Search Results (203)

Tourism has become an essential driver of local and national economies, and health tourism is one of its fastest-growing sectors. In this context, destination branding plays a vital role in enhancing competitiveness and creating distinctive identities. However, building a destination brand often faces major obstacles, particularly in emerging destinations. This study investigates the challenges of branding Sareyn, a well-known hot spring destination in northwest Iran, as a geothermal-based health tourism hub. The research is qualitative and exploratory, employing thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 18 experts, including academics, practitioners, and tourism stakeholders. Data were analyzed and categorized to identify central themes shaping the branding process. The results reveal two groups of themes. The first consists of key challenges such as infrastructure limitations, governance and policy issues, weak marketing strategies, insufficient research, human resource gaps, low investment, limited networking, and concerns about sustainable development. The second includes supportive factors that could strengthen branding efforts, namely complementary attractions and services, competitive advantages, and the necessity of targeted marketing. Overall, the study demonstrates that Sareyn holds significant potential as a geothermal health tourism destination but requires systematic planning, stakeholder collaboration, and improved management strategies. The results provide significant directions for policymakers and tourism managers, showing pathways to strengthen the city’s brand and contribute to the broader development of health tourism in Iran. Full article

This study investigates the social processes of place-making, sense of place, and place branding within the context of private art museums in Eastern China, highlighting their role in fostering social interaction and contributing to urban sustainability. By examining the relationship between exhibition design, interactive features, and audience engagement, the research demonstrates how these museums act as cultural spaces that not only display art but also facilitate dialog, community building, and cultural reflection. Using a mixed methods approach, including surveys and case studies, this study explores how private art museums employ place-making strategies to create immersive environments that blur the boundaries between art, architecture, and visitors. These museums enhance emotional engagement, promote cultural understanding, and support sustainable cultural identities within urban spaces. The findings reveal that through thoughtful design and community-centered programming, private art museums in Eastern China contribute to the social sustainability of urban areas by creating spaces that are both culturally and emotionally resonant. Furthermore, the place branding of these museums positions them as dynamic cultural landmarks, reinforcing their significance in the urban landscape and fostering ongoing social interaction. Full article

This study examines how Batik Ciprat functions as a vehicle for inclusive creative tourism in Karangpatihan Village, Indonesia, whereby individuals with intellectual disabilities contribute to a socially impactful rural tourism model. Grounded in social capital theory, we analyse how trust, social networks, and inclusive norms enable empowerment and help establish a distinctive, inclusion-oriented tourism identity. Using a qualitatively led mixed-methods (sequential exploratory) design with partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), we identify key pathways through which art-based entrepreneurship supports village branding and visitor engagement. Our findings indicate that when social innovation is embedded in cultural tourism, it catalyses local pride, participation, and quality of life gains. The study contributes to debates on inclusive/accessible tourism, demonstrating that creative industries can act as engines of equitable, community-based development in rural settings. Full article

Cultural ecosystem services are difficult to evaluate due to their subjective nature and the lack of indicators of the benefits they provide to people. This study applied an innovative methodology to assess the cultural landscape’s ecosystem services in the coastal countryside of La Janda in Cádiz, Spain, based on heritage assets situated outside urban centers. After identifying 700 cultural landmarks scattered throughout La Janda that represent the region’s cultural values and foster feelings of identity and belonging at a local level, public domain routes totaling 243.78 km have been selected to appreciate them. These routes have been incorporated into an Android application, enabling users to access a bibliographic summary of the landmarks and generate data on social preferences when contemplating cultural heritage. Integrated into a Public Participation Geographic Information System, these data serve as an indicator for evaluating cultural ecosystem services and support efforts to conserve and enhance the cultural capital spread across the territory. These data also allow for the identification of symbolic and emotional values linked to place identity, offering valuable inputs for sustainable place-branding strategies that promote the territory beyond conventional tourism models. Full article

