaction, understanding the determinants of green cosmetic purchase intention has become increasingly critical. This study integrates social media marketing dimensions with the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to investigate young women’s intentions to purchase green cosmetics in Vietnam. Using a non-probability quota sampling technique, data were collected from 200 valid questionnaires completed by women aged 18-35 who actively use social media during their cosmetic purchasing process in Ho Chi Minh City. Data were collected over an eight-week period from early February to late March 2024. Multivariate regression analysis was employed using SPSS to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings reveal that Brand Content (β = 0.398), Subjective Norms (β = 0.273), Influencer Marketing (β = 0.179), and Electronic Word-of-Mouth (e-WOM) (β = 0.130) exert statistically significant positive effects on green cosmetic purchase intention (p < 0.05). Conversely, attitude does not show a statistically significant influence on purchase intention (β = 0.078, p > 0.05). The proposed model explains 50.9% of the variance in green cosmetic purchase intention (adjusted R² = 0.509). Overall, the results underscore the pivotal role of integrated social media communication in fostering sustainable consumption, as marketing-related factors and subjective norms demonstrate stronger effects than attitudinal evaluations. These findings contribute to a clearer understanding of the combined influence of marketing and psychosocial mechanisms on sustainable consumer behavior and offer practical implications for firms in emerging markets by emphasizing the importance of transparent brand content, social norms, influencer engagement, and electronic word-of-mouth in communication strategies.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
The development of Green Brand Equity in higher education institutions has emerged as a strategic approach to enhance legitimacy and differentiation in competitive environments. However, empirical evidence supporting its structure and implementation remains limited. This study analyzes the impact of sustainability management on the configuration of university Green Brand Equity. Sequential mixed-methods design was employed, with measurement instruments derived from a comprehensive literature review. Data were collected from 1,231 students across 13 accredited higher education institutions in Colombia (8 public and 5 private) between February and June 2025, using online and face-to-face surveys. Five key dimensions were validated: perceived quality of sustainability actions, green brand image, green brand trust, green campus experience, and loyalty. Instrument validation using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and robust PLS-SEM showed strong results (KMO = 0.937–0.960; explained variance = 75.5%–77.4%). The structural model confirmed significant effects of strategic management (β = 0.454, p < 0.001), eco-efficient infrastructure (β = 0.199, p = 0.001), and student participation (β = 0.118, p = 0.049), while eco-innovation in educational services was not significant (β = 0.114, p = 0.079). The model explained 73.7% of the variance in Green Brand Equity and revealed a significant mediation effect (p ≤ 0.020). The findings highlight the critical role of infrastructure and strategic consistency, as well as the importance of perceived authenticity in transforming sustainability practices into reputational value and student loyalty.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Despite recent technological improvements in telecommunications services in emerging economies, many users still feel that the service does not meet their expectations. The main objective of this study is to analyze how the five dimensions of service quality influence customer satisfaction among users of a large telecommunications company operating in Lima, Peru. The research employed a quantitative explanatory design and surveyed 247 active customers with ongoing service contracts, using an instrument based on SERVPERF, which demonstrated strong validity and reliability indicators (KMO = 0.833; Cronbach’s α = 0.971). Data were analyzed using SPSS, applying an ordinal logistic regression model to evaluate both the general hypothesis and the individual effects of each dimension. The results indicate that all dimensions contribute significantly to explaining customer satisfaction, with reliability and responsiveness standing out as the most influential factors. The model demonstrated a good fit, explaining 57% of the variance in customer satisfaction (Nagelkerke’s R2 = 0.569). These findings suggest that improving the different dimensions of service quality is crucial to increasing satisfaction levels, strengthening user trust, and maintaining competitiveness. From a marketing perspective, this study contributes to the service marketing literature by explaining how perceived service quality dimensions shape customer satisfaction in the telecommunications market of an emerging economy, offering empirical insights that support customer experience management and value creation strategies.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Trust remains an important issue in consumer adoption of e-commerce, particularly in contexts characterized by information asymmetry and perceived online transaction risk. This study examines how perceived blockchain-enabled affordances, including transparency, security, decentralization, and control, are associated with consumer trust and how trust relates to purchase intention and loyalty, while testing the moderating role of blockchain literacy. Data were collected through a purposive online survey of Vietnamese e-commerce users between March and June 2025. The questionnaire was administered using Google Forms and distributed through e-commerce-related groups, blockchain-related communities, university networks, and social media platforms. After screening incomplete and low-quality responses, 427 valid questionnaires from respondents with prior experience of blockchain-enabled applications were retained for analysis using PLS-SEM. The results show that transparency (β = 0.29, p < 0.001) and security (β = 0.25, p < 0.001) are positively associated with consumer trust, followed by decentralization (β = 0.17, p = 0.001) and perceived control (β = 0.14, p = 0.011). Moderation tests indicate that blockchain literacy strengthens the effects of transparency (β = 0.11, p = 0.005) and security (β = 0.09, p = 0.024) on trust. The model explains meaningful variance in trust (R² = 0.61), purchase intention (R² = 0.57), and loyalty (R² = 0.53). These findings suggest that blockchain may contribute to consumer trust in e-commerce when transparency and security are made visible, understandable, and relevant to consumers through platform design and communication.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Brand communities can significantly enhance customer loyalty among agri-food customers; however, the factors driving their formation in agri-food retailers, which are often characterized by transactional relationships, remain poorly understood. This study examines how engagement motives affect loyalty, highlighting what motives influence customer engagement and how educational benefits, economic benefits, trust, and commitment mediate the relationship between customer engagement and loyalty. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2024 and January 2025, involving 247 agri-food customers who followed social media brand communities, made in-store purchases in the past three months, and were over 18 years old. The findings reveal that information (β = 0.366, p = 0.000) and entertainment motives (β = 0.356, p = 0.000) have a significant positive impact on customer engagement, whereas social relationships do not significantly affect engagement. Customer engagement positively influences educational benefits (β = 0.679, p = 0.000), economic benefits (β = 0.539, p = 0.000), and trust (β = 0.379, p = 0.000), but does not directly affect loyalty. Notably, trust significantly mediates the relationship between customer engagement and loyalty through commitment (β = 0.076, p = 0.000), and in the absence of commitment (β = 0.099, p = 0.002). In contrast, economic benefits (β = 0.053, p = 0.005) and educational benefits (β = 0.070, p = 0.003) significantly mediate this relationship only when commitment is present. These findings emphasize the importance of personalized content, meaningful benefits, and trust-building activities in fostering loyalty among agri-food retailers.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Growing environmental degradation and unsustainable consumption have intensified the need to understand the determinants of sustainable purchasing behavior, particularly the persistent intention-behavior gap. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study aims to bridge the intention behavior gap by extending it to include eco-awareness and price sensitivity. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered to students and employees in higher education institutes in Northern India (Delhi NCR, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir). The responses were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results indicate that eco-awareness (β = 0.237, p < 0.001), consumer attitude (β = 0.182, p < 0.001), social norms (β = 0.487, p < 0.001), and perceived behavioral control (β = 0.315, p < 0.001) have significant positive effects on sustainable purchase intention. Purchase intention had a direct influence on sustainable purchase behavior (β = 0.657, p < 0.001), confirming its central role in behavioral execution. In contrast, price sensitivity did not have a significant direct effect on purchase behavior (β = 0.012, p = 0.720), although its interaction with purchase intention showed a weak but statistically significant moderating effect (β = 0.076, p < 0.05). These findings indicate that purchase behavior is driven primarily by social and psychological factors, while economic considerations play a limited and conditional role in the intention-behavior relationship. Marketers should design demographic specific awareness campaigns by recognizing variations in consumer behavior.