Volume 11 Issue 2

In recent years, and especially after the pandemic, consumers around the world have expressed their intention to prioritize more sustainable choices. To explore the evolution and trend of research oriented in this area of environmentally sustainable or green consumer behavior, a bibliometric analysis was applied. This study presents an examination focusing on the literature related to sustainability or green consumer behavior between 1991 and 2023. By investigating 745 Scopus indexed documents, which includes keyword network analysis, co-author analysis and reference co-citation analysis using VOSviewer, the study highlights which are the known authors concerned with the research field, impactful and highly cited articles, countries contributing significantly to the analysis, the relevant journals in the field of interest. Furthermore, it identifies emerging themes such as green marketing, sustainable consumption, and green product development, while also outlining potential avenues for future research. The article provides perspectives in this field of development and interest, helping to define visions and strategies to attract, promote and develop sustainable or green consumers behavior.

This study aimed to identify the factors that comprise the drivers of, and barriers to, the implementation of fast fashion clothing in the retail industry in South Africa via a case study of one of South Africa's major fast fashion retailers. Using a quantitative, questionnaire-based, e-mailed survey to collect data from a self-selected convenience sample of 78 managers and employees, the study findings confirmed the importance of both information (store feedback and stock planning) and supplier relationships (capability and flexibility) as drivers of fast fashion. Overall, ‘capability' was perceived overall as the most important factor, enabling adjustments to range, order size and market closer to the selling season. Barriers were confirmed as issues related to product (quality, authenticity, perishability) and social responsibility (environmental and exploitation/ethics) in the opinion of this retailer. Although both were perceived as important, environmental issues dominated, with respondents seeing the wastefulness and excessive consumption of fast fashion as the main barrier to its implementation in South Africa. The first research of its type in South Africa, the study contributes to knowledge about fast fashion in South Africa, and possibly in other developing countries, and should assist with the implementation of this strategy by South African retailers. Furthermore, a clear understanding of some of the negative opinions about FF might assist with a more socially responsible implementation.

The motives for buying green products have generated scholarly interest, mainly due to concern for the environment. There is, however, a gap in the literature on understanding consumer green purchase intention and actual purchase behaviour in developing countries such as South Africa. The purpose of this study is to develop and test the applicability of green consumption of FMCG products grounded in the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and thus address the “attitudes–behaviour” gap documented in the literature from the perspective of South African consumers. The study uses non-probability, convenience sampling and collected data from 381 consumers residing in the greater Durban area of the KwaZulu-Natal province. Structural equation modelling was applied in analysing the data. The findings of the study indicate that pro-environmental attitude, perceived value (quality) of green FMCG products positively influenced green FMCG purchase intention, which in turn, positively influence the actual purchase behaviour for green FMCG products. The findings further show that perceived price may be a barrier to green FMCG purchase intention although the relationship was not significant. This study provides practical implications for FMCG marketers in their bid to shift from conventional products to green products.

Currently, we live in a world that is constantly changing, one in which the digital environment is constantly evolving. In the travel and tourism industry, there is practically no management decision that is not related to digitization. Additionally, this is not only when thinking about the ease of interaction with consumers of tourist services, but also when considering optimizing and reducing costs or when we refer to the management of the business itself. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the evolution of the online tourism market, the most visited travel and tourism websites, and the use of several digital transformation topics among accommodation businesses, such as: social media marketing, online advertising, customer relationship management, and online distribution channel management.

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is a prominent league in Africa. The best South African soccer teams that play in the domestic Premier Soccer League are from Soweto, namely Kaizer Chiefs F.C. and Orlando Pirates F.C. Both teams have a rich history in their domestic league and have become the most successful and recognisable brands in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to validate the dimensions of brand personality of South African professional sport teams, by using Kaizer Chiefs F.C and Orlando Pirates F.C. as examples. The study employed a quantitative research method. The results of this study produced four factor structures, which include Trustworthiness, Competitiveness, Friendliness and Trendiness. In addition, convergent and discriminant validities were assessed. The model fit indices SRMR, RMSEA, GFI, CFI, IFI, and TLI of the measurement model showed a good fit. Therefore, this instrument is valid and reliable to measure the dimensions of professional sport teams in South Africa. Managers of professional sport teams in South Africa, including all other managers in the PSL, can use this instrument to assess how their teams are perceived by fans and how it differs from other teams. Furthermore, managers from corporate companies interested in offering sponsorships can use this instrument to assess whether a sport team shares similar personality traits. This is the first study undertaken to validate brand personality instruments in order to measure the dimensions of brand personality of professional sport teams for soccer or football in South Africa.

Universities need to seek alternative ways to differentiate themselves from others. Connecting with their target market, in a personal manner is not always easy but vital for survival. Universities present themselves to the world through their corporate brand personality. The personal traits assigned to the brand are priceless and valuable for both the user and the company. Understanding the importance of brand personality in higher education is vital, and what better way to portray the brand, than through the strategic plan of the university. Using words that a target audience can identify and relate to can assist in creating brand awareness and loyalty. Using content analysis, the strategic plans of seven Universities of Technology in South Africa were analysed. Five broad dimensions of brand personality were used as the units of analysis. The main purpose of the analysis was to determine how brand personality was reflected within the strategic plans of the universities. The findings indicated that the use of brand personality was evenly distributed however, some of the dimensions such as resilience and excitement were not visible enough and the need for improvement was established. Understanding the importance of brand personality and its use can assist the management of universities with the development of accurate strategies, targeted specifically at those that can relate and identify with the brand.

Financial technology advancements have made personal banking simpler, allowing a range of services to be accessed anytime and anywhere via various digital methods However, the extent of digital financial technology's impact on consumer perception and adoption of digital personal banking in developing economies remains unclear. The purpose of this study therefore is to review literature on the issues that could influence the perception and use of digital personal banking by consumers. Data was drawn from 116 documents of academic and ‘grey' literature according to the PRISMA protocol, and analysed by detailed reading, narrative summarising and then deconstructing and reconstructing the contents into the key issues influencing the adoption and use of digital personal banking. First an overview of digital banking in general, and then in South Africa, is provided. Then the different issues, or constructs, that could be drivers of preference for digital personal banking by South African consumers, as identified from the literature, are presented, namely Convenience, Practical quality, Branch service quality, Online service quality, Usability, Safety and Risk. These findings can form the basis of further in-depth research into the adoption and use of digital personal banking and can also assist banking executives to adapt their operational and marketing activities to influence consumers to further adopt digital banking.

The main objective of this study was to conduct an in-depth analysis of Botswana's tourism, with the hopes to identify factors and challenges affecting the tourism sector in Botswana. This study utilised the interpretivism research philosophy. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews from 10 participants drawn from different segments of the tourism industry for a cross-section of perspectives. A thematic content analysis was employed to analyse the data. Results of the study revealed several factors and challenges with an impact on the tourism industry of Botswana. Chief among them includes Covid-19 (and pandemics); government policies (and regulations); economic climate and climate change. The study also revealed a number of challenges affecting the tourism sector of Botswana which includes lack of engagement within the tourism sector; limited participation of Batswana in the tourism sector; lack of skilled staff; overreliance on international tourists; lack of requisite infrastructure; limited tourism marketing; limited and inconsistent local supply of quality goods; government policies, restrictions and levies; and staff retention. The study recommended that the need for aggressive marketing and promotion, reskilling, enhancement of ICT infrastructure, improving stakeholder consultation and engagement within the sector and tourism product diversification as key enablers to enhance the tourism sector in Botswana.

The field of sonic branding has grown rapidly in recent years. While the majority of the developments in this area have thus far been led by practitioners, it is important to understand the cognitive principles underlying the appropriateness and efficacy of sonic branding in order to help develop design principles and practical guidelines that will help to move the field forward, particularly where a brand's distinctive sonic assets are concerned. This narrative historical review focuses on design considerations for one of the most common sonic assets, namely the sonic logo. Crucially, the question of how these sonic logos come to be associated with brands, and the extent to which their perceptual and affective qualities ought to match the attributes and personality of the brand, are experimentally tractable research questions. Principles drawn from the cognitive (neuro-)sciences, including the emerging field of research on crossmodal correspondences, are explored, providing actionable insights for those wanting to design successful sonic brands. The use of the semantic differential technique is also discussed as a means of systematically assessing the connotative alignment between a product, company, or brand and the distinctive sonic assets which together comprise the brand's sonic identity as a whole.