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Purpose: This study aims to explore the range of sustainability-related discourses by the stakeholders within a particular Finnish Higher Education Institution (HEI); interaction between the discourses and the context of the HEI; and the extent to which different understandings of sustainability cause challenges for the implementation of the university strategy for sustainability. Specifically, the paper explores how the employees within the HEI make sense of sustainability in their teaching, research and daily life and the extent to which sustainability-related discourses are aligned with the university strategy. Design/methodology/approach: This research draws upon collected qualitative and quantitative data. It focuses on individual discourses by executives, teaching and research staff within an HEI regarding their understandings of sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Findings: This paper illustrates the key challenges of sustainability and SDG implementation that may emerge in HEIs due to varied understandings. The results indicate a need for efficient HEI strategic vision communication and consideration of the stakeholders' multiplicity of sustainability values. Originality/value: This paper sheds light on the challenges involved in seeking to enhance sustainable development in an academic setting with multiple disciplines and categories of staff guided by academic freedom. The analysis thus advances the understanding of academic sustainability-related discourses and framings as well as mechanisms through which the implementation of sustainability-related efforts can be enhanced in such a context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although an increasing amount of research nowadays investigates the impact of mobile apps, how branded apps influence desirable outcomes, such as brand equity, remains underexplored. This research develops a conceptual model to capture how perceived motivations and task-service fit influence brand engagement and enhance brand equity via branded apps. Data collected from 292 mobile app users show that utilitarian motivations positively impact task-service fit, that task-service fit has a positive impact on consumer brand engagement and brand equity, and that consumer brand engagement has a positive impact on brand equity. Conversely, hedonic motivations do not significantly influence task-service fit. This work provides a better understanding of the influence of task-service fit on brand equity via branded apps. It also generates practical implications for brands to successfully develop their apps and use them to enhance brand equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public donations represent a substantial part of a charitable organization's income. Thus, it is important to understand what influences donation behavior. Researchers mainly focus on intentions, rather than behavior. Although intentions often lead to behavior, there might be a gap between them. This experimental study investigated whether and how aligned and unaligned injunctive (what the majority of people approve of) and descriptive (what the majority of people do) social norms moderate the intention-behavior link. Additionally, I checked whether personal involvement moderates the influence of social norms. Four hundred and twenty-eight respondents were randomly assigned to one of the five conditions where the injunctive and descriptive norms were manipulated. Results revealed a significant and positive relationship between intentions and behavior (p =.000); this relationship is moderated by both aligned (supportive injunctive and descriptive) (p =.01) and unaligned (unsupportive injunctive and supportive descriptive) norms (p =.037). Personal involvement does not affect the moderating power of social norms. Findings are important for better understanding the intentions-behavior-norms dynamic. This can be used to create effective marketing strategies to make sure both favorable and unfavorable intentions translate into monetary donations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual donations are the main source of income for charitable organizations. This study aims to understand whether, when, and how descriptive norms can be used to motivate individual monetary donations. Our findings challenge previous literature about the influence of descriptive norms on donation intentions by shedding light on the process of their influence. Studying 288 respondents, we found that descriptive norms do influence donation intentions and this interaction is mediated by perceived impact as well as personal involvement. Beneficiary responsibility, however, did not emerge as a significant moderator of the process. Our results guide managerial decisions of charitable organizations to inform their professional practice and help them increase individual donations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]