This study looked at how adding augmented reality (AR) to Jordanian fast-food apps during the pandemic impacts brand identity, consumer views, and interactions. It wanted to see if AR strengthens brand connections or leads to brand dilution concerns in the industry. The research utilized a qualitative approach, employing semi-structured interviews with 52 marketing managers from diverse fast-food establishments across Jordan. The study highlighted how mobile apps, especially AR, changed brand interactions in Jordan’s fast-food market. They boosted convenience and engagement but raised worries about food quality and brand dilution due to heavy app use. It stressed the need to balance tech innovation, preserve brand identity, offer personalized experiences, understand user behavior, and tackle app development challenges for better brand loyalty. The research offers practical implications for stakeholders, recommending strategic AR integration, a user-centric approach, cultural sensitivity in tech adoption, and the preservation of emotional connections. It emphasizes the significance of maintaining a delicate balance between leveraging technological advancements and safeguarding the distinctiveness of individual brand identities within an increasingly app-centric landscape. This study uncovers AR’s influence in Jordan’s fast-food scene, highlighting its transformative power and possible drawbacks. It offers practical advice for industry players, guiding them on how to navigate the digital shift without compromising brand integrity or customer connections.

This research explores the role of social media in the political construction of identity, analyzing how these platforms mediate the expression and formation of individual and group political identities. The focus is on how social media changes the dynamics of communication and social interaction, facilitating the formation of “echo chambers” and increasing political polarization. Additionally, this study highlights challenges such as disinformation and the implications of social media for the health of democracy. As a researcher, I aim to highlight the broader implications of using social media in identity politics. By analyzing the impact of social media on political dynamics in Indonesia, this study reveals how social media influences public perception and political decisions. This study identifies how social media can be used as a tool to mobilize political support, but also how these platforms can spread disinformation and reinforce political polarization. Based on these concerns, researchers have not yet found research results that examine how social media specifically impacts the construction of political identity. This research aims to highlight how social media not only acts as a communication tool but also as a medium that influences the way individuals view and express their political identity. Through a qualitative approach, this study provides new insights into the impact of social media in contemporary political dynamics and the importance of digital literacy in addressing issues of identity politics in the digital era.

This study delves into the concept of the “cultural bomb” within the framework of non-military defense empowerment strategies in Indonesia. This approach can potentially change society’s views and attitudes towards various security threats as a realization of strengthening the defense and security system of the universal people (Sishankamrata) per article 30 paragraph (2) of the 1945 constitution. By leveraging media, education, and information technology, the cultural bomb acts as a social weapon that operates powerfully in the “space of mind,” shaping behavior and actions nonviolently. The issue of cultural threats pertains to the infiltration and imposition of foreign cultural values and practices that undermine local traditions and national identity, leading to social fragmentation and weakness. This study proposes the concept of a “cultural bomb” as a policy framework to address and mitigate these cultural threats. The research employs a qualitative approach using the Delphi technique, engaging experts from cultural studies and defense strategies to reach a consensus on the strategic application of the cultural bomb. The results indicate that the cultural bomb can effectively strengthen national identity and awareness of national defense by promoting local values and cultural resilience, thus enhancing societal cohesion and mitigating the impact of foreign cultural influences. The paper outlines the components of a cultural bomb, analyzes its application in international contexts, and discusses its implications in efforts to strengthen national identity and foster a sense of national defense awareness. Focusing on the “war over space of mind” ideology, it introduces “cultural hacking” as a strategic initiative to address cultural power imbalances in the post-truth era.

This article examines the history of Russian colonization in Kazakhstan, focusing on identity, resistance, and independence within Russia’s neo-imperial ambitions. It addresses the socio-political barriers in postcolonial Kazakhstan due to ties with Russia and explores how the Soviet migration policies shaped Kazakhstan’s demographic and political landscape. The study outlines the phases of Russian colonization, contrasting Russian narratives of a civilizing mission with Kazakh perspectives on exploitation and cultural erasure. Using postcolonial theory, it deconstructs these narratives and reveals power dynamics. Kazakh literature and poetry are analyzed as mediums of resistance, emphasizing the horse as a symbol of cultural identity. The article concludes by discussing the post-Soviet cultural transformations and the role of literature in nation-building, highlighting the importance of reclaiming cultural symbols and myths for understanding Kazakhstan’s colonial history and postcolonial transformation.

This paper explores how Saudi managers perceive the role of corporate heritage in achieving the employment goals of heritage organizations operating in Saudi and, in turn, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 in relation to the Nitaqat program. Using an exploratory qualitative method, the study involved fifteen in-depth semi-structured interviews with HR managers from ten heritage-rich organizations. The analysis identified five key organizational identity traits with heritage—proficient, shelter, responsive, advancing, and centrality—that can be leveraged in employer branding to attract potential employees and enhance the employer brand of organizations operating in the Saudi market. This study is significant as it is the first to investigate corporate heritage from an employer branding perspective and in relation to national employment goals in emerging markets.

Based on the analysis of phenomenology and etymology, we argue that as three different components of Chinese philosophy, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism focus on human beings’ transcendence of behavior, body, and mind, which is made concrete as Ming (name of reputation), Qi (physical body), and Dao(way)-De(virtue), respectively. Chinese philosophy has its own system, but it is still a philosophical component in ontology, and its constituent elements are identified as “affirmative universal” by Euler’s Identity Diagrams in contrast both to existences in Heidegger’s triad Seinede-Dasein-Sein ontology, i.e., Being-Beings-To be, and to Freud’s triple self-Ego, Id (body-ego), and Superego. Taoism shapes the physical id with the “Type 1” natural Dao(way) personality”,Buddhism shapes the bodhisattva”Type-1” selfless De(virtue) personality and Confucianism pursues the mediocre”Type 0” social Dao-de(morality)personality”. Therefore, when q equals p, the ideal personality shaped by Chinese philosophy is the perfect combination of the three, displaying its “affirmative particular” unity in elemental composition and the ideal realm of Chinese philosophy follows the Euler’s Identify. Individuals who believe in the tenets of Chinese philosophy should have the personality of triadic mixtures. Nevertheless, one may become an extremely selfish hypocrites wearing social masks while one’s morality value reaches 1.