Christian Nedu Osakwe

Purpose: This study examines what motivates young Moroccan freelancers and, more specifically, how the psychological needs underlying freelance motivation are experienced and gratified across different levels of systemic activity. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts an exploratory qualitative design based on semi-structured interviews with 25 freelancers in Morocco. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT) and a systems perspective, thematic analysis was conducted through an iterative coding process. Findings: Autonomy, competence and relatedness emerged as central motivational needs, but their meaning and gratification differed across systemic layers. Autonomy enabled freelancers to integrate work with personal life while exercising professional and commercial discretion. On the other hand, competence was developed through learning, mastery and client outcomes. Relatedness was enacted through client relationships, professional networks and wider digital communities. The findings therefore show that freelance motivation cannot be adequately represented as a flat configuration of individual motivational factors. Originality/value: The study develops the concept of systemically embedded needs gratification to bridge SDT and systems thinking. Rather than asking only which psychological needs motivate freelancers, it demonstrates how the same needs acquire different meanings and modes of gratification as freelancers participate simultaneously in personal-life, professional, business-relational and community/systemic domains. This provides a multi-level explanation of freelance motivation suited to the increasingly boundary-blurring character of digital knowledge work.

Purpose: Despite extensive research on social media marketing, limited attention has been paid to how institutional pressures and technological factors jointly shape small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SME) social media marketing use, particularly in developing economies, where these two theoretical perspectives have largely been examined in isolation. This study aims to address this gap by integrating institutional theory with the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to examine configurations of institutional pressures (coercive, mimetic, and normative) and technology-related factors (facilitating conditions, effort expectancy, and performance expectancy) associated with high versus low levels of social media marketing utilization among SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 204 SME owner-managers and analyzed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify multiple configurations associated with high and low levels of social media marketing utilization. Findings: The analysis reveals four configurations associated with elevated social media marketing utilization among SMEs. Notably, high utilization occurs when performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, mimetic pressure, and normative pressure are simultaneously present. Conversely, one configuration is linked to low utilization and is characterized by the absence of both technological and institutional attributes. Originality/value: This study integrates UTAUT and institutional theory to explain how technological factors and institutional pressures combine to shape high and low levels of social media marketing utilization among SMEs in a developing economy. By linking technological considerations with external legitimacy and dependency pressures, the framework identifies alternative configurations associated with utilization and advances research on social media marketing and entrepreneurship.

This study draws on behavioural economic theories, particularly dispositional resistance to change and status quo bias, and extends them by incorporating the relatively overlooked concept of perceived economic risks of non‐adoption. Drawing on this integrated framework, it empirically examines the configurations of antecedents that contribute to the rejection of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Using fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), it is the first to examine early CBDC rejection with a specific focus on merchants in a pioneering CBDC country. The findings highlight five distinct conditions influencing CBDC rejection. Crucially, even when merchants perceive high economic risks from non‐adoption and express dissatisfaction with existing fintech solutions, rejection persists if routine‐seeking behaviours, emotional resistance to change, and a short‐term focus are present. These results demonstrate that resistance to innovation often stems from entrenched behavioural and psychological factors, rather than purely rational considerations. By identifying the diverse pathways leading to CBDC rejection, this study offers policymakers critical insights into the complex interplay of resistance factors. It provides a foundation for designing targeted interventions aimed at mitigating merchant resistance and fostering broader adoption of digital currencies.

The global financial ecosystem is poised to transform as more central banks introduce central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). This shift is driven by rapid digital transformation, the expansion of...

Purpose: While online food delivery services are expanding worldwide, most prior research has focused on single countries and the pre-purchase stage. This study addresses that gap by examining the drivers of customer-perceived value in food delivery app use, its effects on well-being and loyalty, and the moderating role of consumer pessimism. Drawing on Consumption Value Theory (CVT), the Information Systems Success (ISS) model, and the literature on consumer pessimism, the study offers a holistic, multi-country perspective on the factors that shape customer experiences and behaviours with food delivery apps. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected through an online survey of current food delivery app users in four Global South countries: Pakistan (n = 261), Morocco (n = 169), Saudi Arabia (n = 283), and Jordan (n = 166). Research hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4. Findings: Across the four Global South countries examined, there is evidence that information, service and system quality are key determinants of overall customer-perceived value, which in turn enhances customer well-being and loyalty. The negative effect of consumer pessimism on perceived value is significant in two out of the four countries. Customer well-being consistently predicts loyalty across all countries, underscoring its importance for long-term relationships. However, the moderating role of consumer pessimism on the links between perceived value, well-being, and loyalty is mixed, revealing variation across national contexts. Originality/value: This study is the first to examine the key drivers and outcomes of customer-perceived value in the online food delivery sector using multi-country data, breaking new ground by combining the ISS model, CVT, and research on consumer pessimism and well-being to deepen understanding of how perceived value is formed and its effects. Altogether, the results illuminate the structural relationships that shape customers' post-purchase experiences and behaviours and offer managers actionable insights to design strategies that build stronger customer value and loyalty across different international markets.

