Abstract In times when AI’s development and research is moving at an unprecedented speed, this paper explores its role in retail banking. The results presented are part of a wider research of market readiness and AI acceptance, especially in developing economies. The research was conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). The quantitative portion consisted of a survey completed by 671 respondents. This paper focuses on the influence of social factors (perceived humanness, perceived social interactivity, and perceived social presence) on the attitudes towards – and subsequently acceptance of - AI-based services. Chatbots, specifically ChatGPT-4, were the technology the research focused on. The results indicate that perceived humanness and perceived social interactivity have a positive effect on attitudes – and acceptance – of AI-based services. This research could not prove that there is a positive relationship between social presence and attitudes towards AI-based services. The positive relationship between attitude and acceptance was proven as well.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to provide an overview and analysis of literature dealing with the possibilities for applying augmented reality (AR) in marketing and the impact of AR on marketing in the era of digital transformation of business. Though attractive, this topic is still insufficiently explored. Methodology: The paper uses a bibliometric method - citation and co-citation analysis in the Web of Science and Scopus citation databases. Data analysis was performed using the VOSviewer software tool for information construction, analysis and visualization. Results: The conducted research revealed that there is an increasing trend in the number of research papers dealing with the AR and marketing topics. The specific topics dealt with in the papers are primarily related to the impact of AR on business, creating customer loyalty, sales increase and other marketing activities. Conclusion: AR is a powerful and influential tool the use of which improves communication with customers and, at the same time, sales strategies and processes. AR is based on immersing customers into a new experience, by showing virtual objects in the users’ real-world environment and creating harmony between the digital and the real-world environment so that the boundaries between them disappear. It is manifested as a form of experiential marketing, since it focuses both on a product and a service, and on the entire experience created for customers.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects that COVID-19 outbreak has had on tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and specifically in Sarajevo Canton. Methodology – A survey was conducted in two rounds in March and September 2020, and responses were obtained from 126 running businesses from the tourism in Sarajevo Canton about the actual and expected consequences that COVID-19 outbreak has had on their business. The respondents were asked questions about the effects that COVID-19 has had on their business operations during the first six months of COVID-19 outbreak and their expectations for the future. The questions also included issues related to the government interventions and stimulus packages to overcome the effects of COVID-19 to ensure the sustainability of the tourism in Sarajevo Canton. Findings – Our results show that all businesses have faced a significant downturn in their business operations and had to undertake different measures and activities internally to overcome (and survive) the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also show that there is very low level of satisfaction with the government interventions to tourism. Contribution – The findings illustrate and confirm many flaws in tourism system in Sarajevo Canton and BiH where tourism has been developing organically and without proper integration of the private and public industry. Our findings can be used for planning purposes and improvement of the situation during COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 period.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the perceived downward accountability and transparency of two public services – water supply and sewage and local road maintenance – in the Sarajevo Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).Design/Methodology/Approach: An opinion survey[1] on a sample of 250 respondents and four binomial regressions were conducted to measure the factors that affect the perceived downward accountability and transparency of the two public services.Findings: The results of binomial logit regressions indicate that in terms of perceived accountability and transparency of water supply and sewage, significant variables include gender, education, and satisfaction with the price the respondents pay for such service. Significant variables for perceived local road maintenance accountability include satisfaction with regular and winter local road maintenance, while for perceived transparency an additional significant variable is education.Academic contribution to the field: Although publications and literature dealing with the implementation of New Public Management in developed countries are plentiful, this is not the case in transition countries. The paper examines the case of the Sarajevo Canton and contributes to the research of perceived downward accountability and transparency. It may serve as a basis for further studies on public sector management in other local communities or small transition countries.Originality/Value: The paper contributes to the limited empirical literature regarding the perceived accountability and transparency and suggests ways to improve such.  

The contemporary business environment, characterized by high levels of dynamism, turbulence, and uncertainty, has forced companies to re-evaluate traditional models of commerce and make a shift towards Internet-based e-commerce models. Since the perception of usefulness determines the firm’s willingness to adopt e-commerce, this study strives to explore the contributing factors among SMEs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A survey of 154 SME managers/owners was conducted, to identify variables that are key drivers of perceived usefulness. The findings revealed that the strategic management benefits, compatibility, and external pressures are the key predictors of perceived usefulness. This study also shows that the perceived usefulness of e-commerce is higher, if companies belonging to the same industry, or the same business network, have already adopted this business model. These findings strengthen the idea of the enterprise bandwagon effect. Compared to the newer and younger firms, the results also indicate that mature firms tend to have higher perceived usefulness of e-commerce.

Although the Internet has become the essence of communication, from an advertiser’s perspective digital advertising remains underexplored. This paper examines the effects of digital media buying efforts on advertisers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while looking into the methodology of digital media usage behind the actual effects. A combination of secondary research analysis and qualitative research techniques was used. The empirical part is based on in-depth interviews with advertisers and representatives from the digital advertising industry.Perceptions and knowledge of digital advertising are the key drivers for a successful implementation of digital media buying, and advertisers in Bosnia and Herzegovina are aware of its most distinctive qualities. The success of the media buying campaigns relies on brand objectives and choosing the means suited for fulfilling the given goals, which in turn leads to the findings that the focus of companies’ strategies is directed towards the cost-efficient medium usage, rather than solely performance-oriented ones. Measurement of the effects and return on the investment depends on the success of setting up a goal and isolating digital from other marketing efforts.

This paper investigates the relationship of information communication technology (ICT) and virtual reality (VR), and tourism, or specifically its interrelations and links to tourism sustainability. As a consumer technology, VR is still a relatively new concept, although it has been researched and used in the tourism industry for marketing purposes. The aim is to understand the different aspects of VR and ICTs and potentially link them to sustainability and perspectives on mass tourism, as well as to the potential future developments related to the ability of ICT and tourism to meet the tourists’ needs to a greater extent in the future. By use of the systematic mapping methodology, the insights into these concepts and their relations to each other are provided. The study reveals the evolution and links between the investigated concepts, the existing challenges and solutions, and the remaining gaps. The present findings indicate that VR as a trend in the tourism industry still needs significant work and improvement until it is ready to fully immerse itself into the tourism sector and especially involve itself into the issues concerning tourism and the potential of sustainability concept within the industry. Many of the concerns and conflicts still exist, but the potential of its right implementation is enormous.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight as to how recent trends in virtual reality (VR) have changed the way tourism and hospitality industry communicates their offerings and meets the tourists’ needs. Design/methodology/approach The approach is based on systematic literature review, where the relations between focal concepts are given to analyze potential future developments concerning VR. Findings The paper identifies and analyzes how VR technology affected tourism and hospitality industry through three main touch points – future tourism planning and management, technology-based marketing of tourism destinations and VR potential in changing consumer requirements. These concepts were analyzed to identify changing forces and suggest potential paradigm shifts that tourism and hospitality suppliers and marketers need to consider. These included realistic virtual travel replacements, the importance of interactive experiences and innovation in future tourism systems. Originality/value While there has been increasingly larger number of discussions on how tourists and tourism and hospitality industry have been using information and communication technology recently, there is little evidence of scholars and practitioners applying such methods. This paper used systematic literature review to illustrate means in which VR could be ingrained into tourism and hospitality services to meet the needs of tourists. It suggests that VR can and probably will fundamentally change the way in which tourists’ experiences and requirements are managed entirely.