Journal of Finance - Marketing Research

The impact of short video characteristics on impulse buying behavior: The role of arousal, pleasure, and trust

2026-03-09T01:55:30+00:00

Purpose – This study examines the effects of short-video characteristics on impulse buying behavior by integrating the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model and Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance (PAD) theory. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 392 consumers in Vietnam who had previously made purchases through short-form videos and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings – The results show that informativeness is the strongest stimulus influencing arousal, pleasure, and trust. Social influence positively affects arousal and trust but does not significantly affect pleasure, suggesting that it functions as a cognitive-social signal rather than a hedonic stimulus. Trust is the strongest direct predictor of impulse buying behavior, surpassing arousal and pleasure. Originality/value – This study extends the S-O-R model in the short-video context by integrating PAD theory and trust and by identifying the distinct cognitive-social role of social influence. Practical implications – Businesses should complement entertaining content with accurate and reliable product information to strengthen trust and encourage impulse buying behavior.

The impact of gamification in e-commerce on Gen Z's intention to continue using it in Ho Chi Minh City

2026-05-25T09:40:13+00:00

Purpose – This study examines the impact of gamification elements on the e-commerce continuance intention of Generation Z in Ho Chi Minh City. It addresses a critical gap in literature by evaluating the mediating role of attitude within an integrated Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey via Google Forms was conducted to collect data from 260 Generation Z consumers in Ho Chi Minh City who had experience with gamified e-commerce features. The data collected were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS 4 software to test the research hypotheses. Findings – The results demonstrate that social influence, rewards, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use positively affect attitudes toward gamified e-commerce, with perceived ease of use exerting the strongest influence. Attitude strongly enhances continuance intention and acts as a pivotal mediator. While social influence has no direct significant effect on continuance intention, it exerts a clear indirect effect through attitude. Originality/value – Prior research often overlooked the indirect mechanism of attitude within an integrated framework in Vietnam's e-commerce. This study is among the first to empirically demonstrate the critical mediating role of attitude in translating both technology perceptions and social influences into actual continuance intention among Gen Z in an emerging market. Practical implications – E-commerce managers should design intuitive, user-friendly, gamified interfaces to reduce cognitive barriers and implement tangible rewards (e.g., coins, vouchers) rather than symbolic incentives. Furthermore, gamification features should align with functional shopping purposes to effectively foster positive user attitudes and long-term retention. Social implications – Regulatory bodies should closely monitor gamification-based promotional activities (e.g., lucky draws, mini-games) to mitigate the risk of misleading young consumers and enforce robust personal data protection laws to establish digital trust.

Exploring factors of the competitive advantage in Ho Chi Minh city's restaurant industry: A qualitative study in an era of accelerated integration and development

2026-07-04T03:53:23+00:00

Purpose - Amid accelerated integration and development, the restaurant industry in Ho Chi Minh City faces increasing competitive pressure, requiring businesses to strengthen their competitive advantage to sustain growth. Despite the growing importance of the industry, limited studies have comprehensively examined the factors of competitive advantage from both internal and external perspectives. This study aims to explore the factors shaping competitive advantage in Ho Chi Minh City's restaurant industry. Methodology - A qualitative approach was adopted using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 14 experts selected through theoretical sampling. The interview data were analyzed to develop a conceptual framework of competitive advantage in the restaurant industry. Findings - The findings indicate that four groups of factors directly influence competitiveness: quality, marketing, business strategy, and financial capability. Additionally, support from the government and reputable organizations plays a moderating role in the relationship between business and financial strategies and competitiveness. Notably, cultural lifestyle orientation and demographic advantages associated with a young population emerged as important strategic drivers. Limitations of the study - As the study is based on qualitative evidence, future research should examine specific restaurant segments and validate the proposed framework through quantitative approaches. Contribution - This study contributes to the literature by proposing an integrated framework of competitive advantage in the restaurant industry and highlighting the reinforcing role of institutional support in enhancing the effectiveness of business and financial strategies. The findings provide new insights into competitive advantage in an emerging market undergoing rapid integration and development. Practical implications - The findings offer strategic guidance for restaurant managers in developing quality, marketing, financial, and partnership strategies to strengthen competitive advantage in an increasingly dynamic business environment.