Purpose: This study investigates the relationships between cultural norms, including personal cultural orientations and religiosity, commercial friendship, and customer citizenship behaviour in the subsistence retail marketplace – an underexplored context in retail and marketing research. Design/methodology/approach: Following a positivist philosophical stance and a deductive approach, survey data were gathered from 414 participants using self-administered questionnaires. Findings: The findings underscore the significant impact of cultural norms on friendship development, specifically with regard to independence, power distance, long-term orientation, and religiosity. Furthermore, the results indicate a positive relationship between commercial friendships and customer citizenship behaviours, including resistance to negative information, feedback provision, tolerance, and word-of-mouth communication. Originality/value: This research offers an original contribution to literature by examining the influence of cultural norms on customer-firm relationships and the role of commercial friendship in fostering customer citizenship behaviours. This study is the first to investigate these relationships within the context of the subsistence retail marketplace, thereby advancing scholarship in retail and marketing.

This article adopts the value‐attitude‐behavioural (VAB) and attitude‐behaviour‐context (ABC) theoretical lenses to develop an integrative model to examine attitudinal and behavioural responses to cryptocurrency investment. It also investigates the moderating role of generational differences (pre‐millennials vs. millennials). The study showed that perceived value is closely associated with the attitude towards cryptocurrency investment which, in turn, is strongly associated with the willingness to make and recommend cryptocurrency investments. Results further reveal that contextual factors such as convertibility and sugrophobia, which reflect the fear of being duped, strongly influence individuals' willingness to recommend cryptocurrency investments to others. Finally, results indicate that generational differences play an important moderating role.

Purpose: Large supermarket chains are adopting customer-service robots to improve service delivery in physical stores. Successful deployment of these robots depends on shoppers' willingness to interact with them, requiring an understanding of influencing factors. This study, grounded in the Cognitive-Affective-Normative (CAN) theory, seeks to systematically explore the factors influencing Gen Z shoppers' willingness to interact with customer-service robots.Design/methodology/approach: A hybrid approach combining Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) was employed to analyze survey data collected from 945 Gen Zs in the Czech Republic.Findings: The results from SEM highlight significant cognitive, normative, and affective factors that influence the intention of Gen Z shoppers to interact with a customer-service robot. Specifically, cognitive factors such as effort and performance expectancy, along with normative factors like subjective norms, emerged as critical determinants. Furthermore, affective factors such as technology anxiety and positive emotions significantly influence users' readiness to use customer-service robots for service requests. The study also underscores that positive emotions, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, and subjective norms are vital prerequisites for interacting with customer-service robots.Originality/value: The originality of this work lies in its two significant contributions to the burgeoning field of SRs in retail literature. First, it extends the CAN theory to the context of SRs among Gen Z shoppers in Czechia, thereby enriching the existing literature on SRs in retail. Second, by employing a hybrid analytical approach, our research offers both empirical and methodological advancements, providing rigorous insights crucial for enhancing the understanding of the pivotal factors influencing shoppers' interactions with SRs in physical store environments.

Firms and their managers have long been concerned with encouraging customers to take on an active role in their marketing research activities. The critical question for these firms is how to foster collaboration with customers in marketing research to enhance the firm's marketing effectiveness and simultaneously benefit the customers. This study focuses on the role that individuals' cultural values and customer voice potentially play in shaping how customers perceive marketing research cooperation with the firm. We analyzed data from a sample of 270 customers of apparel store brands in an African country. Utilizing fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis, our research reveals that the combinations of antecedent conditions that enhance marketing research cooperation significantly differ from those that impede it. Theoretically and managerially, our study expands the understanding of how marketing research cooperation is contingent upon the combination of customers' cultural values and their voice.

This study seeks to investigate the psychological antecedents toward cryptocurrency investment decision-making. Using extended planned behavior model, data were collected from 517 sample respondents in Kenya and Ghana to test the proposed model. Specifically, we find that skepticism undermines willingness to invest in cryptocurrency via attitude toward cryptocurrency across the two countries studied. We also find that subjective norm and perceived self-efficacy positively influence attitude toward cryptocurrency that, in turn, positively influences willingness to invest in cryptocurrency. The positive relationship between trust disposition and attitude toward cryptocurrency and in turn willingness to invest in cryptocurrency is statistically valid in Kenya but not in Ghana. Contrary to expectations, no negative statistical effect of risk disposition on attitude toward cryptocurrency was found in the Kenya and Ghana sample. Overall, the presented findings in this study enrich empirical understanding about the psychological factors influencing attitude and individuals’ intentions to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin.