Mohsin Raza, Rimsha Khalid and Hassan Raza
This study investigates the brand selfies that have the capability to help brands thrive through crises. The brand selfies spark a self-inferential process that makes customers…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the brand selfies that have the capability to help brands thrive through crises. The brand selfies spark a self-inferential process that makes customers feel connected to the brand and makes them biased toward a specific brand during an uncertain situation.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 166 questionnaires were analyzed through structural equation modelling (Smart PLS) and a niche group of young millennials from Thailand was selected based on their luxury items usage, frequency of visits to leisure spas and hotels, expensive car showrooms, branded jewelry stores and luxury watch shops.
Findings
The study highlights the emergence of brand selfies during the crisis and the priority given by customers as compared to brand-generated content or promotional campaigns. The results indicated a positive influence of brand selfies on brand preferences directly and through the mediation of brand signature.
Research limitations/implications
It is fascinating for brands that customers voluntarily include their products in their carefully crafted and staged selfies that deliver their image and massages as social signifiers during a chaotic situation.
Originality/value
The research classifies the impacts of brand selfies in the luxury, leisure and tourism market of Thailand and its assistance in thriving through crises. The study is one of the rare studies that present brand selfies as a hassle-free promotional tool for brand signature and a game-changing strategy to deal with crises.
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Syed Hassan Raza, Hassan Abu Bakar and Bahtiar Mohamad
This study aims to examine the effects of the advertising appeals (AP) on consumers’ behavioural intention, specifically to use global brands. In addition, the study investigates…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the effects of the advertising appeals (AP) on consumers’ behavioural intention, specifically to use global brands. In addition, the study investigates how attitude operates as a process variable that mediates the relationship between AP and behavioural intention (BI). This paper also explores the congruity of individuals’ norms in advertising appeal–intention relationship. Centred on the theory of planned behaviour, this study proposes a model that encompasses norm congruence, in which the degree of individuals’ uncertainty avoidance (UA) moderates the relationship between advertising appeal (AP) and behavioural intention (BI), and attitude towards advertising appeal (AT) serve as key causal mechanism that mediates advertising appeal–behaviour relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model was tested using a 2 × 2 experimental design with a sample size of 372.
Findings
Results showed that the relationship between AP and BI based on global brands is significantly mediated by attitude towards AP and moderated by uncertainty avoidance. These findings have yielded partial validation of the proposed model and have provided empirical support for the roles of uncertainty avoidance and attitude towards AP.
Practical implications
The authors propose that marketers should reduce the level of consumers’ uncertainty. Uncertainty avoidance effects can be achieved through the dissemination of norm-congruent advertisement appeals and by placing more weight on social compatibility attributes which may gratify consumers’ interest, sebsequently enhance the intention of Muslim consumers to use global brands.
Originality/value
A moderator is a variable that affects the strength of the relation between the predictor and criterion variable. This paper also explores the congruity of individuals’ norms in advertising appeal–intention relationship. Previous studies did not capture any effects of culturally congruent advertising appeals by considering the level of uncertainty avoidance influence on individuals’ intention to use global brands in a Muslim country context. In response to the recent calls for research to re-examine the antecedents of the theory of planned behaviour, this study re-evaluates the roles of attitude towards AP and the interaction of cultural norms.
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Mohsin Raza, Rimsha Khalid and Hassan Raza
There has been substantial research on branding globally. However, there is a dearth of studies empirically investigating branding strategies during the pandemic to mitigate…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been substantial research on branding globally. However, there is a dearth of studies empirically investigating branding strategies during the pandemic to mitigate COVID-19 effects on the airline industry. The paper considers three factors which are brand familiarity, brand communication and brand reputation to develop the brand trust of customers and that ultimately influence their brand preferences.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on self-administrative surveys as 450 questionnaires were spread, received 339 responses and a total of 301 questionnaires were selected for data analysis by structural-based modeling after the deletion of outliers and partially filled questionnaires. The data was collected through purposive sampling from Malaysian airports.
Findings
The findings confirm the relationship of brand communication, brand familiarity and brand reputation to brand trust and brand preference through mediation and directly except direct relationship of brand familiarity to brand preference. The study is limited to the provided dataset of surveys. The present study couldn't interview respondents which can be done by future studies and also effects of COVID-19 can be examined on related industries or through comparative studies among countries.
