Search Results (128)

This study investigates how Greek professionals formulate upward requests and simultaneously manage rapport and workplace identity within hierarchical exchanges. The data comprise 400 written requests elicited through a discourse–completion task from 100 participants, supplemented by follow-up interviews. Integrating pragmatic perspectives on request mitigation with Spencer-Oatey’s Rapport-Management model and a social constructionist perspective on identity, the analysis reveals a distinctive “direct-yet-mitigated” style: syntactically direct head acts (typically want- or need-statements) various mitigating devices. This mitigation enables speakers to preserve superiors’ face, assert entitlement, and invoke shared corporate goals in a single move. Crucially, rapport work is intertwined with identity construction. Strategic oscillation between deference and entitlement projects four recurrent professional personae: the deferential subordinate, the competent and deserving employee, the cooperative team-player, and the rights-aware negotiator. Speakers shift among these personae to calibrate relational distance, demonstrating that rapport management functions not merely as a politeness calculus but as a resource for dynamic identity performance. This study thus bridges micro-pragmatic choices and macro social meanings, showing how linguistic mitigation safeguards interpersonal harmony while scripting desirable workplace selves. Full article

The present study adopts the social constructivism theory and consumer decision-making process model with the aim of examining the social identity that consumers build through the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs) in line with their income, age, gender, and education. The study’s findings indicate that this social identity, shaped by income, age, gender and education, exerts a significant influence on consumer decision-making behavior. This identity is shaped not only by the make and model of EVs chosen, but also by their preferences for vehicle performance and technical features. The adoption of EVs by consumers is driven by dual objectives: the fulfilment of practical needs and the shaping of social identities in social interactions that correspond to their income, age, gender, and education. The study’s findings are of significant value in understanding the social identity aspirations of consumers in the electric vehicle consumer market, and provide a theoretical foundation for future electric vehicle companies to create products and corporate cultures that meet their target customers, thereby effectively promoting the popularization of electric vehicles. Full article

Certain bodily functions are generally associated with distinct sexes and genders. When it comes to intersex individuals, the gendering of certain bodily functions as male or female plays a key role in determining their sexed corporeality and self-determination of gender. The article elucidates how the protagonist Ash in Just Ash (2021) by Sol Santana is oppressed under notions of menstrunormativity due to his menstruating body. It explains how the gendering of a bodily function like menstruation as feminine plays a significant role in the medical interventions on intersex individuals and how the same norms affect intersex individuals’ own perceptions of themselves. Ash, who identifies himself as a boy, is bullied by his peers at school, and his parents impose the female sex and feminine gender identity on him because of his menstruating corporeality, all leading to Ash’s own negative perception of his body. The article also highlights the importance of degendering menstruation to include sex- and gender-diverse individuals. Full article

In the context of increasing consumer environmental awareness (CEA), firms are progressively adopting corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies that seek to align profitability with environmental objectives. This paper develops a mathematical model to explore the implications of CSR under two distinct scenarios: one that incorporates both social and environmental impacts and another that focuses solely on environmental concerns. The analysis is situated within a spatial mixed duopoly, where a CSR-oriented firm competes with a purely profit-maximising rival. A game-theoretical framework is employed, in which the CSR firm’s objective function is modelled as a weighted sum of private profits and the environmentally driven welfare of consumers. Equilibrium analysis demonstrates that CSR engagement improves market outcomes relative to a benchmark without CSR and generates positive externalities for the non-CSR firm. Moreover, the scenario prioritising environmental impact alone yields superior sustainability and welfare outcomes for both consumers and firms, despite identical demand and product differentiation conditions. These findings enhance our understanding of how CEA interacts with CSR strategies in imperfectly competitive markets, offering valuable insights for managerial decision-making and the formulation of environmental policy. Full article

