Issue #4 (Volume 18 2022)

The Internet service sector is characterized as highly competitive, so Internet service providers have to seek ways to offer high-quality services to customers. This study measured the impact of perceived service quality on the repurchase intention of customers with the mediating impact of customers’ price perception. Data were gathered by surveying 405 customers of Internet service providers in Amman (Jordan) using the snowball sampling technique; the questionnaire was shared through social medias. Data were analyzed using factor analysis, regression, path analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that service quality factors represented by perceived service quality significantly affect customers’ repurchase intention and price perception (p-value is less than 0.05). Furthermore, price perception partially mediates the relationship between perceived service quality and customers’ repurchase intention, with an estimated power of 0.136. Thus far, the mediating variable that explains and predicts the relationship between perceived service quality and customers’ repurchase intention has been overlooked in the extant literature. Therefore, this study employs the role of price perception as a mediator variable. In addition, it provided an accurate assessment of customers’ perceptions of service quality of Internet providers in Amman (Jordan).

After restrictions on community activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted, numerous businesses, including restaurants and cafes, have already resumed normal operations. Competition is also unavoidable. Thus, companies should motivate their managers to develop various operational strategies to increase customer satisfaction. This study aims to analyze the relationship between customer satisfaction and operational management activities, including layout, decoration, location, and cleanliness. In addition, it examines human resource management, food quality, and atmosphere as mediating variables. Data were obtained using an online questionnaire conducted between June and December 2021. A total of 1,068 clients of cafes and restaurants were selected as the participants using purposive random sampling. Data were evaluated using variance-based structural equation modeling. The results showed that operational management activities promote cafes and restaurants (p-value = 0.000). Furthermore, this study indicates the role of infrastructure elements, specifically human resource management, atmosphere, and food quality, as moderating variables on customer satisfaction (p-value = 0.000). Overall, the findings of this empirical study provide a theoretical contribution by emphasizing cafe and restaurant operational strategies that enhance customer satisfaction.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit industrial sectors very hard, including the tourism industry and halal tourism. The sustainability of the tourism industry must be maintained, so the development of marketing strategies is very necessary. The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the effect of halal tourism attributes on tourist loyalty and indirectly through the trust and satisfaction of Indonesian Muslim tourists. This quantitative study involved 504 respondents out of 519 collected. To determine the sample in this study, a judgment sampling technique was used. The analytical tool used is the PLS-SEM to test the effect of the relationship between the variables studied. As a result, the attributes of halal tourism indirectly affect loyalty through the trust and satisfaction of tourists. This means that tourist loyalty manifests itself in returning to visited tourist destinations, recommending others, inviting others to visit visited tourist destinations, and traveling back to visited tourist destinations, even though the entry ticket goes up; it can arise directly as a result of offerings of halal tourism attributes, as well as mediated by the trust and satisfaction of domestic tourists with tourism attributes offered to the tourist destinations they visited during the COVID-19 period.

Given that feelings toward a brand allow for a mutually beneficial relationship, it is easy to assume that they are closely related to the customer’s willingness to buy as if they increase or decrease probably in the same proportion. Consequently, this study aims to observe the attractiveness of the Linio brand, one of Latin America’s most important e-commerce platforms, on the part of its consumers in northern Peru. The paper is quantitative, correlational, cross-sectional, and non-experimental; a probabilistic sampling was applied to 385 young consumers. The study used Microsoft Excel for the descriptive analysis, while the coefficients were applied with IBM SPSS Statistics. After applying Spearman’s Rho tests, the results showed a moderate relationship, with the satisfaction and love dimensions having the highest values. In contrast, the word-of-mouth communication and commitment dimensions have the lowest values. The study presents a moderate positive relationship between the variables brand love and purchase intention, which shows that the link is not as close as initially thought. Furthermore, brand loyalty has a slightly contradictory behavior despite individuals’ level of brand love.

