The COVID-19 pandemic has potentially a serious impact on many people's mental well-being. This study analyses the influence of the perceived threat of COVID-19 on subjective mental well-being with an online survey (n = 711). Findings confirmed the hypothesized model that provides a process explanation for this effect through the mediating influence of the activation of future anxiety. In addition, results confirmed that this influence via future anxiety is moderated by resilience, a personality trait that enables individuals to cope better with stressful or traumatic events. Individuals with higher levels of resilience compared to those with lower levels registered a lower impact of perceived Covid threat on future anxiety and, in turn, on subjective well-being. This study contributes theoretically to a better understanding of the factors that determine the impact of traumatic events such as a pandemic on people's mental health. The implications of this study indicate interventions that may be carried out to minimize the pandemic's negative psychological consequences.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effects of natural plants on satisfaction and loyalty in the hospitality servicescape and provides a theoretical framework explaining the underlying processes. Design/methodology/approach An experimental study (plants vs no-plants) was conducted in a restaurant with a sample of 119 individuals. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and bootstrapping moderated mediation analysis (Hayes, 2013). Findings The results of the study confirmed significant effects of indoor natural plants on consumers’ satisfaction and loyalty, mediated by the experiential value components of aesthetic value, service excellence and escapism. The absence of an interaction of these influences with consumers’ connectedness to nature indicates that the beneficial effects of indoor plants universally affect all individuals, independent of their personal degree of feeling connected with nature. Practical implications Indoor natural plants as ambient elements in restaurants can improve satisfaction and loyalty by enhancing the dimensions of aesthetics and escapism of the service experience, as well as the perception of service quality. Originality/value This is the first experimental study analyzing the effects of indoor plants on customer satisfaction and loyalty conducted in a real-life restaurant setting using actual plants. The findings contribute theoretically by providing an integrated conceptual model of the satisfaction and loyalty effects of atmospheric stimuli (i.e. plants) in the hospitality servicescape, which offers a process explanation based on the mediating influence of aesthetic value and the sequential mediations of aesthetic value → service excellence and aesthetic value → escapism.

This study focuses on discovering sustainable practices and possible innovative practices according to factors of Contingency Theory. In order to achieve this, a qualitative approach has been conducted. The study analyses 24 independent hotels. Semi-structured interviews were used in this study and conducted in person with the top managers at each hotel. The results show that, in accordance with Contingency Theory, the organizational behaviour is determined by the environment in which the hotel operates, the size of the establishment, where large- and medium-sized hotels are more committed to sustainable development, the environmental technology adopted and implemented by the hotel, and the main type of clientele, with hotels aimed at business travellers who show greater attention to the environment than those aimed at leisure travellers, mainly associated with socio-cultural values. The factors that were not completely decisive in the results analysed were the age of the hotel and the sex of the hotel owner. Considering the achieved results, this study may also contribute to identifying the most sustainable hotels and can help hotel businesses understand and reap the benefits of following a sustainable path.

PurposeThis study measures the influence of educational programs oriented toward entrepreneurship (POE) on the prediction of the entrepreneurial intention (EI) of university students, based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB).Design/methodology/focusThe sample contains a total of 4,697 answers from university students, obtained through the 2018 Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) project. A model of structural equations was used.FindingsThe results show that educational POE have an impact on EI, mediated by the perceived university environment (UE) and entrepreneurial skills (ES). In addition, it was confirmed that the variable that best explains EI is the attitude toward entrepreneurship (ATE), followed by perceived behavioral control (PBC); these two variables are able to mediate the effect of subjective norm (SN) on EI.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to students in higher education. Additionally, the data used come from only one country.Practical implicationsEducational POE that are focused on providing and improving ES and knowledge must be promoted, given that they indirectly strengthen the EI of students in higher education.Originality/valueThe effect of educational POE, mediated by ES and the UE, on EI is measured.

Consumer awareness about environmental problems is important in guiding their purchasing decisions. The aim of this research is to validate the moderating effect of environmental concern in two relationships: between celebrity–brand congruity and attitudes toward the brand and, between celebrity–brand congruity and purchase intentions, specifically when consumers are exposed to green advertising including a celebrity endorser. The data were collected via an online survey with young North American and Chilean people. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses in both samples. The results show that the only endorser characteristic relevant to the model is celebrity–brand congruity and its relationship with environmental concern (β = 0.23 for North Americans and β = 0.35 for Chileans with p < 0.05). In conclusion, the consumers evaluate congruence between celebrity and brand based on their concern about environment, then consider brand ethicality, and later brand credibility, which generates an attitude toward the brand and purchase intention. Therefore, identifying the consumers environmental concern is key to developing an effective advertisement with an appropriate celebrity. This research helps to understand the green-marketing literature in a more detailed way, due to this moderating variable capable of enhancing purchase intentions of consumers.

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En los últimos años en Chile y Latinoamérica se ha impulsado fuertemente el emprendimiento en mujeres como parte fundamental de políticas para la superación de la pobreza. Las motivaciones que tienen mujeres para emprender se han obviado en su sentido profundo por parte de las políticas de género, sin cuestionarse las diferencias que pueden existir entre dichos motivos y los factores contextuales que determinan una real elección por el emprendimiento. Este estudio cualitativo, utiliza el enfoque del análisis del discurso desde una perspectiva socioconstruccionista, para lograr el objetivo de investigar los factores que condicionan el acceso y éxito del emprendimiento femenino. Para esto, se realizaron 24 entrevistas en profundidad a mujeres emprendedoras de diferentes estados civiles y niveles socioeconómicos. Posteriormente el software Atlas Ti 7.0 apoyó el análisis de contenido. Los principales resultados muestran que las mujeres emprendedoras se categorizan en dos grupos definidos en relación a si tienen o no acceso a otras alternativas viables de desempeño laboral. De esta forma, se concluye la necesidad de una política pública que integre las diferencias económicas contextuales y los motivos que tienen las mujeres para emprender para la generación de programas de apoyo y fortalecimiento de las condiciones.

More than 1.8 billion people use WhatsApp nowadays, out of which 70% uses it daily. In this scenario, this study seeks modeling the variables that positively influence the intention to use WhatsApp. To this end, 579 surveys based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology are conducted. The descriptive results show that individuals use WhatsApp mainly motivated by leisure. In this sense, according to the structural equation model, the variable with the greatest influence on behavioral intention is hedonic motivation, followed by social influence, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy. These results indicate that most people use WhatsApp principally because they find it fun, enjoyable, and very entertaining, something more inherent to an entertainment application than to a messaging application. Nevertheless, a cluster analysis indicates the existence of two consumer segments: one showing a certain indifference and disagreement regarding the usefulness of WhatsApp for their activities and duties and the other manifesting that it uses WhatsApp not only for leisure but also for work, academic, and informative reasons. These differences in consumer drivers might have a great impact on WhatsApp and its competition marketing strategies.