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This study develops a comprehensive research model and investigates the significant factors affecting positive marketing outcomes in the Metaverse through perceived social benefits and trust.

The authors propose a new research model based on social exchange theory (SET) and examine the impact of cost and reward factors. Using 327 survey samples collected from current Metaverse users in South Korea, dual-stage analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and an artificial neural network (ANN) were employed to test the study’s hypotheses.

The results showed that perceived social benefit and trust had significant mediating effects on marketing outcomes, such as loyalty to the seller, product/service attitude, and purchase intention. All antecedents, except perceived performance risk, had a crucial impact on the two mediators. The most interesting finding of this study is the positive influence of knowledge-seeking efforts on perceived social benefits.

This study is the first empirical research to examine the effectiveness of marketing in the Metaverse. It also proposes a new theoretical model based on SET to investigate users’ behavioral intentions regarding marketing in the Metaverse, and confirms its explanatory power. Moreover, the results of this study also offer suggestions to brands on how to market to consumers in the Metaverse.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive research model that can explain customers’ continuance intentions to adopt and use intelligent personal assistants (IPAs).

This study proposes and validates a new theoretical model that extends the parasocial relationship (PSR) theory. Partial least squares analysis is employed to test the research model and corresponding hypotheses on data collected from 304 survey samples.

Interpersonal attraction (task attraction, social attraction, and physical attraction) and security/privacy risk are important factors affecting the adoption of IPAs.

First, this is the first empirical study to examine user acceptance of IPAs. Second, to the authors’ knowledge, no research has been conducted to test the role of PSR in the context of IPAs. Third, this study verified the robustness of the proposed model by introducing new antecedents reflecting risk-related attributes, which has not been investigated in prior PSR research. But this study has limitations that future research may address. First, key findings of this research are based only on data from users in the USA. Second, individual differences among the survey respondents were not examined.

To increase the adoption of IPAs, manufacturers should focus on developing “human-like” and “professional” assistants, in consideration of the important role of PSR and task attraction. R&D should continuously strive to realize artificial intelligence technology advances so that IPAs can better recognize the user’s voice and speak naturally like a person. Collaboration with third-party companies or individual developers is essential in this field, as manufacturers are unable to independently develop applications that support the specific tasks of various industries. It is also necessary to enhance IPA device design and its user interface to enhance physical attraction.

This study is the first empirical attempt to examine user acceptance of IPAs, as most of the prior literature has concerned analysis of usage patterns or technical features.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive research model that can explain potential customers’ behavioral intentions to adopt and use smart home services.

This study proposes and validates a new theoretical model that extends the theory of planned behavior. Partial least squares analysis is employed to test the research model and corresponding hypotheses on data collected from 216 survey samples.

Mobility, security/privacy risk, and trust in the service provider are important factors affecting the adoption of smart home services.

To increase potential users’ adoption rate, service providers should focus on developing mobility-related services that enable people to access smart home services while on the move using mobile devices via control and monitoring functions.

This study is the first empirical attempt to examine user acceptance of smart home services, as most of the prior literature has concerned technical features.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated research model that can explain current users' continuance intention regarding the adoption of virtual reality (VR).

This study builds a new research model based on the perceived value theory. The model and the hypotheses formulated are tested using partial least squares analysis with 295 respondents.

Both utilitarian value and hedonic value have positive impacts on VR users' continuance intention. Among the four constructs reflecting VR device and service-related attributes, content quality and ease of use have significant impacts on the utilitarian value and hedonic value. Visual attractiveness is positively associated with hedonic value while portability affected only utilitarian value.

To increase users' retention of VR, VR service providers should focus developing high-quality VR content, and VR device manufacturers should consider both ease of use and visual attractiveness of VR devices.

This study is the first empirical study to investigate user adoption of VR devices and services synthetically, as most of prior studies related to VR adoption mainly focused on VR devices or specific services.

It is not possible for every fan of a sport to watch matches at stadiums because of the capacity and location constraints. Furthermore, although sport fans could not physically attend sporting events during the COVID-19 pandemic, corporations still showed interest in sponsoring such events. To better understand this phenomenon, this study examined the effects of fans' event involvement on event reputation, event commercialization, corporate brand credibility, corporate brand image and purchase intentions of the corporate sponsor brand.

A total of 646 responses were collected from fans of Indian Premier League teams. Confirmatory factor analysis and covariance-based structural equation modelling analyses were conducted on the collected data.

Results showed that fans' involvement in televised sporting events had a positive influence on the events' reputation, which, in turn, had a significant impact on their corporate brand credibility and image. Furthermore, the corporate brand credibility and image had a positive impact on the fans' purchasing decisions.

This study provides valuable implications for marketing managers aiming to enhance their understanding of the impact of event sponsorship on corporate brands. In addition, the findings provide insight into how to support the development of effective sponsorship strategies in the future. The results suggest that sponsoring companies should consider maintaining the credibility and image of their brands to achieve the desired outcomes from sponsoring such sporting events.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of perceived brand leadership of an e-commerce website on satisfaction and repurchase intention. Moreover, the different roles of gender and age were explored in the proposed model.

An online survey was administered to Chinese consumers (n=476) who have purchased products on e-commerce websites. Using SmartPLS 3.0 software, a partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis was conducted in this study.

