Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between service innovation, customer value creation (CVC) and customer satisfaction (CS) with specific emphasis to Ghanaian telecommunication operators.Design/methodology/approach: Assuming a positivist philosophical approach with a quantitative data analysis technique, the study samples 510 registered adult customers of at least one telecommunication network in Ghana. An exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to assess and confirm the proposed scales validity and the relationships of the research model.Findings: The study unveiled that a service firm’s ability to achieve CS is dependent on how telecommunication operators harness and deploy their service innovation activities. In addition, the study showed that CVC mediates the relationship between service innovation and CS. Thus, service innovation must create value for customers in order to enhance CS.Practical implications: By relating the study findings to firms’ innovation strategies, managers can improve the strength of their service offerings to achieve CS by spending more on consumer research, market research and increased customer interactions.Originality/value: Considering the uniqueness of this study in a Ghanaian context, the research draws on two influential theories, which are signaling theory and expectation disconfirmation theory to examine the differential role played by service innovation in enabling telecommunication operators in Ghana, to create customer value in order to achieve CS amidst the constraints in the business environment.

Purpose: This study examines the role of social media adoption (SMA), opportunity recognition (OR) and opportunity exploitation (OE) in mediating the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the performance of newly established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies, with a particular emphasis on Ghana.Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a post-positivist philosophical stance and uses a quantitative approach and a survey design. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 336 SME owners and managers from Ghana’s manufacturing, trading and service sectors. Questionnaires were administered to source the empirical data for this study. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the proposed hypotheses.Findings: The results reveal that EO positively and significantly influences the performance of new-born SMEs. SMA, OR and OE partially mediated this relationship.Practical implications: This study is a wakeup call to policymakers, practitioners, managers and owners of recently established businesses. Policymakers should provide support and resources for newly established SMEs to adopt effective social media marketing strategies, bolstering their online presence and customer engagement. Simultaneously, they should invest in entrepreneurship education and create an environment conducive to innovation to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among fresh SMEs. Business owners and managers should proactively monitor market trends and consumer preferences, adapting their strategies to identifying and seizing emerging opportunities.Originality/value: This study introduces a significant novelty to previous literature and one of the first to employ the dynamic capability theory to examine the interplay between EO, SMA, OR and OE in influencing the performance of new SMEs in the context of emerging markets. Furthermore, it extends the scope of understanding of the mechanisms through which SMEs can prosper in these dynamic environments. This unique combination of theoretical framework, comprehensive variables and contextual focus sets this study apart from existing research, enriching the literature on SME performance in emerging markets.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the relationships between political marketing via social media and young voters’ political participation in Ghana. Additionally, this study examines the mediating role political efficacy plays in enhancing the relationship.Design/methodology/approach: With a positivist mindset, and adopting the survey strategy, data gathered from the questionnaire administered from the sampled 320 young voters (18-29 years) in Greater Accra were quantitatively analyzed. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to assess and confirm the proposed scales validity and the relationships of the research model.Findings: The study revealed that a political party or candidate’s ability to achieve political participation from Ghanaian young voters’ is dependent on how effective they build customer relationship or gaining visibility through social media. In addition, the study showed that political efficacy mediates the relationship between customer relationship building or gaining visibility through social media and political participation among Ghana young voters. Thus, young voters in Ghana must see themselves to have a say in the affairs of political parties through the political messages they gather from social media platforms to enhance their political participation activities.Practical implications: The results of this paper will enable political marketers and politicians not only in Ghana but across the globe, to better understand how social media as a communication tool could be used to positively influence users’ political participation.Originality/value: Considering the uniqueness of this study in a Ghanaian context, this paper is the first of its kind to use the social capital theory in examining the mediating role political efficacy plays in enhancing the relationship between political marketing on social media and young voters’ political participation.

Purpose: The study aims to determine the resource access mechanism in inter-firm networks that aids SME survival in Ghana.Design/methodology/approach: The authors collect census data on a poultry cluster in Ghana and construct a directed network. The network is used to extract direct and indirect ties both incoming and outgoing, as well as estimate the structural holes of the actors. These variables are used to estimate for survival of SMEs after a one-year period using a binary logit model.Findings: The study finds that out-indirect ties and structural hole have a significant influence on SME survival. This works through the global influence and the vision advantage that these positions and ties offer the SMEs.Originality/value: The study offers SMEs a choice of whom to collaborate with for information (resources) in the form of outgoing and incoming ties at both the global and local level.

Purpose: This study investigates how agricultural technology (AgTech) innovation, from the perspective of rural women farmers, enhances green knowledge management (GKM) dimensions – namely acquisition, sharing and application – to drive sustainable farming. Additionally, it explores the moderating role of green intellectual capital (GIC) in strengthening the relationship between GKM dimensions and sustainable farming. Design/methodology/approach: Guided by a post-positivist philosophical stance, the study employed a quantitative methodological approach and survey strategy. Data were collected from 450 purposively sampled rural women farmers engaged in livestock farming, mixed farming and crop production across three agriculturally vibrant regions in Ghana. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings: The results reveal that AgTech significantly influences sustainable farming and the GKM dimensions of acquisition, sharing and application. Moreover, GKM dimensions partially mediate the relationship between AgTech and sustainable farming, while GIC moderates the relationship between GKM dimensions and sustainable farming, further strengthening their impact. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to integrate the natural resource-based view (NRBV), knowledge-based view (KBV) and resource-based view (RBV) to explore the interrelationships among AgTech, green knowledge management (GKM) and green intellectual capital (GIC) in promoting sustainable agriculture. It offers a novel theoretical contribution by combining these frameworks to explain sustainability outcomes in an underexplored context. Empirically, the study addresses a significant gap by focusing on rural women farmers in a developing economy, an often-overlooked group, in agri-digital research. Methodologically, it demonstrates the robustness of structural equation modeling (SEM) in capturing complex relationships among knowledge, resources and sustainability in agricultural systems.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and technology's possibilities and influence on marketing are crucial and well-known. ChatGPT is a new AI-powered technology that has caused a worldwide boom since its release, with substantial ramifications for all business practises. While acknowledging the growing body of work on ChatGPT, this study attempts to contribute to the ongoing debate by identifying the numerous prospects for employing ChatGPT as an enabler in marketing research and practise. It also highlights the difficulties associated with employing ChatGPT in marketing research. The chapter also discusses the potential for incorporating ChatGPT into other disciplines of marketing, including consumer behaviour, advertising, branding, and sales, as well as the practical consequences for managers. Finally, the chapter recognises the need for more study to better understand the scope of ChatGPT and offers a future research strategy. The chapter concludes by emphasising the significance of incorporating ChatGPT into marketing research and practises with human interaction. Request access from your librarian to read this chapter's full text.