Issue #2 (Volume 22 2026)

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study investigates the influence of Korean popular (K-pop) music values on behavioral intentions toward tourism, positing emotional involvement and referential reflection as mediating variables. Utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), data were analyzed from a sample of 153 Indonesian K-pop fans aged 18 to 50. Data were collected between January and April 2025 via questionnaire, adhering to strict ethical protocols regarding informed consent and confidentiality. The results indicate that four dimensions of K-pop music values —character-visual, imitation-attachment, message-vocal, and idol-aesthetic — exert significant positive effects on tourism behavioral intention through the mechanisms of emotional involvement and referential reflection. Path analysis reveals a sequential process: first, the four K-pop value measures significantly enhance both emotional involvement and referential reflection; second, these mediators positively influence behavioral intention; and third, this intention manifests in four specific tourism-related attitudes, namely familiarity with Korean culture, shopping and travel intentions, interest in Korean cuisine, and motivation to learn the Korean language. Collectively, these findings validate the mediating roles of emotional involvement and referential reflection in translating music values into tourism behavioral intentions.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Direct-to-consumer brands bypass the traditional distribution channel and directly market their products to their target consumers through the internet. In recent years, direct-to-consumer brands have become the preferred choice for Gen Y and Gen Z consumers during online shopping. This study aims to investigate the impact of online ratings and reviews, recommendations, and brand awareness on customer attitudes and brand trust towards direct-to-consumer brands, as well as the roles of brand trust and brand attitude in influencing the purchase intentions of Gen Z and Gen Y in India. This study employed a cross-sectional and quantitative research design, and primary data were collected from Indian Gen Z and Gen Y consumers who frequently purchase food from DTC brands online, providing relevant insights into the buying behavior of DTC brands. Self-administered questionnaire was designed and circulated online via email and LinkedIn platform. Data were collected from 8 December 2024 to 8 January 2025 in Bhubaneswar, a smart city in India. Furthermore, out of the 300 distributed questionnaires, 214 correctly filled questionnaires are considered for further data analysis. This study adopted Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling for data analysis. The study’s findings suggest that review and ratings (β = 0.124, p < 0.05), recommendations (β = 0.276, p < 0.001), and brand awareness (β = 0.475, p < 0.001) all contribute to building brand trust. Further recommendations (β = 0.298, p < 0.001), brand awareness (β = 0.475, p < 0.001), and review and ratings (β = 0.115, p < 0.05) all have a positive influence on brand attitude. Furthermore, attitude (β = 0.710, p < 0.001) and brand trust (β = 0.178, p < 0.05) significantly influenced purchase intention. The findings of this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge on DTC brand buying behavior of Gen Z and Gen Y. This study also offers valuable insights for direct-to-consumer brand managers seeking to enhance the engagement and conversion rates of Gen Z and Gen Y consumers.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Understanding how digital marketing campaigns translate into online purchase decisions remains a critical issue in rapidly growing e-commerce markets. This study explores how digital marketing campaigns translate into online purchase decision by testing a moderated mediation model in which purchase intention serves as a mediator and brand recall functions as a moderator in e-commerce. A two-wave survey design was employed, with data collected at two different time points separated by a time interval, in order to mitigate common method bias and strengthen causal inference. A two-wave survey was conducted among 297 online consumers aged 18 years and above who had prior experience with major e-commerce platforms in Vietnam. Data were collected via structured online questionnaires using a convenience sampling approach and analyzed with R statistical packages to test the proposed relationships. The empirical results indicate that digital marketing campaigns have a significant positive effect on purchase decisions, with purchase intention serving as a key mediating mechanism (β = 0.120, 95% CI [0.058, 0.195], p = 0.001). Besides, the total effect of digital marketing campaigns on purchase decisions was found to be significant (β = 0.485, 95% CI [0.384, 0.596], p < 0.001). The moderated mediation analysis further shows that the indirect effect remains positive across levels of brand recall but is strongest and statistically significant at low levels of brand recall, while gradually weakening and becoming statistically insignificant at higher levels, declining from 0.090 at −2 SD to 0.020 at +2 SD. These findings suggest that when brand recall is low, consumers are more likely to rely on central-route processing, whereby purchase intention plays a pivotal role in translating digital marketing exposure into purchase decisions. As brand recall increases, the influence of this intention-based pathway diminishes. By identifying low brand recall as a boundary condition of central-route persuasion within the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study clarifies how digital marketing effectiveness varies across consumer cognitive states and provides differentiated strategic implications for emerging versus well-established brands in e-commerce contexts.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Due to intense competition and rapidly changing customer needs, hospitality firms are forced to develop their capabilities, specifically dynamic marketing capabilities and service innovation capabilities․ The current research seeks to study the moderated mediation impact of brand identity on the relationship between dynamic marketing capability, service innovation capability, and hotel performance through service excellence․ To test the mediation and moderation hypotheses, we surveyed 450 senior hotel managers in the Indonesian setting․ Dynamic marketing capabilities (β = 0.420, p < 0․001) and service innovation capabilities (β = 0․380, p < 0․001) were found to have a positive effect on service excellence․ Meanwhile, service excellence also positively influences hotel performance (β = 0․560, p < 0․001)․ The results show that service excellence fully mediates the relationship between dynamic marketing capability and hotel performance (α = 0․281)․ Service excellence also partially mediates the relationship between service innovation capability and hotel performance (α = 0․278)․ Besides, brand identity positively moderates the relationship between dynamic marketing capability and service excellence (β = 0․354) and the relationship between service innovation capability and service excellence (β = 0․317)․ The findings advance the understanding of how hospitality companies can not only develop these capabilities but also deliver and develop service excellence in order to achieve good hotel performance, particularly with strong brand identity․

Acknowledgment
The authors express gratitude to the Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Pelita Harapan Tangerang, Indonesia, for supporting this research.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study examines the state of digital marketing management among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine under conditions of prolonged economic instability and wartime disruption. This paper aims to assess the level of digital marketing tool adoption, identify key organizational barriers, and examine how firm-level characteristics influence strategic readiness for digital transformation among Ukrainian SMEs. The study is based on a structured quantitative survey conducted in 2024 among 100 owners and managers of Ukrainian SMEs operating in the service, trade, and manufacturing sectors across several regions of Ukraine affected by differing levels of full-scale wartime disruption, with data analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis.
