Search results

This study aims to explore the impact of artificial intelligence-powered personalised recommendations (AI-PPRs) on user engagement, browsing behaviour and purchase intentions on TikTok (Douyin in China), focusing on how these recommendations affect user satisfaction and purchase intention, while also addressing potential privacy concerns. In addition, the research investigates the influence of AI-recommended product presentation, timing and placement, as well as social factors such as key opinion leaders’ (KOLs) influence on consumer decision-making.

Using the expectancy-value theory and the stimulus-organism-response model, this research used a qualitative methodology through interviews with Douyin users to explore their experiences and perceptions of AI-PPRs.

The findings indicate that Douyin’s proactive “push” mechanism of AI-PPRs enhances user engagement by effortlessly integrating product discovery into the entertainment experience. Content-driven AI-PPRs align with user preferences, decrease search time and increase satisfaction and purchase intentions through engaging short videos and live streaming. However, privacy concerns emerge when personalisation is perceived as excessively intrusive, leading to negative emotions and avoidance behaviours. Recommendation timing and cultural context significantly influence receptiveness, with inappropriate timing (e.g. during holidays) causing negative reactions. Technical challenges, such as network issues during live streaming, negatively impact user experience and engagement. Content quality is crucial, and poor or irrelevant content leads to negative perceptions and disengagement. While KOLs face scepticism due to perceived commercialisation, endorsements from trusted figures and authentic influencers are better received. Innovative payment methods, like “Douyin Monthly Payment”, enhance financial flexibility and promote customer loyalty. This study highlights the need to balance personalisation with privacy, emphasising the importance of content quality and authenticity in influencer marketing. For businesses using AI-PPRs, maintaining this balance is essential for preserving trust and sustaining consumer engagement and loyalty.

This study contributes valuable insights to the field by unravelling the intricate dynamics between AI-PPRs, user preferences and social influences. The findings provide practical implications for companies aiming to optimise personalised recommendation algorithms and enhance user engagement, thereby facilitating business growth in the dynamic short video e-commerce market.

Comparative analyses in education science have traditionally focused on the category of geographic location as the comparative unit. However, comparison may involve many other units of analysis, such as culture, politics, curricula, education systems, social phenomena, and other categories of the lives of societies. Still, categories are inseparably linked to one or several geographic locations. Comparative approaches are often also dictated by the availability heuristic. Studying geographic units as the foci of comparative research is a necessary step for comparative presentation of the topic. According to Bray and Thomas, a researcher must always seek preliminary insight in the geographic unit to be analyzed before making the comparison. In social science research, a unit of analysis relates to the main object of the research, as it answers the question of “who” or “what” is going to be analyzed. The most common units of analysis are people, groups, organizations, artifacts or phenomena, and social interactions. Ragin and Amoroso have noted that comparative methods can be used to explain the commonness or diversity of results. This paper shows how comparative research can be approached in ways that have not been discussed, grounded in the historically variable understanding of the very term “comparison.” They are, for example, The Ogden-Richards triangle, The Porphyrian Tree, Classification strategies – Mill’s Canons, The chaos of the world – the order of science, Weber’s ideal types, Raymond Boudon’s formula, and the Möbius strip in comparativism.

Inspired by the internationalisation paths to prosperity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), where narcissistic leaders are diligent about organisations but also pursue their dark goals, this study aims to concurrently examine two avenues for the internationalisation of narcissistic leaders in SMEs concerning the function of team organisational citizenship behaviours (OCB): corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and digital business model innovation (BMI).

This study utilised a quantitative design emphasising mature theory research, and data was analysed using multiple regression analysis and Hayes' process model. The data for this study was collected via surveys from 270 SMEs in Vietnam.

The study showed that narcissistic Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) can penetrate the global market profoundly by utilising both the righteous path, which is based on the power of the times via BMI, and the unethical path, CSI. However, team devotion via OCB can mitigate the unethical conduct of narcissistic CEOs.

The study endeavoured to find a path to internationalisation for SMEs in emerging markets with high economic openness and increasingly close connections with international markets, via two strategies for SMEs to conquer the international market more successfully, and with utilising the foundations of CEO narcissism and team citizenship behaviour.

This study contributed to the theory of SME internationalisation by employing the resource-based view and upper-echelon theory, with the updated Uppsala model as its foundation.

This article presents a history of the visual merchandising of American firearms from the mid-19th century until the present day. Although the scholarly literature has investigated visual representations of guns in advertising and popular media, it has paid far less attention to how sellers have displayed these objects at or near the point of purchase.

Primary sources include frescoes, engravings and photographs, plus papers, advertising and illustrations in popular newspapers and trade magazines. These and other period visual data are supplemented by secondary sources from a variety of fields, especially retailing and firearms history.

Evidence shows that American firearms were merchandised visually by Samuel Colt at three world expositions in the 1850s, by gunmakers and retailers in the latter 19th century, by Winchester and Remington dealers in the 1920s and 1930s, by high- and low-end retailers in New York in the first half of the 20th century and by gun stores, auctions and shows up to the present day.

The history of visual merchandising generally has focused upon major department stores, their alluring street-front windows and their fancy interior displays. This research explores past and present visual merchandising of firearms by manufacturers and smaller retailers. To the best of the author’s knowledge, it is the first such history of the subject.

The research on sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) has seen a surge over the years. However, despite the surge, the literature on the antecedents of SBMI is still at a budding stage. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to expand the literature on SBMI by investigating the influence of managerial ties on SBMI.

Data were collected from 200 SMEs in Saudi Arabia to test the conceptual model, which was analysed using structural equation modelling.

The findings highlighted the significance of managerial ties in promoting SBMI. Furthermore, the findings highlighted that managerial ties might not optimally result in SBMI uncles channelized through absorptive capacity. However, the findings could not confirm the moderating role of strategic flexibility.

The findings from this study have implications for SME owners, recommending that these firms develop managerial ties and absorptive capacities to realize the benefits of SBMI.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to highlight the significance of managerial ties in promoting SBMI from an emerging market perspective.