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This study aims to examine the role of face consciousness, materialism and risk of embarrassment in determining consumer purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury brand. In addition, the authors explore boundary conditions of these relationships.

Study 1, a survey research (N = 321), examines the mediating role of risk of embarrassment between face consciousness on the purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits. Study 2 (N = 345), an experimental study, examines the moderating role of brand prominence of counterfeit (i.e. whether it contains prominent brand signals). Study 3 (N = 315) explores how the above-mentioned relationships are moderated by consumers’ moral rationalization (i.e. whether consumers seek rationalization when behaving unethically).

First, this research shows that risk of embarrassment mediates the negative relationship between face consciousness and Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits, whereas this relationship was not found between materialism and counterfeit purchase intentions. Second, this negative mediating effect holds only when the counterfeit brand is highly prominent. Third, the mediating effect depends on consumers’ moral rationalization, with a positive impact on the purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits, regardless of brand prominence.

This study represents a preliminary inquiry into the dynamics between face consciousness and materialism in influencing Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury products. Unlike their Western counterparts, whose materialistic views of possessions predict their counterfeit luxury consumption (Davidson et al., 2019), Chinese consumers are more likely to be driven by the social implications of counterfeit luxury to communicate a prestigious social image to others on account of genuine luxuries’ high social recognition.

While Chinese consumers are one of the most potent global luxury buyers, they are immersed in the world’s biggest counterfeit luxury market. By digging into the core value of Chinese consumers (i.e. face consciousness), this research provides a number of managerial implications for luxury goods companies to engage in international efforts to educate consumers against counterfeit luxury.

This study makes at least three contributions to the counterfeit consumption literature. First, this study represents a preliminary inquiry into the dynamics between face consciousness and materialism in influencing Chinese consumers’ purchase intention toward counterfeit luxury products. Second, this research identified the complex mechanism of face consciousness as an independent variable on consumers’ purchase intention toward luxury counterfeits. Finally, the authors examined the boundary conditions of brand prominence and consumers’ moral rationalization. The findings may help luxury brand managers identify strategies to discourage counterfeit consumption.

Container terminal operation is one of the most risky industries. Many of the accidents that occurred were found to be caused by human errors. However, it seems relatively little research has been conducted to examine the influence of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationship on employee safety behavior. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of leader-member exchange and safety climate on employees’ safety organizational citizenship behaviors (SOCB) in the container terminal context based on the social exchange theory.

A structural equation modeling was used with confirmatory factor analysis, and survey data are collected from 265 employees in major container terminals in Taiwan.

Results indicated that LMX is positively associated with safety climate, whereas safety climate positively influences employees’ safety citizenship behavior. Specifically, results indicated that safety climate mediates the effect of LMX on employees’ SOCB.

This study was limited to LMX dimensions adapted from the studies of Li and Liao (2014) and Vidyarthiv et al. (2014). Future research could examine the linkages between LMX, ethical climate, safety performance and supervisor leadership influence. Furthermore, this research focused specifically on employees from the container terminal operators in Taiwan. It would be valuable to collect data from employees from other countries to obtain a balanced view of the relationship between LMX, team-member exchange (TMX), safety climate and employee SOCB in container terminal operations.

This research provides a useful implication for container terminal operators to enhance LMX qualities and employee safety behavior through organizational participation, employee-helping behaviors and informing workers to obey safety rule and regulation.

Given the prevalence of accidents and unsafe behavior in container terminal operations, this research sought to examine the relationships among LMX, safety climate and employee SOCB in the container terminal context. Theoretically, this study highlights the importance of LMX and safety climate in explaining the SOCB of employees.

This study aims to propose a safety marketing stimuli-response model to explain passengers’ safety behavior in the ferry services context.

Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the impact of safety marketing stimuli on passengers’ safety awareness and behavior by using data obtained from a survey of 316 ferry passengers in Hong Kong.

The authors found that passengers’ perceptions of ferry safety marketing stimuli positively affected their safety awareness and safety awareness positively affected passengers’ safety behaviors. Specifically, they found that safety awareness played a mediating role in the relationship between ferry safety marketing stimuli and passengers’ safety behaviors.

The empirically validated scales can be adapted to practices of safety marketing, while providing helpful information for ferry operators to evaluate their efforts of safety marketing and implications for improvement.

According to the authors' knowledge, this study is one of the first attempts to fill this research gap by empirically validating and theoretically conceptualizing measures of safety marketing stimuli based on the marketing stimulus-response model.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of motivation on job satisfaction and organizational performance in the context of container shipping companies in Taiwan. Four motivation dimensions were identified based on an exploratory factor analysis, including remuneration, job achievement, job security and job environment. In addition, five job satisfaction dimensions were identified, namely: job policy, job autonomy, job workload, job performance and job status. Organizational performance dimensions included financial and non-financial performance.

Factor analysis was used to summarize a large number of motivation, job satisfaction and organizational performance attributes to identify the crucial factors. Reliability tests based on Cronbach’s alpha and corrected item-total correlation coefficients was used to test the internal consistency of questionnaire responses. ANOVA tests were subsequently used to test for differences in respondents’ perception of these factors according to selected demographics. Finally, a multiple regression model analysis was conducted to examine the relationships between motivation, job satisfaction and organizational performance.

Results indicated that remuneration and job performance had a positive effect on financial performance dimensions such as return on assets, turnover growth rate and profitability while job environment and job autonomy had a positive effect on non-financial performance dimensions, such as customer service, employee productivity and service quality.

