Purpose: Using the stimulus-organism-response model as the theoretical basis, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a social media-based destination brand community (SMDBC) on tourists’ emotions, and the subsequent effect on the intention to co-create value and visit. Design/methodology/approach: The theoretical framework was tested using survey data from 551 Chinese social media users who were followers of Japanese social media pages. Partial least squares–structural equation modelling was adopted to perform the latent variable analysis. Findings: The findings reveal that SMDBC plays a considerable role in shaping tourists’ emotions, including joy, love and positive surprise, which, in turn, have a significant impact on consumers’ intention to co-create value and visit. Contrary to previous studies, the effect of joy on tourists’ intention to co-create and visit is found to be insignificant. Research limitations/implications: The present study elucidates the importance and relevance of SMDBC in evoking tourists’ positive emotions, and subsequently their intention to co-create value and visit. Future research is recommended to compare and contrast SMDBC with other marketing and branding activities to provide greater insights into the phenomenon in a dynamic environment. Practical implications: This study enables academics and business practitioners to better comprehend the effectiveness of SMDBC in driving tourists’ favourable assessment and behavioural intentions to improve resource allocation. In particular, destination marketers are recommended to optimise SMDBC and encourage discussion on SMDBC among users. Originality/value: As literature in relation to the importance of SMDBC in evoking tourists’ emotions incorporating its link with tourists’ intention to co-create value and visit is relatively scarce, this study contributes to the branding and destination tourism research by empirically articulating the relevance of SMDBC in stimulating tourists’ emotions and subsequently value co-creation and visit intention.

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has become an important source for customers and hoteliers, and likewise, the interactivity of Web 2.0 has allowed customers to write and share online reviews. Our study aims to examine: (1) the influence of post-stay evaluation factors toward eWOM, (2) the relationship between eWOM and hotel revisit intention, and (3) the influence of country differences as a moderating factor. A total of 872 usable responses were collected from three emerging countries. Our results suggest that post-stay evaluation was the key predictor of positive eWOM, and later transferred greater hotel revisit intention among Gen Y. In terms of country level, all countries depicted a positive relationship for all paths, and the influence of the respondents’ country moderated for some relationship in this study. Our findings also shed further light on the understanding of the generational cohort theory across emerging countries, especially in the hospitality context.

COVID-19 has impacted not only human lives, but also business organisations. The repercussions of the pandemic on global businesses include sustaining the value of a firm that could benefit stakeholders, such as the challenge for sponsored properties to attain sponsorship through a period of financial struggles and the capacity of a sponsor to provide it. It is imperative for business-to-business (B2B) communities to evaluate criteria and risks of sponsorship to instil public trust and consequently result in value creation for firms. At the same time, the role of the media is pivotal to create visibility of this partnership and achieve set sponsorship aims. With that said, the objective of this study is to explore the role of sponsorship decision making by Malaysian organisations during the pandemic and how the media have strengthened relationship marketing between businesses and their stakeholders; by examining the determinant factors of using media as an activation in sponsorship and the criteria of using media in sponsorship. The qualitative study conducted interviews with 13 corporate communication and marketing managers in Malaysia that are involved directly with sponsorship activation. The findings highlight the sponsorship ecosystem through the Malaysian media and B2B perspectives that would guide practitioners in making strategic decisions on B2B sponsorship matters, particularly on the relational approaches and media engagement should be seen as part of good business conduct. Future recommendation of this research is to seek the perceptions of consumers on the congruence of relationship marketing through sponsor-sponsored properties collaboration in Malaysian media. Keywords: Media, marketing communication, sponsorship activation, business-to-business, Covid-19.

The early history of the film industry is said to have begun in the United States. Nelayan and Laila Majnun were the first Malay films produced in Malaya, in 1932, produced by Motilal Chemical Company. This thought stems from the effect of the scenes depicted in the film. This study's objective is to explore if film has the power of being a threat to national security, and secondly, to identify the impact of audience dependence on film by applying the Media Dependency Theory. This study used an entirely qualitative method which consists of in-depth interviews with 19 informants consisting of policymakers, enforcement, legal practitioners, media industry players, and the audience. Analysis of documents related to legislation was also carried out. The study found that films can threaten national security if certain scenes were not censored. The effect of the audience's dependence on the film can influence and change their social life. This study is expected to contribute to the media industry to produce films that aim to maintain racial harmony and national peace. Keywords: Film, the power of films, media dependency theory, films censorship, Malaysia.