The COVID-19 pandemic is far more than a health crisis: it has unpredictably changed our whole way of life. As suggested by the analysis of economic data on sales, this dramatic scenario has also heavily impacted individuals’ spending levels. To better understand these changes, the present study focused on consumer behavior and its psychological antecedents. Previous studies found that crises differently affect people’s willingness to buy necessities products (i.e., utilitarian shopping) and non-necessities products (i.e., hedonic shopping). Therefore, in examining whether changes in spending levels were associated with changes in consumer behavior, we adopted a fine-grained approach disentangling between necessities and non-necessities. We administered an online survey to 3833 participants (age range 18–64) during the first peak period of the contagion in Italy. Consumer behavior toward necessities was predicted by anxiety and COVID-related fear, whereas consumer behavior toward non-necessities was predicted by depression. Furthermore, consumer behavior toward necessities and non-necessities was predicted by personality traits, perceived economic stability, and self-justifications for purchasing. The present study extended our understanding of consumer behavior changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results could be helpful to develop marketing strategies that consider psychological factors to meet actual consumers’ needs and feelings.

We provide the first empirical test of the relation between CEO narcissism and earnings manipulation. We test the hypothesis that narcissistic leaders over-identify themselves with the organizations they lead and expend considerable effort to achieve their goals, including by engaging in unethical behaviour. Earnings announcements are highly anticipated information releases by organizations. They are a key performance indicator used to evaluate the performance of CEOs. This study examines the use of first person singular pronouns by CEOs in response to questions at analyst conferences to measure narcissism. We provide evidence that firms with narcissistic CEOs engage in accruals management to manage earnings positively, highlighting the important effect of CEO personality on accounting choices.

After the COVID-19 worldwide spread, evidence suggested a vast diffusion of negative consequences on people's mental health. Together with depression and sleep difficulties, anxiety symptoms seem to be the most diffused clinical outcome. The current contribution aimed to examine attentional bias for virus-related stimuli in people varying in their degree of health anxiety (HA). Consistent with previous literature, it was hypothesized that higher HA would predict attentional bias, tested using a visual dot-probe task, to virus-related stimuli. Participants were 132 Italian individuals that participated in the study during the lockdown phase in Italy. Results indicated that the HA level predicts attentional bias toward virus-related objects. This relationship is double mediated by the belief of contagion and by the consequences of contagion as assessed through a recent questionnaire developed to measure the fear for COVID-19. These findings are discussed in the context of cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of anxiety suggesting a risk for a loop effect. Future research directions are outlined.

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Purpose -Opposition to transnational calls for the adoption of accrual-based accounting in the public sector may stem from arguments that it is associated with poor earnings quality. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether state owned enterprises (SOEs) operating under accrual-based accounting manage their earnings, whether it is more prevalent vis-a`-vis privately owned enterprises (POEs) and the conditions under which it is more likely to occur. Design/methodology/approach -This paper measures earnings management for a large sample of unlisted Italian SOEs and POEs using a framework developed by Stubben (2010). The authors use regression analysis to estimate the variables which predict abnormal accruals including firm size, leverage and profitability. Findings -The authors find no evidence that the level of state ownership (SO) is positively correlated with accrual-based earnings management. The authors also provide evidence that earnings management by SOEs decreases with firm size and increases with profitability. Research limitations/implications -While the study is the first to examine earnings management in a public sector accrual accounting environment for a sample of European firms, namely Italian firms, the authors call for more research into this issue examining public entities in other European Union (EU) member states or public entities other than SOEs. Practical implications -The EU recently introduced a new transnational accounting directive in which it prescribes the preparation of financial statements based on accrual accounting for all European public sector entities, arguing that it reduces the window dressing that is allowed by cash accounting. Since Italian SOEs already prepare their accounts on an accruals-basis, by analysing their accounting behaviour the authors are able to determine the variables which predict when earning management is more likely to occur in a public sector accrual accounting environment, and therefore the authors provide guidance which may be useful in shaping the transition process from cash accounting to accrual accounting by identifying the types of entities whose accounts should be subject to greater regulatory scrutiny. A better understanding of the relation between SO and earnings management will provide insight into public sector corporate governance and aid in the acceptance of transnational regulation that would otherwise significantly alter current accounting practices and possibly be opposed at a national level.