The study investigates the impact of internal marketing philosophy on implementing strategic goals to leverage an innovative internal marketing concept for business growth. In the context of firms’ strategic orientation, the organization’s development, market position, and practices used to promote the desired organizational behavior are being examined. The paper focuses on large companies in Greece, which belong to the retail, manufacturing, and healthcare sectors. Moreover, these companies have been certified by “Great place to work.” A qualitative method via Nvivo software was used. Data were collected from 10 semi-structured interviews. Participants are executives with significant working experience and different managerial positions. The findings document the impact of the internal marketing concept on company development through policies concerning strengthening the organization’s presence and recruiting qualified employees. Moreover, the influence of the internal marketing concept on an organization’s market position with regard to a positive working environment and management style is highlighted. Finally, team environment emerges as a dominant trait in the organizational context, while values such as honesty, integrity, and reliability appear as critical features of the desired behavior. The study provides an updated managerial perspective by establishing a link between the theory of internal marketing and business process mapping. The results enable executives to focus on elements that better serve the implementation of strategic goals.

Acknowledgment
This study has been funded by the University of West Attica / Special Account for Research Grants.

Marketers in the rising halal Muslim consumerism must understand their clients’ behavior patterns to compete successfully. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of halal perceived value, halal trust, and halal perceived risk on halal purchase intention among Muslim customers in Indonesia. Survey data analysis of 253 Muslim halal consumers was evaluated using structural equation modeling to scrutinize the empirical model fit. The results confirm that halal perceived value, perceived risk, and trust predict a significant amount of halal purchase intention. The study’s outcome also confirms that halal trust is a mediating variable through which halal perceived value and halal perceived risk affect halal purchase intention. This study contributes valuable insights into existing concepts of consumer halal trust influencing buying decisions and purchase intentions of halal products. This paper provides a practical foundation for managers to develop suitable halal marketing strategies that focus on creating value and reducing the risk perception to promote trust in consuming halal food products.

Increased use of e-wallets in Indonesia has resulted in high competition among providers. Hence, companies must act to retain customers and impose continuous utilization of their services. This study aimed to investigate the determinants of continuous intention to use the preferred e-wallet in Indonesia. The framework was drawn from the technology continuance theory (TCT) with modifications to fit the e-wallet settings. This study assessed the effect of e-wallet features on continuous intention to use, with attitudes and satisfaction as intervening factors. Data were collected from the general population in Indonesia who uses e-wallets and possesses at least two accounts on different platforms. A total of 948 samples were generated using a web-based self-administrated survey. The data were analyzed using AMOS-SEM by assessing construct validity and reliability, as well as measurement and structural models. The analysis confirms the effect of attitudes and satisfaction on continuous intention. The findings also highlighted the positive impact of service compatibility and merchant networks on attitudes and satisfaction and the positive impact of perceived security toward satisfaction. Unexpected results revealed a strong and direct impact of value of reward programs and merchant networks toward continuance intentions. This study concludes that the modifications of TCT into the e-wallet settings can predict users’ post-adoption behavior.

Acknowledgment
This study is fully funded by the Directorate General of Higher Education of Indonesia with grant number 104/E4.1/AK.04.PT/2021; LPPM: T/37/UN.16.17/PT.01.03/PD UPT- Soshum/2021.

Perceived e-learning usefulness as a marketing element has significantly affected student satisfaction, which results in a high propensity to continue using the current e-learning services with their universities. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effects of perceived risk, confirmation, and student motivation on perceived e-learning usefulness. This paper employed a convenience sampling technique to collect opinions from 689 university students at different universities (e.g., Thaksin University, Hatyai University, Prince of Songkla University, and Rajabhat University) around Thailand. Those students were actively using e-learning to access their education. After checking data validity, only 527 valid responses were analyzed through the path analysis method. According to empirical findings, confirmation significantly influenced student motivation, while perceived risk did not significantly impact student motivation. Finally, perceived e-learning usefulness was significantly influenced by confirmation, student motivation, and perceived risk. Furthermore, although these factors significantly influenced perceived e-learning usefulness, attitudes toward perceived e-learning usefulness relied mainly on the degree of confirmation, as this factor highlighted the most substantial effect on perceived e-learning usefulness. Moreover, perceived e-learning usefulness as a marketing element is a promising topic in the e-learning service sector, which requires future studies to examine to which extent the current study findings could apply to other groups of students or practitioners.

