Purpose: This study aims to examine the mediating role of product judgement in the relationship between electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and purchase intention. Additionally, it explores the moderating effects of source credibility and consumer ethnocentrism on the relationship between eWOM and product judgement, with a specific focus on Halal products. We utilise the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to investigate how individuals navigate the processing of information, distinguishing between central and peripheral routes. This exploration aims to enhance our understanding of how the ELM framework influences product judgement and purchase intention in the context of eWOM, with a focus on Halal products.Design/methodology/approach: To achieve these objectives, an online survey was conducted in the United Kingdom. The study employed a moderated-mediation model, analysed using PLS-SEM.Findings: The findings highlight the significant role of source credibility in the central route of information processing and purchase judgements. This study confirms that Halal product judgement fully mediates the relationship between eWOM and purchase intention. Additionally, it reveals that higher source credibility amplifies the impact of eWOM on consumer judgement. However, no significant moderating effect of consumer ethnocentrism on the relationship between eWOM and product judgement was observed in this context.Originality/value: This study enhances our understanding of how Halal products are adopted in non-Muslim societies, shedding light on persuasive processes. Additionally, it refines the ELM in the context of cross-cultural consumer behaviour. The findings underscore the importance of prioritising source credibility in communication to shape information evaluation and persuasion.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays an important role in promoting workplace ethics. However, most research has focused on CSRs’ performance or favourable performance-related behaviour outcomes. Little is known about how individual employees perceive CSR and how this affects their ethical behaviour. This research examines how employees' perceived corporate social responsibility (PCSR) facilitates their ethical behaviour. Specifically, we hypothesise that PCSR influences employee ethical behaviour by enhancing employees' organisational commitment. The relationship between employees' commitment and ethical behaviour is contingent on their co-workers' ethical behaviour. The hypothesised relationships were assessed using partial least squares structural equation modelling with a sample of 300 employees from ‘The Ghana Club 100’ firms. Our findings suggest that employee commitment serves as an effective mechanism through which employees' perception enhances their ethical behaviour. The findings also show that the weaker the co-workers' ethical behaviour, the stronger the relationship between employee commitment and ethical behaviour. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Drawing on the entrepreneurial resourcefulness perspective, this study examines how crowdfunding engagement affects small business performance. We theorize that crowdfunding engagement serves resourcefully to enhance small business performance. Moreover, we hypothesize that exploratory and exploitative search act as effective mechanisms through which crowdfunding engagement increases small business performance. We further posit that the effects of crowdfunding engagement on small business performance are contingent on environmental dynamism. We utilize a quantitative approach, specifically partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM), for analyzing our data. Using a sample of 310 small businesses in Ghana, the findings from PLS‐SEM support our theorization, showing that both exploratory and exploitative search positively mediate the effects of crowdfunding engagement on small business performance, while environmental dynamism negatively moderates such effects. Our findings provide important theoretical and practical implications.