The research results show that the basic digital tools are widely adopted, with 98% of SMEs having a website and 79% using online marketplaces for sales, including enterprises from manufacturing, trade, and service sectors. At the same time, the adoption of advanced marketing management tools remains limited: only 19% of enterprises report regular use of CRM systems, 25% use marketing analytics tools, and merely 1% apply email marketing on a regular basis. Strategic digital planning is also weak, as only 11% of surveyed SMEs have a structured digital marketing strategy and 7% report having an SMM strategy. Digital skills among marketing personnel are assessed as low or moderate, with only 15% of respondents indicating a high level of digital competence among staff.
Based on correlation analysis, the findings indicate that digital marketing transformation among Ukrainian SMEs is constrained primarily by organizational and human capital limitations rather than firm size or financial performance, underscoring the need for targeted national support programs to enhance strategic digital capabilities.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Investments such as technological investments in useful marketing intelligence are an important organizational challenge because companies raise the pace of their digital transformation activities. The research is based on the Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Theory and aims to investigate how the data on important organizational and technological enablers’ data-driven culture, technological readiness, top management support, and marketing analytics maturity influence Business Intelligence (BI) capability in marketing functions. The primary data were gathered between February and May 2025 with the help of a structured online survey among the marketing managers, BI specialists, analytics professionals, and IT decision-makers, working in Amman, Irbid, Zarqa, and Aqaba, Jordan. Based on a purposive sampling technique, 602 valid responses were interpreted with the help of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that Marketing Analytics Maturity has the most significant impact on BI capability (β = 0.367, p = 0.001), then Data Culture (β = 0.321, p = 0.001) and Technological Readiness (β = 0.287, p = 0.01). The positive, relatively weak effect (β = 0.224, p < 0.05) is demonstrated by Technology Readiness. The structural model shows significant explanatory power and explains 78.1 percent of the variance on BI capability. Such results indicate that building BI capabilities among emerging market companies is not as much about acquiring technology, but rather about integrating managerial support and analytics maturity, which emphasizes the importance of readiness in an organization in changing digital investments into the value of marketing intelligence.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
In today’s fast-evolving e-commerce ecosystem, personalized advertising utilizing user data such as preferences, behaviors, and demographics to deliver customized ad content has emerged as an essential tool for businesses aiming to connect with customers more effectively. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of personalized advertising on consumers’ impulse buying behavior on TikTok in Vietnam. It investigates both direct and indirect effects through mediators – emotions, advertising value, perceived novelty and perceived relevance – and explores the moderating roles of self-control and privacy and security concerns. A quantitative approach was adopted using an online survey of 330 Vietnamese TikTok users aged 18-40 who had previously purchased via TikTok Shop. Measurement scales were adapted from prior studies and assessed on a five-point Likert scale. Data analysis employed SPSS 25 and AMOS 24, incorporating Cronbach’s alpha reliability tests, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation modeling (SEM), and moderation analysis using Hayes’ macro. Personalized advertising has a significant direct effect on impulse buying behavior and indirect effects via emotions, advertising value, and perceived relevance. Emotions emerged as the strongest mediator, followed by advertising value and perceived relevance. While personalized advertising positively influences perceived novelty, novelty does not significantly affect impulse buying. The moderating role of self-control is negative, reducing the impact of emotions on impulse buying, whereas privacy and security concerns have no meaningful moderation effect. These insights enhance our understanding of the factors driving impulse buying behavior. This helps to suggest strategies for managers to optimize personalized advertising, ultimately improving marketing efficiency and encouraging customer purchases on the TikTok platform.