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Purpose The rapid spread and severity of the coronavirus (COVID-19) virus have prompted a spate of scholarly research that deals with the pandemic. The purpose of this study is to measure and assess the coverage of COVID-19 research on social media and the engagement of readers with COVID-19 research on social media outlets. Design/methodology/approach An altmetric analysis was carried out in three phases. The first focused on retrieving all papers related to COVID-19. Phase two of the research aimed to measure the presence of the retrieved papers on social media using altmetric application programming interface (API). The third phase aimed to measure Mendeley readership categories using Mendeley API to extract data of readership from Mendeley for each paper. Findings The study suggests that while social media platforms do not give accurate measures of the impact as given by citations, they can be used to portray the social impact of the scholarly outputs and indicate the effectiveness of COVID-19 research. The results confirm a positive correlation between the number of citations to articles in databases such as Scopus and the number of views on social media sites such as Mendeley and Twitter. The results of the current study indicated that social media could serve as an indicator of the number of citations of scientific articles. Research limitations/implications This study’s limitation is that the studied articles’ altmetrics performance was examined using only one of the altmetrics data service providers (altmetrics database). Hence, future research should explore altmetrics on the topic using more than one platform. Another limitation of the current research is that it did not explore the academic social media role in spreading fake information as the scope was limited to scholarly outputs on social media. The practical contribution of the current research is that it informs scholars about the impact of social media platforms on the spread and visibility of COVID-19 research. Also, it can help researchers better understand the importance of published COVID-19 research using social media. Originality/value This paper provides insight into the impact of COVID-19 research on social media. The paper helps to provide an understanding of how people engage with health research using altmetrics scores, which can be used as indicators of research performance.

PurposeThis study aims to compare the impacts of proceedings papers in the fields of social science and humanities (SSH) and science.Design/methodology/approachThis study involved not only citations but also altmetric indexes to compare the impacts of proceedings papers among multiple disciplines with 1,779,166 records from Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI) in the Web of Science (WoS) in the period of 2013–2017. The mean value, concentration ratio, Lorenz curves and correlation analysis are utilized into the comparative analysis.Findings(1) Proceedings papers in science fields had higher scholarly impacts than those in SSH fields. (2) As for societal impact, clinical, pre-clinical and health still ranked first, whereas physical science and engineering and technologies were transcended by SSH fields, which is different from the scholarly impact of proceedings papers. (3) As for proceedings papers, citations and altmetric indexes have weak or moderate correlations in all six fields, indicating that altmetrics can be supplemented when assessing proceedings papers.Originality/valueThis study is expected to enhance the understanding of proceedings papers and to promote accuracy of evaluation for them by exhibiting the multidisciplinary differences of their scholarly and societal impacts.

Purpose The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between social media and libraries in terms of marketing. The present research is to find out the factors and impact as well as the issues related to libraries and marketing using social media. This study will give massive information regarding social media use for the marketing of library sources and services. Design/methodology/approach This study so far has been taken into account to review all the related literature of social media and library marketing. All the related literature studies were reviewed according to the suggested objectives of the study. Findings The present study reveals after reviewing literature that there is a great impact of social media on libraries. The literature shows that social media is the biggest change in the twenty-firstst century for library professionals and librarians. The reviewed literature studies have discovered that the libraries are facing too many challenges and issues to the adoption of social media for the marketing of library sources and services. The collected and analyzed works of the literature indicated that social media would be the best tool to promote library sources and services. Research limitations/implications This research or study can serve the LIS professionals and librarians in the field of library and information science and librarianships that they are looking for the adoption and application of social media in the marketing of library sources and services to the targeted customers. Practical implications This research or study can serve the LIS professionals and Librarians in the field of library and information science and librarianships that they are looking for the adoption and application of social media in the marketing of library sources and services to the targeted customers. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first among those researches that is to disclose the close relationship between social media and libraries in terms of marketing of library sources and services.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the usage, captures, mentions, social media and citations of highly cited papers of Library and information science (LIS). Design/methodology/approach This study is quantitative research that was conducted using scientometrics and altmetrics indicators. The research sample consists of LIS classic papers. The papers contain highly cited papers of LIS that are introduced by Google Scholar. The research data have been gathered from Google Scholar, Scopus and Plum Analytics Categories. The data analysis has been done by Excel and SPSS applications. Findings The data indicate that among the highly cited articles of LIS, the highest score regarding the usage, captures, mentions and social media and the most abundance of citations belong to “Citation advantage of open access articles” and “Usage patterns of collaborative tagging systems.” Based on the results of Spearman statistical tests, there is a positive significant correlation between Google Scholar Citations and all studied indicators. However, only the correlation between Google Scholar Citations with capture metrics (p-value = 0.047) and citation metrics (p-value = 0.0001) was statistically significant. Originality/value Altmetrics indicators can be used as complement traditional indicators of Scientometrics to study the impact of papers. Therefore, the Altmetrics knowledge of LIS researchers and experts and practicing new studies in this field will be very important.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the content and determinants of voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures within chief executive officer (CEO) letters and social media tools. Design/methodology/approach – Published CEO letters and the presence of global pulp and paper manufacturing companies in the social media in 2012 are analysed in this study using content analysis. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis is used to investigate the impact played by headquarter location, firm size and lagged profitability as a measure of slack resources on the quality of CSR disclosure. Findings – Company size and slack resources were found to increase the quality of traditional sustainability communication, whereas company size was the only significant factor explaining communication quality in social media usage. Environmental issues were the most common disclosure topic, accompanied by community issues. A curvilinear association was interestingly found between slack resources and communication quality. Research limitations/implications – The sample frame was selected from the 100 largest pulp and paper companies globally, and for better generalization, future research should aim at also analyzing data from small and medium enterprises and from other industries. Practical implications – Findings of the paper are useful for firm self-evaluation and benchmarking of disclosure activities by other businesses across the pulp and paper industry. Social implications – Slack company resources improve communication quality and the effective utilization of multiple channels. Originality/value – This paper incorporates the framework of the new ISO 26000 standard in CSR implementation and illustrates the growing importance of social media in communicating CSR.

PurposeSince its introduction in 2006, messages posted to the microblogging system Twitter have provided a rich dataset for researchers, leading to the publication of over a thousand academic papers. This paper aims to identify this published work and to classify it in order to understand Twitter based research.Design/methodology/approachFirstly the papers on Twitter were identified. Secondly, following a review of the literature, a classification of the dimensions of microblogging research was established. Thirdly, papers were qualitatively classified using open coded content analysis, based on the paper's title and abstract, in order to analyze method, subject, and approach.FindingsThe majority of published work relating to Twitter concentrates on aspects of the messages sent and details of the users. A variety of methodological approaches is used across a range of identified domains.Research limitations/implicationsThis work reviewed the abstracts of all papers available via database search on the term “Twitter” and this has two major implications: the full papers are not considered and so works may be misclassified if their abstract is not clear; publications not indexed by the databases, such as book chapters, are not included. The study is focussed on microblogging, the applicability of the approach to other media is not considered.Originality/valueTo date there has not been an overarching study to look at the methods and purpose of those using Twitter as a research subject. The paper's major contribution is to scope out papers published on Twitter until the close of 2011. The classification derived here will provide a framework within which researchers studying Twitter related topics will be able to position and ground their work.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate an integrated, holistic assessment of the characteristics by which consumers judge non-sponsored product review video (PRV) source, message and medium components as credible, and how these are linked to personal values for a deeper understanding of multidimensional credibility assessments of PRVs. Design/methodology/approach Employing a means-end approach, the authors draw on credibility theory and the persuasion knowledge model to analyse data from 21 in-depth semi-structured laddering interviews. Findings First, the authors demonstrate distinctive contributions of the video modality towards PRV credibility assessments and the interplay between specific PRV characteristics, cognitive and socio-emotional consequences, and personal values in an ongoing process of credibility assessment. Second, high persuasion knowledge creates awareness of the potential phoniness of the market, revealing a dark side to PRV use even in non-sponsored PRV seemingly created and shared as an act of benevolent concern between consumers. Research limitations/implications This paper focused on the credibility of non-sponsored PRVs, future studies might investigate motivations and attributes by which users judge sponsored reviews. Also, the roles of specific product categories and existing brand trust on PRVs credibility provide avenues for further research. Practical implications This research offers practical implications for reviewers and brand managers to leverage the unique informational values of video by focusing on the interplay between credibility attributes and customer values. Originality/value This work advances credibility theory in the PRV context by examining how non-sponsored PRVs are evaluated as credible, by highlighting consumer persuasion knowledge and scepticism and including the holistic effects of the interplay between source, message and video format characteristics and by linking these to consumers’ goals and values.