In the evolving discourse of affective urbanism, emotions are increasingly recognized as fundamental, systemic drivers shaping the social, perceptual, and symbolic dimensions of urban space. Meanwhile, advances in visual technologies and media aesthetics have transformed contemporary cities into visually saturated environments, where visual cues actively influence how urban space is perceived, navigated, and emotionally experienced. While prior research has addressed affective belonging and spatial identity, these studies often treat emotion and visual design as separate influences rather than examining their interdependent, systemic roles. To address this gap, this study develops an emotion-driven systemic model to analyze how visual design activates affective pathways that contribute to the sustainable construction of place branding. Drawing on survey data from 134 residents in Wuxi, China, we employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the interrelations among emotionally durable visual design, urban emotion, and place branding. The results reveal that visual attachment design (VAD) significantly strengthens place branding through emotional mediation, while visual behavior design (VBD) directly enhances sustainable branding by fostering participatory engagement even without emotional mediation. In contrast, visual function design (VFD) demonstrates limited impact, underscoring its insufficiency as a stand-alone strategy. These findings underscore the value of modeling emotionally durable visual communication as a system that links emotion, behavior, and identity in citizen-centered place branding. Full article

The proliferation of fake profiles on social media presents critical cybersecurity and misinformation challenges, necessitating robust and scalable detection mechanisms. Such profiles weaken consumer trust, reduce user engagement, and ultimately harm brand reputation and platform credibility. As adversarial tactics and synthetic identity generation evolve, traditional rule-based and machine learning approaches struggle to detect evolving and deceptive behavioral patterns embedded in dynamic user-generated content. This study aims to develop an AI-driven, multi-modal deep learning-based detection system for identifying fake profiles that fuses textual, visual, and social network features to enhance detection accuracy. It also seeks to ensure scalability, adversarial robustness, and real-time threat detection capabilities suitable for practical deployment in industrial cybersecurity environments. To achieve these objectives, the current study proposes an integrated AI system that combines the Robustly Optimized BERT Pretraining Approach (RoBERTa) for deep semantic textual analysis, ConvNeXt for high-resolution profile image verification, and Heterogeneous Graph Attention Networks (Hetero-GAT) for modeling complex social interactions. The extracted features from all three modalities are fused through an attention-based late fusion strategy, enhancing interpretability, robustness, and cross-modal learning. Experimental evaluations on large-scale social media datasets demonstrate that the proposed RoBERTa-ConvNeXt-HeteroGAT model significantly outperforms baseline models, including Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest, and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). Performance achieves 98.9% accuracy, 98.4% precision, and a 98.6% F1-score, with a per-profile speed of 15.7 milliseconds, enabling real-time applicability. Moreover, the model proves to be resilient against various types of attacks on text, images, and network activity. This study advances the application of AI in cybersecurity by introducing a highly interpretable, multi-modal detection system that strengthens digital trust, supports identity verification, and enhances the security of social media platforms. This alignment of technical robustness with brand trust highlights the system’s value not only in cybersecurity but also in sustaining platform credibility and consumer confidence. This system provides practical value to a wide range of stakeholders, including platform providers, AI researchers, cybersecurity professionals, and public sector regulators, by enabling real-time detection, improving operational efficiency, and safeguarding online ecosystems. Full article

This study examines the intersection of artificial intelligence-driven personal branding strategies and female entrepreneurship within Indonesia’s unique hijabi startup ecosystem. Through a mixed-methods approach combining sentiment analysis of 2847 social media posts, in-depth interviews with 35 hijabi entrepreneurs, and machine learning analysis of branding patterns, this research reveals how AI technologies can be leveraged to create culturally sensitive personal branding frameworks for Muslim female entrepreneurs. The findings demonstrate that successful hijabi entrepreneurs employ distinct AI-enhanced communication strategies that balance religious identity, professional credibility, and market positioning. The study introduces the “Halal Personal Branding Framework,” a novel theoretical model that integrates Islamic values with contemporary digital marketing practices. Results indicate that AI-driven personal branding increases startup funding success rates by 34% and market reach by 58% among hijabi entrepreneurs when culturally appropriate algorithms are employed. This research contributes to entrepreneurship communication theory while providing practical guidelines for developing inclusive AI systems that respect religious and cultural diversity in the digital economy. Full article

