This study explores the transformative potential and inherent challenges of Generative AI in the domain of knowledge creation and management, using the Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization (SECI) model as an analytical framework. Our qualitative research, based on content analysis from expert opinions, reveals that the integration of Generative AI in knowledge processes is inevitable and offers substantial productivity enhancements. These include providing diverse expression channels, simulating personalized interactions, and facilitating cross-disciplinary communication. However, significant risks accompany these benefits, such as threats to data security, personal privacy, and intellectual property, as well as issues of misinformation, data bias, and reduced human cognitive engagement. The findings extend the SECI model by highlighting specific challenges posed by AI technologies at each knowledge creation stage: socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. The study underscores the necessity of a balanced approach, integrating technological, ethical, and socio-cultural perspectives to evaluate AI’s impact comprehensively. Our research contributes to the theoretical understanding of AI’s role in knowledge management and offers actionable strategies for its ethical and effective implementation, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary approaches and continuous regulatory adaptation.

The current study examines the positive impact of sustainable product packaging, availability, and retailers on the willingness to buy sustainable products, ultimately leading to sustainable consumption behavior. It also examines how the ascription of responsibility, perceived consumer effectiveness, and perceived policy effectiveness moderate the impact of retailers’ sustainable determinants and sustainable consumption on the willingness to buy sustainable products, drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Young people from Pakistan were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. This study collected 296 valid responses using judgmental sampling and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data. This study revealed that sustainable product packaging, availability, and retailers have a significant positive relationship with willingness to buy sustainable products, which leads to sustainable consumption behavior. Further, it accordingly validated the moderating effects of ascription of responsibility, perceived consumer effectiveness, and perceived policy effectiveness on the hypothesized relationships.

Social networking sites (SNSs) play a crucial role in the lives of online users. This research aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms of SNS addiction and its subsequent impact on the wellbeing of online users. Employing the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model, we examine the influence of perceived enjoyment, utilitarian needs, and social influence on SNSs addiction and its associated consequences. Additionally, we consider the boundary conditions of loneliness as the predictors of SNSs addiction and social anxiety in the association between SNSs addiction and strain. We collected data (Time 1 and II) from 558 SNSs users using an online survey. By employing structural equation modelling via Smart PLS 4.0, our findings indicate that perceived enjoyment, utilitarian needs, and social influence significantly contribute to SNSs addiction. Furthermore, SNS addiction is positively correlated with strain, which positively triggers users’ wellbeing. We also found a significant positive moderating effect of loneliness and social anxiety on the proposed relationships. Overall, this study enhances our understanding of the theoretical foundations and multifaceted influences contributing to the literature on SNSs addiction and its impact on wellbeing through strain. It also acknowledges the study’s limitations and suggests directions for future research.

Succession planning in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a critical challenge that can determine the sustainability and growth of a business. This study explores the application of Q-methodology to assess the alignment of perspectives between incumbents and successors during the succession process in SMEs. Through a qualitative analysis of case studies from three different organisations, the research evaluates how the convergence of opinions impacts the success of leadership transitions. The study combines narrative analysis with Q-methodology, enabling both qualitative and quantitative insights into succession dynamics. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with incumbents and successors, followed by Q-sorting exercises to map opinion alignment. The results reveal varied outcomes, showing that a high degree of opinion alignment does not always guarantee successful transitions. This is demonstrated in the museum case, where the transition was less successful despite exhibiting the highest level of opinion convergence. Conversely, the electrical components company, which had lower alignment, experienced a smoother transition, highlighting the importance of structured succession planning alongside opinion convergence. The findings suggest that while opinion alignment is a factor, successful succession also relies on the preparedness of both parties and a well-structured process that addresses interpersonal issues. This research contributes to the literature on SME succession by demonstrating the utility of Q-methodology in analyzing leadership transitions and by providing insights into the complexities of opinion alignment and its role in successful succession planning.

The primary aim of this research is to examine what makes millennial Muslim females more materialistic and less satisfied with their lives in Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic. In today’s world, investigating the underlying mechanism of the exponential increase in Muslim female materialism tendency is considered a worthwhile problem. Therefore, the current research develops a theoretical model based on the stress–strain model. It uses the framework to test the impact of morning TV show consumption on Muslim females’ life satisfaction, social consumption, and compulsiveness through the mediation of materialism in COVID-19. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used. The data was collected through the mall intercept survey method from 720 millennial Muslim females. During COVID-19, the study findings revealed that high viewing of morning TV shows appears to be a significant determinant that leads to high materialism, which results in highly negative outcomes (i.e., compulsive buying, social consumption, and less satisfaction). Moreover, the results found that materialism mediated the relationship between morning TV show consumption and three studied outcomes.

