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How customers develop purchase intentions in online shopping has been an area of recent interest. In this study, we ask whether males and females leverage trust into and perceived reputation of online retailers differently in reporting purchase intentions. Drawing on the literature on differences in males and females in online shopping behaviors, we propose that females rely on reputation in developing purchase intentions whereas males rely on perceived trust in developing purchase intentions. In a sample of 727 respondents in Sweden, we find support for the proposed associations. Implications for online retailers are discussed.

The need to re-envision alternative paradigms in tourism is becoming evident with the increasingly experienced climate change and degradation of life supporting ecosystem services, to which the tou...

The growing unsustainable economic and consumption systems put an enormous strain on the planet’s resources. This has led to environmental concerns on a global level and a realization of the need t...

Purpose This study aims to explore the respective risk perception toward the Covid-19 pandemic among the elderly in two developing countries and their lifestyle change and adaptation behavior as a result of that. Design/methodology/approach In total, 22 in-depth interviews were conducted among people aged 60 to 85 in Iran and India. The interview guideline was based on two constructs inspired by the study of Gerhold (2020) – risk perception of the pandemic and change in lifestyle and adaptation to the pandemic situation. Findings The results showed that although the majority of the interviewees initially experienced fear and anxiety during the stay-at-home order and the pandemic situation at large, they quickly adapted to the new situation with behavioral and attitudinal changes in ways relevant to the new normal. The results confirmed the maturation hypothesis proposed by Knight et al. (2000). Originality/value This paper is an original study of the researchers and among the first contributing to the literature of the elderly studies in developing countries. It contributes to the knowledge required for future behavioral studies concerning the Covid-19 pandemic by evaluating the experiences, risk perception and adaptation approaches of the older people in India and Iran.

The environmental and social responsibility of multinational enterprises (MNEs) has become a significant issue in recent years. As a result, MNEs can generate favorable attitudes and gain legitimac ...

By applying the concepts of brand personality and attitudinal loyalty of a city as a brand, the objective of this study is to investigate the perceived place brand identity versus image and to empirically examine and compare their relationships with loyalty toward a city as a brand. This is to make a comparison between two groups of internal stakeholders; namely, residents of a city (image) and city officials (identity). The results indicate that there exists a great difference in the components of loyalty between city officials and the residents of the city. The results also reveal that how brand personality of the studied city is perceived varies between the two groups of internal stakeholders evaluated in this study. As the results of this study shift the focus from tourist (external) stakeholder to the internal ones representing two different internal perspectives of a city, they constitute a significant contribution to the process of city brand personality creation. This is of importance since the starting point in communicating the attractiveness of a city to the external stakeholders is how the city is perceived as a brand from its internal stakeholders’ perspectives.

Considering importance of consumers’ understanding of sustainability in shaping their attitude toward CSR and its successful implementation, this research uses the Zaltman metaphor elicitation tech ...

This article examines the perspectives of immigrant entrepreneurs on the barriers they face regarding their inclusion in public procurement in Sweden through the so-called supplier diversity programs. Drawing upon modern stakeholder theory and transaction cost economics, this study aims to identify potential barriers such entrepreneurs face in succeeding as suppliers to the public sector. Data were collected through interviews with immigrant entrepreneurs who had experience with the public procurement tender process in Sweden. The results reveal that immigrant entrepreneurs doing business with public procurement face several barriers, ranging from economic to social ones such as information, advertising, human resources, and undercapitalization. The interviewees believe that such barriers weaken their performance and hinder their success in public procurement tenders. When it comes to supplier diversity programs, the entrepreneurs under study were either unaware of such programs in public procurement in Sweden or did not believe in their effectiveness.

This article examines the perspectives of immigrant entrepreneurs on the barriers they face regarding their inclusion in public procurement in Sweden through the so-called supplier diversity programs. Drawing upon modern stakeholder theory and transaction cost economics, this study aims to identify potential barriers such entrepreneurs face in succeeding as suppliers to the public sector. Data were collected through interviews with immigrant entrepreneurs who had experience with the public procurement tender process in Sweden. The results reveal that immigrant entrepreneurs doing business with public procurement face several barriers, ranging from economic to social ones such as information, advertising, human resources, and undercapitalization. The interviewees believe that such barriers weaken their performance and hinder their success in public procurement tenders. When it comes to supplier diversity programs, the entrepreneurs under study were either unaware of such programs in public procurement in Sweden or did not believe in their effectiveness.