In response to escalating societal and environmental expectations, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has evolved into a strategic imperative rather than a voluntary or peripheral activity. This study investigates the effect of employees’ CSR perceptions on job performance, with corporate reputation (CR) examined as a mediating variable. Drawing on Social Identity and Social Exchange Theories, the research explores how CSR, as an element of business innovation and sustainable organizational practices, fosters internal stakeholder engagement and performance enhancement. Data were collected from five-star hotel employees in İstanbul/Türkiye, a service sector context where customer satisfaction is highly dependent on frontline employee behavior. Using PROCESS Macro for SPSS 27, the findings reveal that CSR perceptions significantly and positively influence employee performance both directly and indirectly through the enhancement of CR. This mediating effect underscores the role of CSR not only as an ethical framework but also as an internal mechanism that strengthens employee commitment and output. The study contributes to CSR and the organizational behavior literature by empirically validating that internal CSR perceptions shape strategic outcomes such as employee performance, especially within high-contact service environments. Theoretical implications emphasize CSR’s integrative function in reputation-building and performance systems, while practical insights recommend embedding socially responsible practices into HR and internal communication strategies to achieve sustainable outcomes and societal well-being. These findings offer meaningful contributions to the scope of business innovation by linking CSR with strategic performance indicators in labor-intensive industries. Full article

Rural agricultural markets face unique challenges, yet neuromarketing applications in this sector are understudied. This systematic review investigates how neuroscience has been applied to shape marketing narratives for rural agricultural producers. The objectives were to catalog relevant studies, identify key themes using inductive thematic synthesis, and derive practical implications for rural marketing strategy and future research. We systematically searched English-language, peer-reviewed studies published between 2016 and 2024 across multiple academic databases, following PRISMA guidelines. Two independent reviewers screened the records, resulting in the inclusion of 20 studies. Key data from each study were extracted and synthesized using an inductive thematic analysis approach. The synthesis revealed several recurrent findings. First, in terms of social and community context, farmers showed greater trust and engagement with familiar local buyers than with distant corporations, indicating that local relationships strongly influence producer behavior. Second, regarding product and narrative attributes, marketing narratives that emphasized local provenance, organic or sustainable production, and ethical values such as animal welfare and environmental sustainability resonated strongly with rural consumers. Third, sensory and emotional cues particularly visual elements and storytelling techniques including color, imagery, and packaging design consistently enhanced consumer attention and engagement. Overall, these neuroscience-informed themes suggest that marketing narratives emphasizing authenticity, trust-building, and community values can effectively strengthen rural agricultural marketing. This review provides neuroscience-informed interpretations of key rural marketing challenges, drawing on dual-process theory and consumer decision models for applying neuromarketing insights in this context. Practically, rural producers can leverage these findings by designing marketing messages and packaging that highlight local identity and ethical values, thereby building consumer trust and loyalty. The review also highlights gaps such as the need for more field-based neuromarketing studies and suggests directions for future research, offering guidance for both scholars and practitioners working at the intersection of neuroscience and rural consumer behavior. Full article

Quinoa, considered a superfood, is grown in the high Andean zones of Peru and Bolivia. The competitiveness, organizational capacity, and technological level of the producers limit their production. This research aimed to evaluate the influence of competitiveness on the performance of quinoa producer associations in the high Andes. The study was developed in the production period of 2022–2023 and considered associations of quinoa producers from different localities. The correlation between competitiveness (corporate identity, resources, and potential) and production performance (financial and non-financial) was studied. The data were collected through a questionnaire with closed questions and a Likert scale and presented normal distribution, and a one-factor ANOVA, Pearson′s correlation, and PCA at 5% significance were applied. Twenty-three quinoa producer associations were identified with 15 years of organic quinoa production of the varieties of Blanca de Junín, Choclito, Pasankalla, Negra, and Roja, with production ranging from 17 to 40.8 tons grown in a semi-mechanized way. It was observed that the general competitiveness of the associations was rated as moderately inadequate despite good performance; this behavior was more marked in the associations in urban areas such as Andahuaylas and San Jeronimo. Urban quinoa associations have higher quality than rural ones. Competitiveness is limited by a lack of human resources training, government commitment, and strategic alliances, which predicts low sustainability. Full article