Funding Information: This work was supported by Kone Foundation, Academy of Finland (#320370), Strategic Research Council (#327237), Strategic Research Council (#327395), Intimacy in Data-driven Culture (IDA). The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, Minna Kallioharju, Terhi-Anna Wilska and Annamari Vänskä. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine mothers’ social media accounts that focus on children’s fashion. The authors probed children’s fashion photo practices as representations of the mothers’ extended self and the kind of childhood representations produced by the social media accounts. They also investigated mothers’ perceptions of children’s privacy when engaging in sharenting – the sharing of information about children or parenting online. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on 16 semi-structured interviews with Finnish mothers who had Instagram accounts focusing on children’s fashion. Findings: Children’s fashion photos play a diverse role in mothers’ identity work. The photos can be used to express a mother’s taste and aesthetic skills, to express values, to fit into peer groups and to store memories of oneself and the children. Through the photos, representations of the prevailing Finnish childhood ideals, such as authenticity, naturalness and playfulness, are reproduced. The mothers perceived the children as part of their extended self and justified sharenting with mother- and child-centered arguments. Originality/value: Through shedding light on the practices of social media fashion photography, this paper provides insights into how commercialism and social media shape cultural expectations for both motherhood and childhood. The paper contributes to previous research on sharenting, extending it to the context of fashion photography.

Purpose Social media allow for observing different aspects of human behaviour, in particular, those that can be evaluated from explicit user expressions. Based on a data set of posts with user opinions collected from social media, this paper aims to show an insight into how the readers of different news portals react to online content. The focus is on users’ emotions about the content, so the findings of the analysis provide a further understanding of how marketers should structure and deliver communication content such that it promotes positive engagement behaviour. Design/methodology/approach More than 5.5 million user comments to posted messages from 15 worldwide popular news portals were collected and analysed, where each post was evaluated based on a set of variables that represent either structural (e.g. embedded in intra- or inter-message structure) or behavioural (e.g. exhibiting a certain behavioural pattern that appeared in response to a posted message) component of expressions. The conclusions are based on a set of regression models and exploratory factor analysis. Findings The findings show and theorise the influence of social media content on emotional user engagement. This provides a more comprehensive understanding of the engagement attributed to social media content and, consequently, could be a better predictor of future behaviour. Originality/value This paper provides original data analysis of user comments and emotional reactions that appeared on social media news websites in 2018.

Purpose The use of social media tools by companies is common, but the links between the use of multiple social media tools by companies and stock price changes are largely unknown. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the value-relevance of social media activities on Facebook (FB), Instagram (IG), LinkedIn (LI), Twitter (TW) and YouTube (YT). Design/methodology/approach Stock market data and hand-picked social media data in this study were collected from Finland, a small language area with consistent International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reporting practices, in the expectation of better comparability and lower noise in the data.This study uses correlation, regression and factor analyses for a sample of 105 Finnish public limited companies listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange. Findings This paper finds evidence that social media activity is an important area of analysis and that the activity and popularity of a company in social media are value-relevant variables in forecasting stock prices. Practical implications Not all social media activities are necessarily equally important for managers and investors. Focus on visual messages in social media is recommended. Originality/value The findings of this study highlight the value-relevance of using multiple visual social media channels, particularly IG and YT. This paper suggests avenues for future research and for analyzing social media information.

PurposeWhen communicating CSR initiatives on social media, companies need to choose the appropriate source and type of messages. Over the last few years, influencers have emerged as a relevant endorser for CSR messages, but there is a lack of research investigating their effectiveness. Hence, the purpose of the study is to analyze how the type of source and message framing on social media influence message credibility, corporate reputation (CR) and word-of-mouth (WOM).Design/methodology/approachAn online experiment with 2 (source: influencer vs corporate) × 2 (CSR frame motives: values-driven vs performance-driven) between-subject design was conducted among 200 participants.FindingsResults showed that the type of source does not affect message credibility or CR but a corporate source generates more WOM. Moreover, values-driven motives increase CR and generate more WOM. However, the type of frame motives does not impact message credibility.Originality/valueThe current paper tests the effect of framing and source when communicating CSR on social media. The paper shows that overall an effective CSR communication should be posted by a corporate source and framed by values-driven motives. Hence, the study contributes to the contemporary literature regarding CSR communication and provides practical implications for companies.

PurposeThe research objective of the paper is twofold. First, it scrutinises the current state of the art concerning adopting the most popular social media by European port managing bodies (PMBs). Second, it investigates the use of social media in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication strategies of European PMBs.Design/methodology/approachThe paper carries out online field research on the use of social media by the top-25 European ports. Then, it provides an in-depth case study of the use of Twitter by the Port of Rotterdam for CSR communication. Finally, a content analysis of the tweets published in the 2017–2019 timeframe is performed.FindingsEmpirical results demonstrate the extensive use of social media by European PMBs to reach a wider array of stakeholders. Uneven approaches emerge considering port sizes and cultural clusters. The content analysis shows that one-third of tweets published by the Twitter account of the Port of Rotterdam address CSR issues, especially green initiatives, advocating the use of social media to communicate CSR.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focuses on the European domain. A broader sample of ports worldwide should be examined to further investigate the drivers affecting PMBs' strategic adoption and use of social media, mainly to communicate CSR.Practical implicationsThe paper provides port managers with insights to strengthen CSR communication. Given the increasing pressure of the public opinion on environmental and social issues, the ability of European PMBs to communicate their CSR commitment through social media represents a key driver when searching for consensus of stakeholders and “licence to operate”.Originality/valueThe paper adds to the existing maritime logistics literature by introducing a promising field of research.

Purpose COVID-19, a causative agent of the potentially fatal disease, has raised great global public health concern. Information spreading on the COVID-19 outbreak can strongly influence people behaviour in social media. This paper aims to question of information spreading on COVID-19 outbreak are addressed with a massive data analysis on Twitter from a multidimensional perspective. Design/methodology/approach The evolutionary trend of user interaction and the network structure is analysed by social network analysis. A differential assessment on the topics evolving is provided by the method of text clustering. Visualization is further used to show different characteristics of user interaction networks and public opinion in different periods. Findings Information spreading in social media emerges from different characteristics during various periods. User interaction demonstrates multidimensional cross relations. The results interpret how people express their thoughts and detect topics people are most discussing in social media. Research limitations/implications This study is mainly limited by the size of the data sets and the unicity of the social media. It is challenging to expand the data sets and choose multiple social media to cross-validate the findings of this study. Originality/value This paper aims to find the evolutionary trend of information spreading on the COVID-19 outbreak in social media, including user interaction and topical issues. The findings are of great importance to help government and related regulatory units to manage the dissemination of information on emergencies, in terms of early detection and prevention.

Purpose The basic purpose of this paper is to find out library professionals how these libraries perceive the importance of social media and emerging technologies what would make the difference in the libraries and how they help libraries to create environments flexible and exclusive. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews various options for libraries to use different forms of social media to market their resources and services. Findings The reviewed literature has identified the importance and use of emerging technologies and social media in libraries. This paper can help library professionals to engage themselves to use social media and emerging technologies to bring innovation into the library sources and services. Originality/value This paper provides a review of social media and emerging technologies used for marketing in the libraries environment.

PurposeWorldwide In-app Purchase (IAP) revenues reached almost US$37 billion in 2017 and doubled that in 2020. Although the revenue from IAPs exceeds those from paid apps, only 5% of total app users make any IAPs. This paper investigates why some users will not make IAPs and develop a novel concept of users' Perceived Aggressive Monetization of IAPs as an alternative framework to explain IAP behavior.Design/methodology/approachGiven the newness of IAPs, this study uses qualitative research to understand the phenomenon and develop a model to explain the decision to spend on IAPs. In total, this study collected 4,092 unique user-generated comments from app user review sites and social media webpages where users discuss in-app purchasing.FindingsThe analysis reveals recurring themes that explain user unwillingness to make in-app purchases, such as conflicting meanings of free-to-play, perceived unfairness and aggressive monetization of IAP by app publishers, and self-control issues. Subsequent user interviews support the themes and suggest that IAP spending might be more impulsive.Originality/valueThe paper develops a new concept of perceived aggressive monetization. Additionally, it proposes a novel theoretical framework that future researchers can use to understand why some mobile game users are unwilling to pay for IAPs.

Purpose The purpose of this paper to review the legislative framework for social media records in Botswana. The goal is to determine the extent to which the current legislation in Botswana covers the management of social media records. Design/methodology/approach This paper applied a qualitative research methodology and used documentary review method to collect data for analysis. The data collected was reviewed and organised into themes that cut across all the data sources to answer the main research objective. Findings The findings of this paper show that the Botswana Government has made strides in reforming some legislation to address issues that rise with the continued use of the internet and cloud services in the country. However, a review of the legislation established that the reforms were not comprehensive enough for records generated on social media. The relevant subsidiary legislation also fell shot in filing this gap in the country’s legislative framework. Research limitations/implications Research into the legislative framework for records generated on social media platforms in Botswana still needs more insights, specifically guidelines in the implementation of the current legislation in the country. Practical implications The findings of this paper can be used by both Botswana and other governments, especially in Africa where there is limited research in the area, to better manage records generated through the use of social media with respect to relevant legislative frameworks. Originality/value This paper is one of the first research contributions to review the legislative framework for records generated on social media in Botswana.

Purpose The purpose of the study is to use web serer logs in analyzing the changes of user behavior in reading online news, in terms of desktop and mobile users. Advances in mobile technology and social media have paved the way for online news consumption to evolve. There is an absence of research into the changes of user behavior in terms of desktop versus mobile users, particularly by analyzing the server logs. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors investigate the evolution of user behavior using logs from the Malaysian newspaper Berita Harian Online in April 2012 and April 2017. Web usage mining techniques were used for pre-processing the logs and identifying user sessions. A Markov model is used to analyze navigation flows, and association rule mining is used to analyze user behavior within sessions. Findings It was found that page accesses have increased tremendously, particularly from Android phones, and about half of the requests in 2017 are referred from Facebook. Navigation flow between the main page, articles and section pages has changed from 2012 to 2017; while most users started navigation with the main page in 2012, readers often started with an article in 2017. Based on association rules, National and Sports are the most frequent section pages in 2012 and 2017 for desktop and mobile. However, based on the lift and conviction, these two sections are not read together in the same session as frequently as might be expected. Other less popular items have higher probability of being read together in a session. Research limitations/implications The localized data set is from Berita Harian Online; although unique to this particular newspaper, the findings and the methodology for investigating user behavior can be applied to other online news. On another note, the data set could be extended to be more than a month. Although initially data for the year 2012 was collected, unfortunately only the data for April 2012 is complete. Other months have missing days. Therefore, to make an impartial comparison for the evolution of user behavior in five years, the Web server logs for April 2017 were used. Originality/value The user behavior in 2012 and 2017 was compared using association rules and Markov flow. Different from existing studies analyzing online newspaper Web server logs, this paper uniquely investigates changes in user behavior as a result of mobile phones becoming a mainstream technology for accessing the Web.

Purpose Several sources have reported an increase in the opposition to the fifth-generation (5G) amongst local communities following the outbreak of Covid-19. In Italy, more than 300 municipalities banned 5G rollout from their territory between April and June 2020. Researchers have described this phenomenon as resulting from the infodemic caused by the pandemic, however, local protests also accompanied the rollout of the previous generation of mobile communications. This paper uses document analysis to explore the local debate on 5G municipal bans and map their evolution in an Italian region. This study aims to unravel the complexity of this phenomenon and inform future research on the actors and factors underlying the opposition of local communities towards 5G. Design/methodology/approach The analysis focusses on Marche, a region in Italy where, by July 2020, 25% of the municipalities had banned 5G rollout. This analysis is based on secondary data, retrieved from multiple online sources (articles from the local press, public statements and press releases, minutes from local council meetings and resolutions from local councils). Findings The analysis revealed that concerns on the safety of electromagnetic fields predated the pandemic, although these concerns may have increased the sensitivity of local communities towards health issues. The local debates on 5G involved many actors from the civil society, including environmentalists that had long campaigned against wireless technologies and local politicians playing a proactive role in leading and coordinating the adoption of resolutions against 5G. Originality/value This paper addresses an emerging phenomenon, such as municipal bans against 5G, that has not yet been explored in academic literature. Researchers have recently investigated the propagation of conspiracy theories on 5G on social media, but little has been said on the factors and actors shaping the debate on 5G within local communities.

Purpose The current National Early Warning System for Sri Lanka (NEWS: SL) was established after the devastations of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. Although early warning (EW) systems and evacuation procedures are in place, several areas which need improvements have been emphasized in recent studies carried out in the country. Therefore, this paper aims to outline the gaps in existing EW and EP related to tsunami and other coastal hazards with a special focus on the use of social media for disaster communication based on age groups. Design/methodology/approach This study has drawn on a review of past studies carried out by the same research team to identify the scope of the study. In addition to that, a conceptual framework was developed for the use of social media in the event of a disaster. Based on this conceptual framework, an online questionnaire was administered to identify the current status of the use of social media in Sri Lanka during a disaster situation. In total, 408 responses were collected and analyzed using the binary logistic regression method to evaluate the variation of different predictors associated with the use of social media for disaster communication. Findings Findings of the study revealed that the use of social media for disaster communication depends on the previous experience of users and their age. The gender of users does not affect the use of social media for disaster communication. Therefore, the accuracy and timeliness of disaster information distributed via social media should be improved further to enhance the use of social media for disaster communication. Moreover, the findings have highlighted unaddressed issues in areas such as governance; communication of technical agencies; evacuation and shelters; and response of the community. Originality/value This paper has identified key areas that need attention in the process of enhancing the use of social media for disaster communication. More use of technological platforms such as social media for receiving disaster-related information can address issues such as bottlenecks in communication, poor awareness and lack of last-mile dissemination. Furthermore, this paper has proposed recommendations for addressing the identified gaps in the overall EW mechanisms and EP pertaining to tsunamis and other coastal hazards to enhance the coastal disaster resilience in Sri Lanka.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how the abstract marketing concept of brand heritage is operationalized through visual elements on social media. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach combines interviews with marketing experts, a focus group with specialized academics, an open coding of Instagram images and the systematic coding of 800 images of eight champagne brands (company-generated content). Findings The study identifies 20 brand heritage codes (e.g. groupings of brand heritage visual cues with homogenous meanings). These codes are combined in three different factors (brand symbols, product legacy and consumption rituals) that discriminate between brands. Research limitations/implications The paper offers a description of what brand heritage looks like in practice. This visual operationalization of brand heritage is based on a single category, a limitation that further research can address. The results also contribute to research on visual brand identity and provide practical insights for the management of brand heritage at the product brand level. Originality/value This paper bridges the gap between the strategic management of brand heritage as a resource and the way it is concretely made available to the consumers.

PurposeThe role of female managers has been of increasing interest among scholars in recent years, especially regarding sustainability issues. The same could be said about the usefulness of social media in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in demonstrating accountability to their stakeholders and attracting and keeping donors and volunteers. This paper aims to meet both research interests by analyzing to what extent women in top positions can foster stakeholders' engagement via social media.Design/methodology/approachOnline engagement can be proxied using data from social media to develop a measure that summarizes the main actions social media users are able to use in order to show their reactions to social media publications. Facebook data were obtained using proprietary software (Facebook data model) developed by the research team to carry out data massive extraction, processing and exploration.FindingsThe results of the multivariate analysis show that female leadership in both top and environmental-specific positions enhance social media engagement, while a higher percentage of women on the board of directors exert the opposite effect.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is not without limitations. First, this research is focused on a specific type of non-governmental organization (environmental NGO). Second, this study does not include economic variables such as donation income or expense structure. Third, data come only from Facebook as the leading social network.Originality/valueThis paper advances in the scarce knowledge about the role of women and the levels of online engagement (interactive conversations) in NGOs focused on sustainability.

PurposeResearch on social media frequently analyze social media usage (SMU)'s positive consequences for organizations and individuals; however, recent innovation studies caution that SMU may not always lead to positive new product development (NPD) outcomes. The competing streams of research highlight a fundamental tension that exists in the social media literature exemplified by the question: Is SMU good or bad for NPD? In this manuscript, the authors suggest that a more appropriate question as follows: What are the positive and negative indirect effects of SMU on NPD performance? The purpose of this paper is to discuss the aforementioned points in detail.Design/methodology/approachA literature review provides the model and hypotheses. Using a sample of 168 Chinese firms, the authors conducted an empirical test following multiple regression analysis.FindingsThe results demonstrate that SMU facilitates business analytics (ability) and social legitimacy (opportunity) but impairs entrepreneurial proclivity (motivation). These three constructs in turn mediate the effect of SMU on NPD performance. Moreover, this paper explores how technological turbulence moderates SMU's effects on business analytics, entrepreneurship proclivity and social legitimacy.Research limitations/implicationsThe results may be affected by both the context (solely in China) and type (cross-sectional) of the data set. Future research might take a decompositional approach to study SMU's effect on innovation in different NPD stages. Furthermore, with widely varying purposes (e.g., marketing, information searching, partner collaboration, new product launch, etc.), there is certainly a need for more clarity and understanding of how firms can leverage each of these different social media activities for successful NPD.Practical implicationsFirst, we suggest that managers in China should be explicitly aware of the double-edged sword effect of SMU on NPD performance. Second, this study encourages managers to use social media carefully when technological turbulence becomes intense.Originality/valueDrawing on the ability–motivation–opportunity framework, this is one of the first studies to simultaneously examines the benefits and costs of SMU for NPD. In addition, this paper bridges the separate literatures on social media, business analytics, entrepreneurial proclivity and social legitimacy and contributes to the NPD research.

Purpose This paper aims to examine how modern, digital era customers in a business-to-consumer (B2C) setting prioritize salesperson-customer orientation attributes when evaluating their expectations regarding interactions with salespeople, as well as their impact on positive and negative word-of-mouth. In addition, the research further investigates which negative salesperson attributes have an impact on overall customer experience and satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Role theory and expectancy-disconfirmation theory form the theoretical foundation for two mixed-method studies. Study 1 is an exploratory content analysis of online consumer reviews and social media word-of-mouth related to consumer experiences with salespeople. Study 2 is a three-round Delphi study investigating which salesperson orientation attributes are most important to the customer in B2C interactions. Findings The results uncover which salesperson customer orientation attributes are essential for modern consumers and how they differ as a function of context (retail, direct-selling and follow-up) and how they contribute to the generation of digital word-of-mouth. Originality/value This paper expands B2C sales interaction literature by exploring the need for differing sales attributes based on the differential function of the shopping environment.

