Cross-linguistic digital communication represents a critical frontier for international consumer marketing, yet existing Communication Privacy Management theory cannot explain how consumers coordinate privacy boundaries across languages with fundamentally different cultural constructs. This limitation becomes acute when consumers encounter cultural hotwords—terms like NFT, chill, or FWB—that carry divergent marketing meanings across linguistic contexts. Drawing on translation studies, cultural semiotics, and boundary work theory, we develop Digital Boundary Translation Theory (DBTT), which explains cross-linguistic boundary coordination as active cultural transformation processes affecting consumer-brand relationships, trust formation, and purchase intentions in global digital markets. Through qualitative analysis of 39 multilingual consumers across six countries, complemented by Google Trends data (2019–2024), we identify four translation mechanisms and validate four hypotheses about cross-linguistic boundary management. Our findings reveal that consumers actively transform boundary meanings through sophisticated translation work that creates hybrid cultural identities, with significant implications for international marketing strategy, global brand communication, and digital platform design.

This study aims to develop a theory-informed framework explaining how scope (integration intensity) and scale (implementation breadth) shape phygital consumer experience among Gen Z consumers in South Korea and the United States. Applying a comparative case design (Nike, Musinsa, Melon, Spotify, Urban Outfitters), the study illustrates typology-driven theorizing for emerging phenomena by interpreting platform touchpoints, brand narratives, interfaces, and user artifacts to inductively derive a scope–scale typology. The typology delineates four strategic configurations—Integrated & Scaled, Immersive & Experimental, Tactical & Event-Driven, and Symbolic & Scalable—and advances propositions linking scope–scale alignment to identity formation, cultural resonance, scalable symbolism, and ecosystem coherence. Findings indicate that 1) high-scope ecosystems intensify symbolic interaction and identity play; 2) localized, high-scope designs amplify affective engagement by aligning with cultural schemas; 3) low-scope, high-scale formats can rival immersive systems by ritualizing shareable, algorithmically personalized episodes; and 4) globally scaled, high-scope ecosystems yield sustained experiential value through cross-touchpoint coherence. Moreover, cross-cultural contrasts suggest that Korean Gen Z consumers favor place-situated, communal rituals, while American Gen Z consumers tend toward episodic, self-curated expression. This scope–scale framework contributes by bridging phygital ecosystem design with cultural logic and symbolic meaning, providing a typological lens for juxtaposing hybrid marketing strategies and guiding practitioners on when to privilege immersion vs. symbolism and local adaptation vs. global reach.

This study examines how consumers in a collectivist context perceive and react to algorithmic fairness, transparency, and brand accountability, addressing the Western-centric bias in AI ethics research by focusing on Ghanaian consumers. A conditional process model is developed in which perceived algorithmic fairness predicts perceived brand accountability both directly and indirectly through perceived algorithmic transparency, with collectivist cultural orientation and age moderating the fairness–accountability pathway and its indirect effect through transparency. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey of 400 consumers in Ghana and structural equation modeling, the findings reveal a reversal of dominant Western assumptions: consumers in this collectivist setting evaluate fairness before transparency, and fairness strongly shapes transparency perceptions. Perceived fairness emerges as a robust predictor of both perceived transparency and brand accountability. Transparency mediates the fairness–accountability relationship, and this indirect effect is amplified among consumers with stronger collectivist orientation and among older respondents. The direct fairness–accountability link is also stronger for these groups, indicating identity-bounded moderated mediation. Theoretically, the study extends justice and attribution theories by demonstrating cultural contingency in the fairness–transparency–accountability sequence. Managerially, results indicate that in collectivist markets, brands should foreground fair treatment before transparency communication and align AI governance with cultural and age-based consumer segments.

Cultural elements such as customs, language, and art of a specific region enrich brands with a wide range of nuanced dimensions, which facilitate their development in new markets. Accordingly, countries with rich cultural contexts can leverage brand cultural involvement as a strategic tool for penetrating international markets. Considering that Iran, as a culturally rich nation, is at the early stage of global branding, this study aims to develop an Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) of brand cultural involvement using a mixed methods approach. In the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews were conducted with 13 marketing experts, through which the components of the brand cultural involvement model were extracted. Findings of ISM steps reveal that identifying commonalities, gaining international credibility, product strategy, and enhancing competitiveness with both local and global brands constitute fundamental drivers in creating brand cultural involvement. The proposed model provides a brand cultural involvement framework that can assist marketers in designing cultural brand elements to attract consumers in international markets.