This study aims to explore the mechanisms through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) impacts customer loyalty in the banking sector, focusing on the mediating effects of consumer moral identity (CMI), perceived service quality (PSQ), and relationship quality (RQ). Based on Social Identity Theory and Stakeholder Theory, a theoretical model integrating CSR, CMI, PSQ, RQ, and customer loyalty was constructed and empirically tested using the PLS-SEM method. Data were collected through an online survey, yielding 338 valid samples. Analysis of the data revealed that CSR significantly positively affected CMI, PSQ, and RQ, indicating that the fulfillment of social responsibilities by banks enhances consumers’ moral identity, perceived service quality, and relationship quality. Additionally, CMI, PSQ, and RQ significantly positively influenced customer loyalty, with RQ showing the most prominent effect. Furthermore, CSR also had a significant indirect effect on customer loyalty through CMI, PSQ, and RQ. In terms of practical implications, this study suggests that the banking industry should regard CSR as a crucial strategy for winning customer loyalty, actively engage in CSR activities, and integrate CSR concepts into branding, service, and customer relationship management. Moreover, banks should also focus on enhancing CMI, PSQ, and RQ as critical pathways through which CSR influences customer loyalty. The theoretical significance of this research lies in: (1) expanding the theoretical perspectives on how CSR affects customer responses, addressing the limitations of previous studies that focused predominantly on direct effects or a single mediator; (2) examining the role of CMI in the banking context, enriching the research on CSR and consumer moral identity; and (3) revealing the mechanisms of CSR’s effect in the unique service context of the banking industry. Full article

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) represent an opportunity to use stormwater management as a mechanism to deliver multiple co-benefits. They can play a key role in urban climate change adaptation, restoring nature, and increasing health and social wellbeing. Despite these benefits, their uptake is limited with many practitioners reporting barriers to implementation. To explore these barriers, and to define actions to unlock scaling, our mixed-methods study explored comparative perceptions of SuDS practitioners within the UK. Survey research (n = 48) provided an overview of broad experiences across a range of SuDS practitioners. Main barriers described were access to funds, difficulty retrofitting, cost to maintain, and the ownership of SuDS. Main issues having the least available information to support SuDS scaling were conflicts with corporate identity, cost to maintain, and collaboration between various stakeholders. Follow-up interviews (n = 6) explored experiences among a contrasting subset of survey respondents: those who experienced the highest number of perceived barriers and those who experienced the fewest barriers to SuDS implementation. From these interviews, key themes were identified that categorized the barriers for SuDS implementations: people-related elements; limiting practicalities; and informational factors. The findings were differentiated between indirect barriers (i.e., soft barriers, such as individual practitioner knowledge and capacity gaps linked to poor knowledge exchange) and direct barriers (i.e., hard barriers including specific gaps in SuDS data and knowledge experienced more universally). The importance of differentiating between knowledge-based (indirect) barriers that can be unlocked by improved information-transfer solutions and actual (direct) barriers that need further considered approaches and the generation of new knowledge to overcome is highlighted. Evidence-based policy recommendations for governmental and SuDS-based organisations are presented. Full article

This study examines the effect of multiple large shareholders (MLS) on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) controversies and the factors that moderate this relationship. It is motivated by the need to understand the determinants of ESG controversies and the lack of consensus in the academic literature regarding the corporate governance role of MLS. Using a panel dataset of Chinese-listed firms from 2008 to 2023, we found that firms with MLS have fewer ESG controversies than non-MLS firms, including those in the environmental, social, and governance dimensions. The findings are robust across different model specifications and alternative variable measurements. Further analyses revealed that the effect of MLS on ESG controversies is more pronounced when the ownership distribution between non-controlling MLS and the controlling shareholder is more balanced, when they have the same identity, and when institutional investors are part of non-controlling MLS. Additionally, this effect is stronger in firms with severe agency conflicts and weaker governance mechanisms. Finally, and more importantly, we found that ESG controversies have a significant negative impact on firm value and that MLS monitoring can help mitigate these adverse effects. In summary, our results suggest that MLS play a monitoring role in ESG controversies and contribute to firm value by reducing their negative consequences. Full article

Biodegradable materials are emerging as a sustainable alternative to conventional petroleum-based plastics across packaging, sanitation, and agriculture sectors. These materials naturally decompose into harmless substances within a specified period, completing an eco-friendly lifecycle. However, the widespread adoption of biodegradable plastics depends on building confidence among consumers, manufacturers, and regulators regarding their effectiveness. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to investigate the key factors influencing biodegradable plastics’ sustainability, integrating theoretical frameworks with survey data collected from Malaysian plastic users aged 15 and above. Results revealed that individual characteristics, particularly environmental self-identity, significantly influence behavioural intentions toward sustainable practices, such as choosing eco-friendly packaging. The findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of biodegradable plastics adoption in developing markets while providing actionable insights for government and corporate stakeholders. This study recommends targeted awareness campaigns emphasising environmental self-identity to reduce conventional packaging use and promote biodegradable alternatives. By incorporating these identity-focused messages into marketing communications, organisations can enhance public awareness and market perception of biodegradable products. Full article