The consumptive behavior of students tends to be excessive. Therefore, this study aims to test the impact of financial literacy, peer group, social media usage, and locus of control on students’ consumption behavior. The population consists of 41,061 active S-1 students of Universitas Negeri Semarang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia. 5% of 398 samples had an error rate using the Slovin formula. Primary data were collected through surveys employing a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire constructed in Google Forms was distributed using WhatsApp group. The data collected were then subjected to validity and reliability tests. Thus, the response variable was consumptive behavior; three predictor variables were financial literacy, peer group, and social media usage; and the mediating variable was locus of control. The results show that financial literacy affects consumptive behavior negatively, with a coefficient of –0.109 and a significance value of 0.041. Peer groups, social media usage, and locus of control had a positive and significant effect on consumptive behavior directly. The coefficients were 0.039, 0.518, and 0.218, with significance values of 0.031, 0.000, and 0.000. Financial literacy and peer groups have a positive and significant effect on the locus of control with coefficients of 0.0638 and 0.251 and significance values of 0.000. In addition, locus of control has been proven as a mediator in the influence of financial literacy and peer groups on consumptive behavior.

Acknowledgment
We acknowledge the Faculty of Economics, Universitas Negeri Semarang, for publication funding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced tremendous socioeconomic upheaval worldwide, affecting people’s purchasing habits and intentions. This study assesses the relationship between COVID-19 risk perceptions and intentions to consume energy drinks. Furthermore, it analyzes the role of a healthy lifestyle and sustainable consumption in mediating this relationship. A survey approach was used to obtain the data. An online questionnaire (400 samples) was distributed through social media to Palestinian citizens and residents (students, employees, free professionals, laborers, and others). The study used a 5-point Likert scale. Data analysis used descriptive statistics (measures of central tendency and dispersion). PLS was utilized to investigate the mediation effect, whereas SPSS was used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. Risk perception was assessed using seven variables: fear, conduct, awareness and knowledge, trust and confidence, healthy lifestyle, sustainable consumption, and intention to use energy beverages. The findings indicate that COVID-19 risk perception affects the propensity to consume energy beverages (B = 3.692; p ˂ 0.001). In addition, the results show that COVID-19 risk perception has a significant relationship with a healthy lifestyle and sustainable consumption (B = 3.358; p ˂ 0.001; B = 3.571; p ˂ 0.001). The findings also highlighted a partial mediation of healthy lifestyle and sustainable consumption in the association between COVID-19 risk perception and desire to use energy beverages.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused consumers to fear and feel anxious about doing activities outside their homes, such as shopping. Thus, they switched to e-commerce for sustainable consumption. This study focuses on sustainable consumption represented with the variables of perceived effectiveness of e-commerce platform (PEEP), economic benefits, interactivity, and pandemic fear. This study uses the Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) to determine consumer motivation and purchase intentions. It explores the relationship between PEEP, economic benefits, interactivity, and sustainable consumption, with pandemic fear as a moderating variable. The analysis was conducted from February to July 2021, with e-commerce being the object of study. The study uses purposive sampling based on the criteria of respondents who have made a transaction at least once in one of the marketplaces in Jakarta, Indonesia. An online survey was employed to test 95 respondents consisting of Millennials and Generation Z who are active e-commerce users in Indonesia. The moderated regression analysis (MRA) or interaction test was applied to analyze the data. The results of the study found that pandemic fear can moderate PEEP’s relationship with economic benefits and interactivity that can increase sustainable consumption. The research findings also prove that relying on interactivity in the buying process encourages them to use e-commerce. E-commerce can help consumers who are limited in making transactions due to fear of spreading the Covid-19 virus to fulfill sustainable consumption.