The results showed that all factors of perceived brand leadership (i.e. quality, value, innovativeness and popularity) have positive influences on satisfaction, and in turn satisfaction significantly affects repurchase intention. Also, value and popularity have positive influences on repurchase intention. In addition, gender differences were found in the proposed model. More specifically, the influence of quality on satisfaction was stronger for male consumers, while the impact of popularity on satisfaction was stronger for female. In terms of age differences, the influence of quality on satisfaction was stronger for the consumers over 40 years old as compared to the younger consumers (i.e. the 20s). Moreover, the influence of innovativeness on satisfaction and repurchase intention was stronger for the 20s consumers as compared to the consumers who are over 40 years old.

This study attempts to apply the concept of brand leadership to the e-commerce setting by addressing differential consumption decision-making process. In addition, different gender and age groups reveal unique preferences and consumption patterns.

While advertising and sponsorship are conceptually different, many studies have used the same measures for both constructs. The assumption is that respondents perceive both domains similarly. The purpose of this study was to test the invariance of the belief measures between the advertising and sponsorship measurement models across different consumer segments and to provide empirical justification for the practice.

Two independent samples were recruited from two different consumer segments: university student consumers (n = 290) and general consumers (n = 324). This study conducted multigroup invariance tests using LISREL 8.80. The measurement and structural invariances were concerned with factor loadings (λ), factor variance and covariance (f) and error variance (θ) metrics.

The factor patterns of the belief model were generally invariant between the advertising and sponsorship models in both consumer groups. However, the respondents interpreted three items between advertising and sponsorship in different ways: one annoyance/irritation item in the generic consumer group and two falsity/no sense items in the student consumer groups.

While the invariance test reveals three problematic items, the majority of items seem to be invariant, concluding that the advertising belief scale could be applicable to the sponsorship context.

This paper aims to analyse the adoption of fitness wearables by using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). The study analyses the relative weights and causal combinations of antecedent variables on use and intention to use fitness wearables.

The study design involves two stages: first, from the perspective of variable-oriented analysis, a structural equation model is tested using partial least squares (PLS) technique on a sample of 176 adopters and a second sample of 187 non-adopters. Second, from the perspective of case-oriented analysis, a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) identifies causal combinations of variables that lead to use of wearables by adopters and intention to use by non-adopters.

PLS results show that performance expectancy and effort expectancy have high net effects on use and intention to use for adopters. FsQCA analysis shows that current users follow a streamlined path to adoption. High beliefs on performance expectancy and effort expectancy are the main influences of intention to use a fitness wearable for non-adopters. In contrast to adopters, non-adopters may follow a number of paths to intention to use through performance expectancy, effort expectancy or facilitating conditions. This insight was apparent only after analysing the data sets by using fsQCA.

For sake of parsimony, this paper tested UTAUT model instead of the more complex unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2.

Marketers in the fitness category can enhance use and intention to use by utilising not one but a combination of causal factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions. Wide societal deployment of wearables depends on performance and expectations.

The widespread use of mobile devices depends on performance expectancy and effort expectancy. To transit to a real knowledge economy, co-creation should occur at early stages of product development so that these expectations are shared and better products be developed.

This paper offers a nuanced understanding of fitness wearable adoption by analysing adopters and non-adopters through variable- and case-oriented techniques. It complements the one-linear-path perspective with a number of alternative causal combinations of variables that lead to use and intention to use fitness wearables. While the causal path for adopters is unique, there are a number of causal combinations of antecedents that lead to high intention to use in potential adopters.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become increasingly significant in the sport industry, and athletes, leagues, teams and sport organizations are actively engaging in socially responsible activities. The popularity of CSR has attracted the attention of scholars in the field of sport management. However, little research has investigated the overview and evolution of the extant literature on CSR research in sport management. Therefore, this study aims to explore the knowledge structure of CSR in sport management and provide implications for future research.

This work investigated and examined bibliographic data of scientific documents (N = 234) indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database from 2008 to 2021. The Bibliometrix R package and VOSviewer software were used to analyze and visualize the knowledge map of CSR research in sport management.

The bibliometric analysis found that CSR has become a critical topic in the field of sport management. Most studies focus on the implementation of CSR activities by sport organizations and their impact on consumers' reactions and behaviors.

The findings of the current paper provide an efficient overview of the evolution of CSR in sport management and offer avenues for future scientific endeavors.

In this study the authors examined the impact of employees' collaborative behaviours with colleagues and customers (i.e. employee–employee collaboration and employee–customer collaboration) on their creative self-efficacy and service innovation from the perspective of service-dominant logic. The authors also examined the differences between frontline and non-frontline fitness service employees in our research model. This study aims to discuss the aforementioned objectives.

Participants were fitness-centre employees in Taiwan recruited via convenience sampling. A total of 410 participants completed our online survey, and the authors analysed the data using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

The authors found that collaboration with both colleagues and customers had a positive impact on employees' creative self-efficacy. Collaboration with colleagues directly affected service innovation, while collaboration with customers indirectly affected service innovation via creative self-efficacy. In addition, there was a significant difference between frontline and non-frontline employees in our research model. Specifically, the path from collaboration with customers to creative self-efficacy was stronger for frontline employees, and the path from creative self-efficacy to service innovation was stronger for non-frontline employees.

This study improves the understanding of the way in which different collaborative behaviours promote employees' creative self-efficacy and service innovation. Further, it is the first to identify the difference between frontline and non-frontline employees and it shows how the effects of collaborative behaviours differ between them in the context of fitness services.