Purpose Many manufacturing firms hope to leverage artificial intelligence to achieve both economic and environmental performance. However, the pathways still remain unclear. Using dynamic capability theory as a theoretical lens, this study empirically investigates the impact of artificial intelligence capability (AIC) on the balance of economic and environmental performance. Meanwhile, this study explores the mediating roles of business model innovation and product innovation to open the black box behind the above relationship. Design/methodology/approach This research employs the partial least squares-structural equation modeling method to empirically test the proposed model using the cross-sectional survey data from 197 Chinese manufacturing firms. Findings First, the impact of AIC on the balance of economic and environmental performance is significantly positive. Second, product innovation positively mediates the above relationship, while the mediating role of business model innovation is not verified. Third, the sequential mediation model of “AIC→business model innovation→product innovation→the balance of economic and environmental performance” is proven. Originality/value This finding not only extends the literature by demonstrating the positive effect of AIC on the balance of economic and environmental performance, but also fills a gap that previous studies have ignored by discussing the unique mechanism of the above relationship from integrating both business model innovation and product innovation. It also provides theoretical guidance and insights for practitioners to facilitate the balance between economic and environmental performance by integrating three aspects from AIC, business model and product.
Purpose This article investigates the effecting paths of virtual streamers' AI-generated positive emotions on consumers' purchase intention in livestreaming commerce. Design/methodology/approach Using a scenario-based experimental approach, this study empirically tested their hypotheses by collecting data (n = 303) from live-streaming consumers who participated in the survey. Findings The results reveal that: (1) At a subconscious level, the AI-generated positive emotions exhibited by virtual streamers can evoke similar positive emotions in consumers, thereby bolstering their purchase intention; (2) At a conscious level, the AI-generated positive emotions expressed by virtual streamers enhance consumers' purchase intention via the mechanism of positive disconfirmation; (3) Consumers' emotion assimilation competency and their sense of power moderate the subconscious and conscious pathways, respectively. Originality/value Based on emotional contagion theory and expectation disconfirmation theory, this study reveals a dual emotional contagion pathway (i.e. subconscious primitive contagion and conscious emotional comparisons) for the effects of virtual streamers' AI-generated positive emotions on consumer purchase intention. The findings also contribute to a more nuanced understanding of emotional contagion in this context by unraveling important boundary conditions.
Purpose This study examines how digital supply chain capabilities (IoT, blockchain, etc.) streamline firms' regionalization initiatives. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a rigorous qualitative, cross-industry research design. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers from 11 manufacturing firms (4 pharmaceuticals, 4 food and beverage and 3 electronics firms). Participating firms were in the initial-to-mid stage of regionalizing their supply chain operations. Findings The cross-industry analysis reveals that the reported regionalization outcomes/benefits are enabled through digitally embedded information-processing and evidence-production routines rather than geographic proximity alone. The data analysis revealed six reported outcomes across three industries, including enhanced resilience (recoverability), stronger supplier ecosystem, ESG outcomes, quality compliance and switching flexibility, revenue protection and market access. The data also revealed mechanisms leading to these outcomes, including reduced data-to-decision latency, coordinated response routines, traceability and audit-ready documentation, digital quality governance, reusable qualification, data-driven communication, continuity signalling and structured exception/assurance communication, amongst others. Research limitations/implications This study develops theory from a qualitative sample of 40 interviews and is therefore not intended to produce statistically generalizable findings. In addition, because the participating firms were in the initial-to-mid stages of their regionalization initiatives, reported outcomes were still emerging rather than fully realized or measurable. The findings should therefore be interpreted as explaining the mechanisms through which digital supply chain capabilities support regionalization rather than as providing definitive evidence of long-term performance effects. Practical implications Managers can use the identified mechanisms to design regionalization programmes around faster exception communication, reusable qualification evidence and audit-ready traceability routines. The results also guide industry-specific priorities such as compliance evidence cycles in pharmaceuticals, qualification/engineering information integration in electronics and information-enabled cold-chain control loops in food and beverage. Originality/value Prior regionalization research mainly treats digitalization as technology adoption, offering limited process-level insight into how digital supply chain capabilities bolster regionalization. This study advances the literature by theorizing digital supply chain capability (DSSC) as a set of information-processing and evidence-production mechanisms that explain regionalization outcomes under varying regulatory intensity, technological specificity and perishability.
Purpose This study investigates the interaction between service configuration and the demand information sharing mechanism in the context of a hybrid tourism platform supply chain under culture–tourism integration. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a supply chain that includes a tourism service provider and a tourism platform is constructed, in which context both parties engage in hybrid sales through agency and wholesale channels. Using a dynamic game approach, the equilibrium strategies for service configuration and demand information sharing are derived. Findings The results of this research reveal that under the service provider configuration strategy, the platform shares information; under the platform configuration strategy, it shares demand information only when the commission rate is moderate. Moreover, the platform always prefers the service provider configuration strategy. Interestingly, the service provider is incentivized to bear service investment costs even under conditions involving a high commission rate. Under certain conditions, when the information advantage resulting from the service configuration fails to offset cost pressure, an “information advantage trap” emerges, thus leading the service provider to abandon demand information rather than incur service costs. Originality/value This study extends the literature by examining service configuration or demand information in isolation with the goal of investigating their interaction, thereby revealing optimal combinations in a hybrid tourism platform supply chain under culture–tourism integration and ultimately expanding the findings of previous research on this topic. It also provides practical guidance for service configuration and demand information sharing in a hybrid tourism platform supply chain.
Purpose Doctors' knowledge contribution (DKC) in online healthcare consultation is crucial for addressing patients' information needs and ensuring service quality. While existing studies often adopt a doctor-oriented perspective, limited attention has been paid to how DKC varies across different doctor–patient interaction contexts. This study aims to address this gap by examining the factors influencing DKC from a doctor–patient interaction perspective. Design/methodology/approach Based on signaling theory and self-determination theory, this study develops a theoretical model examining how patients' communication behaviors, including instrumental communication intensity (ICI), negative emotional expression (NEE) and response time (RT), serve as interactional signals shaping DKC, and how external rewards, including monetary rewards (MR) and psychological rewards (PR), moderate doctors' responses to these signals. This model is empirically tested using a dataset from a leading Chinese online healthcare consultation platform. Findings Patients' ICI and NEE positively influence DKC, while RT has a negative effect. Both MR and PR strengthen the positive impact of ICI, and PR weakens the negative impact of RT. However, neither reward moderates the relationship between NEE and DKC. Furthermore, these effects exhibit heterogeneity across doctors with different attributes and across medical contexts. Originality/value By investigating the role of patients' communication behaviors and their interaction with external rewards in shaping DKC during online doctor–patient interactions, this study advances the literature on knowledge contribution, doctor–patient interactions and the interplay between external rewards and patient-generated signals in online healthcare. It also provides practical guidance for managing online healthcare platforms and enhancing service quality.