Trust in public services is a driving force of socio-economic development. It ensures effective dialogue between citizens and government and becomes especially relevant in the digitalization. The lack of trust in the public sector can make reforms ineffective and the achievement of the goals of the Ministry of Digital Transformation within the framework of the State Strategy for Regional Development of Ukraine until 2027 in question. For this reason, marketing tools in public services should be directed toward achieving greater trust in those services and the government. This paper analyzes the current research on public sector marketing and its role in building trust as a foundation for the country’s digital development. Implementing multi-level bibliometric (Scopus tools), network (VOSviewer), and comparative (Google Trends) analysis, this study traces the development of marketing research on the process of public services delivery transformation from traditional to digital. 922 studies published between 1968 and 2022 were analyzed. The results show that public sector marketing is a multidisciplinary field of scientific research that is actively developing. Cluster analysis demonstrated that its modernization and the relationship between marketing in services and consumer behavior are the smallest and newest spheres of research. Researchers consider relationship marketing the principal mechanism for building trust in the public sector. This study found little research on the impact of marketing tools on consumers’ trust in public services. The comparative analysis confirmed the hypothesis of the need to change marketing tools due to the massive shift from offline to online services.

Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge the funding in terms of the projects “Simulation modeling of the trajectory of the impact of behavioral attractors on macroeconomic stability: the role of transparency and public trust (0121U100469)” and “Modeling mechanisms for de-shadowing and de-corrupting the economy to ensure national security: the impact of the financial behavioral patterns transformation (№ 0122U000783)”.

Influencer marketing has been widely utilized in marketing communication. With the growing interest in virtual influencers, this study aims to investigate why social media users would interact with virtual influencers. The research model was developed based on the self-congruity theory. The data were obtained by questionnaires distributed to social media users using judgmental sampling (respondents were above 18 years old and actively used Instagram within the past six months). The questionnaire was posted on social media, and 230 responses were collected and analyzed using a covariance-based structural equation. Influencer-brand fit was found to have a weak direct effect on engagement (γ = 0.158, p < 0.05), but insignificant direct effect on mimicry desire (γ = 0.160, p > 0.05). Value homophily significantly affects both engagement and mimicry desire directly (β = 0.338 and β = 0.622, p < 0.01). Moreover, value homophily was found to fully mediate the virtual influencer-brand fit/mimicry desire relationship (B = 0.546, p < 0.01) and partially mediate the relationship of virtual influencer-brand fit/engagement (B = 0.229, p < 0.01). However, the mediating effect of mimicry desire on the virtual influencer-brand fit/engagement relationship was found to be non-significant (B = 0.065, p > 0.05). This study contributes to influencer marketing by highlighting value homophily as the most significant factor explaining why consumers respond to a virtual influencer when used as a message source in marketing communication.

Shopping malls are visited for both functional as well as entertainment values. They provide emotional comfort and escape from boredom and stress to the shoppers. This study investigates the relationship of ambiance, layout, and utility of a mall with escapism and repurchase intention using the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model. Using a survey instrument, a convenience sampling procedure was adopted to obtain data from 316 respondents (mall visitors of the Delhi National capital Region in India). Delhi is the mall capital of India, with the highest population density in the world. The relationships between utility-escapism (β = .0265, p = .018), layout-escapism (β = 0.269, p = .012), layout-utility (β = 0.776, p < 0.001), utility-ambiance (β = 0.480, p < 0.001), layout-ambiance (β = 0.407, p < 0.001), and escapism-repurchase intention (β = 0.708, p < 0.001) are validated. However, the relationship between ambiance-escapism (β = 0.073, p = .509) is not supported. The results indicate that mall layout facilitates escapism followed by utility, whereas ambiance does not play a vital role. The purpose of the mall visit moderates this effect. Mall managers can create engaging shopping experiences to help shoppers escape boring routines/stress through improved layouts and enhanced functional values. The study establishes a strong linkage between mall layout, utility, and escapism.

