This study aimed to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry. We examined the interplay between consumers’ fear and uncertainty of COVID-19, their trust in green hotel brands, and their behavioral intentions in relation to staying at green hotels. Analysis of 613 completed responses to a survey instrument revealed that fear and uncertainty of COVID-19 have increased consumers’ environmental concerns and green hotel brand trust, which in turn have promoted their willingness to pay more and willingness to make sacrifices to stay at green hotels. The paper contributes to research on green consumption behavior in the hotel industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: This paper aims to improve knowledge regarding the complicated relationship among brand cultural symbolism, consumer cultural involvement, brand authenticity and consumer well-being. Although some literature has mentioned the relationship between the above concepts, these relationships have not been confirmed by empirical studies.Design/methodology/approach: Based on the self-determination theory and the authenticity theory, a causal model of brand cultural symbolism, consumers’ enduring cultural involvement, brand authenticity and consumer well-being is developed. The structural equation model and multiple regressions are used to test the hypothesis. The primary data are based on an online survey conducted in China (N= 533). A total of six brands from the USA, France and China were selected as study samples.Findings: The data reveal that brand cultural symbolism has a positive relationship with brand authenticity and consumer well-being; brand authenticity partially mediates the relationship between brand cultural symbolism and consumer well-being; and find a weakening effect of consumers’ enduring cultural involvement on the relationship between brand cultural symbolism and brand authenticity.Research limitations/implications: The weakening effect of consumers’ enduring cultural involvement on the relationship between brand cultural symbols and brand authenticity should be further verified through experiments and the model should be tested in different cultural backgrounds from a cross-cultural perspective.Practical implications: The present study offers novel insights for brand managers by highlighting brand authenticity as the fundamental principle that explains the effect of cultural symbolism of brands, consumers’ enduring cultural involvement, as well aseudaimonicand hedonic well-being.Originality/value: The findings suggest that cultural significance of a brand is closely related to brand authenticity and consumer well-being; however, on consumers with a highly enduring cultural involvement, the effect of brand culture symbolism and brand authenticity is weakened. This is an interesting finding because in this case, consumers may measure brand authenticity more based on the brand actual behavior (e.g. brand non-commercial tendency and brand social responsibility) rather than the symbolic image.

1. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a major technological breakthrough in content production and has had a considerable effect on the advertising industry and its content creators (Gao et...

Purpose: Historical figure avatars (HFAs) have emerged as compelling tools in cultural and tourism marketing to embody cultural heritage and engage tourists, yet limited research has examined how different HFA form styles influence tourists’ evaluation. This study aims to address this gap by clarifying how HFA form styles (human-like vs. anime-like) are most effective for different types of involvement with historical figures (situational vs. enduring), and how these HFA form styles align with distinct nostalgia advertising appeals (personal vs. historical). Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on constructive authenticity theory, we conducted four studies to systematically examine how HFAs influence tourist evaluations. Findings: The results reveal that human-like HFAs lead to higher tourist evaluations than anime-like HFAs, with constructive authenticity serving as a key mediator. Additionally, historical figure involvement (enduring vs. situational) and nostalgia advertising type (historical vs. personal) moderate this effect. Specifically, anime-like HFAs generate higher evaluations among tourists with enduring involvement, whereas human-like HFAs generate higher evaluations among tourists with situational involvement. Meanwhile, human-like HFAs paired with historical nostalgia appeals and anime-like HFAs paired with personal nostalgia appeals further enhance tourist evaluations. Originality/value: This study provides insights into how destination managers can leverage HFAs to develop effective advertising strategies.