Mazen Massoud

Changes in consumer behavior are influenced by green marketing and brand equity dimensions. Green marketing places high concerns on consumers’ environmental attitudes as a determinant of purchases and word of mouth. Green marketing increases brand awareness, fosters consumer loyalty and enhances reputation. The study aims to assess the influence of green marketing on consumers’ word of mouth through the mediating effect of brand equity dimensions. This descriptive causal research establishes a cause-and-effect relationship between variables, employing a quantitative research method. The questionnaire was deployed to collect the data and was pre-tested using a pilot test. 495 Lebanese consumers were included in the sample, which was collected using the convenience sampling technique. The results validated that green marketing reinforces consumers’ word of mouth (β = 0.663). It has a strong influence on brand equity (β = 0.899), brand loyalty (β = 0.772), brand trust (β = 0.663) and perceived quality (β = 0.353). The results corroborated that brand trust has the strongest mediating in this study (SE: 0.950; CR: 6.602; p < 0.01). Brand loyalty, while not a significant mediator in this relationship (SE: 0.012, CR: 0.872, p: 0.383 > 0.005), still plays a crucial role in brand management. This study concludes that giving brands a voice will appeal to the target audience and keep them committed. It highlighted the need for managers to review their loyalty strategies.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Creative leadership is vital for managing financial crises. Leaders with vision, motivation, and adaptability steer organizations toward stability and success. They anticipate potential crises by establishing conflict prevention mechanisms and internal controls, thereby ensuring resilience and enabling proactive, calm management during crises. Creative leadership is increasingly important for small and medium-sized enterprises in unstable regions like Lebanon. This paper examines how creative leadership dimensions impact financial crisis management through the mediating roles of conflict prevention and internal control. This 2024 study used a questionnaire completed by 157 employees at Lebanese SMEs. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified three creative leadership dimensions: inspiring vision, adaptability, and self-motivation. Results showed that inspiring vision and adaptability affect financial crisis management. Structural equation modeling (SEM) confirmed that inspiring vision and adaptability significantly influence crisis management, mainly through the mediating effects of conflict prevention and internal control. Conflict prevention had the strongest direct effect on crisis management, with internal control showing a similar impact. Therefore, conflict prevention and internal control mediate the relationship between inspiring vision, adaptability, and successful financial crisis management. Adaptability and internal control are key pillars for effectively responding to financial crises. Creative leaders utilize crisis management models and controls to address financial crises. To enhance financial resilience, organizations should implement controls and proactive conflict prevention.

Type of the article: Research Article

The voice of the customer, trust, value, and Customer Relationship Management are essential in improving educational service quality. However, assessing their impacts remains difficult due to the intangible nature of educational service delivery and parents’ rising expectations. Lebanese schools, especially in urban areas such as Akkar, often overlook the negative effects of these factors on relationships with parents as decision makers, leading to a perceived gap between promises and actual experiences. This article aims to evaluate the influence of a customer’s voice on educational service quality through the mediating roles of perceived trust, perceived value, and customer relationship management. A quantitative method with a deductive approach was employed, using a questionnaire administered to parents of students enrolled in French and English private schools in Akkar, North Lebanon. Data collection was cross-sectional and concluded on November 30, 2024. The sample consisted of 390 participants, selected through simple random sampling after securing the school managers’ consent for data collection. Hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modeling. The study confirmed that a customer’s voice has a direct statistical effect (β = 0.083) on educational service quality and an indirect effect through perceived value (β = 0.021) and customer relationship management (p < 0.001), except for perceived trust. Parents perceive institutional responsiveness and cost-benefit optimization as crucial indicators of quality. Trust seems to function through autonomous mechanisms that are independent of formal feedback processes. The findings emphasize that schools can enhance service quality by establishing systematic feedback systems, refining CRM strategies, and leveraging perceived value to close the gap between expectations and actual experiences.