Green food serves as a bridge connecting healthy lifestyles with environmental values, particularly in the context of sustainable consumption transitions. However, existing research lacks a systematic understanding of how consumers negotiate cognitive evaluations and emotional responses when forming green food purchase intentions. This study addresses that gap by exploring the cognitive–affective negotiation process underlying consumers’ green food choices. Based on 26 semi-structured interviews with Chinese consumers across diverse socio-economic backgrounds, the grounded theory methodology was employed to inductively construct a conceptual model. The coding process achieved theoretical saturation, while sentiment analysis was integrated to trace the emotional valence of key behavioral drivers. Findings reveal that external factors—including price sensitivity, label ambiguity, access limitations, social influence, and health beliefs—shape behavioral intentions indirectly through three core affective mediators: green trust, perceived value, and lifestyle congruence. These internal constructs translate contextual stimuli into evaluative and motivational responses, highlighting the dynamic interplay between rational judgments and symbolic–emotional interpretations. Sentiment analysis confirmed that emotional trust and psychological reassurance are pivotal in facilitating consumption intention, while price concerns and skepticism act as affective inhibitors. The proposed model extends the Theory of Planned Behavior by embedding affective mediation pathways and structural constraint dynamics, offering a more context-sensitive framework for understanding sustainable consumption behaviors. Given China’s certification-centered trust environment, these findings underscore the cultural specificity of institutional trust mechanisms, with implications for adapting the model in different market contexts. Practically, this study offers actionable insights for policymakers and marketers to enhance eco-label transparency, reduce structural barriers, and design emotionally resonant brand narratives that align with consumers’ identity aspirations. Full article

This study aims to foster a guideline for sustainable supply chain management for edible insect production through a comprehensive review and critical analysis of the current situation, focusing especially on Thailand’s perspective. It addresses the traditional culture and modern practice of insect consumption and how these factors affect current production for commercial purposes. The advantages of nutritional values and farming with edible insects over traditional livestock farming are highlighted. A threats, opportunities, weaknesses, and strengths (TOWS) matrix analysis, producing action-oriented strategies, was based on an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of Thailand’s edible insect industry. The strategies include enhancement of production and product quality, innovation of intelligent production techniques and agriculture, fortification of branding and product development, encouragement of research and development investment, and the promotion of local product identity. The analysis emphasizes the value of sustainable supply chain management and advocates for the advancement of the bio-circular green (BCG) economy strategy for the edible insect industry. It also emphasizes the importance of stakeholder collaboration and implementing regulations to ensure food safety and sustainable production. Full article

This study aims to understand how companies address and integrate sustainability challenges in packaging design, as well as the motivations and processes that influence managers’ decisions when adopting sustainable practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers from five major Portuguese companies to gather qualitative data on the motivations and processes related to sustainable packaging strategies and actions. The list of questions was developed based on the literature review, from which the dimensions to be analyzed were identified. The results indicate that several factors influence companies’ decisions regarding sustainability in packaging. Despite some factors being beyond the control of companies, the interviews reveal that companies possess the necessary knowledge and are committed to adopting more sustainable packaging. Full article

The influence of social media personalities has grown significantly, especially among youth audiences who spend substantial time on platforms like TikTok. The emergence and popularity of different types of social media influencers accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries, including South Africa. In turn, this period also saw a surge in youth audiences following these influencers. This rapid growth of influencer followings among young people is largely driven by specific types of content that resonate with them, thus encouraging continued engagement. However, the benefits that these young followers gain from engaging with various influencers and the factors driving their preferences for specific influencers remain underexplored, particularly within the context of South African students within higher education. Therefore, this study explores the types of social media influencers most followed by university students at a South African University and investigates the key factors that drive their preferences. A structured online questionnaire was distributed, gathering both multiple-choice and open-ended responses from students. The data were analyzed using categorical frequency counts and thematic analysis. The data highlight how students actively turn to influencers as emotional anchors, role models, and sources of practical guidance. Their engagement reflects a deep need for connection, inspiration, and identity formation in a challenging academic and social environment. These patterns show that influencer content is not just entertainment but plays a critical developmental role. Understanding these motivations helps educators, policymakers, and brands to align better with youth values. The significance of these results lies in how influencer content is now coming in to fill the emotional, cultural, and educational gaps left by traditional systems among the young South African university students in this modern era. Full article