Originality/value
The present study is the first to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on airline brands and explored the strategies to respond to crises. The study is one of the rare studies that consider branding strategies to the uplift airline industry and mitigate post-pandemic effects from the airline sector.
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Adamu Abbas Adamu, Syed Hassan Raza and Bahtiar Mohamad
Communication with employees during times of crisis has become a crucial aspect of crisis management for building organizational resilience knowledge. Thus, explaining how…
Abstract
Purpose
Communication with employees during times of crisis has become a crucial aspect of crisis management for building organizational resilience knowledge. Thus, explaining how internal crisis management promotes positive employee behaviour has become imperative. This study aims to investigate the relationship between internal crisis communication, job engagement, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour towards the Environment, Communicative behaviour for sensemaking and sensegiving and organizational resilience.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was conducted with 483 full-time employees in Pakistan. The structural equation modelling technique was employed to assess the study's hypotheses.
Findings
The findings of this study demonstrate that internal crisis communication can boost employee job engagement, organizational citizenship behaviour towards environment, sensemaking and sensegiving, which will also have a downstream effect on organizational resilience.
Practical implications
The findings of this study indicated that effective internal communication can aid managers in making well-informed decisions, coordinating response efforts and disseminating vital information to relevant stakeholders. As a result, this study contributes to the literature on internal crisis management by incorporating employee behavioural intention towards the environment. It provides managers and practitioners with knowledge on managing employees during a crisis.
Originality/value
Surprisingly, the conservation of resource theory (COR) does not explain communicative conduct (sensegiving) and environmental (e.g. organizational citizenship behaviour towards environment) components. This research combines the tenets of COR theory that have yet to be researched with the employees' environmental responses element. The mechanisms of cognition and communication were also ignored in earlier studies. This study sheds light on the process through which higher levels of job engagement, organizational citizenship behaviour towards environment and the capacity for comprehension (e.g. sensemaking) and meaning-transmission (e.g. sensegiving) ultimately help organizations navigate the crisis successfully.
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Zulhamri Abdullah, Chinedu Eugenia Anumudu and Syed Hassan Raza
This study aims to examine the current state of mission and vision statements on the company websites of fast-growing Malaysian and Singaporean small- and medium-sized enterprises…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the current state of mission and vision statements on the company websites of fast-growing Malaysian and Singaporean small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and analyze how these attributes are functionally used to build a distinct digital organizational identity.
Design/methodology/approach
The content analysis method was used to examine the similarities and differences among 170 Malaysian and Singaporean-selected SMEs based on Aaker’s five brand personality scales.
Findings
The findings demonstrated that there were explicit discrepancies between Malaysian and Singaporean SMEs in the applications of brand personality attributes. The findings also identified an increase in communicating mission and vision statements on the websites of both Malaysian and Singaporean SMEs. This emphasizes the need for Malaysian and Singaporean companies to intensify their efforts to develop a notable digital organizational identity.
Research limitations/implications
This study endeavors to provide novel insights into the digital communication practices of SMEs in building digital organization identity based on brand personality elements. Therefore, this study theoretically advances Aaker’s brand personality framework by incorporating digital organizational identity as a concept of Aaker’s brand personality from the SME perspective. This study contributes to the organizational identity literature by highlighting the need for these SMEs to integrate brand personality dimensions to compete with leading global companies.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that managers of SMEs can develop a unique digital organizational identity by communicating their vision and mission statements on their websites as a strategic asset for sustaining corporate reputation.
Originality/value
To date, little is known about the inevitable adaptation and application of communication that occurs when using digital means to develop a digital organizational identity. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to establish how Asian SMEs communicate their unique brand personality through websites to build their digital organizational identity.
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Syed Hassan Raza, Ogadimma C. Emenyeonu, Muhammad Yousaf and Moneeba Iftikhar
Citizen journalism practices through social networking sites are increasingly becoming an imperative source of public opinion formation. Given the increase in the volume of…
Abstract
Purpose
Citizen journalism practices through social networking sites are increasingly becoming an imperative source of public opinion formation. Given the increase in the volume of information sharing on social media during COVID-19, this study aims to grasp the largely unknown interaction of the individual’s trust in citizen journalism practices and public perception formulation. Drawing on this idea, the study has twofold objectives: first, to examine the influence of user-generated information about economic policies of government during COVID-19 as the antecedent of public perception about government performance and second, to identify the moderating role of trust in citizen journalism practices during COVID-19 through social networking sites.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a survey method and a sample of 464 adults were collected through an online administrated questionnaire.
