With the advent of innovative marketing, the increasing use of brand personality concepts for the promotion of a brand or product has received scholarly work across the globe. Yet little is known in the literature about the dimensions of brand personality and its applicability in the telecommunication industry. Considering the known link between brand personality and customer purchase intent, this research sought to examine the impact of the brand personality dimension on customer buying decisions in the telecoms sector. A positivist research paradigm was used to attain the study goal(s) with valid data of 414 subscribers (customers) of telecom giants in Ghana. The result from the PLS-SEM technique identified five main attributes of brand personality (ie. sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness) as antecedents of customer buying decisions in the research model. Findings revealed that brand sincerity, brand excitement, and brand competence have a significant relationship with customer buying decisions. Whereas brand sophistication and ruggedness were not. An effective brand increases its brand equity by having a consistent set of traits that a specific consumer segment enjoys. This article not only provides empirical insight into the brand personality literature but also serves as a source of information for managers in the telecom industry to successfully trigger strategic marketing practices that would help to optimize the usefulness of the brand personality concept. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Social media marketing has vastly benefitted businesses, including the development of brand identity via solid communication channels. Innovative marketing tools have proven effective among service and non-service-based businesses. This study examines the impact of social media on customer buying decisions via brand personality attributes among telecom products (e.g., mobile phones, sim cards, and data subscriptions) in Ghana. A positivist research paradigm with a non-probability sampling were deployed to achieve study goals. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect the data from subscribers of the telecom giants (MTN, Vodafone, and Airtel-Tigo) in the capital of Ghana through a non-probability sampling technique (snowball/referral method). Both self-administered and online survey (link) were deployed with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols. A valid data set of 414 (representing 82% of response rate) from 507 responses was received for data processing. PLS-SEM was applied to analyze the study hypothesis. The study identified five main brand personality attributes (i.e., brand sincerity, brand excitement, brand competence, brand sophistication, and brand ruggedness) as mediators of the proposed framework. The study found that brand sincerity, brand excitement, and brand competence played a significant mediation effect on the relationship between social media usage and customer buying decisions, whereas brand sophistication and brand ruggedness did not. The findings suggest that brand management plays an interconnected role in customer decision-making in which brand practitioners should take a keynote regarding their strategic marketing decisions. Finally, the paper recommends that future research consider a mixed approach to offer an in-depth analysis. Acknowledgment This study is supported by Tomas Bata University in Zlin through IGA/FAME /2022/010 Influencer marketing and intercultural differences across generations and IGA/FAME/2021/005-Significant factors in the sustainability of economic growth with a focus on the SME segment. We are grateful to the Editor-in-Chief and the anonymous reviewers for their comments in shaping this manuscript.

The affiliation between energy consumption (ENC) and economic progress (ECP) has a significant environmental concern. The role of human capital (HUC) in lessening the depletion of the natural environment has been extensively researched. However, as a moderating variable, the affiliation between energy consumption and environmental deterioration (EVD) is novel in the literature. This study explores economic progress, environmental taxes (ENT), urbanization (URB), and trade openness (TRO) in the Visegrad Four nations (V4): Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, using data from the WDI and OECD databases from 1994 to 2021. The second-generational panel unit root (CIPS and CADF) was employed for series stationarity. Pedroni and Westerlund's cointegration estimations were used to validate the series' long-term affiliation. The investigation applied the common correlated mean group (CCMG), augmented mean group (AMG), and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) as a rousted test. The panel causality of Dumitrescu and Hurlin was used to check for causality. The regression results demonstrated that economic progress and energy consumption had a significant favourable link to environmental deterioration, confirming the EKC hypothesis. Similarly, urbanization and openness had a positive nexus with EVD. Environmental taxes and human capital lessen the depletion of ecological quality. The results demonstrated an inverse nexus when human capital was moderated by energy consumption and environmental deterioration. The research suggests that education enrollment and awareness about emissions would lessen the use of non-renewable energy in the Visegrad nations. Finally, the study made several policy recommendations for decision- and policymakers in the V4 regions to combat climate change and increase sustainable energy use.

The research paper aimed to investigate the relationship between the major popular cryptocurrencies in terms of market dominance and identify any pattern and/or causality between the short-run and long-run series. Cryptocurrency has received much attention because of media publicity and the financial returns it generates within a short time, with its associated risk level. This innovative financial research investigates for the first time by thoroughly analyzing nine top cryptocurrencies, excluding stablecoins. The study used the Vector Error Correction model to analyse how the various cryptocurrency under investigation are interconnected. The results demonstrated how concentrated the causality effect is on some specific cryptocurrencies. The study uses the top nine cryptocurrencies on the crypto markets, excluding stablecoins that have existed since October 2017. The frequency of the data is 1523 daily closing prices. The choice of the data stemmed from its availability and has existed since October 2017. The primary outcome is clear and possibly explains the dominance of Bitcoin and Ethereum as the main drivers of the prices of related or altcoins. Any movement in the price level of the two dominant cryptos affects all the altcoins on the crypto market. The research further unearths the interconnection or correlation between the major cryptocurrencies. It will assist institutional and retail investors, fund managers, and managers, with the possible mix of assets in their portfolio based on their risk appetite level in making investment decisions.