This study explores sustainable rural tourism entrepreneurship within the Urlaub am Bauernhof (UaB) cooperative network in Austria, offering an integrated model that unites financial, social, environmental, institutional, and marketing dimensions. Employing exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) on data from 393 farm-based accommodation stakeholders, this research identifies sustainable entrepreneurship as comprising six interconnected dimensions: Economic Resilience and Diversification, Sociocultural Integration, Environmental and Regional Commitment, Market Visibility and Strategic Communication, Quality Assurance and Institutional Support, and Perceived Value and Branding. This multidimensional and hierarchically structured framework reflects the complex yet coherent nature of sustainability-driven entrepreneurship in cooperative tourism networks. The findings confirm the multidimensional nature of sustainable entrepreneurship and support the hypothesized structural relationships. The UaB network is presented as a transferable model that demonstrates how cooperative frameworks can enhance sustainability, regional identity, and rural revitalization, offering valuable insights and practical guidance for rural regions in the Western Balkans, where economic challenges, depopulation, and underdeveloped tourism infrastructure prevail. By illustrating a successful cooperative approach rooted in sustainability and regional identity, this study contributes to policy-making aimed at fostering resilient, culturally rich, and environmentally responsible rural tourism entrepreneurship in transitioning contexts. Full article

Car interior design should evoke emotions, offer comfort, convey safety and at the same time project the brand identity of the car manufacturer. Lighting is used to address these functions. Modules required for automotive interior lighting often feature injection-moulded (IM) light guides, whereas woven fabrics with polymer optical fibres (POFs) offer certain technological advantages and show first-series applications in cars. In the future, car interior illumination will become even more important in the wake of megatrends such as autonomous driving. Since the increase in deployment of these technologies facilitates a need for an economical comparison, this paper aims to deliver a cost-driven approach to fulfil the aforementioned objective. Therefore, the cost structures of the supply chains for an IM-based and a POF-based illumination module are analysed. The employed research methodologies include an activity-based costing approach for which the data is collected via document analysis and guideline-based expert interviews. To account for data uncertainty, Monte Carlo simulations are conducted. POF-based lighting modules have lower initial costs due to continuous fibre production and weaving processes, but are associated with higher unit costs. This is caused by the discontinuous assembly of the rolled woven fabric which allows postponement strategies. The development costs of the mould generate high initial costs for IM light guides, which makes them beneficial only for high quantities of produced light guides. For the selected scenario, the POF-based module’s self-costs are 11.05 EUR/unit whereas the IM module’s self-costs are 14,19 EUR/unit. While the cost structures are relatively independent from the selected scenario, the actual self-costs are highly dependent on boundary conditions such as production volume. Full article

This research aims to explore the role of architecture in creating an identifiable brand for Amman. It seeks to put forward a vision through which Amman’s city can formulate a clear model for implementing a successful branding strategy. In doing so, this research studies the concepts associated with the ideas of branding, city image and identity, and the extent to which such ideas are to be implemented in Amman. The study adopted an inductive approach using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 35 experts with central roles in stating the city’s key values that best reflect the city’s identity. A thematic analysis was conducted in line with theoretical aspects, including the city’s message, strategies for formulating the brand, and communication via architecture. The image of Amman shows an obvious distinction between its historical character and modern global styles as it suffers from disorder within its architectural landscape. Amman needs to rethink its identity in order to create a new brand that keeps pace with time without losing the originality of the place. This calls for re-evaluating the role of the iconic buildings and their associations with the surroundings, enabling them to become of significant presence, both symbolically and operationally, in expressing the city’s personality and promoting its message. Full article

Urban dynamics of the 21st century is distinguished by the prevalence and significance of cities and their constituent elements. The objective of this study is to analyze the role of the territorial brand as one of the strategic elements of public governance. The methodology employs a comparative approach between four Brazilian and Portuguese cities, utilizing seven variables pertinent to the concept of a “territorial brand as a cultural product of regional development.” The results underscore the significance of strategic planning in enhancing urban competitiveness, influencing urban public governance, and reflecting on urban, cultural, social, regional, and territorial changes. The study provides insights into the implementation of a territorial brand, particularly in cities with a cultural focus, offering a comprehensive understanding of how this governance strategy can shape urban development and reinforce local cultural identity. Full article