Purpose: Given that online search visibility is influenced by various determinants, and that influence may vary across industries, this study aims in investigating the major predictors of online search visibility in the context of blood banks.Design/methodology/approach: To formalize the online visibility, the authors have found theoretical foundations in activity theory, while to quantify online visiblity the authors have used the search engine optimization (SEO) Index, ranking, and a number of visitors. The examined model includes ten hypotheses and was tested on data from 57 blood banks.Findings: Results challenge shallow domain knowledge. The major predictors of online search visibility are Alternative Text Attribute (ALT) text, backlinks, robots, domain authority (DA) and bounce rate (BR). The issues are related to the number of backlinks, social score, and DA. Polarized utilization of SEO techniques is evident.Practical implications: The methodology can be used to analyze the online search visibility of other industries or similar not-for-profit organizations. Findings in terms of individual predictors can be useful for marketers to better manage online search visibility.Social implications: The acute blood donation problems may be to a certain degree level as the information flow between donors and blood banks will be facilitated.Originality/value: This is the first study to analyze the blood bank context. The results provide invaluable inputs to marketers, managers, and policymakers.

Emojis have become popular in online marketing communications. Marketers use emojis to humanize brand voice and elicit an emotional response from target audiences. However, little is known about how emojis are perceived and what kind of reactions they evoke. Therefore, this study aims to verify whether exposure to emojis leads to an increased intention to purchase and whether the use of emojis impacts campaign effectiveness in a real‐life environment. In a theory build‐up process, we draw upon the Dual Coding Theory and emotional contagion concept and develop seven hypotheses. We performed two data collection studies to test the hypothesized relations. The first study is based on a questionnaire (N = 318), while the second is based on experimental design in a real‐life business environment. Surprisingly, we found that using emojis had a negative effect on purchase intention, while the effect was positive when mediated by positive affect. Emojis increased the effectiveness of marketing campaigns for hedonic products and strongly impacted the return on advertising spent. The findings of this study have both theoretical and practical implications in the observed domains, particularly about the type of products emojis are most effective in promoting, gender differences, and real‐life consumer behaviour. This is the first study to use an experimental design in a real‐life scenario to capture the role of emojis on campaign effectiveness and decipher the differences between genders and their perceptions of emojis. Theoretical and practical implications together with future prospects are discussed.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate if country development indicators, i.e. gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC), literacy rate, internet penetration and urban population, influence the generation of e-waste on a global level. The moderation effect due to differences between countries in terms of absence or presence of e-waste policy and level of development is also checked.Design/methodology/approach: This is an archival study that builds upon data from United Nations (UN), World Bank and Global E-waste Statistics Partnership. The authors did a path analysis comprising mediation and multigroup analyses to decipher the proposed rese arch model containing data from 172 countries.Findings: The results indicate that GDPPC, literacy rate, internet penetration and urban population do not directly influence the generation of e-waste. However, higher internet penetration in developing countries leads to higher e-waste, while higher literacy rates in developed countries suppress e-waste generation. When it comes to e-waste policy, a higher urban population without a regulatory legal framework boosts higher e-waste. The authors observed that higher internet penetration leads to higher e-waste in the presence of e-waste policy as well.Originality/value: This is the first study to include economic well-being indicators in elaborating e-waste generation, on a global scale. No previous study has observed differences between countries nested in e-waste policy and level of development.

Given that consumers’ Word of Mouth (WOM) communication is influenced by demographic and social background this study investigates (1) to what extent consumers’ WOM engagement is influenced by social relationship variables, (2) in what capacity demographic factors affects preferences to engage in WOM and (3) the preferred WOM environment. Our findings indicate that offline context is preferred, trust and social ties are positively related to WOM, whilst homophily has reportedly negative impact. Age, gender, and education are reported to influence consumers’ propensity to engage in WOM. Based on the results, several practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Information technologies have caused radical changes in many areas, they have also changed marketing activities. Today, marketing activities are carried out in digital environments, facilitating the work of companies and helping consumers around the world. Consumers get the right information and data about products and services much easier and faster, as well as access different forms of entertainment. Therefore, it can be said that the place of traditional marketing today has been replaced by digital marketing. This paper tries to shed some light on how consumers of Western Balkans and specifically in Kosovo, use social media and how those shape their attitudes, based on the uses and gratifications approach. This is the first paper from this region, which analyzes social media, based on the previously mentioned approach. Since research in the region was prohibitive for us, we selected a sample of 200 consumers from Kosovo, active on social media. The findings of this paper serve managers in better attracting online customers through social media.