Factors developing brand loyalty through social media influencers (SMIs) are immensely important to academics and marketing practitioners since it is a remarkable driver of organizational success. This research investigates the impact of SMIs homophily in developing customer brand engagement (CBE) and its impact on BL. We collected valid data from 412 respondents using laptop brands in Pakistan and used structural equation modeling to analyze the data. The findings indicate that the SMIs homophily is crucial in establishing CBE and BL. The results further show that CBE’s emotional and cognitive dimensions significantly mediate the relationship between SMIs homophily and BL. However, the emotional CBE has a stronger mediating impact on BL. The study provides valuable insights for brand managers to hire SMIs who resemble their fans to grab their loyalty toward the brand. This study unfolds new avenues in social media marketing, consumer behavior, and branding literature by understanding the association between SMIs homophily, CBE, and BL.

How consumers perceive corporate social responsibility (CSR) has shifted significantly over the past decades. Initially, a voluntary commitment to solving urgent social problems, CSR was once a source of competitive advantage, specific positioning, and exclusivity in customers’ eyes. Today, however, CSR has become a fundamental prerequisite for a company to function in society, a source of company legitimacy, expected and demanded by many stakeholder groups. As research demonstrates, young people in particular loudly and intensely declare their interest in today’s challenges and vigorously demand that the companies they buy from or work for participate in CSR. On the contrary, in everyday practice, we as scholars and educators have learned that CSR is more of an empty word for consumers, something that is right but of which they have no precise idea. CSR finds itself in a paradoxical situation. Therefore, our study aims to identify the main paradoxes in how millennials perceive CSR. First, it addresses the term paradox and its contextualization within the CSR discourse. Second, the three main paradoxes (authenticity/communication, legitimacy/trust, pay-off/non-pay-off) are outlined and verified through mixed methods research. The paradoxes are identified and confirmed through the ambivalent and inconsistent responses to a questionnaire and, subsequently, multiple focus groups. Finally, implications for the CSR concept are suggested. Furthermore, this paper questions the validity of instruments traditionally used to measure consumer attitudes (not only) in the field of CSR.

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools offer innovative capabilities for addressing a wide array of tasks involving extensive datasets, both textual and non-textual. These tools have shown remarkable potential in the field of education, where their functionalities are increasingly leveraged not only by students but also by educators. This study investigates the extent to which human evaluator assessments align with automated evaluations conducted by large language models, with a focus on a) the complexity of the evaluated texts (academic essays that encompass literature reviews, critical assessments of sources, and reflective insights within the context of societal or economic practices) and b) the unique challenges posed by the Czech language, in which the evaluated works are submitted. The research adopts a quantitative (cross-sectional) approach, analysing 30 essays submitted as an assignment for a foundational theoretical course at the master’s level. These essays were evaluated by a human evaluator and subsequently by virtual assistants utilizing large language models, specifically ChatGPT (paid version 4.0) and Claude (paid version Sonet 3.5). Statistical analysis revealed that there is a significant statistical difference between human evaluator and both automated systems. Moreover, the evaluations were not consistent when distinguishing between good and less good essays. We also discussed the challenges and limitations of using GenAI tools for evaluating submitted text assignments in the context of tertiary education.

This paper aims to examine the impact of service quality and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on brand authenticity and determine the moderating effects of CSR on the relationship between service quality and brand authenticity. Survey data was collected from 472 customers of Karachi, Pakistan’s four major medical diagnostic laboratories, through the convenience sampling technique. The quantitative method was used. To collect information from respondents, a self-administered questionnaire is used. We utilized the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique to analyze data. The results show that CSR, service quality, and brand authenticity are related in medical diagnostic and research laboratories. Research findings indicate that service quality and CSR directly and positively impact brand authenticity. In addition, CSR moderates the effect between service quality and brand authenticity. Managers can see corporate social responsibility as an intangible value that goes along with high-quality services and makes medical diagnostic and research laboratory services more authentic.