The rapid growth of mobile usage has positioned mobile advertising as a dominant channel for engaging consumers worldwide. This study examines the critical factors shaping mobile advertising effectiveness—focusing on privacy concerns and incentives—through a cross-cultural comparison of consumers in South Korea and the United States. Results demonstrate that privacy concerns consistently reduce favorable attitudes toward mobile advertising in both contexts, whereas incentives exert a stronger positive influence in South Korea. Moreover, perceived social usefulness significantly enhances attitudes among South Korean consumers but shows no such effect in the U.S., underscoring cultural variations in how users evaluate mobile ads. These findings extend established models such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), while advancing debates on the “privacy paradox” in digital advertising. Practically, the study offers actionable insights for marketers aiming to design culturally responsive mobile advertising strategies that balance trust, relevance, and motivational incentives across global markets.

Packaging plays an important role in shaping consumer perceptions, yet most research centers on explicit eco-labels or certified sustainable packaging. This study addresses a gap by examining how consumers evaluate general packaging attributes such as recyclability, functionality, convenience, design aesthetics, and economic value when sustainability cues are implicit Using survey data from 1,373 consumers in Tokyo and Osaka, structural equation modeling was applied to identify regional differences in packaging interpretation. The results show that while functionality and economic value are universally important, Tokyo consumers place greater emphasis on aesthetic design and informational clarity, reflecting cultural values such as wabi‑sabi and yūgen. Osaka consumers prioritize recyclability and practical utility, influenced by pragmatic norms and established waste separation policies. By focusing on the cognitive evaluation stage prior to purchase, this study clarifies how culturally rooted perceptions shape packaging judgments and offers implications for developing packaging strategies are both sustainability‑oriented and culturally responsive.

This study draws on the Functional Theory of Attitudes to examine how consumer cosmopolitanism (CCOS) and consumer ethnocentrism (CET) influence purchase intentions toward environmentally friendly products (EFPs), both directly and indirectly through the social functions of attitudes (self-expression and self-presentation). Analyses of data collected from 252 U.S. participants show that CCOS has a direct positive effect on EFP purchase intention and an additional indirect effect through self-expression. CET, on the other hand, has a negative direct effect, which is partially offset by a positive indirect effect through self-presentation. Implications for researchers, practitioners, and directions for future research are discussed.

This study examines how sound symbolism, when integrated with traditional brand naming strategies, shapes consumer perceptions across two closely related yet phonetically distinct cultures—Türkiye and Azerbaijan. By combining insights from branding literature and linguistic theory, we address a critical gap in understanding how phonetic features interact with semantic naming strategies to enhance brand effectiveness. Three pretests identified suitable product categories and name types, revealing that suggestive names were most appropriate for convenience products, while descriptive names aligned with shopping products. Building on these insights, a 3 × 2 factorial design with 446 participants tested how brand naming strategies interact with sound symbolism. MANOVA results demonstrated that voiceless consonants (e.g., “f”) conveyed softness more effectively than voiced consonants (e.g., “z”), while combining sound symbolism with suggesting naming amplified effectiveness for convenience products. Turkish participants showed greater sensitivity to sound symbolism compared to Azerbaijanis, underscoring the role of cultural and linguistic contexts. This study contributes to branding literature by extending sound symbolism theory to a cross-cultural setting, offering both theoretical insights into the interplay between phonetics and naming strategies, and practical implications for managers seeking to develop resonant global brand names.

With the rapid growth of globalization and digital platforms, cross-border e-commerce has become a key driver for brands to expand internationally. Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly personalized recommendations and immersive mechanisms, is reshaping consumer interactions. This study uses annual panel data from 2012 to 2022 covering Amazon, eBay, Tmall, JD, TikTok, and 11 countries. A panel fixed-effects model examine how click-through rate (CTR) in four product types (Clothes, Electrical Items, Service, and Home Appliance) affect sales volume and average order value. Results show CTR has a significant positive impact on both outcomes, remaining robust after log transformation and winsorization. Heterogeneity analysis reveals varying effects across platforms and product types, including stronger clothing conversion on Amazon and higher home appliance conversion on eBay. The study shows AI boosts search interest and drives purchases, enriching understanding of cross-border consumer behavior and offering guidance for optimizing AI strategies.

This study investigates the moderating impact of consumer ethnocentrism on the relationship between perceived trustworthiness and perceived value on purchase intention from foreign websites. The research employed a quantitative method conducted in two phases: preliminary quantitative research with data collected from 70 Vietnamese customers aged 18 to 35 to examine the reliability of the measurement scale; and formal quantitative research conducted with data collected from 315 Vietnamese customers aged 18 to 35 to test the research model and hypotheses. The research findings indicate that consumer ethnocentrism does not have moderating effect on the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention from foreign websites. However, it does moderate the relationship between perceived trustworthiness and the intention to buy from these online platforms. Consequently, the influence of perceived trustworthiness on the intention to purchase will differ between groups of consumers with high and low ethnocentrism. Based on these results, the authors propose several recommendations to promote the intention to shop on foreign websites.