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This study investigates the antecedents that nudge followers of social media (SM) influencers into brand evangelism (BE). In doing so, we study how influencer-related attributes such as their homophily, trust, and popularity impact their followers’ BE. Additional interlinkages pertaining to popularity, content, warmth, and prestige are examined, impacting BE.

A cross-sectional survey obtained information about the focal constructs from 206 participants. Quantitative procedures using partial least square-based structural equation modeling were implemented to analyze the collected data and the proposed relationships.

The findings indicate homophily’s role in influencing trust, content, and prestige. BE is developed through warmth and content, whereas trust and prestige inspire warmth. Further, an influencer’s popularity impacts homophily and content. Lastly, the mediating role of warmth, homophile, trust, exciting content, and prestige advances the understanding of influencers and BE.

We converge literature from branding, influencer marketing, and social psychology to understand consumers' facets of promoting BE on SM. This work is a primary attempt to interlink and tie these crucial research streams together.

The study offers managers helpful guidance on strategically assessing influencers' traits to build BE. Additionally, recommendations for tactically assessing and engaging influencers for brands are offered.

This is the first study to identify influencer-related parameters contributing to BE. Secondly, we study unique drivers such as homophily, trust, and warmth, which are important yet remain unexplored as far as BE in influencer marketing is concerned. Furthermore, this study also highlights the mediating role of key constructs that possess a potential to strengthen consumer brand relationships.

The present research aims to introduce and understand the promising nature of destination evangelism in the context of social media-based tourism communities (SMTCs). Further, factors that influence evangelism and information-seeking behaviors on SMTCs are examined.

A conceptual model is developed that features an interplay of destination distinctiveness, destination evangelism, travel commitment and information-seeking engagement. Data were collected from 215 active users of SMTCs and analyzed using structural equation models.

The research findings indicate that destination distinctiveness and information-seeking positively lead to destination evangelism. Information-seeking is found to mediate the relationship between (1) destination evangelism and travel commitment and (2) destination evangelism and distinctiveness.

The research offers meaningful insights into exploring constituents of destination evangelism. The research also understands and highlights the critical role of information-seeking engagement about distinct destinations.

This research highlights key areas to build, improve and inspire destination evangelism on SMTCs.

This study offers a fresh contribution to tourism literature by investigating destination evangelism and its drivers. This is explained by closely uniting vital research streams of evangelism, tourism and engagement. It further highlights the dual mediating role of information seeking, suggesting that these engagements are critical to evangelizing destinations.

This work explores how recipients’ identity influences givers’ choice of charitable gifts, their propensity to deviate from gifting registries and how it impacts social ties.

We conducted five experiments involving diverse charities to explore the above effect, investigate the mediating role of a warm-glow effect and examine the moderating effect of social closeness and anonymity on gift preferences.

Givers deviate from the registry in favor of alternatives that are congruent with the recipient’s identity due to the givers’ desire to gift a warm-glow effect. Socially close givers are more likely to deviate from the gift registry to enhance social ties. Recipients receive a higher warm-glow effect when distant givers give unrequested identity-congruous gifts, thus improving social relationships.

This study will help organizations determine which identities a specific charity should highlight in its campaigns. Marketers can encourage consumers to prefer charitable gifts by emphasizing the relational and warm-glow benefits.

This is the first study to examine the effect of the recipient’s identity on givers’ preference for charitable gifts. Specifically, while giving charitable gifts, givers are likelier to donate to a charity whose identity is congruent with the recipient.

This study aims to explore the antecedents and outcomes of brand community engagement (BCE) in the context of social media-based brand communities (SMBCs). Moreover, the mediating role of brand evangelism between BCE and brand defence and between BCE and brand resilience is examined.

The data was collected using a questionnaire-based survey from 201 active members of various SMBCs. Partial least square based structural equation modelling is used to test the proposed conceptual model.

The results suggest that brand identification and brand prominence are the antecedents of BCE. BCE positively influence brand evangelism and brand defence. Furthermore, the finding suggests that brand evangelism mediates the relationship between BCE and brand defence and also between BCE and brand resilience.

The sample for this study involves respondents active on different SMBCs, which may constrain uniformity in respondents’ experiences.

The insights provided by this study are useful in enhancing BCE with the SMBCs. The study highlights the role of brand evangelism in actively endorsing and defending the brands. The brand manager can promote brand evangelistic behaviour through meaningful engagement with SMBCs.

The study contributes to the literature of brand community engagement by focussing on its antecedents and outcomes in SMBCs. Further, this study adds to the branding literature by connecting two crucial streams of brand research: BCE and brand evangelism. The study also explores the mediating role of brand evangelism. It enhances the understanding of consumer-brand relationships in the context of SMBCs.