In Indonesia, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are business units providing broad socio-economic benefits to the community and absorbing 97% of the national workforce. The large role is not balanced with the ability to continue growing and surviving in the global economic arena. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze several variables influencing Business sustainability (BS) in functional relationships including exploration of human resources (EHR), transformational leadership (TL), and Network Communication (NC). Data were collected by distributing questionnaires to 398 respondents and analyzed using structural equation models - partial least square (SEM-PLS) statistical method based on SmartPLS software. The results of the analysis showed that there was a direct influence between EHR on BS, EHR on TL, and NC on BS. The influence of EHR on BS through TL was not reported. However, NC succeeded in increasing the influence of EHR and TL on BS. This research enriched the principles of strategic management science in the field of formulating measuring instruments for determining BS. At the practical level, alternative solutions were provided to the problem of low BS using knowledge from business, management, finance, and communication sciences.

This study investigates how influencer marketing shapes tourist citizenship behavior (TCB) in sustainable tourism through the mediating role of brand attitude. Building on social exchange theory and consumer–brand relationship literature, the study addresses a gap in understanding the mechanisms by which digital influence extends beyond purchase intentions to pro-social tourist behaviors. Survey data from 250 visitors to sustainable destinations in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SmartPLS). Results show that influencer marketing significantly enhances brand attitude, which directly fosters TCB dimensions such as advocacy, feedback, helping, and tolerance, and mediates the relationship between influencer marketing and TCB. These findings highlight the strategic role of brand attitude in translating digital influence into sustainable, community-oriented tourist practices. Theoretically, the study advances knowledge by integrating influencer marketing with behavioral outcomes in sustainable tourism, moving beyond traditional attitudinal or intention-based measures. Practically, it offers insights for policymakers and destination marketers on designing authentic and ethical influencer campaigns that strengthen sustainable brand–consumer relationships. Limitations concerning geographic scope and cross-sectional design suggest directions for broader and longitudinal investigations.

This study examines how technology, organization, and environmental factors influence MSME intention and digital-marketing adoption. Based on TOE, TAM, and DOI models of adoption and estimated using CB-SEM on a cross-sectional survey using validated scales, the results find intention as the dominant pathway to adoption. Intention rises with perceived ease of use, compatibility/capabilities, relative advantage, trust, knowledge, and customer/competitive pressure, and falls with perceived financial cost; strategic—but not tactical—digital-marketing orientation contributes incremental explanation. Tests of mediation find that most antecedents impact adoption via intention. The results position ease-of-use and skill-training centre- stage, trust-building and capability-building, and selective cost relief as means of converting intention into use and offer district-level guidance for policymakers and incubators, and encouragement for future longitudinal follow-up.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how university students who use smart devices perceive brand love as a mediating factor between brand experience qualities and word-of-mouth. To achieve its objective, the research study employed a cross-sectional research design that was based on positivism as a paradigm and a quantitative technique. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to choose 300 participants to receive a fully structured, self-administered questionnaire. Students of Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha were the participants, and data were collected using an online questionnaire. The key findings under Smart PLS revealed that all hypothesised relationships are positive in a significant way. However, the association between Word-of-Mouth and Brand Love was determined to be the strongest with a path coefficient of β = 0,861; t = 43,613; p = 0.000, while the relationship between Affective Experience and Brand Love was the poorest, determined by a path coefficient of β = 0,374, t = 5,118, p = 0,000, while still favourable. Policymakers should provide extra clear instructions on how to use smart gadgets, as not only young people use smart gadgets. The results of the research will help businesses selling smart gadgets make informed decisions regarding their marketing plans. Marketers who have an interest in segmenting the markets will benefit from controlling the consumer demographic traits. The results suggest that brand experience and word-of-mouth marketing are suitable direct marketing channels or dimensions which customers have become most familiar with to truly fall in love with the brand.

This study aims to examine the relationship between the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and electronic marketing performance among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Kuwait’s restaurant and food and beverage sector. While digital platforms and technologies are increasingly essential for improving business operations, the strategic alignment between TOE factors and marketing outcomes remains unclear. Therefore, determining this relationship forms the core problem addressed in this research. A quantitative research method was employed using a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from SME stakeholders. The findings indicate that certain TOE dimensions such as compatibility and organizational readiness significantly impact profitability, while top management support and mobile payment gateway usage are positively associated with sales growth. The study highlights the importance of leveraging TOE elements to enhance marketing performance and recommends stronger organizational readiness, managerial involvement, and digital platform integration to drive marketing success within SMEs.

