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In the 21st century, green consumption has risen into a global trend, which inclines cosmetic companies to be more environmental-friendly and to have a larger green product portfolio to satisfy these new consumers’ needs. Social media contributed to this trend, shaping consumers’ attitudes into more environmentally conscious behavior. The present study applied the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain the impact of Social Media on consumers’ purchase intention and motivation (altruism and egoism). Based on empirical investigation, an online survey was developed to measure the proposed conceptual model. The reliability and validity of the reflective constructs were tested using partial least squares (PLS) modeling technique. The results indicate the importance of social media on consumers’ attitudes, subjective norms, altruistic and egoistic motivations, and the impact of these variables as the antecedents of green cosmetics purchase intention. These results have important theoretical implications. They revealed that external factors such as social media as an information source, have an important role in consumer motivation formation and green cosmetic purchasing intentions. The findings are relevant for marketers to implement better communication strategies on social media to increase consumers’ motivations and purchase intention toward green cosmetics.

The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced organizations to impose physical distancing restrictions on employees and to practice teleworking on a large scale. Adapting to the new context has generated an increase in job insecurity, and a decrease in employee productivity concerning task completion, boosting stress and counterproductive work behavior. Although the challenges employees face when carrying out their activities and work-related responsibilities, together with an understanding of the factors generating counterproductive work behaviors and job insecurity have been intensely studied in the literature, their manifestation and impact within organizations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is barely covered. This paper aims to fill this research gap by evaluating the way internal vision communication, employee reward systems, knowledge, and skills capitalization, and the maintaining of task performance can diminish counterproductive work behaviors and job insecurity generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, influencing employee satisfaction and behavior in this stress-inducing context. The responses collected from 863 Romanian employees are modelled with the help of structural equations in SmartPLS. The results show that in the case of counterproductive work behavior, employee satisfaction diminishes, while efficient performance of tasks and responsibilities, knowledge and skills capitalization, internal vision communication, and the existence of an employee reward system for employee input can all generate greater organizational attachment. Job satisfaction mediates the influence of performance, internal marketing, and counterproductive work behavior in employees’ attachment towards their respective organizations. The paper contributes to the development of the Conservation of Resources Theory, highlighting, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, ways in which employee satisfaction and work engagement behavior can be enhanced, thus contributing to diminishing counterproductive work behaviors, and fostering a pleasant and safe work environment.

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Energy waste is an emerging issue worldwide, with energy conservation goals, such as conscious energy consumption, playing a crucial role in helping the environment. The rapid growth of smart appliances has led to the development of mobile applications, with an increased interest among policymakers to design eco-saving plans for optimizing power and battery consumption. This study aims to explore the usage intention of energy-efficient applications, through young consumers’ energy conservation behavior, behavioral characteristics, and COVID-19 pandemic experience. Based on empirical investigation, a survey was applied in Romania among 590 mobile app users. The data were tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (SmartPLS, version 3). The results indicate the impact of behavioral characteristics, namely, energy conservation attitude, subjective norms, and environmental knowledge on young users’ energy conservation behavior. The influential effect of COVID-19 on energy-saving behavior was also proven. Energy conservation behavior, and functional and hedonic values positively influence Millennials’ and Gen Zers’ energy-efficient app usage intentions. The study also discusses some implications for policymakers, marketers, and software developers, as well as providing theoretical suggestions for future work.