Corporate reputation research: Current insights and future directions

2026-06-01T07:09:50+00:00

Purpose - This paper aims to systematize research trends on corporate reputation, identify key topics, research gaps, and future development directions. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses bibliometric analysis based on Scopus data from 2016–2026 with 700 publications, combining techniques such as keyword analysis, co-citations, and international collaboration mapping. Findings - The results revealed research lines revolving around four main axes: corporate strategy, finance and commerce, stakeholder behavior, and social responsibility. Simultaneously, the role of stakeholders is becoming increasingly important as reputation is a product of multi-dimensional interactions within the digital ecosystem. Originality/value - The study points out several limitations and gaps that need to be further explored, including: (1) a mismatch in research context; (2) reputation measurement methods still heavily rely on traditional surveys; (3) new topics have not been fully integrated into the research framework on corporate reputation, despite their increasing influence in practice. Practical implications - These findings help guide future research and support managers in building sustainable reputation strategies, including: (1) strengthening contextual research, (2) innovating research methods through the combination of traditional and digital data, and (3) expanding the scope of research to new areas that more fully reflect the role of reputation in the digital economy.

Factors influencing purchase decisions of mother and baby products Via Tiktok livestream

2026-07-31T02:33:56+00:00

Purpose – This study examines factors influencing purchase decisions for mother and baby products via TikTok Live at V-Corp. Although livestream sessions generate high interaction, order conversion remains low because parents perceive child health risks in this product category. The study aims to identify the actual drivers of purchase decisions. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 155 parents in Ho Chi Minh City who had watched or purchased mother and baby products through V-Corp’s TikTok Shop livestreams. The measurement scales were adapted from prior validated studies. Data were analyzed in SPSS using Cronbach’s Alpha reliability testing, exploratory factor analysis, and multiple linear regression. Findings – Five factors had statistically significant positive effects on purchase decisions: Brand Reputation (β = 0.389), Price (β = 0.361), Promotion (β = 0.216), Product quality (β = 0.148), and Shipping (β = 0.129). The model explained 67.6% of the variance in purchase decisions (Adjusted R² = 0.676; F = 65.179, p < 0.001). Brand Reputation and Price showed the strongest relative effects. Originality/value – Prior livestream commerce studies have largely focused on impulse buying and low-involvement products. This study shifts the focus to high-risk, high-involvement products, specifically mother and baby nutritional milk lines sold through TikTok Shop in Vietnam. It also links consumer behavior theory with a real operational problem faced by V-Corp: high viewer engagement but weak order conversion. Practical implications – The findings suggest that V-Corp and similar firms should prioritize brand credibility, transparent pricing, time-limited promotions, visible product quality cues during livestreams, and reliable delivery. For this product category, host training and clear presentation of product certification are especially relevant because parents need evidence before making purchase decisions. Social implications – Because mother and baby products are directly related to child health and safety, livestream sellers should provide accurate, verifiable, and complete product information. Better information quality may reduce the risk of parents making purchase decisions based on incomplete or misleading claims.

Corporate readiness for carbon tax: Behavioral and institutional drivers of voluntary compliance intention in Vietnam

2026-08-10T01:46:23+00:00

Purpose – This study examines the behavioral and institutional drivers of firms’ voluntary carbon tax compliance intention in the context of Vietnam’s emerging carbon pricing transition. Study design/methodology/approach – An integrated theoretical framework combining the Theory of Planned Behavior, Institutional Theory, and the Slippery Slope Framework was developed. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of Vietnamese enterprises. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to evaluate the proposed relationships. Findings – The findings indicate that voluntary carbon tax compliance intention is influenced by a multidimensional interaction of behavioral, institutional, ethical, and economic factors. Perceived fairness, trust in tax authorities, institutional pressures, environmental responsibility, and perceived economic impacts significantly affect firms’ willingness to voluntarily comply with future carbon taxation. The results further suggest that corporate readiness for carbon taxation depends not only on enforcement mechanisms but also on policy legitimacy, transparency, and institutional credibility. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to a cross-sectional dataset and the Vietnamese context. Future research may extend the analysis using longitudinal or comparative approaches across different institutional settings. Originality/contribution – This study contributes to the literature by shifting attention from carbon tax effectiveness under assumed compliance conditions toward the determinants of voluntary compliance intention itself through an integrated behavioral and institutional perspective. Practical implications – The findings imply that effective carbon tax policies should combine enforcement measures with transparency, institutional trust-building, and corporate environmental awareness to enhance voluntary compliance readiness