This study aims to analyze the effect of marketing strategies on creating competitive advantage through strategies such as customized products strategy, pricing strategy, distribution strategy, promotion strategy, and innovation orientation strategy. The study was carried out on the basis of primary data, where part of the quantitative research were 15 categorized dairies, with low capacity (300-3,000 liters per day), with medium capacity (5,000-100,000 liters per day), and with high capacity (over 100,000 liters per day). From these dairies, 150 workers in leadership positions were surveyed, from which the marketing strategy with the greatest impact on creating competitive advantages was identified. Questionnaires were physically distributed and data were processed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 26. Based on the multiple regression analysis, it was found that there is a statistically significant correlation that marketing strategies affect the creation of competitive advantage based on the value of R-square = 0.787, where customized products strategy, price strategy, and distribution strategy were found as important strategies. While innovation strategy and promotion strategy left the model due to the increased value of significance p > 0.05. Through this study, the dairy industry receives feedback on the type of strategy that should be used to create a competitive advantage, more so in the specific case where imports are very high and competition is very fierce.

Political parties usually try to understand the factors that affect a voter’s decision in elections. However, irrespective of voters’ preferences, studies rarely examine how voters’ attitudes toward celebrity politicians affected their party preferences, given the mediating effects of brand affinity and perceived attributes and the moderated mediating role of gender. Therefore, this study considers the effect of parties’ nominations of celebrity politicians on voters’ political party preference. Moreover, it investigates the causal relationship between those perceptions in an uprising nation against political parties.
A representative national sample of one thousand two hundred sixty-nine (1269) Lebanese voters was administered via a cross-sectional survey in fifteen Lebanese districts. A stratified proportional random sampling technique was used. Findings showed that attitudes significantly affected political party preferences when nominating celebrity politicians only through brand affinity on a 90% confidence level (probability-value = 0.053 < 0.10) and perceived attributes on a 95% confidence level (0.039 < 0.05), evidencing a lack of a significant direct relationship (0.571 > 0.10). Voters’ gender conditional indirect effect was significant for females’ impact on brand affinity (0.025 < 0.05), whereas gender failed to determine voters’ indirect effect on perceived attributes (0.633 > 0.10). The results have shown that gender disparities in the brand’s emotional component could affect brand preferences.

Finding the factors associated with the intention to buy apartments is essential for real estate enterprises. This study applies an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore Vietnamese consumers’ intentions to purchase flats. Besides the structure of the TPB, other determinants relevant to the research context were identified by reviewing the literature. The convenience sampling technique was used to collect 512 responses using the questionnaire. The covariance-based structural equation modeling was applied to test the measurement and structural models. The results revealed that perceived behavioral control was the most critical determinant of purchase intention, followed by financial factors, attitude toward a behavior, apartment features, and subjective norms. In addition, project facilities, perceived risk, financial factors, and apartment features indirectly affect purchase intention through attitude toward a behavior. Meanwhile, the relationship between project facilities and perceived risk with purchase intention is not statistically significant. Thus, attitude toward a behavior is essential in enhancing the consumers’ apartment purchase intention at this stage. The study implements a suitable model to analyze the intention to purchase apartments in a developing country by extending TPB.

Acknowledgment
This study was carried out within the framework of the doctoral thesis subject to Decision No. 4287/QD-ĐHDT dated 30/10/2020 of Duy Tan University, Vietnam. The authors would like to thank the reviewers and the editor-in-chief for helping to prepare this study.

With the rapid progress of information technology, short video advertising has flourished, and the performance of advertising images can stimulate consumers’ purchase behavior through short video platforms. Drawing on stimulus-organization-response (S-O-R) theory, this study explored the moderating role of short video platforms on the relationship between light and color of advertising photography and brand image and the mediating role of brand image between light and color and consumers’ purchase intention. The data were collected using a questionnaire focusing on consumers who purchased detergent products in major supermarkets in East China. The survey covered 200 respondents from different industries, genders, and education levels in various provinces and cities in East China. Collected data were analyzed using regression analysis. It was found that the light and color of advertising photography have a facilitating effect on consumers’ purchase intention. Furthermore, brand image mediates the relationship between light and color and consumers’ purchase intention. Finally, short video platforms can moderate the relationship between light and color and brand image. This study will encourage scholars to use the S-O-R model in academic research to investigate how advertising affects consumers’ purchase intention and guide companies to use short video platforms to advertise and increase product sales.

Acknowledgment
This paper is part of the Doctor of Philosophy Program in Management, Chakrabongse Bhuvanarth International Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS), Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-OK, Thailand. The researchers would like to thank all cited experts that contributed to this study.