This study has drawn attention to the importance of the relationships between motivation, job satisfaction and organizational performance in the container shipping context. The findings have significant implications for researchers and shipping practitioners. Despite the existence of research on the inter-relationships between motivation, job satisfaction and organizational performance in other disciplines, no empirical study was discussed in previous shipping or transportation-related research.

This study aims to examine the linkages between port aesthetics, destination image, tourist satisfaction and tourist loyalty in Hong Kong.

To achieve this objective, the authors surveyed 247 tourists in Hong Kong. Using factor analysis and structural equation model (SEM) to identify the constructs of port aesthetics and analyze its relationship with destination image, tourist satisfaction and tourist loyalty.

Five-port aesthetics constructs were identified, namely, leisure and culture, design and cognition, atmosphere, recreational facilities and memory. The results of SEM revealed the following: port aesthetics positively influenced destination image; destination image positively influenced tourist satisfaction; and tourist satisfaction had a positive influence on tourist loyalty. This research also found that the indirect effect of port aesthetics on tourist loyalty via destination image and tourist satisfaction.

While the environmental qualities of a port could potentially affect destination image, tourist satisfaction and loyalty, this study developed and validated a measurement instrument of perceived port aesthetics from a tourist’s perspective. Specifically, this research proposed a structural model to explain the relationships between port aesthetics, destination image, tourist satisfaction and loyalty.

This paper aims to provide a critical discussion of the application of the research pitching template developed by Professor Robert Faff to a research topic of tax avoidance and firm risk. This letter provides a brief commentary on using the pitching template and discusses personal reflections on the pitching process.

This pitching research letter applies Faff’s pitching template and provides a critical commentary of the pitching process.

The team found that Faff’s pitching template is a valuable tool for conceiving research ideas. It helped the authors to identify, develop and articulate key aspects of the project. Further, they believe that completing the template was a beneficial and rewarding exercise, especially for early-career researchers.

This pitching research letter is tied to the team’s research idea that was pitched at the 2020 AFAANZ “Shark Tank” event. It provides original commentary on the use of Faff’s pitching template. It is not meant to retrofit published papers.

The study aims to investigate the characteristics of the current situation of library programs and explore the possible reasons behind the low participation in Hong Kong. It focuses on the development of library programs in the era of digital technology, which can lead to discussion and reflections on the further development of library programs with innovative technology services.

This study applied a mixed-method research approach to investigate the current situation of library programming and the reasons for low participation in Hong Kong. The first part analyzes the characteristics of library programs offered by the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) through data collection from the HKPL website. The second part of this study investigated the reasons behind the low participation in library programs through quantitative research through an online survey.

The findings show that current library programs were dominated by reading activities and children's programs to a great extent, which both users and non-users are not very interested in. Further, most respondents expressed more interest in cultural and leisure events and hands-on activities (especially new technologies related) than traditional library programming. Many lapsed and non-users chose not to attend the library programs for boredom and uselessness. As a result, there is a need for HKPL to adjust its services to stay relevant to the needs and interests of local communities.

Scant studies explored the reasons behind non-users of public library programs, especially in Asia. This research contributes to the literature by analyzing and proposing the characteristics of the current situation of library programs and exploring the possible reasons behind the low participation in Hong Kong.

Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is employed to explore friction factor of single-phase fluid flow through porous media and the effects of local porous structure including geometry of grains in porous media and specific surface of porous media on two-phase flow dynamic behavior, phase distribution and relative permeability. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The 3D single-phase LBM model and the 2D multi-component multi-phase Shan-Chen LBM model (S-C model) are developed for fluid flow through porous media. For the solid site, the bounce back scheme is used with non-slip boundary condition.

The predicted friction factor for single-phase fluid flow agrees well with experimental data and the well-known correlation. Compared with porous media with square grains, the two-phase fluids in porous media with circle grains are more connected and continuous, and consequently the relative permeability is higher. As for the factor of specific porous media surface, the relative permeability of wetting fluids varies a little in two systems with different specific surface areas. In addition, the relative permeability of non-wetting fluid decreases with the increasing of specific surface of porous media due to the large flow resistance.

Fluid-fluid interaction and fluid-solid interaction in the SC LBM model are presented, and schemes to obtain immiscible two-phase flow and different contact angles are discussed. Two-off mechanisms acting on the wetting fluids is proposed to illustrate the relative permeability of wetting fluids varies a little in two systems with different specific surface.

This study aims to investigate how a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage is influenced by the combination of entrepreneurial ecological orientation, digital transformation and dynamic capabilities.

Based on the qualitative comparative analysis method, this study systematically explores the significant key conditions and configuration effects that affect the growth of sustainable competitive advantage. This study uncovers the causal relationship and complex mechanisms underlying the sustainable and unsustainable competitive advantages for new ventures, by examining the grouping effects of the above three factors – entrepreneurial ecological orientation, digital transformation and dynamic capabilities on those advantages.

A single factor fails to constitute a necessary condition for sustainable competitive advantage. Three types of configurations are beneficial to sustainable competitive advantage, namely, flexible and responsive type, dynamically adjusted type and type of opportunity resource integration, whereas four types of configurations lead to the unsustainable competitive advantage of new ventures, namely, type of organizational rigidity, informal entrepreneurial type, information-blocking type and technology-deficient type.

According to this study, adopting an entrepreneurial ecological orientation is a novel strategic move. This study offers an extensive review of three aspects of entrepreneurial ecological orientation, dynamic capacities and digital transformation and their mutually synergistic cascading effects on the sustainable competitive advantage of new ventures. This study investigates how three dimensions interact to achieve sustainable competitive advantage for firms, ultimately contributing to the study of sustainable competitive advantage strategies from an entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective.