While there exist studies which attempt to measure the brand equity of cities and countries from a customer perspective, there is little or no evidence regarding a thorough review of the destination branding literature from its inception to date, and more specifically about city branding. The objective of this study is thus to present a review of the literature of city branding, with the main aim of aiding tourism destination researchers who are conducting studies in this particular field. In order to conduct this review, ProQuest (ABI/INFORM) database was utilized, using the terms ‘city branding’ and ‘destination branding’ from 2005 through December 2016, as the review of the literature suggests the first traces of publications documenting 'city branding' studies appeared on 2005. This review serves as a roadmap for researchers in the field of destination branding, as it provides an overview of the concept of branding and its origins, a review of the concepts of place and destination branding who served then as an umbrella to the concept of city branding. Further, attention is devoted to summarizing the studies published on ‘city branding’, providing in this way a valuable contribution for the audience interested in the topic of destination branding, and more specifically its city-related subarea. In light of the review conducted, it is found out that the research field of city branding remains still in its infancy, suggesting that there is still room for further research in this particular area.

This paper attempts to shed light on the concepts of cognitive and affective image and investigate the effects of destination image on tourist loyalty, though one of the aforementioned aspects of destination image. Data was collected using the convenience sampling method. After a review of the most crucial places where foreign visitors could turn into during their stay in Tirana, there were identified a few attractive interception points. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses constructed. SPSS 20.0 statistical package was employed in this particular study for the descriptive analysis of the sample, while LISREL 9.30 was used for structural equation modelling. The results of the study showed that cognitive image had a direct and significant influence on affective image, explaining in this way the formation process of the destination image concept. Moreover, when examining the relationship between destination image and tourist loyalty it was found out that cognitive image had a direct influence on tourist loyalty. The results of the study prove to be beneficial both at an empirical and practical level. As a matter of fact, it does not only provide insightful information for tourism operators and policy-makers, but it also contributes in the body of knowledge of the country where the study takes place.

Purpose: This study revisits the relationship between organizational learning culture (OLC), work engagement (WE) and innovative work behaviour (IWB) by examining whether the benefits of learning culture are realized uniformly across employees. Building on the established OLC–WE–IWB framework, this study aims to investigate the role of WE as a mediating mechanism and to explore employee-level boundary conditions shaping the learning culture–innovation relationship. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected through a survey of 228 employees from organizations operating in Albania. Established multi-item measures were used to assess OLC, WE and IWB. Hypotheses were tested using regression-based mediation, moderation and moderated-mediation analyses. Exploratory analyses examined whether employee characteristics, including age, tenure, job position, gender and education, influenced the strength of the observed relationships. Findings: Results indicate that OLC is positively associated with IWB and that WE serves as an important explanatory mechanism linking the two. Importantly, this relationship is not uniformly distributed across employees. Exploratory analyses suggest that learning culture is more strongly associated with innovative behaviour among younger, lower tenure and non-managerial employees, whereas its association is substantially weaker among more organizationally embedded groups. Originality/value: Rather than proposing a new mechanism, this study demonstrates that a well-established learning culture–engagement–innovation relationship is unevenly realized across employee groups. The findings challenge assumptions of homogeneous learning-culture effects and suggest that the innovative benefits of learning-oriented practices depend on employee positioning within organizational structures.

This study examines how personality traits and digital practices relate to entrepreneurial intention among female university students in an emerging economy. Specifically, it investigates the effects of extraversion and openness to experience on entrepreneurial intention and the moderating role of content creation. Using survey data from 261 female students enrolled in public and private universities in Albania, the study applies Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that both extraversion and openness positively predict entrepreneurial intention. In addition, content creation significantly strengthens the relationship between extraversion and entrepreneurial intention, whereas openness shows no moderating effect. These findings indicate that personality traits exert direct effects on entrepreneurial intention, while digitally mediated practices selectively amplify the influence of socially oriented dispositions. The study contributes to the literature by clarifying the role of content creation as a boundary condition in women’s entrepreneurial intention formation.