PurposeMarketing and branding literature has provided important insights into the context, environment and individual factors that shape customer brand experience. However, a holistic view on context and environmental influence on enhancing brand experience, specifically in the online social media network context, has not been considered. In addition, main focus of the previous research is on antecedent and consequence of brand experience rather strategy for enhancing brand experience. This paper aims to propose a contingency model for enhancing brand experience to provide a more holistic framework in the uncertain and complex nature of online social media network.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed framework is based on previous literature that is identified and integrated to propose effectiveness of the contingent determinants on brand experience in different interactional circumstances.FindingsThe proposed framework implies that brand characteristics and interactive complexities of online social media networks cause contingency to the marketers or brands’ strategic attempt in delivering superior brand experience in online social media network context. These forces are as follows: online social media network characteristic (interactivity); brands’ co-creation characteristics (consumers’ and stakeholders’ participation); brand’s technical and operational competency (brands’ knowledge, ease of interactive platform); internal human resource characteristics (employees’ behaviour, brands culture, brands reputation); and customer interactive characteristics (customer demographic characteristics, customer motivation, customer attitude). These identified forces can be optimized to formulate strategies in the interactive medium for enhancing brand experience.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper proposes a contingency model as well as research propositions that need to be validated and confirmed empirically. While narrowing down the current identified gap in brand experience literature by proposing a novel perspective to the concept, this research broadens and deepens understanding of the concept of brand experiences, how it is linked to the context and contextual factors. This contingency framework elucidates the resources that marketers, practitioners can use to enhance, limit or maintain all the dimensions within brand experience.Originality/valueA holistic view on context and environmental influence on enhancing brand experience, specifically in the online social media network context, has not been considered so far. Although literature demonstrates the positive outcome of brand experience, little attention has been paid to enhancing customer brand experience, specifically in the context of online social media networks with various complex forces acting and influencing the way customers experience a brand.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the factors which influence value co-creation intention through customer engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper studies the online modest fashion small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt as a Muslim country. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on the social cognitive theory (SCT) and the literature to develop a theoretical framework of the factors influencing customers’ value co-creation intention on social media. The framework is then tested quantitatively through structural equation modelling based on partial least squares method (SEM-PLS) approach using the SmartPLS software. Findings The empirical analysis supported the SCT through the following conclusions: first, regarding the subject factors, self-efficacy has a positive significant effect on all dimensions of customer engagement and outcome expectation has a positive significant effect on cognitive customer engagement. Concerning the environmental factors, community experience has a positive significant effect on affective and behavioural customer engagement, whereas content quality has a positive significant effect on affective customer engagement. Second, customer engagement is a significant mediator through the dimensions of affective and behavioural customer engagement. Practical implications The findings of this study can help online modest fashion SMEs better comprehend the factors which influence the customers’ engagement for value co-creation intention whether it is subject factors or environmental factors. Therefore, they can better operate online and encourage customers to contribute to the development of new products and services and hence achieve a competitive advantage and survive in times of COVID-19. Originality/value Most of the existing studies focused on the value co-creation behaviour and output. However, there is limited research focusing on what contributes to the customers’ engagement for value co-creation intention, especially for online modest fashion and Muslim countries. Therefore, this study attempts to examine and bridge this research gap.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is as follows: the first objective is to help illuminate part of the international archival sector’s initial responses to the crisis at its commencement, particularly by thematically analyzing the announcements made by national archives, which are arguably the leading archival institutions in their respective countries and the second objective is to help establish a joint contemporary understanding and historical snapshot of the positions of national archives during the first few months of the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach A comparative thematic analysis of national archives’ first formal public-facing COVID-19 announcements, released between March and May 2020, is conducted, specifically from the official websites of Australia’s National Archives of Australia, Canada’s Library and Archives Canada, New Zealand’s Archives New Zealand, the United Kingdom’s (UK) The National Archives and the United States of America’s (USA) National Archives. Findings Notwithstanding their diverse contexts, all the announcements thematically converge in discussing the closure of physical locations and spaces, as well as maintaining (reduced) services and offering remote access. Another theme appearing across most announcements is the concern for the protection of the health, welfare and safety of their communities. Additional themes featured in some of the announcements include considerations about the handling of paper records and physical materials, the removal and/or return of materials and the provision of further COVID-19 information. Unique themes appearing only once include steps for enacting precautions, furloughing staff and reopening and post-pandemic planning. Research limitations/implications Limitations to the article’s purview include its small sample size, focus on mainly English-speaking contexts and analysis of only official websites. Nevertheless, this sample arguably includes some of the major and leading archival institutions, not only in their respective countries but also internationally, namely, two national archives from North America (Canada and the USA), one from the wider European region (the UK) and two from Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). Further studies could expand the cohort size, diversify the focus for instance by analyzing social media postings and metrics and extend the timeframe. Practical implications This study could be of interest to archival academics and professionals, as well as library and information science scholars and practitioners, public health researchers and policymakers, cultural studies scholars and historians, exploring international and intersectional initiatives that have informed or are currently informing, approaches to and understandings of this pandemic and other similar health crises. It is further hoped that this study will humbly show support and supply solidarity with the wider archival community as it continues responding to and dealing with COVID-19. Social implications Capturing and analyzing aspects of national archives’ communication strategies related to the coronavirus pandemic is a topic of interest, not only for contemporary attempts for dealing with and understanding the crisis but also as a historical snapshot of their responses at this particular point in time. Originality/value By contributing to ongoing conversations about the coronavirus pandemic, this study provides the beginning of an analysis of the international archival sector’s initial interventions within it. As the first article in the archival literature on this topic, a baseline and point of reference are established for other studies that will hopefully follow on this topic. In these ways, it can also contribute to debates on how archives and other cultural memory institutions including libraries, museums and galleries, have reacted to the coronavirus pandemic and their resulting communication strategies and impacts upon their institutions, missions, collections, services and communities.

PurposeThe rapid advancement of technology in online communication and fingertip access to the Internet has resulted in the expedited dissemination of fake news to engage a global audience at a low cost by news channels, freelance reporters and websites. Amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, individuals are inflicted with these false and potentially harmful claims and stories, which may harm the vaccination process. Psychological studies reveal that the human ability to detect deception is only slightly better than chance; therefore, there is a growing need for serious consideration for developing automated strategies to combat fake news that traverses these platforms at an alarming rate. This paper systematically reviews the existing fake news detection technologies by exploring various machine learning and deep learning techniques pre- and post-pandemic, which has never been done before to the best of the authors’ knowledge.Design/methodology/approachThe detailed literature review on fake news detection is divided into three major parts. The authors searched papers no later than 2017 on fake news detection approaches on deep learning and machine learning. The papers were initially searched through the Google scholar platform, and they have been scrutinized for quality. The authors kept “Scopus” and “Web of Science” as quality indexing parameters. All research gaps and available databases, data pre-processing, feature extraction techniques and evaluation methods for current fake news detection technologies have been explored, illustrating them using tables, charts and trees.FindingsThe paper is dissected into two approaches, namely machine learning and deep learning, to present a better understanding and a clear objective. Next, the authors present a viewpoint on which approach is better and future research trends, issues and challenges for researchers, given the relevance and urgency of a detailed and thorough analysis of existing models. This paper also delves into fake new detection during COVID-19, and it can be inferred that research and modeling are shifting toward the use of ensemble approaches.Originality/valueThe study also identifies several novel automated web-based approaches used by researchers to assess the validity of pandemic news that have proven to be successful, although currently reported accuracy has not yet reached consistent levels in the real world.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between attitude functions and attitude towards social media advertising. Additionally, this study also examines the relationship between attitude towards social media advertising and purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach The data was collected via an online survey among Malaysian Muslim participants. Quantitative analysis was used to test the hypothesis. A total of 280 respondents participated in the online survey but only 264 responses fit the analysis. The data was analysed via SPSS and partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings The findings of this paper show that attitude functions, namely, utilitarian, value-expressive, ego-defensive and religiosity have a significant positive influence on attitude towards social media advertising, whilst knowledge function was found to be insignificant. Attitude towards social media advertising was also found to have a significant positive influence on purchase intention. Practical implications Advertisers should also consider the religious aspects of Muslim consumers and their level of sensitivity as Muslims nowadays are well-informed. This is to avoid controversies and have a better understanding of their consumer needs. Originality/value This is one of the few studies examining the influence of religiosity in the social media advertising of controversial products such as bubble tea.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of social media guidelines (SMGs), as well as their impact on control mutuality, a sub-dimension of the organization–employee relationship (OER). A total of two studies compare guidelines with a focus that is either predominantly incentive or restrictive. In addition, they investigate the moderating effect of guideline writing style and enforcement.Design/methodology/approachIn total, two online experiments were conducted among Belgian employees. Participants read a social media policy manipulated in terms of focus (restrictive vs incentive) and style (conversational vs corporate; Study 1) or enforcement (signature requested vs not requested; Study 2).FindingsIncentive guidelines increase employee branding behavior more than their restrictive counterparts, while also safeguarding employees' perceived control mutuality. However, solid SMGs will not compensate for an organization's bad reputation among employees. The guidelines' style and manner of enforcement did not seem to matter.Practical implicationsCommunication executives can use our findings to draft SMGs in a way that increases opportunities (e.g. ambassadorship) and reduces risks (e.g. criticism) associated with employee social media use.Originality/valuePrior research on SMGs is predominantly descriptive and focused on the organizational perspective. This research paper contributes to both theory and practice by studying the causal impact of these guidelines on employees.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the features of health misinformation on social media sites (SMSs). The primary goal of the study is to investigate the salient features of health misinformation and to develop a tool of features to help users and social media companies identify health misinformation.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical data include 1,168 pieces of health information that were collected from WeChat, a dominant SMS in China, and the obtained data were analyzed through a process of open coding, axial coding and selective coding. Then chi-square test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were adopted to identify salient features of health misinformation.FindingsThe findings show that the features of health misinformation on SMSs involve surface features, semantic features and source features, and there are significant differences in the features of health misinformation between different topics. In addition, the list of features was developed to identify health misinformation on SMSs.Practical implicationsThis study raises awareness of the key features of health misinformation on SMSs. It develops a list of features to help users distinguish health misinformation as well as help social media companies filter health misinformation.Originality/valueTheoretically, this study contributes to the academic discourse on health misinformation on SMSs by exploring the features of health misinformation. Methodologically, the paper serves to enrich the literature around health misinformation and SMSs that have hitherto mostly drawn data from health websites.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the mechanism of online customer brand trust building through the lens of Walther’s Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) – Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT). Design/methodology/approach This paper integrates a range of theoretical and empirical works across branding and marketing, including concept of brand trust, use of online social media in brand communication and customer brand relations and CMC-SIPT theory and relational marketing literature other relevant information which were found useful in the given context were reviewed. The aim was to collect a broad spectrum of ideas, based on their relevance to the research purpose to propose effective online brand trust building framework. Findings This paper proposes three different developmental stages in brand trust building on online social media networks. Each stage is guided by the components of CMC-SIPT. Stage I is interaction and compliance of the brand communication clues which suggest that the aggregated level of interaction and compliance in online brand communication on social media determine the movement of the customer to the next level. Stage II suggests information processing at three successive layers by the customer as identification, internalization brand information and bonding, which eventually prompt the customer to the next level of brand trust building. Stage III is related to trust building which is the critical stage as customer internal states of arousal are experienced, which reduces the emotional risk of decision-making and increases confidence and trust of the customers in brands. Research limitations/implications The proposed framework of brand trust building has not been tested empirically. Future research could test and validate the proposed model tracking intrinsic changes in the customer in different brand trust development stages. This research is important for marketers or brands who wish to move beyond the notion of merely satisfying customers, to establishing more powerful emotional bonds between their brands and customers. It fills a gap in brand-trust literature and provides marketers and researchers a means to understand and draw strategies for consumers’ attraction toward brands (Patwardhan and Balasubramanian, 2011). The proposed framework has the capacity to revolutionize the way business and brands engage with society by enhancing and establishing trusting relationship. Originality/value To date, this research has not been done specifically from the SIPT perspective. This research is the first to examine brand communication strategies in an effort of building brand trust in the context of online social media network from the CMC-Social information theory perspective. It highlights the peculiarities of online brand communication on social media networks and customer information processing in presenting three stages of customer brand trust development to explain the development and flow of events.