PurposeMany audiences might view wine brand web sites as complex or unapproachable. Wine drinking is no longer a pastime of the affluent and elite; rather, it is increasingly popular among younger consumer groups and those from broader socio‐economic backgrounds. In order to communicate effectively with newer consumer demographics, wine brand web sites must first and foremost be understandable and readable. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this issue, aiming to answer the question of whether the web sites of popular wine brands are readable or not.Design/methodology/approachTo investigate the readability of consumer brand wine web sites, web site copy from the 20 most popular wine brands in the USA was calculated across multiple readability indices employing content analysis.FindingsThe findings suggest that, while certain target demographics may be assumed by grouping wine brand web sites based on readability measures, there are marked differences in readability across wine web sites of a similar nature that only serves to reinforce consumer confusion, rather than help remove it.Originality/valueThere is scant literature on readability in the wine business literature in general, and with regard to the readability of wine web sites in particular. The research highlights the need for those who communicate with a broad audience of wine consumers to give attention to web site content, and readability in particular. This is for two reasons: less sophisticated consumers will not respond to wine marketing messages they cannot understand, and more sophisticated wine drinkers will react more positively to messages that are clear and well‐written. Readability is equally important for these more sophisticated consumers.

As more people choose to obtain their news online, most notably young people, it became of interest to look at the changing habits of online news consumers. Using conjoint analysis of Swedish college students, this paper aims to answer the question, which news attributes within various news categories are most preferred by today’s online news consumers? Results indicate that accuracy and source credibility are the most important attributes across many news categories, followed by immediacy. Interestingly, interactivity was, overall, the least preferred attribute for young, online news consumers in one of the most Internet-connected countries in the world.

This paper sheds light on the quality of relationships between salespeople and their customers and friends as well as how their personality traits affect these relationships. The findings revealed that salespeople’s personality traits do not influence relationship quality with customers in the same way as with friends, and significant differences exist.

Businesses are entering into a period of transformation, where winners and losers may be separated according to their ability to succeed in a carbon-constrained world. CEO’s vision is vital for accelerating the response to this transformation. We examined CEO letters in order to understand the strategic importance of this issue to CEOs.

This study investigates the perceived destination image and identity by applying the concept of brand personality and empirically examines their effects on loyalty towards a city as a brand. This affords a deeper understanding of how branding works in this context and provides a framework by which local governments can manage such loyalty.

While companies may seek to rejuvenate and/or adapt their brands, circumstances will arise where the company may seek its brand closure. Studies on the consumer-side of brand death are sparse. This paper argues that how consumers react toward brand deletion can be explained by grief and bereavement theories used in psychology.

This paper evaluates service quality in Iran's mobile telecom market based on the well-known SERVQUAL model, with modifications made by Wang Po-Lo (2002) to reflect the industry attributes of mobile telecom. Based on 250 respondents, results indicate that there is a support for the application of this model in Iran.

PurposeMission statements are fairly ubiquitous, particularly among large organizations. However, if they are to have a chance of achieving the desired positive outcomes, they must first be readable and comprehensible to the targeted stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this issue, to answer the question of whether the mission statements of large companies are readable or not.Design/methodology/approachContent analysis and appropriate scores were employed to investigate the readability of the mission statements collected from a random sample of 100 firms in the Fortune 500 annual rankings.FindingsThe results indicate that on average, the mission statements of the studied companies are not that readable, and that in the case of many of them, the mission statements assume the readings skills of a university graduate.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this paper suggest that if the target audience of a mission statement is broad, and includes stakeholders such as customers and lower level employees, then firms would do well to test the readability of their mission statements, and revise them where necessary. Mission statements are not the only tools that organizations use to communicate with stakeholder. This encourages future research on readability analysis of other communication tools in firms. A larger sample of companies and other approaches to measure readability can be included in future research.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the related literature, as the level of readability of mission statements has received limited attention in the past.

In order to understand the industries-universities collaboration (IUC) tendency on technology development in developed and developing countries, we analyze the current state of affairs in Sweden and Tunisia. Empirical investigation from 45 companies in both countries was conducted to measure their propensity (actual) and predisposition (in the future) to collaborate with the universities. R&D managers first proposed a categorization of the IUC with regard to the technology development stages. Then, they explained to which extent their industries have been cooperating with the research centers at the universities and their intentions for future partnership. Results show that industries in Sweden are more involved in developing new processes; while Tunisian companies cooperate more with the universities to acquire new knowledge. Swedish companies tend to work on new technologies development as well. Conclusions on tendencies in both countries are drawn and recommendations for the universities are offered. Godkänd; 2010; 20100628 (ysko)

Websites are an indispensable communication tool for tourism and destination organisations. Accordingly, it is vital tourism and destination management organisations meet certain criteria in order to guarantee high- quality tourism-related information and maintain an effective website. One important factor in a website's effectiveness and quality is its readability. To facilitate reading comprehension, website text must be clearly written. Using a variety of readability measures, this paper investigates the readability of English language tourism websites of countries in the Middle East. The findings and conclusions are discussed along with limitations of the study and possible avenues for future research.