This systematic literature review (SLR) delves into the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered virtual influencers (VIs) in social media, examining trust factors, engagement strategies, VI efficacy compared to human influencers, ethical considerations, and future trends. Analyzing 60 academic articles from 2012 to 2024, drawn from reputable databases, the study applies specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Both automated and manual searches ensure a comprehensive review. Findings reveal a surge in VI research post-2012, primarily in journals, with quantitative methods prevailing. Geographically, research focuses on Europe, Asia Pacific, and North America, indicating gaps in representation from other regions. Key themes highlight trust and engagement’s critical role in VI marketing, navigating the balance between consistency and authenticity. Challenges persist regarding artificiality and accountability, managed through brand alignment and transparent communication. VIs offers advantages, including control and cost efficiencies, yet grapple with authenticity issues, addressed through human-like features. Ethically, VI emergence demands stringent guidelines and industry cooperation to safeguard consumer well-being. Looking ahead, VIs promises transformative storytelling, necessitating vigilance in ethical considerations. This study advocates for continued scholarly inquiry and industry reflection to navigate VI marketing evolution responsibly, shaping the future influencer marketing landscape.

The rise of Internet technology has transformed consumer shopping behaviors, offering convenience and a wide range of options, making online shopping increasingly popular. In Saudi Arabia, this trend has grown significantly due to higher internet penetration, technological advancements, and shifting consumer preferences. However, building and maintaining consumer trust remains a crucial challenge. Despite the growing interest, there is limited research on the unique aspects of Saudi consumers’ online shopping behaviors. This study aims to address this gap by identifying key factors influencing these behaviors and examining their impact on purchase intentions, with a focus on the mediating role of consumer trust. This study explores factors influencing online shopping behavior and their impact on purchase intention, with a focus on consumer trust as a mediator. Using a survey of 573 respondents from Jeddah and Medina, Saudi Arabia, key factors identified through literature review include perceived usefulness, ease of use, risk perception, website quality, and social influence. The quantitative analysis revealed that customer service and return policies, information quality, perceived convenience, ease of use, usefulness, cost-saving, product variety, and social influence significantly affect consumer trust, which in turn enhances purchase intention. These findings provide valuable insights for businesses to optimize digital strategies, enhance consumer engagement, and foster long-term customer relationships, thereby boosting satisfaction and online business success.

The objective of this research is to assess the current state of e-banking in Saudi Arabia. The banking industry is rapidly evolving to use e-banking as an efficient and appropriate tool for customer satisfaction. Traditional banks recommend online banking as a particular service to their customers in order to provide them with faster and better service. As a result of the rapid advancement of technology, banks have used e-banking and mobile banking to both accumulate users and conduct banking transactions. Nonetheless, the primary challenge with electronic banking is satisfying customers who use Internet banking. Thus, the current study seeks to determine what factors affect e-payment adoption with e-banking services. mobile banking, e-wallets, and e-banking, as well as the mediating role of customer trust, can drive e-payment adoption. We distributed the survey online and offline to a total of 336 participants. A convenience sampling technique was used; structure equation modeling (SEM), convergence and discriminant validity; and model fitness were achieved through Smart PLS 3. The findings have shown that mobile banking, e-banking, and e-wallets are three significant independent variables that mediate the role of customer trust in influencing e-payment adoption when using Internet banking services. They should emphasize trust-building activities, specifically in relation to the new ways of e-payment such as e-banking, m-payments, NFC, and e-proximity, which will further help reduce consumer perceptions of risk. The system developers should design user-friendly applications and e-payment apps to enhance consumers’ belief in using them for payment purposes over any Internet-enabled device. They should promptly respond to consumers in cases of failed e-payment transactions and be able to promptly demonstrate transparency in settling claims for such failed transactions. Future studies could benefit from implementing probability sampling to facilitate comparisons with non-probability sampling studies. This study selected responses from only Saudi Arabian adopters of mobile payment technology. We need to conduct research on non-adopters and analyze the results using the model we proposed in this study. Due to time and resource constraints, in depth research using a mixed-methods approach could not be conducted. Future studies can utilize a mixed-methods approach for further understanding.

This empirical paper investigates the impact of green brand knowledge, green trust, and social responsibility on consumer purchase intentions within the developing nation of Pakistan. By highlighting the importance of these factors in influencing consumer behavior towards environmentally friendly products, the study aims to address the pressing need to mitigate environmental pollutants. Employing a quantitative research methodology, the study utilizes a questionnaire survey adapted from previous research to gather data. Regression analysis reveals significant and positive relationships between green brand knowledge, green trust, social responsibility, and consumer purchase intentions. Notably, green brand knowledge emerges as the most influential factor in shaping purchase intentions. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing insights into the dynamics of consumer behavior in a developing country context and offers practical implications for managers and decision-makers seeking to align organizational goals with consumer preferences for green brands. The findings underscore the importance of integrating environmental considerations into marketing strategies to meet consumer demand for sustainable products and foster environmental stewardship.

This study examined the factors influencing the organizational satisfaction of employees in public institutions. In the case of public institutions that must provide stable public services on behalf of the government, the organizational satisfaction of employees will be more important. In this regard, this study includes the perception of HRM and trust between employees as affecting factors, and the perception of HRM consisted of sub-components such as fairness of evaluation and excellence of education and training. Moreover, this study considered trust between employees as a mediator. In more specific, online surveys were conducted with 705 employees of public institutions in Korea, and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) was performed. The results indicated that the perception of HRM affected organizational satisfaction directly or indirectly. In addition, trust between employees mediated between all sub-components of perception of HRM and organizational satisfaction. Particularly, trust between employees has been verified to increase the influence of the perception HRM. Meanwhile, in the case of Korea, there are more public institutions than other countries, and many other countries are showing high interest in Korea’s public institution operation system. In this respect, dealing with Korean public institutions as examples provides important international implications.

This research aims to test the effect that the implementation of green practices at a major sport tourism event, the Badminton World Championships in Huelva (Spain), has on the future intention of spectators to return to similar sport events. A total of 523 spectators who attended the event were randomly selected and self-administered in the presence of the interviewer. A confirmatory factor analysis of the model and a multi-group analysis were carried out. Sporting events have a great impact on the environment in which they are organised, mainly when they are linked to tourism, whether at an economic, social or environmental level. The results indicated that green practices indirectly influence spectators' future intentions through emotions and satisfaction, direct antecedents. In addition, green practices directly affect both image and trust, and indirectly affect satisfaction. In conclusion, green practices are a variable to be taken into account when planning the organisation of a sporting event that aims to consolidate itself in the tourism and sports services market.