Purpose This paper aims to explore 15 UK adult social care workers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This paper’s 15 open-ended interviews with adult social care workers are complemented by digital ethnography in COVID-19 social media forums. This data set is taken from a global mixed-methods study, involving over 2,000 participants from 59 different countries. Findings Workers reported a lack of planning, guidance and basic provisions including personal protective equipment. Work intensification brought stress, workload pressure and mental health problems. Family difficulties and challenges of living through the pandemic, often related to government restrictions, intensified these working conditions with precarious living arrangements. The workers also relayed a myriad of challenges for their residents in which, the circumstances appear to have exacerbated dementia and general health problems including dehydration, delirium and loneliness. Whilst COVID-19 was seen as partially responsible for resident deaths, the sudden disruptions to daily life and prohibitions on family visits were identified as additional contributing factors in rapid and sudden decline. Research limitations/implications Whilst the paper’s sample cohort is small, given the significance of COVID-19 at this present time the findings shed important light on the care home experience as well as act as a baseline for future study. Social implications Care homes bore the brunt of illness and death during the first and second COVID-19 waves in the UK, and many of the problems identified here have still yet to be actioned by the government. As people approach the summer months, an urgent review is required of what happened in care homes and this paper could act as some part of that evidence gathering. Originality/value This paper offers revealing insights from frontline care home workers and thus provides an empirical snapshot during this unique phase in recent history. It also builds upon the preliminary/emerging qualitative research evidence on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted care homes, care workers and the residents.

PurposeThis paper considers the potential of social media for developing public services. The paper approaches social media as a context that can provide information that might otherwise be unattainable. The focus of analysis is on a special hard-to-reach group of marginalized youths who appear to have isolated themselves from society.Design/methodology/approachThe authors answer the question: How can the experiences of socially withdrawn youth as shared on social media be used to enrich the knowledge base relating to the initiation phase of co-creation of public services? The data retrieved from the Finnish discussion forum are analyzed using the combination of unsupervised machine learning and discourse analysis.FindingsThe paper contributes by outlining a method that can be applied to identify expertise-by-experience from digital stories shared by marginalized youths. To overcome the challenges of making socially withdrawn youths real contributors to the co-creation of public services, this paper suggests several theoretical and managerial implications.Originality/valueCo-creation assumes an interactive and dynamic relationship where value is created at the nexus of interaction. However, the evidence base for successful co-creation, particularly with digital technology, is limited. This paper fills the gap by providing findings from a case study that investigated how social media discussions can be a stimulus to enrich the knowledge base of the co-creation of public services.

Purpose Through a literature review, a gap has been identified regarding the role of competition as a driver of social network (SN) usage. This study aims to design to address this gap, seeking motivators for SN usage based on how SN consumption may be related to users’ experience of competition. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of competition in social media usage. Design/methodology/approach The authors used an exploratory qualitative approach, conducting a set of focus groups with young social media users. Data was analyzed with software. Findings Two new drivers for SN use are proposed, namely, competition and collective narrative. Research limitations/implications This is an exploratory study, and it does not seek to generalize results or quantify causal relationships among variables. Practical implications This paper offers SN managers a deeper understanding of key growth drivers for these media. Social implications This research can help society understand and debate the impacts of SNs on users’ lives, providing insights into drivers of excessive usage. Originality/value This paper proposes the following two SN usage drivers yet to be described in the literature: competition and collective narrative.