Countries worldwide are increasingly focused on addressing the imbalance between the supply and demand for EV charging infrastructure, with the community-shared charging post (CSCP) co-construction project emerging as a promising solution. The broad participation and investment support of the residents are the keys to the success of the CSCP co-construction project. This study, grounded in the theory of planned behavior (TPB) from social psychology, incorporated factors such as community identity, perceived green value, economic benefit, uncivil behaviors, and perceived risk to construct a structural model explaining community residents’ intention to invest in the CSCP co-construction project. This research confirmed that (1) 85.73% of respondents expressed strong recognition of the CSCP co-construction project, with a mean recognition score of 5.56 out of a possible 7; (2) an individual’s social-related perceptions, including the subjective norms and community identity are the strongest determinant of the intention to invest in the CSCP co-construction project; (3) the willingness to invest in CSCP co-construction project differs significantly between the EV group and the non-EV group. Economic benefit was significant only for the non-EV group, while uncivil behaviors were significant only for the EV group. These results provide valuable guidelines for governments and corporations that are promoting or pursuing sharing community for the residents. Full article

With the development of new, high-quality productive forces, platform enterprises (PEs) are beginning to play a crucial role in shaping economic patterns, ecological environments, and social structures. These enterprises have significant social responsibilities when handling issues such as algorithmic discrimination, user data breaches, and market monopolies. Herein, we adopt the grounded theory method, selecting three unique types of PEs as research subjects. Through in-depth interviews with stakeholders and a three-level coding analysis, we build a “triple” responsibility model of PEs’ digital responsibility (DR). This model is based on the PEs’ triple organizational identity and is framed by three dimensions: product responsibility, technological responsibility, and application responsibility. The model also summarizes three dimensions and contents of responsibility: digital self-regulation, the digital regulation of others, and digital foresight. The concept of PEs’ DR is clarified and the structure and dimensions of PEs’ DR are delineated. This study holds significant theoretical and practical value for perfecting the social responsibility system in the platform economy. The triple DR model fills the research gap on the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate DR and overcomes the limitations of the traditional CSR paradigm, providing a theoretical foundation for PEs’ sustainable development in the digital era. Full article

A management idea known as corporate social responsibility encourages businesses to incorporate social and environmental considerations into their daily operations and relationships with stakeholders. The purpose of this research is to identify the aspects that influence customers’ perceptions of a brand’s commitment to social responsibility and their subsequent intentions to purchase. The theoretical model proposed draws on numerous theories of consumer behavior, including the perceived value theory, the corporate identity theory, and the theory of planned behavior. A survey was then given to 280 users in Pakistan afterwards. Later, structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the suggested model. It was discovered that customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and brand admiration mediated the relationship between CSR and CSR-related purchase intent. In conjunction with service quality, CSR practices increase customer satisfaction. The effect of customer satisfaction on CSR purchasing intent is also mediated by brand loyalty and brand admiration. This study backs consumer behavior theories by elucidating the lagged and immediate indicators of CSR purchasing intent. CSR may result in customer satisfaction if implemented intelligently to meet its objectives. Customer satisfaction is a requirement for customers to be ready to pay for CSR. Full article

The biological aspect of human embodiment frequently constitutes the primary basis for personal assessment, with an emphasis on rationality, free choice, material well-being, and happiness as fundamental attributes of worth. This perspective is also evident in cultural practices of body modification, which reflect societal standards and identity expression. The promotion of standards of bodily appearance that are often considered unrealistic within contemporary culture has the effect of creating a social environment in which those who do not conform to these standards are rejected and stigmatized. This can include individuals with disabilities, the elderly, or those with chronic illnesses and different bodily appearances. In the majority of cases, the so-called ‘body capital’ culture views the disabled body through the lens of a person’s physical appearance, which is, to a certain extent, associated with a biological dysfunction or reflects a kind of physical disability or vulnerable corporeality. This paper seeks to examine perspectives on the body through the lenses of major discourses surrounding disability, biblical anthropology, and disability theology. These perspectives advocate for the intrinsic dignity and value of the disabled body, challenging contemporary norms and projections upon the body, by underscoring the biographical, interdependent, and spiritual dimensions of human embodiment. This approach stands as an alternative to the reductionist view of the body, which prioritizes physical attributes over a comprehensive understanding of complete personhood. Full article