Rapidly increasing demand for eco-friendly products is evidence of consumers’ intention to make responsible purchases. As a result, companies and retailers are increasingly pressured to reconsider their product lines and provide environmentally friendly products in order to satisfy their customers’ demands. The current study aims to explore how sustainable retailers, sustainable product packaging, sustainable product availability, and lower price perception impact sustainable behavioral intention towards (SBI) sustainable consumption behavior (SCB). A survey in the form of a self-administered questionnaire was used to get information from millennials for this study. Smart Partial Least Square (SEM) was employed to analyze the data. This study’s sample was obtained using judgmental sampling, resulting in 297 valid responses. The results indicate that millennials are progressively adopting environmentally responsible consumption practices. The study found that sustainable retailers, sustainable product packaging, availability, and lower pricing perception contribute to sustainable behavior intentions. The findings indicate that promoting ecological practices and environmentally conscious consumers can assist developing nations in attaining sustainability and ecological stability.

Place-based brands emphasize local identity through connection to the local place where they realize their business. The marketing strategy that emphasizes local attributes to strengthen the local identity is called neolocalism. A strategy in which companies closely linked to their place of business use elements of neolocalism in their communication has become common in recent years and is typical for microbreweries. This article aims to answer the question if there are differences in marketing communication mixes of microbreweries having their own local points of sale, and if the location of that local point of sale (i.e., in the center of the town, in suburban areas, or outside the town) influences which communication tools the microbreweries prefer in their marketing communication mix. We performed a quantitative survey to identify the prevailing marketing communication mix tools used by microbreweries in the Czech Republic. The results confirmed that microbreweries with their own local points of sale utilize different marketing mix components; to varying degrees, they use ATL/BTL communication tools and a varied mix of ON-LINE vs. OFF-LINE communication tools. Similarly, the location of the point of sale further influences the components of the marketing communication mix; microbreweries use a varied mix of ON-LINE vs. OFF-LINE communication tools and without any difference in using of ATL/BTL communication tools.

The growing popularity of streams and video games is creating new marketing opportunities. Therefore, this paper examines the relationship of product placement (PP) familiarity to visual attention, recognition and recall in streaming video. The experiment has three sources of data gathering – eye-tracking (AOI), questionnaires with Likert scales and semi-structured interviews. The participants were chosen according to the largest group – males aged between 20-25 years old. The results indicated better-unaided recall of familiar placement although the aided recall was found to be similar, as visual attention. The visual attention for other factors differs for PP size and the respondents’ experiences. The order of PP did not affect the visual metrics. Interviews complemented a picture of how and why respondents consume video games and streams and how mediums differ. Marketing opportunities could be seen in the growing video games industry and streaming platforms. However, some product placement might be more suitable to be implemented than others.

The paper strives to answer the question of whether Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants share similar concerns with other generations across national cultures. A traditional cross-cultural approach is scrutinized to unravel the extent to which technology has influenced and co-created the digital culture, which may emerge as a distinct sub-culture.

This analysis is based on Mindreader Mindshare survey from more than 57,000 respondents from in 44 different countries. The cross-tabulation analysis was performed to investigate the differences in the respondents’ strongest concerns. The analysis revealed differences between the Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program’s cultural clusters, as well as between both generations of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants. Both generations of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants appear to share relatively homogeneous concerns, and therefore sharing the same digital culture regardless of the GLOBE cultural cluster to which they belong.

This paper aims to analyze selected socio-economic aspects of golf courses (GC[s]) in the Czech Republic (CR). The analysis strives to determine what aspects affect the development and dynamics of the golf market. The analysis revealed that the construction and development of the GCs are related to the socio[HYPHEN]economic type of territory. Most GCs are built in the developed areas (65), followed by a stabilized area (44), while only three GCs lie in peripheral areas. The GCs differ in the variety of services provided to the players. Based on the cluster analysis, The GCs fall into three various groups, where the first cluster comprises standard playgrounds, whereas the third cluster includes rather luxurious properties, which is also reflected in the quality and variety of the services provided. The subsequent economic analysis unfolded that the costs exceeded revenues for approximately 60% of the analyzed GCs resulting in a negative economic result. The loss per hectare (ha) is up to -0.5 million CZK, and for those GCs that are profitable, these gains are only in the tens of thousands CZK. Moreover, the equity of GCs ranges from thousands (at least 1) through hundreds of thousands to millions of CZK (maximum 1.5-2.5). It seems that the motives of the holdings of the GCs are of a different character, i.e., not only financially, but also of a specific nature (owner prestige, depositing money into the assets, other uses of the acquired property and pursuing a sporting interest as a hobby). Although the paper focuses on the Czech GCs, the results could be generalized as the CR golf market is similar to other countries (i.e., saturated, stagnating membership base, low operating profitability, sustainability issues). The conclusions are beneficial not only for GCs owners or managers but also for researches concerned with socio-economic aspects of GC’s construction, development, sustainability, and management.