The rapid rise of live streaming commerce in China has transformed the retail environment, with electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) emerging as a pivotal factor in shaping consumer behavior. As a digital evolution of traditional word-of-mouth, eWOM gains particular significance in live streaming contexts, where real-time interactions foster immediacy and engagement. This study investigates how eWOM influences consumer purchase intentions within Chinese live streaming platforms, employing the Information Adoption Model (IAM) as theoretical framework. Using a grounded theory approach, this research applies NVivo for data coding and analysis to explore the cognitive and emotional processes triggered by eWOM during live streaming. Findings indicate that argument quality, source credibility, and information quantity significantly enhance consumer trust and perceived usefulness of information, which, in turn, drives information adoption and purchase intention. Furthermore, the study reveals that social interaction between live streaming anchors and audiences amplifies the influence of consumers' internal states on information adoption. This study enhances the Information Adoption Model (IAM) by introducing social interaction as a moderator between consumers' internal states toward live streaming eWOM and their adoption of information, highlighting the value of social interaction in live streaming. It also incorporates information quantity, showing how eWOM quantity affects trust and perceived usefulness. Furthermore, the study contributes to exploring how factors like argument quality, source credibility, and information quantity shape consumer trust and perceived usefulness, offering insights into the cognitive and emotional processes of information adoption in live streaming.

In the era of globalization and advanced information transparency, competition between companies has become increasingly fierce due to the large number of products and services that have similar characteristics. This situation creates a competitive and dynamic business climate, where companies must adapt quickly to the changes that occur. This study investigates the impact of servant leadership on employee performance at Mandiri In health, focusing on employee engagement and Organizational Citizenship Behavior as relevant mediating variables. The study used a proportionate stratified random sampling method to determine the sample of respondents, which ultimately consisted of 206 individuals who were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques. The main findings of the study show that servant leadership has a significant direct influence on employee performance, employee engagement, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the company. This indicates that service-oriented leadership practices not only influence individual performance, but also contribute to employee volunteering and active engagement in the organization. Employee engagement and Organizational Citizenship Behavior affect employee performance directly, there is no evidence that servant leadership affects employee performance indirectly through the mediation of employee engagement. There is an indication that Organizational Citizenship Behavior acts as a mediator between servant leadership and employee performance, indicating the importance of organizational citizenship behavior in facilitating the positive relationship between leadership and performance. These findings provide a deeper understanding of how leadership strategies can significantly contribute to the achievement of organizational goals in a competitive business environment.

With its inherent characteristics of decentralization, immutability, and transparency, blockchain technology presents a promising opportunity to revolutionize the South African food supply chains. Blockchain technology, with its decentralized, immutable, and secure nature, offers solutions to these challenges by improving traceability and accountability across the supply chain. This study investigates the role of blockchain technology in enhancing transparency in the food supply chain among small and medium enterprises in South Africa. SMEs form a critical part of the country's agri-food sector but face challenges such as food fraud, inefficient inventory management, and lack of transparency, which impact food safety and trust. The research adopts a mixed-method approach, utilizing the Technology-Organization-Environment framework and Institutional Theory to explain blockchain adoption among SMEs. The results demonstrate that blockchain-enabled practices, such as smart contracts, records traceability, production tracking, and distribution monitoring, significantly enhance supply chain transparency. The findings highlight blockchain's potential to increase operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder trust. This research provides valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners, emphasizing the need for regulatory support and strategic investment in blockchain solutions to promote sustainability and competitiveness in the agri-food sector.

Business organizations use job advertisements to find and attract the high-quality workforce they need. Skillfully crafted job advertisements not only provide job-related information to job seekers but also help develop a strong employer brand in the employee market. Based on signaling theory and person-environment fit theory, we propose that the content and specificity of information provided in job advertisements influence job advertisement effectiveness through various mechanisms. In a scenario-based experiment on 310 young job seekers, we probed the direct and indirect effects of job advertisement informativeness on job pursuit intentions. Using structural equations modelling and multi-group path analysis, the mediating roles of perceived job appropriateness and ad truthfulness, along with the moderating role of previous employment experience, were examined. By manipulating the information content of a hypothetical job advertisement, we demonstrated that: a) both advertisement informativeness and perceived job appropriateness had positive direct effects on application intentions, while the latter had a greater effect; b) perceived job appropriateness mediated the relationship between advertisement informativeness and job pursuit intentions; c) the indirect (mediated) effect of advertisement informativeness on application intentions was moderated by previous employment experience; d) perceived ad truthfulness did not exert any significant effect on application intentions. These findings imply that HR practitioners should provide specific information in job postings to help candidates, especially those with less work experience, evaluate how well the job suits them and increase their motivation to apply.

This study explores how demographic factors shape perceptions of celebrity and influencer marketing in the context of promoting cryptocurrencies, particularly in the tourism sector. It evaluates whether such marketing strategies effectively promote cryptocurrencies and how their impact varies across demographic groups. By analyzing responses from a sample of 161 predominantly young and educated respondents, the study uses statistical methods to identify differences in perceived marketing effectiveness based on age, gender, and other demographics. Findings reveal no significant demographic differences in effectiveness; instead, the study underscores the importance of universal marketing qualities, such as authenticity, credibility, and relevance. These results suggest the need for inclusive marketing strategies that foster trust and transparency. Additionally, the study highlights avenues for future research, including cultural and ethical considerations, to refine marketing approaches and develop innovative campaigns that drive cryptocurrency adoption and trust in the tourism industry.

The study employed a qualitative approach to determine the influence and effectiveness of storytelling in shaping the Alpha generation’s buying decisions and consumption behaviours. The students of the University of Lagos Junior Secondary School were selected for the study. The interview questions were set to focus on factors like experiences, sources of storytelling communication, the outcomes and the affective effects. Twenty-five students were purposively selected out of one hundred and twelve (112) population for the interview based on the conditions for selection. Thematic analysis was used and a total of 244 themes were identified. Four (4) major themes were later identified in thematic synthesis through coding translation. The findings revealed that storytelling is effective and strategic in brands targeted at the Alpha generation, hence, the generation relied on storytelling to choose brands in convenience, impulsive and shopping products, and radio and television were the main sources of storytelling campaigns among the generation. Storytelling wrapped in songs, entertainment, dancing, drama, etc. captivated and influenced the generation, and children used the information from the storytelling campaigns to influence family purchase decisions and parents’ buying decisions and behaviours.