The aim of the research is to determine the impact of financial technology (FinTech) on financial development in EU countries. The multi-dimensional nature of the concepts described above and the low availability of data for regions smaller than countries makes it difficult to investigate the link between financial development and FinTech, as well as affects the values of the results due to a certain averaging of indices across countries. The study examines the Global FinTech Index and the Financial Development Index, which characterize financial development in the EU countries, as well as the sub-indices of the Financial Development Index. The article applies frequency analysis and correlation analysis methods. A positive linear relationship between the Global Fintech Index and the Financial Markets Index sub-index, as well as its components Financial Markets Depth Index and Financial Markets Efficiency Index, has been identified. There is also a positive linear relationship between the Global FinTech Index and the Financial Institutions Depth Index, while a negative linear relationship has been identified between the Global FinTech Index and the Financial Institutions Access Index.

This study explores the links between environmental attitudes and values, personal norms, perceived responsibility, pro-environmental and prosocial engagement in sustainable consumption, and sustainable consumption behavior. Data was collected by surveying 904 Lithuanians through non-random quota sampling. Empirical research reveals that internal factors, such as environmental attitudes, values, personal norms, and perceived responsibility, have a positive direct effect on engagement with sustainable consumption. In addition, the findings indicate that pro-environmental and prosocial engagement to act as a mediator in enhancing the impact on sustainable consumer behavior. The results of this study expand the understanding of the engagement phenomena and how it can assist in shifting to sustainable consumer behavior in the Lithuanian context. Opportunities to encourage sustainable consumption behavior are presented for marketers and policy makers.

The current study adds to the literature on the indirect effect of luxury brand perceived value on purchase intention via the brand attachment under the boundary conditions of consumer vanity. The authors employed a quantitative method approach, conducting an online survey with 508 respondents in Lithuania. Empirical research analysis reveals that the greater the perceived value of a luxury brand, the greater the consumer purchase intention. The latter is most strongly affected by the luxury brand perceived functional value. The study demonstrates that the greater the luxury brand perceived value among consumers, the greater their brand attachment, which in turn leads to a greater purchase intention. As there is a positive emotional relationship between a luxury brand and the consumer, the consumer’s purchase intention is also affected by the luxury brand perceived symbolic value, i.e., the capacity of the brand to communicate the consumer’s success, leadership, and power. Consumer vanity was not statistically significant to the nature of the relationship between luxury brand perceived value, brand attachment, and purchase intention. Luxury car marketers may benefit by focusing on the social and symbolic value of luxury car brand value in communication with brand-attached consumers in Lithuania.

This study delves into a bibliometric analysis of ChatGPT, an AI tool adept at analysing and generating text, highlighting its influence in the realm of social sciences. By harnessing data from the Scopus database, a total of 814 relevant publications were selected and scrutinised through VOSviewer, focusing on elements such as co-citations, keywords and international collaborations. The objective is to unearth prevailing trends and knowledge gaps in scholarly discourse regarding ChatGPT’s application in social sciences. Concentrating on articles from the year 2023, this analysis underscores the rapid evolution of this research domain, reflecting the ongoing digital transformation of society. This study presents a broad thematic picture of the analysed works, indicating a diversity of perspectives—from ethical and technological to sociological—regarding the implementation of ChatGPT in the fields of social sciences. This reveals an interest in various aspects of using ChatGPT, which may suggest a certain openness of the educational sector to adopting new technologies in the teaching process. These observations make a contribution to the field of social sciences, suggesting potential directions for future research, policy or practice, especially in less represented areas such as the socio-legal implications of AI, advocating for a multidisciplinary approach.

Wind energy (WE), which is one of the renewable energy (RE) sources for generating electricity, has been making a significant contribution to obtaining clean and green energy in recent years. Fitting an appropriate statistical distribution to the wind speed (WS) data is crucial in analyzing and estimating WE potential. Once the best suitable statistical distribution for WS data is determined, WE potential and potential yield could be estimated with high accuracy. The main objective of this paper is to propose a novel approach for calculating wind energy potential. For this purpose, the Efficient Global Optimization (EGO) technique was proposed for fitting a statistical distribution to WS data and the performance of the technique was compared with genetic algorithm (GA), simulated annealing (SA), and differential evolution (DE). Performance metrics showed that EGO is providing better estimations compared with GA, SA, and DE. Based on Weibull parameters obtained by using EGO, potential WE and potential annual revenue were estimated for Gdańsk, which is the capital of Pomerania Voivodeship in Poland, in the case of having city-type wind turbines in the city center. Estimations for Gdańsk showed that city-type wind turbines might be helpful for producing electricity from WE in the city without being limited by constraints such as having a long distance between wind turbines and buildings. If such wind turbines were erected on the roofs of residential buildings, malls, or office buildings, there is a possibility that part of the electric energy needed for such buildings could be generated using WE. However, this topic should be further investigated from technical and financial perspectives.