Findings
The findings specify that user-generated content that is pro-government economic policies during COVID-19 positively influenced the perception of government performance. On the other hand, user-generated information that criticized government economic policies had a negative influence on public perception.
Originality/value
This study seeks to intensify the understudied phenomenon of how nature and source of the information could interact to influence one’s information processing during a crisis such as pandemic COVID-19. Furthermore, only a little research has been conducted in this area focusing on two mechanisms, namely; citizen journalism and trust in social media user-generated information about prevailing economic insecurities during crisis provided through citizen journalism.
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Moneeba Iftikhar, Muhammad Yousaf, Syed Hassan Raza, Umer Zaman and Emenyeonu C. Ogadimma
The rise in industrialization, economic development and urbanization has altered the composition of atmospheric air. Air pollutants have significantly impacted Pakistan's urban…
Abstract
Purpose
The rise in industrialization, economic development and urbanization has altered the composition of atmospheric air. Air pollutants have significantly impacted Pakistan's urban areas, resulting in the lowest air quality index readings. To understand disinclined behavior such as using air purifiers and wearing masks, this study aims to explore the relationship between individual personality traits and mass media effects.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a cross-sectional survey with a model based on previous theories. Data from 2,000 adults were self-administered and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
PLS-SEM confirmed six hypotheses, revealing mass media's direct and mediating roles in promoting critical psychological perceptions for protective behavior. The empirical results indicate that neuroticism, agreeableness and openness traits reinforce adherence behavior by intensifying threat perception.
Practical implications
This paper highlights significant implications for media campaign planners and provides more precise and comprehensive theoretical guidance. In the context of environmental challenges like smog, the findings illustrate how an understanding of personality traits can improve the efficacy of public health interventions through adherence to behaviors like mask-wearing and air purifier use. Addressing individual psychological characteristics when creating mass media campaigns to encourage public adherence to health protection measures related to environmental hazards.
Originality/value
Despite health campaigns and awareness, public compliance with measures like mask-wearing and air purifier use remains minimal. This study explores untapped mass media effects based on individual personality traits to understand this behavior.
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Adamu Abbas Adamu, Syed Hassan Raza and Bahtiar Mohamad
Internal crisis communication (ICC) has become a burgeoning area of research in crisis communication. However, the importance of ICC as a tool to enhance employee positive…
Abstract
Purpose
Internal crisis communication (ICC) has become a burgeoning area of research in crisis communication. However, the importance of ICC as a tool to enhance employee positive communicative behaviour in crisis has not been explored. This study aims to develop a research model by drawing from the ideas of sensemaking and network theories. In addition, the study further examines how the elements of the proposed model drive ICC while assessing employee-related outcomes and the role of emotion exhaustion.
Design/methodology/approach
To assess the validity of the measurement and structural models, 316 employees from both public and private non-profit organisations in Pakistan were interviewed through online survey. The collected data were analysed using co-variance based structural equation modelling (CV-SEM).
Findings
The results of this research confirmed that mindfulness and internal listening positively affect employee perceptions towards internal communication during a crisis. Similarly, ICC positively influences employees' perception of loyalty, job insecurity and the organisation's reputation. The results also highlight the moderation roles of emotional exhaustion (EE).
Practical implications
The study suggests that applying ICC strategies will help crisis managers develop collaborative relationships with employees, which will help in identifying and managing a crisis. In addition, implementing effective internal communication in corporate practices and processes makes internal reputation and employee loyalty (EL) a reality and allows organisations to remain productive despite crises.
Originality/value
Through the lens of sensemaking theory, this research demonstrated that mindfulness and listening should be considered stimuli in organisations that can influence employees to be active communicators before and during crises. This study is the first to elucidate the essential outcomes for strategic internal crisis management that are often under-looked, such as emotional responses. The study also shows that sensemaking should not only focus on meaning-making in a crisis but also include emotional feelings that can wear out the meaning-making process.