Abstract Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from emerging markets are the most vulnerable types of firms, especially in times of crisis due to time and resource constraints. Thus, this paper aims to help SMEs from emerging markets in choosing the right business partners with whom to cooperate to develop relevant innovations in crisis periods in general, and during the COVID-19 pandemic in particular. To obtain relevant insights, qualitative data from SMEs in Bosnia and Herzegovina were collected in March-April 2020. The findings show that SMEs have embraced new collaborations with business customers and competitors, and developed a collaborative mindset opposed to the traditionally competitive way of doing business in emerging markets. Based on the findings, this paper presents a set of recommendations for managers, and suggests several future research opportunities around the management of openness in the context of SMEs from emerging markets.

Abstract This study extends the literature that has investigated firms' readiness to confront competition from informal (unregistered) firms by responding through intensified product innovation activities. Drawing on the bounded rationality perspective, we unravel new insights into the relationship between the threat from informal competitors and product innovation by identifying two external contingencies (intellectual property rights protection and regulatory quality) and two internal contingencies (export intensity and top manager's sector experience). In this way, the study acknowledges the immense differences that exist across developing markets, focusing on post-communist societies characterized with a medium level of economic development, limited market size, and weak institutional development. An empirical prototype of this type of context is exemplified in EU candidate countries. Therefore, our model estimates the effect of the threat from informal competitors on product innovation by testing firm-level data from five countries with EU candidate status. Our findings show that direct and positive relationship between the threat from informal competitors and product innovation is strengthened when: 1) intellectual property rights protection is weaker, 2) regulatory quality is higher, 3) the firm is an intesive exporter, and 4) the firm's top managers have less experience.

The aim of this study is to investigate how various elements of digital content impact the behavioural engagement of the content’s users in the setting of Southeast Europe, which has recently experienced turbulence in its political and social interrelationships. Using the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory we develop a model that considers two types of stimuli: digital content tone (consisting of positive and negative valence) and digital content substance, as well as two types of behavioural responses: opens and clicks on the content. Research is conducted in six countries over a period of three years, investigating objective users’ behavioural indicators for a regional newsletter. The results show digital content tone impacts users’ response in terms of opens and that this effect differs across the region. Furthermore, we show that the digital content substance is significantly related to number of clicks on the newsletter content and that this effect is curvilinear for the number of news features and number of calls, while it is positive and linear for the stakeholder/keywords mentions. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study are elaborated and discussed.

Contributing to the literature on brand stereotyping, we draw on the Stereotype Content Model to investigate whether the content of the brand stereotype (in terms of warmth and competence) impacts consumers' perceptions of functional, emotional and social value. In doing so, we explicitly account for the brand's level of perceived globalness (PBG) and localness (PBL) as known influences on both stereotype content and value perceptions. Across two studies, we find that brand warmth consistently and positively impacts functional and emotional value, whereas brand competence enhances functional value. The impact of the stereotyping dimensions on value is subsequently reflected in increased purchase intentions and higher brand ownership. Surprisingly, none of the latter outcomes is affected by social value. Our findings corroborate previous research showing that PBG and PBL are important drivers of brand stereotype content, but also reveal that brand warmth has a stronger impact on behavioral outcomes than brand competence.

Abstract Just recently, the literature has established the existence of a dark side with regard to customer orientation (CO) in terms of sales performance. However, no clear position is presented about the possible dark side of CO when it comes to B2B relational outcomes, preventing managers from knowing when to accentuate/suppress CO activities. The aim of this study is to examine the relational consequences of suppliers' CO seen through the customers' lenses, and to investigate the moderating role of perceived emotional value in a professional service relationship context. A conceptual model anchored in value and relationship marketing theories is tested on a sample of 226 professional service firms' business customers, using the PROCESS routine. The study finds that perceived CO is related to satisfaction with the relationship and with relationship performance in an inverted U-shaped form, while satisfaction is positively related to relationship performance. We show that, although preferring to receive CO from their supplier, customers might want a relationship that is not as intense/comprehensive as the one that the supplier aims to achieve. The study unfolds emotional value as a moderating mechanism that can prevent the diminishing effect of CO activities.

Abstract Contributing to research on consumer segmentation in the context of country-of-origin (COO) effects, the current study focuses on the need for cognition (NFC) and need for affect (NFA) as conditioning variables on the links between country image and attitude towards the country on the one hand and consumers' product-country image (PCI) assessments on the other. We conduct two studies: one in a highly developed, EU-member country (Austria, N = 203) and one in a developing CEE country (Bosnia & Herzegovina, N = 195). Our findings show that NFC and NFA have opposing influences on the aforementioned relationships in Austria. In contrast, in Bosnia & Herzegovina we find no significant interaction effects as well as a non-significant relationship between attitude towards the country and PCI. Overall, our results indicate that the utility of NFC and NFA as segmentation variables is country-specific and reveal cross-country differences in the operation of COO effects.