Explainable artificial intelligence in industrial machine vision: A bibliometric analysis

2026-06-09T09:38:37+00:00

Purpose – This study maps the structural properties of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) in the industrial machine vision research field at the corpus level. Explainability requirements for industrial machine vision systems have intensified since the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act classified high-risk image-based inspection systems as requiring traceable automated decisions, yet the resulting research field has not been systematically mapped. Design/methodology/approach – 526 peer-reviewed publications retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science for the period 2015 to March 2026 were analysed using six sequential bibliometric analyses: publication trend, source productivity, geographic distribution, keyword co-occurrence network, thematic mapping, and thematic evolution. All analyses were conducted using the bibliometrix package (version 4.3.0) in R (version 4.4.1). Findings – Annual output grew from 6 papers in 2017 to 158 in 2025 (compound annual growth rate: approximately 50%), with a 94% single-year acceleration in 2022–2023 coinciding with early EU AI Act commentary and the displacement of convolutional architectures by vision transformers. Among XAI method terms, Grad-CAM leads to 40 keyword occurrences, more than three times LIME (11) and nearly six times SHAP (7). China and India together account for 30.0% of the corpus (158 papers). Thematic mapping shows deep learning migrating from a motor to a basic theme between the sub-periods 2015–2021 and 2022–2026, while decision support systems and ethical artificial intelligence emerge as new motor themes. Originality/value – This study presents the first dual-database bibliometric analysis of XAI in industrial machine vision, providing a reference map for researchers entering the field, journal editors tracking disciplinary boundaries, and policymakers benchmarking research response to regulatory pressure. The findings indicate that the field has moved from performance demonstration toward regulatory-compliance integration, with post-hoc visual explanation as the dominant methodological choice.

The impact of green tax reforms on environmental performance: A Vietnam’s legal institutions perspective

2026-08-10T01:52:36+00:00

Purpose - The current paper explores the effect of green taxation reforms on environmental performance in Vietnam, paying particular attention to the moderation effect caused by high-quality institutions in terms of laws and regulations. Design/menthodology/approach - Based on World Bank data from 1990 to 2022, the research utilizes a threshold model for the assessment of the effect of environmental taxation on environmental performance depending on the intensity of the applied measures. Findings - It is revealed that environmental taxes can positively contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and help introduce more advanced technologies into operation; however, this is possible if a certain threshold is reached or exceeded. Moreover, the effect of environmental taxation is significantly intensified in the case of effective law enforcement. Originality/value - Consequently, environmental performance can be improved through proper taxation and institutional reforms. The significance of this paper lies in its identification of threshold effects of green taxation in Vietnam, but more empirical studies need to be done in other institutions and sectors as well. Practical implications - The policy makers need to make green taxes adaptable and region-specific in nature and give financial benefits (such as tax rebates, subsidies, and special loans) to companies (particularly small and medium enterprises) for helping them in using green technology. Besides, resource licensing on condition, strong monitoring of the environment, international technology transfer, and carbon index/data system should also be put in place. Social implications - Green technology, fair resource use, and regional cooperation can help in limiting industrial pollution and carbon emissions, improving health of people and protecting natural ecosystems in Vietnam.

The impact of individual ESG components on commercial bank performance: Evidence from Vietnam