PurposeRecently, reverse logistics (RL) has become more prominent due to growing environmental concerns, social responsibility, competitive advantages and high efficiency by customers because of expansion of product selection and shorter product life cycle. However, effective implementation of RL results in some direct advantages, the most important of which is winning customer satisfaction that is vital to a firm's success. Therefore, paying attention to customer feedback in supply chain (SC) and logistics processes has recently increased, so manufacturers have decided to transform their RL into customer-centric RL. Hence, this paper aims to identify the features of a mobile phone which affect consumers’ purchasing behavior and to analyze the causality and prominence relations among them that can help decision-makers, policy planners and managers of organizations to develop a framework for customer-centric RL. These features are studied based on analysis of product review sites. This paper's special focus is on social media (SM) data (Twitter) in an attempt to help the decision-making process in RL through a big data analysis approach.Design/methodology/approachThis paper deals with identifying mobile phone features that affect consumer's mobile phone purchasing decisions. Using the DEMATEL approach and using experts' insights, a cause and effect relationship diagram was generated through which the effect of features was analyzed.FindingsEighteen features were categorized in terms of cause and effect, and the interrelationships of features were also analyzed. The threshold value is calculated as 0.023, and the values lower than that were eliminated to obtain the digraph. F6 (camera), F13 (price) and F5 (chip) are the most prominent features based on their prominent score. It was also found that the F5 (chip) has the highest driving power (1.228) and acts as a causal feature to influence other features.Originality/valueThe focus of this article is on SM data (Twitter), so that experts can understand the interaction between mobile phone features that affect consumer's decision on mobile phone purchasing by using the results. This study investigates the degree of influence of features on each other and categorizes the features into cause and effect groups. This study is also intended to help organizational decision-makers move toward a reverse customer SC.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of Web-based financial reporting and social media platforms on the proxies of information asymmetry in the Saudi Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach The sample of this paper consists of 133 Saudi listed non-financial companies for the year 2019. Web-based disclosure level was measured using 25 items, and the social media platforms examined in this study are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The information asymmetry proxies are measured using the relative spread and the time-weighted average bid-ask spread. Findings The empirical results have shown that there is a negative and significant relation between Web-based financial reporting and the adoption of social media platforms and the proxies of information asymmetry. Indeed, the relative spread and the time-weighted average bid-ask spread decreased with increased Web-based reporting levels. Among three platforms (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn), the results show that only the use of Twitter as a channel for information disclosure has a negative and significant effect on information asymmetry proxies. Consequently, in the Saudi context, the authors demonstrate that the assumptions of the agency, stewardship and signaling theories are supported. Also, results reveal that the effect of information disclosure through websites and social media on reducing information asymmetry is stronger for large companies than small companies. Practical implications The paper provides new insights into the role played by websites and social media platforms in the reduction of the information asymmetry in the stock market. Consequently, investors and regulatory authorities in the Saudi financial market must give great importance to online information disclosure and its implications for lowering information asymmetry. This empirical study informs regulators in Saudi Arabia to conduct the better practice of Web-based and social media financial reporting and to regulate the current practice of information disclosure. Besides, the obtained results have the potential to convince firms’ managers to improve online information disclosure to benefit from the reduction in information asymmetry. Originality/value Unlike previous studies, this study investigates, simultaneously, the effect of Web-based and social media information disclosure on the proxies of information asymmetry in a developing economy. In addition, the hypotheses of this study are developed based on a set of theories (the agency, signaling and stewardship theories), to verify the applicability of these three theories in the Saudi context.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the role of the migrant entrepreneur’s social capital and specifically their family social capital in the success of their crowdfunding ventures. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops an exploratory single case study of the Persu Bag started by a Chinese migrant entrepreneur in the USA, which was documented through in-depth interviews, email communication, social media interactions and secondary documents publicly available. This paper draws on crowdfunding and social capital literature to fulfil the purpose and adopt the perspective of the migrant entrepreneur in the study. Findings The study shows that the crowdfunding migrant entrepreneur’s family network contributes with their operand and operant resources from both the country of residence and country of origin. Besides having financial capacity, institutional knowledge and experience from both the host and home countries, the family network in both countries make the crowdfunding immigrant entrepreneur’s families more resourceful, providing additional benefits to the crowdfunding migrant entrepreneurs in the development of the campaign and crowdfunded venture. Originality/value This study broadens the understanding of the ways migrant entrepreneurs can rely on their family social capital for building financial capacity and starting a crowdfunded venture.

PurposeInternal social media (ISM) make it possible for all employees to participate in knowledge sharing and decision-making and to voice their opinions. However, several studies have found that organizations are far from unlocking the full potential of ISM. This paper seeks to explore and explain this gap further by adopting a sensemaking lens to managers' understanding of a social intranet in a public sector organization.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal case study of the process of introducing ISM was conducted in a Danish municipality. Before, during and after the launch of the intranet, interviews with department heads and communication managers in the six different municipal departments were carried out to explore how they made sense of the purpose of ISM.FindingsFindings indicate that during the process of introducing and implementing ISM, department heads' and managers' narratives about the purpose of the intranet changed from being a matter of involving, engaging and hearing the voices of the employees to being an effective administrative tool and a channel for management to reach all employees.Originality/valueRather than the traditional focus on whether ISM fail or succeed, the paper offers new understandings of how managers' sensemaking of ISM changes over time, leading to changes in the actual usage of and communication on ISM.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze how fashion consumers behave when they make purchases using social media platforms – specifically, Instagram. In particular, the work examines the role played by consumer–brand involvement and self–brand connection (SBC) as predictors of customer brand engagement (CBE).Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, social commerce-adoption is modeled, using three variables: customer engagement, SBC and fashion-consumer brand-involvement. Using a personal online survey, data on social media users classified as millennials and Generation Z were collected. The model is analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsConsumer involvement in fashion has a positive effect on cognitive processing and activation, but not on affection. SBC has a positive effect on all three analyzed dimensions. Finally, gender is found to exert a moderating effect on the relationship between the “CBE activation” dimension and brand loyalty.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was conducted during the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have influenced the responses. Other limitations and potential lines of research for the future are presented at the end of the paper.Practical implicationsSome of the results of this study can directly inform the social media strategies of fashion companies that use Instagram as a channel of communication with their customers. They can also contribute to incentivizing co-created content and increasing consumption among both men and women.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to addressing the scarcity of studies dealing with CBE and social commerce in the fashion sector and, in particular, fashion-consumer behavior on social media (specifically, Instagram).

PurposeThe purpose of this research paper is to address the main research gap related to the lack of sufficient information regarding the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in second Arab Spring wave in comparison to the first one. The authors analysed the role of ICTs via data regarding the access to ICTs and its influence on organization and spread of the anti-regime protests, i.e. regime change.Design/methodology/approachCrisis situations are unpredictable, complex and unexpected. The consequences produced by the crisis situations or events may be negative for an individual, community, organization or society as a whole. In the new millennium, ICTs have an important role in deep social crises. The new technologies enable not only the rapid spread of certain political ideas, spin information, but also the spread of misinformation. The control over ICTs in the crisis situations is crucial. The aim of this paper is to indicate effect of the use of ICTs in the crisis situations, i.e. political upheavals in 11 countries of the “Arab Spring”. The contribution of this paper is based on the development of a special theoretical model of analysis that represents the combination of the theoretical considerations in the field of ICTs, as well as the analysis in the field of transitology, i.e. democratization. The first part of the paper is focussed on the development of ICT transition theory of ICTs’ impact on the process of political change, setting the hypotheses and the explanation of methodological approach of the paper. The second part is related to the review and description of data regarding ICTs use, while the third one discusses the impact of the use of ICTs in organizing and spreading protests in the Arab world, in line with the defined theoretical framework. Finally, there are given the research results in terms of confirming or refuting the hypotheses through the analysis of Arab transition cases.FindingsThe authors confirmed the main hypothesis of the paper that the factors that determined the role of ICTs in first Spring, also, have determined the role of ICTs in second Spring wave. These factors include high access to ICT tools, weak regime's control over ICTs’ use and important cross-border networking with regional and international audience. All that formed the promotional role of ICTs in regime change in 8 of the 11 countries mentioned in the paper.Originality/valueApart from the developed special theoretical model and the analysis of new wave Arab Spring cases, the significance and originality of this paper is reflected in a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach that connects political changes and the use of ICTs in disseminating certain policies and ideas.

