This manuscript addresses behavior change intentions and consumer risk perceptions in the context of uncertainty and crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the theory of planned behavior and health behavior theories, a conceptual framework is developed that focuses on the role of attitudes toward the Covid-19 pandemic, their determinants in the context of the public campaign conducted, and the resulting behavior change intentions. The empirical study, based on an actual campaign and a representative nationwide sample in a developing country, is conducted to test the developed hypotheses. The results suggest that information search is relevant to predicting attitudes and intention to change behavior. At the same time, exposure to the campaign is directly relevant to motivating the target audience to change their behavior. There is also a gap between attitude and behavior, but it is bridged by perceived risk, which plays a vital moderating role when rated high or low. Finally, in the presence of this moderating effect, an indirect effect of information search on behavior change intention is confirmed by attitudes toward the Covid-19 pandemic. Overall, this study provides valuable insights for research in health behavior and crisis management.

The concept of brand personality plays a crucial role in brand literature as consumers tend to anthropomorphize brands by attributing human characteristics to them. The creation of a brand personality that resonates with consumers leads to greater customer satisfaction and loyalty over the long term. This study investigates the mediating potential of brand personality dimensions, speci cally Competence and Sophistication, in the relationship between brand communication (both controlled and uncontrolled) as an antecedent and brand loyalty as an outcome. Using a sample of 340 users of a cosmetic brand, we employed structural equation modeling to analyze the data. Our results indicate that controlled communication signi cantly in uences both the Competence and Sophistication dimensions of brand personality, and that there are signi cant indirect effects of both controlled and uncontrolled communication through reference groups on loyalty mediated by personality dimensions. These ndings provide valuable insights for brand managers and marketers seeking to enhance brand loyalty by developing effective communication strategies that align with the desired brand personality dimensions.

This study investigates the indirect mechanisms relevant to converting young adults' prosocial attitudes and individual responsibility into their prosocial behavior. Our results are based on a sample of 530 young adults studying at three public regional business schools in South East Europe. They show a significant favorable influence on young adults' civic and political involvement, mediating the relationship between individual responsibility attitudes and prosocial behavior. However, this would not have been expected based on previous research. Another indirect path between the same variables is modeled using a hypothesized moderated mediation effect. The institutional influence of higher education proves to be a significant mediator of the proposed relationship, moderated by the amount of educational content in the fields of ethics, social and environmental responsibility. At mid-and-high levels of exposure to relevant educational content, this indirect path significantly influences the developing young adults' pro-environmental behaviors. The study results are discussed from the viewpoint of peripheral regions with a history of dysfunctional social capital mechanisms.