PurposeRecent research has demonstrated an increasing awareness among business communities about the importance of environmental concerns. Green human resource management (GHRM) has become a crucial business strategy for organizations because the human resource department can play a key role in going “green.” This study tests an integrative model incorporating the indirect effects of GHRM practices on employee organizational citizenship behavior toward environment (OCBE), through green employee empowerment. Moreover, this study investigates the moderating effect of individual green values on OCBE.Design/methodology/approachUsing a paper–pencil survey, we collected multisource data from 365 employees and their immediate supervisors from Pakistan.FindingsThe results of structural regression revealed that GHRM has a significant indirect effect on OCBE through green employee empowerment. The results also indicated that individual green values moderated the positive relationship between green employee empowerment and OCBE.Practical implicationsOrganizations should appropriately appraise workers’ green behavior and align their behavior to pay and promotion. Organizations should also encourage and motivate employees to be engaged in green activities and contribute to environmental management.Originality/valueThis study suggests that green employee empowerment and individual green values are important factors that influence the relationship between GHRM and employees' OCBE, and it empirically analyzes these proposed relationships in a developing country context.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of social commerce constructs (SCCs), social support and relationship quality on social commerce intentions, which lead to use behaviour of social networking sites for social commerce. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 343 users of social networking sites in Pakistan. The data analysis was conducted using PLS-SEM. Findings The results show that SCCs have empowered consumers through the existence of virtual groups, ratings and reviews and recommendations and referrals, thereby having a significant impact on social commerce intentions. The relationship quality with social networking sites, measured through commitment, satisfaction and trust, also proved to be a leading forecaster of social commerce intentions. The impact of social support could not positively influence the relationship quality with the social networking site. However, social support influences the social commerce intentions significantly. Research limitations/implications Future research should enrich model with some moderating variables and data may be collected from actual online shoppers only. Practical implications This study provides valuable insights to retailers to formulate their social commerce strategies as per decision factors results to have maximum engagement of consumers in social commerce. Originality/value The study proposes the unique model for finding the social commerce intentions and use behaviour using social support theory, relationship marketing theory and information systems literature.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the impact of symbolic and functional incongruity on brand hate. According to self-congruity theory, symbolic and functional congruence are a critical phenomenon in consumer buying decisions. Therefore, the present study develops a theoretical framework based on self-congruity theory to examine the key determinants of brand hate. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected only in fast-food chain franchises in the capital city territory of Pakistan. Therefore, it is hard to generalize the findings of this research for customers from different cultural backgrounds. Findings The results of the study reveal that symbolic and functional incongruence are the primary factors responsible for brand hate among Pakistani fast-food customers. Customers carefully consider both self-image and product attributes when purchasing products. Research limitations/implications The research uses the cross-sectional method, which limits the findings’ usefulness in other sectors. Practical implications The current research helps policymakers understand the key determinants of brand hate, showing that symbolic incongruence is the primary antecedent. Therefore, policymakers and corporate leaders should consider that Pakistan is an Islamic country where consumer choices of food are not only derived from food quality, food hygiene and service quality, but also the symbolic image (i.e. halal food) is a vital determinant of consumption. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by discussing the above issue and presenting quantitative data. This research extends the literature by testing and validating a conceptual model that includes two types of congruence (symbolic and functional) to study brand hate. The proposed conceptual model provides a novel, theoretical, self-congruity point of view on brand hate.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide the overview of factors responsible for materialism and compulsive buying among adolescents and young adults. In today’s world, materialism is a crucial phenomenon of the modern age. According to social comparison theory, comparisons are a significant factor affecting the behavioral intentions of adolescents and young adults. Thus, this study develops a framework based on the stimulus–organism–response model and uses the framework to examine the impact of interpersonal communication and marketing factors on social comparison, materialism and compulsive buying, with social media acting as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach Using a survey method, data were collected in Study 1 from adolescents (n = 298) and in Study 2 from young adults (n = 345). Structural equation modeling analysis using partial least squares technique was used to analyze the data. Findings The results show that social comparison plays a significant role in developing materialistic values and compulsive buying among adolescents and young adults. Through these two studies, it was found that young adults are more socially comparative, materialistic and compulsive in buying as compared to adolescents. Moreover, social media use moderated the relationship between social comparison with peers and media celebrities, which means that rapid increase of social media use leads adolescents and young adults to create high social comparison and materialistic values. Research limitations/implications This research is based on the cross-sectional method, which limits the research findings. Practical implications This research helps corporate managers understand the interpersonal communication role in creating social comparison among individuals. The study found that peer communication plays a more important role in enhancing the social comparative values among young adults than among adolescents, which provides clear implications for the practitioner. Originality/value This study makes a significant contribution to extant literature by discussing the above issue and presenting quantitative data. The study extends the literature by examining and validating a theoretical model of how interpersonal communication among socializing agents affects social comparison among young adults and adolescents. This research examines outcomes of the social comparison with parents, peers and social media, based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model.

This research seeks to determine what makes young adults materialistic. The study examines the mediating role of materialism between the contextual factors and compulsive buying. Data was gathered from 219 Pakistani undergraduate university students. Partial Least Square (PLS) technique was used to analyze the data. The study confirms the intuition that more materialistic young adults are more likely to be involved in compulsive buying than are less materialistic young adults. The results were similar with the previous literature conducted in the western culture, indicating that also applies in a modern Islamic society. The findings of the study reveal that materialism mediated the relationship between certain sociological factors (i.e., group, media Celebrity endorsement, and TV advertisement) and compulsive buying. The study highlights the importance of understanding young adults' materialistic attitudes and consumption decisions and provides key knowledge for researchers, policymakers, and managers of leading brands.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend the corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature by examining the influence of a firm’s external CSR activities (efforts directed toward external stakeholders of the firm) and internal CSR activities (efforts directed toward employees) on employees’ organizational citizenship behaviors toward the environment (OCBE) via organizational pride. The authors also examine the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS) between CSR and organizational pride. Design/methodology/approach A total of 324 questionnaires were collected from the hospitality industry of Pakistan. Findings The results of this research revealed that dimensions of CSR (external and internal) have a positive influence on organizational pride. Also, organizational pride is found as an underlying mediating mechanism between the relationship of CSR and OCBE. The results also indicated that a higher level of POS strengthens the relationship between CSR and organizational pride. Practical implications The findings are limited to only hospitality industry. Organizations can enhance employees’ sense of pride through CSR activities, which subsequently enhance employees OCBE. The findings also suggested that organizational pride contains intrinsic motivation that can help employees to enhance their OCBE. Originality/value This research suggests that organizational pride and POS are important factors which influence the relationship between CSR and OCBE. Further, it also empirically tests this model in a developing country context.