Purpose Past research has examined the extent to which users disclose personal information on social media, but the influence of fear of missing out (FOMO) or other factors on self-disclosure has received little attention. To fill this gap in the social media literature, this paper aims to examine the interrelationships among FOMO, social media addiction and self-disclosure among young users in Kuwait. In addition, the moderating effect of tie strength on the examined relationships is explored. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual framework is developed and tested by applying two-stage structural equation modeling using AMOS to examine the results of an online survey distributed to 1,347 social media users in Kuwait, 25 years of age and younger. Findings Path analysis confirmed an indirect effect of FOMO on self-disclosure mediated by social media addiction. Moreover, the path between FOMO and social media addiction and the path between social media addiction and self-disclosure are moderated by users’ tie strength. That is, higher levels of FOMO are more likely to increase social media addiction and, in turn, self-disclosure activities on social media among young users with weaker ties (compared to stronger ties). Overall, the findings provide support for a moderated mediation model. Practical implications Ethicists and consumer protection agencies should increase public awareness of the danger to young users with weaker ties of over disclosing personal data on social media and developing FOMO and social media addiction. Mitigation programs are needed to assist these addicted users in gaining control over their social media behaviors, leveraging social media as a powerful social change tool and preventing further damage to their psychological well-being. Originality/value Although previous research has demonstrated that FOMO, in general, is positively correlated with self-disclosure and social media addiction, the current research provides empirical evidence that these relationships are dependent on users’ tie strength. Additionally, this paper is the first to show a paradoxical effect of tie strength on self-disclosure: tie strength enforces the positive relationship between FOMO and self-disclosure in the absence of social media addiction but weakens this relationship when social media addiction is introduced as a mediator.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how New Zealand listed companies communicate COVID-19 related concerns on Twitter during the pandemic through various coping expressions and strategies. Design/methodology/approach A thematic content analysis was conducted to analyse COVID tweets based on Gaspar et al.’s (2016) coping strategy framework. Findings Six major COVID-19-related concerns communicated by New Zealand companies were found, with product/service being the most tweeted concern. Various coping expressions and strategies were demonstrated by the companies to address these concerns. Information sharing strategy was found to be the most common coping strategy implied in all six of these concerns. Research limitations/implications The paper contributes to the scant literature in crisis communication by providing empirical evidence on how COVID-19-related concerns, coping expressions and strategies were communicated by New Zealand companies. Originality/value While extant coping research generally examined coping expressions and strategies in Western countries and at an individual level, this paper examines coping communication at organisational level in an Asia-Pacific country. As per the researchers’ knowledge, this is a novel attempt that provides empirical evidence on corporate coping communication in an Asia-Pacific country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PurposeThe paper aims to highlight the role of Web 2.0 in international marketing, shedding light on the relationships existing between the country of origin effect and consumer behavior.Design/methodology/approachThe current study, drawn on the country of the origin (COO)W literature and Web 2.0 diffusion data, investigates the relationships between country of origin – seen as an idiosyncratic entrepreneurial offer – and the consumer, within an international marketing framework. Specifically, the paper focuses on the increasing role of Web 2.0 and social media as tools enabling enterprises to create and maintain adaptive and networking capabilities and to implement international marketing strategies.FindingsThe findings presented here reveal that international marketing is becoming increasingly similar to domestic marketing because of social media development. In other words, it is becoming more and more difficult for international products to contain themselves within single markets as local issues seldom remain local.Originality/valueThis paper fills a gap in the international marketing literature focusing on how social media, particularly in a pandemic era, can improve and enhance relationships between the product of origin and consumer behavior both in the assessment and in the actual purchase of products.

Purpose The outbreak of COVID-19 is one of the most serious health events in recent times. In the business landscape, its effects may be more detrimental to micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) because they tend to have limited financial and human resources to manage the challenges caused by COVID-19. To help MSMEs enhance their resilience, this paper aims to discuss how they can leverage mass collaboration to build social media-based knowledge ecosystems to manage interactions among internal and external stakeholders for knowledge creation and innovation. Design/methodology/approach The paper proposes a model for MSMEs to build an online knowledge ecosystem and a standalone text analytics tool to use the advanced data analytics, e.g. topic modeling, to analyze and aggregate collective insights. Design science research methodology is used to develop the model and the tool. Findings Through mass collaboration using social media and advanced data analytics technology, MSMEs can generate new business ideas, leading to enhanced resilience to meet the challenges caused by COVID-19 or other unexpected or extraordinary circumstances, such as natural disasters and financial crises. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first papers in social media adoption for knowledge creation and innovation research, providing detailed approaches for MSMEs to build a knowledge ecosystem on social media and to use advanced data analytics to mine the meaning of the generated data.

PurposeThe paper aims to clarify the potential impact of data gathered from social media (SM) in the competitive intelligence (CI) process of organizations. As use of SM expands, analysis of this data becomes a critical business need providing essential support for decision makers. This paper seeks to examine how SM be used to enhance CI in an organizational context.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopted an exploratory mixed-method approach followed by a sequential and equal status design, with qualitative semi-structured interviews, accounting for the qualitative study and serving as precursor to a quantitative structured survey. Interviewees included a university professor and CI consultant, an SM analyst and a subject in a management position – all in the field of CI. A survey was sent to Fortune 1000 companies. Some 227 companies replied.FindingsThe findings were that the majority of respondents produce CI reports at least monthly, and that information transmitted mainly by presentation within organizations. Over 70% of companies outsource CI activities to specialized firms, while 80.9% of organizations felt CI improved their relationship with their customers. Not surprisingly, as the number of people dedicated to CI activities increased, the likelihood of an organization hiring outside companies specializing in CI diminished.Research limitations/implicationsAll organizations sampled were large US companies; thus, small- and medium-sized enterprises were excluded, as were non-US viewpoints. As survey respondents were anonymous, the source of data at the level of the individual is missing. Finally, only three interviewees provided the qualitative data.Practical implicationsThis investigation determined organizations should have an established and well-structured CI department. Furthermore, such a department should have between five and ten employees to maximize the potential. Outsourcing depends on the company’s specific needs. Nevertheless, regardless of whether it outsources CI activities or not, each firm should monitor SM to enhance the CI process.Originality/valueMuch SM-based CI is either non-existent or in “embryotic” stages in most companies, and therefore still a work in progress. Furthermore, as SM is a relatively new phenomenon, studies supporting its implementation are scarce. Companies stand to gain significant improvements to CI if SM is effectively used.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the mechanisms for transforming construction professionals’ intentions into use of social media (SM) for knowledge sharing (KS). The objectives are to: identify the common types of SM platforms used by the construction professionals for KS; identify the key problems influencing transformation of the construction professionals’ intentions into use of SM for KS; identify the factors mitigating the problems; and provide recommendations for enhancing construction professionals’ use of SM for KS. Design/methodology/approach The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with Australian construction professionals and analysed using grounded theory (GT). The outcomes of the analyses formed a framework for the enhancement of SM use for KS. Findings The findings show that private SM followed by enterprise SM are more appealing to the construction professionals for KS compared to public SM; and uncertainties about users’ privacy/confidentiality and the quality of the shared knowledge adversely affect the transformation of the construction professionals’ intentions into use of SM for KS. Three types of trust are identified as the mitigators of the identified problems. A framework is proffered to enhance SM use for KS by construction professionals. Originality/value This paper contributes to the construction literature by developing a GT to explain the factors which impact the transformation of the construction professionals’ intentions into use of SM for KS. Additionally, the practical contribution of this study is the provision of framework constituting recommendations for the enhancement of SM use for KS.

PurposeJournalism students, a special user group with the dual perspective of both social media general users and online journalists, and their trust in rumours is a valued but understudied topic in relation to preparing rational information users and professionals for rumour control. To reveal these trust mechanisms, this paper aims to identify salient psychological and behavioural factors related to journalism students’ different levels of trust.Design/methodology/approachUsing structural equation modelling to analyse the survey data of 234 journalism students, this paper tested a theoretical model that considers self-efficacy and the expressive and consumptive use of social media rumours as the antecedents and consequences of trust belief and trust action, respectively.FindingsSelf-efficacy has a positive effect on trust belief but a negative effect on trust action. Trust belief positively affects expressive use of rumours, whereas trust action negatively affects consumptive use.Practical implicationsThis study contributes to the cultivation of future online news gatekeepers.Originality/valueThis paper distinguishes journalism students’ trust mechanisms from those of general users and online journalists. The integration of dual process theories provides insights into trust-building processes related to rumours and advances the understanding of the anchoring and adjustment effects of self-efficacy on trust.