Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which personal values, moral foundations and gender-role identities affect, in sequence, consumers' constructions of their ethnocentric and cosmopolitan orientations. Achieving a better understanding of the psychological makeup of consumer ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism should help managers better design international market segmentation and brand positioning strategies.Design/methodology/approach: The study's conceptual framework is anchored in attitude and values theories, and focuses on the social categorizations that consumers make and how these contribute to the formation of their ethnocentric and cosmopolitan orientations. Drawing data from consumers living in five European countries, we test our theoretical conjectures through structural equation modeling approaches, including multigroup analysis at the country level, as well as the identification and scrutiny of potential pan-European consumer segments.Findings: Findings show that personal values, moral foundations and gender-role identities do exert direct and indirect (partially mediated) effects on the formation of consumers' ethnocentric and cosmopolitan orientations. These provide numerous insights for managers in terms of how they can segment domestic and international markets, as well as how to position products and communicate brand strategies.Research limitations/implications: The study focused on consumers' personal and role identities and offers implications based on data gathered from a sample of five European countries. Future work should broaden this perspective by including other identity facets, such as religious and ethnic identities, as well as product-category and brand-specific outcomes, in order to help develop a more comprehensive picture of the psychology underpinning consumers' identity-related orientations, and their effects on consumer behavior. Future research should also study these issues in a broader geographical context, by including national markets that have culturally diverse populations as well as places with dissimilar cultural and economic profiles.Originality/value: The study shows that individuals' personal values, moral foundations and gender roles have a strong effect on the formation of consumer ethnocentrism and consumer cosmopolitanism orientations. Consideration of how these antecedent constructs operate in concert to shape consumers' in- versus out-group orientations has been overlooked in the international marketing literature. Beyond the ramifications for theory, the study offers numerous substantive managerial implications in terms of how consumers are likely to respond to local and global/foreign products/brands based on these orientations.

In recent years, the number of fake news stories has significantly increased in the world of media, especially with the widespread use of social media. It has impacted several industries, including tourism. From a tourism point of view, the spread of fake news can contribute to the reduction of the popularity of a destination. It may influence travel decisions by discouraging tourists from visiting certain places and thus damage the reputation of the destination, contributing to economic loss. After a literature review on the communication aspect of fake news and a general introduction of fake news in the tourism and hospitality industry, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR), a research methodology to collect, identify, and analyse available research studies through a systematic procedure. The current SLR is based on the Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases of existing literature on the topic of fake news in the tourism and hospitality industry. The study identifies, lists, and examines existing papers and conference proceedings from a vast array of disciplines, in order to give a well-rounded view on the issue of fake news in the tourism and hospitality industry. After selecting a total of 54 previous studies from more than 20 thousand results for the keywords ‘fake news’ and ‘tourism,’ we have analysed 39 papers in total. The SLR aimed to highlight existing gaps in the literature and areas that may require further exploration in future primary research. We have found that there is relatively limited academic literature available on the subject of fake news affecting tourism destinations, compared to studies focused on hospitality services.

The paper discusses the success factors influencing product development design and product launch projects. The lives of people and businesses have been threatened and affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic for more than two years. Knowing these factors can help us make the right decisions and develop an effective project plan and matrix. Nowadays, project management is a very important part of work in companies of different sizes. Project management can be seen as applying innovation processes in an enterprise. The authors conducted quantitative and qualitative research on 544 companies in the Slovak Republic. The research focuses on aspects of project management and individual success factors. The data obtained by the questionnaire survey were processed by statistical methods, where the authors chose the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test as the basic method and the Wilcoxon two-tailed test for independent sample data sets. An essential variable in the sample of enterprises surveyed was, in particular, the sector of the economy in which the enterprise surveyed operates. Two key factors were considered when developing the product – employee education and the implication of social responsibility. The study’s uniqueness lies in surveying all types of enterprises, irrespective of their size, line of business, and financial turnover. The percentage distribution of the maximum use of CSR among the surveyed companies in each sector was most positive in the Logistics industry. Training and certification of employees are primarily one of the most important factors to ensure an increase in the success of those projects aimed at launching new products on the market; in the case of the surveyed sample, this is more than 40% of enterprises. Based on the sub-results, we can conclude that enterprises place more emphasis on new product development projects and the environmental concept of CSR. Still, the launch of new products or services is underestimated by the project management of enterprises. After more than eight years, the research has shown an increase in the importance of using social responsibility in management processes for new product development. A breakthrough finding is comparing the use of CSR in small businesses in Slovakia to global trends in which we perceive the dominance of multinational corporations. Enterprises are advised to focus specifically on new product launches and detailed planning.

The study investigates the vital role of press freedom as a cornerstone of democratic societies and highlights its importance as an indicator of human rights and civil liberties in different countries. Press freedom encompasses the media and journalists’ right to obtain, disseminate, and publish information without censorship or reprisals. This fundamental right is integral to the broader scope of freedom of expression, enshrined in international declarations and covenants. The research emphasizes the growing threats to independent journalism, driven by deteriorating traditional business models, increased repression, and threats to journalists’ safety. It underscores the necessity for both national and international efforts to uphold and safeguard press freedom. The article critically analyses the methodologies of prominent press freedom indices, for example, those provided by Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders, and finds consistency in their evaluations. It delves into the cultural, economic, and political variables influencing press freedom, demonstrating that countries with robust democratic traditions and institutions generally enjoy higher levels of media freedom. Conversely, nations with histories of conflict or authoritarian rule often restrict media operations. Economic stability and development, along with high education levels and cultural diversity, are also found to correlate positively with press freedom, suggesting that economically strong countries can better support independent media free from government influence. Moreover, the study explores how press freedom impacts various societal aspects, including human rights, corruption, and economic conditions. It highlights the role of free media in exposing corruption, educating citizens, and enabling accountability. The analysis points out that limitations on press freedom can function similarly to trade barriers by restricting access to credible information, thus affecting international trade flows. The findings from several global regions, including post-Arab Spring countries and nations like Nigeria and China, illustrate diverse challenges and governmental controls affecting media freedom.The research concludes that enhancing press freedom requires addressing political, legal, and economic context while promoting democratic governance and protecting civil liberties. It calls for clearer criteria and assessments within frameworks like the EU’s Rule of Law Report to better capture state influence and media independence issues. The study advocates for a collective international effort led by bodies like UNESCO to ensure diverse and independent media access worldwide, underlining the critical role of press freedom in fostering democratic societies and informed citizenry.

Social media and networks have opened new opportunities for individuals to learn and grow, regardless of their educational or professional background. The implications and challenges of technology in educational settings are not well understood, despite its widespread use and impact on students. The study aims to investigate students’ social networking behaviour in the form of the use of social networking sites during class in relation to their gender, age group, education, and place of residence and focuses on three age groups of students who are representatives of Generation Y and Generation Z because both generations are growing up and coming of age in the 21st century and have been exposed to digitization and digital transformation since early childhood. The research sample consisted of 278 students from public and private universities and high school graduates who expressed interest in studying at the university. The results show that all examined variables, except place of residence, have a significant but small effect on what students do on social networking sites during classes and the reasons why they use them. However, according to the results, the fact that students connect to social networks during class does not imply that they have a reduced interest in the subject matter being taught or the knowledge being acquired, which means that there is a significant opportunity to adapt the learning approach on these platforms.