Hijab fashion represents a vital segment within the halal fashion industry, marked by intense competition and rapid growth. This study aims to examine the determinants of brand loyalty in the context of hijab fashion by developing and testing a conceptual model. Brand loyalty is recognized as a critical strategic asset, offering competitive advantage and long-term relevance in a dynamic retail environment. However, maintaining such loyalty presents ongoing challenges. Grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S-O-R) framework and the Satisfaction–Loyalty model, this study investigates the influence of retail brand experience on brand loyalty, with brand satisfaction and brand trust serving as mediating variables. Data were collected using a purposive sampling method through mall intercept surveys, yielding 500 valid responses. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that retail brand experience significantly influences brand satisfaction and brand loyalty, with a serial mediation effect through brand satisfaction and brand trust. These findings provide valuable insights for hijab fashion brands seeking to build effective marketing strategies that foster brand loyalty and support long-term business sustainability in the competitive hijab fashion in retail landscape.

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly transformed digital branding, necessitating a deeper investigation into how AI- driven strategies influence consumer behavior in emerging markets. This study examined the impact of AI-driven customer interaction, social media engagement, and sustainability messaging on brand trust and purchase intention, with brand trust hypothesized as a mediating variable. A descriptive- correlational design was employed, using structured questionnaires distributed to 600 digitally active consumers in Metro Cebu. Data analysis included Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analysis via bootstrapping to test the proposed relationships. Results revealed that all three digital branding strategies significantly predicted brand trust, which in turn was the strongest predictor of purchase intention; mediation analysis confirmed the critical role of trust in translating digital interactions into consumer decisions. These findings offer practical implications for marketers aiming to build sustainable brand reputations in AI-intensive environments, emphasizing the integration of personalization, ethical messaging, and trust-building as key components of future-ready digital branding models.

This study explores the pricing strategies employed by indigenous micro-textile enterprises in Durban, South Africa, and assesses their impact on consumer demand and business sustainability. Using an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach, the research draws on qualitative interviews with 50 μ-entrepreneurs and a quantitative survey of 384 participants to uncover how pricing decisions are shaped by contextual constraints, cultural values, and firm-level strategic behaviours. The findings reveal that pricing practices vary significantly across three distinct tiers of micro-textile operations, with Tier Three businesses exhibiting informal and reactive pricing models, while Tier One enterprises engage in more structured, value-based strategies. Key challenges identified include high consumer price sensitivity, limited access to business development support, and the influence of unstructured entrepreneurial decision-making. The study also highlights the role of focus-based strategies, such as cost leadership and product differentiation, in enabling micro-enterprises to navigate competitive markets. Recommendations include strengthening pricing literacy, integrating digital tools, and enhancing the role of business incubators in supporting culturally grounded and market-responsive pricing models. These insights contribute to the broader discourse on inclusive marketing, informal entrepreneurship, and sustainable micro-enterprise development in emerging economies.

Collectivism is a key cultural dimension that shapes consumer attitudes, particularly about sustainability and group identity. This study maps three decades of collectivist research in marketing and identifies key gaps in the field. Based on 631 English-language journal articles indexed in Scopus from 1996 to 2024, the analysis combines performance metrics with co-citation and keyword mapping using Biblioshiny and VOSviewer. Results show a steady growth in publication volume, with recent studies focusing more on green consumption and digital platforms. Despite this expansion, the literature remains heavily centered on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Triandis’s framework, and Fornell and Larcker’s measurement model, indicating persistent theoretical path dependence. Research is also geographically concentrated in the United States and China, with limited representation from Africa and Latin America. Emerging-market contexts and Gen-Z cohorts receive comparatively little attention. These findings suggest that future studies should develop more grounded models of collectivism in sustainability research and broaden regional coverage. For marketing practitioners, the results point to both the potential and limitations of leveraging collectivist values to promote eco-conscious behaviors across culturally diverse audiences.

This bibliometric research aims to comprehensively analyze the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in digital marketing. The study uses the Scopus database to identify 355 research papers published between 2000 and 2025. This research intends to provide an overview of the research landscape, including the most cited articles, authors, and journals, to identify the trending topics of the research, and to determine the thematic development in this domain. The findings reveal that research in this field depicts exponential growth after 2017 and will continue to grow in the future and the Journal of Marketing is the most contributing journal. The most commonly used AI technologies in digital marketing include machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), predictive modeling, and chatbots with tools such as ChatGPT, OptiMonkAI, Jasper, Midjourney, Manychat, Zapier, ElevenLabs, and OpusClip. The findings further synthesize that these AI tools and technologies enable marketers to collect and analyze large amounts of real-time data (structured, unstructured, and semi-structured) and are applied to achieve multifold strategic and tactical marketing objectives: to make improved customer segmentation, behavior prediction, and targeting, to enhance customer service, experience, and satisfaction, to ensure marketing efficiency through automation, to create and personalize content, and to efficiently manage social media and personalized email marketing and e-commerce website. However, there are concerns about the potential for the sustainable implication of AI considering data privacy and security and ethical issues. Future research should focus on the application of AI to ensure and enhance sustainable societal well-being (society 5.0) through marketing 5.0.