2026-07-16T11:50:35+00:00

Purpose – This study examines the distinct effects of the three individual dimensions of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scoring on the financial performance of Vietnamese commercial banks over the 2015–2023 period. Unlike prior research that relies on aggregate ESG indices, this paper decomposes ESG into its constituent components to identify which pillar drives value and through which performance channel. Design/methodology/approach – Using a manually constructed ESG scoring framework applied to 27 listed commercial banks in Vietnam, we obtain an unbalanced panel of 243 bank-year observations. Financial performance is measured by Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Net Interest Margin (NIM). Estimation proceeds through Pooled OLS, Fixed Effects (FEM), and Random Effects (REM) models, with the Feasible Generalised Least Squares (FGLS) technique adopted as the primary estimator to correct for heteroscedasticity and serial correlation identified in the data. Findings – FGLS results indicate that the Environmental score (Escore) has a significant and positive effect on all three performance measures (ROA, ROE, and NIM) at the 1% significance level. The Social score (Sscore) significantly improves ROA but does not reach statistical significance for ROE or NIM. The Governance score (Gscore) exerts a statistically significant negative effect on ROA, suggesting that the cost burden associated with current governance structures outweighs short-term financial benefits. Bank-level controls confirm that the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) enhances performance while non-performing loans (NPL) and, for certain specifications, the liquidity ratio (LR) constrain profitability. Originality/value – This study contributes to the sparse literature on decomposed ESG–bank performance nexus in emerging markets by constructing original ESG scores from primary disclosure data. The findings yield differentiated policy recommendations for bank managers and regulators in Vietnam seeking to leverage sustainable finance as a tool for financial performance improvement. Practical implications – Banks that systematically enhance their environmental performance and community-oriented social programmes can expect measurable gains in profitability. Governance initiatives, however, require careful cost–benefit calibration to avoid eroding short-run financial returns.

Bank size and financial intermediation operations in Vietnam: A focus on the deposit-loan nexus in the banking sector

2026-04-17T02:41:02+00:00

Purpose – This study examines the impact of bank size on financial intermediation, with a specific focus on the deposit-loan growth nexus within the Vietnamese banking sector. Furthermore, it evaluates the moderating role of bank size in shaping these operational dynamics. Design/methodology/approach – Utilizing panel data from 25 Vietnamese commercial banks over the 2010-2024 period, the research employs Generalized Least Squares (GLS) and Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) to ensure robust estimation. Findings – The empirical findings reveal that while customer deposit growth independently exerts a significant positive impact on loan growth - aligning with classical financial intermediation theory - this relationship is fundamentally altered by the inclusion of bank size. Specifically, bank size acts as a crucial positive moderator, mitigating the negative pressures that may arise between deposit mobilization and credit expansion. Originality/value – These results suggest that the efficiency of financial intermediation varies significantly across different bank size cohorts. Consequently, the study recommends that bank executives align deposit policies with institutional scale and suggests that the State Bank of Vietnam implement differentiated regulatory frameworks tailored to specific bank size categories to optimize credit growth and operational stability.

The effects of corporate restructuring strategies and industry uncertainty on firmperformance: Evidence from listed non-financial firms in Vietnam

2026-07-01T11:09:56+00:00

Purpose - This study examines how three defensive restructuring strategies (asset retrenchment, debt reduction, and cost retrenchment) affect the performance of listed non-financial firms in Vietnam under industry uncertainty. The study is motivated by the increasing prevalence of corporate restructuring in Vietnam and the need to clarify which restructuring strategy is more effective under different industry uncertainty conditions. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses an unbalanced panel of 484 listed non-financial firms with 6,862 firm-year observations on HOSE and HNX during 2010–2024. The system GMM estimator is employed to address dynamic performance persistence and potential endogeneity. Industry uncertainty is measured by a composite index constructed through principal component analysis from the cross-sectional dispersion of firm-level shocks in sales, profits, and operating cash flows within each industry-year. Findings - The results show that debt reduction improves ROA, whereas asset retrenchment reduces firm performance. Cost retrenchment has mixed effects, indicating that cost cutting does not always translate into better operating outcomes. The benefits of restructuring are clearer under low industry uncertainty, where debt reduction performs best. Economically, a one-percentage-point increase in debt reduction is associated with an approximately 0.739 percentage-point increase in ROA under low industry uncertainty. Originality/value - This study contributes to the restructuring and uncertainty literature by distinguishing three defensive restructuring channels and examining their performance effects under different industry uncertainty states. It proposes a composite uncertainty measure tailored to Vietnamese listed firms. Practical implications - Managers should not treat restructuring as a uniform solution. Asset retrenchment should be used cautiously to avoid weakening revenue-generating resources, debt reduction should be prioritized when firms face financial pressure, and cost retrenchment should be implemented selectively to preserve human resources. Social implications - A better understanding of industry uncertainty can help firms, investors, and regulators assess the timing and intensity of restructuring decisions, thereby supporting more stable corporate adjustment and resource allocation in emerging markets.