The current era has brought about major changes in the way people connect to each other, and social media is a major pillar of this change. In this new communication and connecting environment, companies are under pressure to constantly adapt and become present on platforms where their customers are while being sustainable and profitable in the long run. On the other hand, traditional marketing research challenges have led to the expansion of new research approaches like neuromarketing as a means to gather the most accurate data ever from customers. When referring to how we can use neuromarketing research within the social media context, the current paper aims to fill a gap in the current literature: Using neuromarketing research in social media while taking into consideration both companies’ purposes and customers’ sought-after benefits. This aim is achieved through two pieces of research that shed light on a model where these purposes are matched with the corresponding benefits, showing the degree of acceptability of four major neuromarketing applications. This model is a stepping stone towards discovering how social media neuromarketing research can be a pillar of sustainable business communication as part of the broader perspective of sustainability in terms of business growth.

Considering the imperative need for sustainable urban development, this article argues for increased citizen participation in the decision-making process, as it generates better outcomes (due to a wider range of perspectives) and also makes people better citizens, as they will be partially responsible for the results. One major dimension of urban areas’ which needs a sustainable development is represented by parks, which can be directly associated to citizens’ quality of life (QoL). Thus, we have conducted direct research (face-to-face interviews) of park visitors in order to analyze the perceived impact of green areas on their quality of life. From all the QoL dimensions, we have selected six which are directly linked to park visits—health (mental and physical), social interaction, education and culture, family life, freedom, and connection with nature—in order to determine the perceived degree of association between them, as well as the specific activities done in the park that impact those six dimensions. The research results were used to develop a conceptual model which links quality of life to park visits, a model that can and should be used by public authorities in order to build a collaborative process for urban sustainable development.

City life has become the norm for most of the global population and building sustainable cities is a growing trend, together with an increased focus on healthier lifestyles in urban settings. Given this framework, the concept of ‘rurbanization’ is gaining momentum as more and more people are interested in bringing natural green spaces within the urban setting. For this purpose, a research (online survey on a sample of 500 respondents) was developed to discover youths’ perceptions on what a sustainable city means, their perspectives on the urbanization problems, and willingness to take action towards improving the green aspects of their urban life. Results revealed that sustainable life perception vary a lot across the young generation, but opinions on what are the city life issues tend to converge to similar points, such as air quality, disconnection with nature, greenhouse effect, urban heat islands, and water quality. When it comes to rurbanization solutions for a greener urban life, young people lean more towards individual solutions, be it an easy and short-term one, such as endowing their home with more green plants, or a more drastic one, such as moving altogether from the city area towards greener locations. Results were also used in designing a conceptual model for actions towards rurbanization.

More and more organizations nowadays are embedding digitalization into their core values. Recent studies have shown that the concept of digitalization is a game changer for all the agents within the value chains of worldwide economy and it is not only creating value but might disrupt it also unless implemented in a structured way. This paper presents an insight into industrial operations and recommends a method of building a digital roadmap, from defining the general scope, identifying the digital strategy relevant to the respective business model while considering specific business opportunities and needs to forming the foundations of the digital component such as relevant technologies and solutions or defining use-cases to enablement of those into the organization all while building up specific digital competencies and capabilities. A more digital leadership becomes a must to enable this new technology operating model and for that roles and responsibilities within organizations are now focused on facilitating collaboration in the industry ecosystem and enabling rapid and agile data architecture whilst ensuring cybersecurity as well. This paper offers insights into industrial operations and proposes a method for developing a digital roadmap. It covers defining the scope, identifying relevant digital strategies, considering specific business opportunities and needs, and establishing the foundations of digital components. The importance of digital leadership, cybersecurity measures, and fostering digital competencies are highlighted. The paper aims to guide organizations through the digital journey with the goal of bringing enterprises closer to the optimal performance mode while adjusting to the fast-paced metaverse era.

This paper aims to analyze how the involvement of Generation Z fans in sustainability activities of sports clubs can change depending on the interest they have in sports and sustainability. Thus, we aim to demonstrate that, when, at the level of the individual, there is both interest in sustainability and interest in sport, the level of fan involvement is higher, compared to the situation in which only one of them would be registered (interest in sustainability or interest in sport). Recent literature highlights the fact that the involvement of young people from Generation Z is influenced by the manner in which the brand shows that it is receptive to commitments to sustainability and social inclusion, this way gaining their trust much more easily. Also, when it comes to Generation Z and their commitment to sustainability activities, the decision to get involved will be influenced by the authenticity, transparency and social values that the sports club exposes. Thus, in this paper, we conducted a quantitative study through an online survey among students at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, with a total of 198 respondents. The most important results of the research show that the simultaneous existence of interest in sport and sustainability at the individual level increases the level of fan engagement, compared to when there is only interest in one aspect (sport or sustainability). At the same time, it should be noted that GenZs tend to get involved by promoting or carrying out concrete actions, compared to getting financially involved in the club’s sustainability activities. The study can be useful to sports clubs and entities that are involved in the field of sport, as it brings a relevant conceptual framework on how to involve fans, based on their behavior and interests segmentation.