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Image congruence is one central metrics that significantly influences image transfer. Nevertheless, studies on impact of image congruence on consumers' attitudinal and behavioral components in the context of sport tourism remain few. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship among image congruence between sport event and host city, spectators' attitude toward the event and city and their intention to revisit and recommend the event and city. A mediating role of attitude in the relationship between image congruence and behavioral intention was also examined.

The study selected non-local spectators of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix and Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 as the participants. A total of 491 valid questionnaires were obtained from the survey of two events, including 222 from F1 Chinese Grand Prix and 269 from Shanghai ATP Masters 1000. Among respondents, 360 were Chinese spectators from other regions (73.3%) and 131 were international spectators (26.7%). The data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, correlations, factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), hierarchical regression analysis and ANOVA.

The results showed that image congruence between sports event and host city had a positive impact on spectators' attitude toward and intention to recommend the city; but it had no significant impact on attitude toward event, intention to revisit and recommend the event and intention to revisit the city. Attitude toward event had a positive impact on intention to revisit and recommend the event, and attitude toward host city had a positive impact on intention to revisit and recommend the city. In addition, attitude toward host city fully mediated the relationship between image congruence and intention to recommend the city.

The current study provides a meaningful contribution to the existing literature by examining the impact of image congruence on spectators' attitudinal and behavioral components in the context of sport tourism.

Existing studies suggest the importance of research related to values and goals and their impacts on consumer involvement. However, cross-cultural examination of values and goals in the context of sport is scarce. To broaden our understanding of the cultural impact of values and goals on sport involvement, the purpose of this paper is to compare perspectives between Easterners (Chinese) and Westerners (Americans).

This exploratory research utilized both online and written surveys to collect two convenience samples from 281 American and 636 Chinese participants. Analysis included descriptive statistics, correlations, and regression analyses.

Results indicated both populations perceived values and goals differently; Chinese responded less favorably to values and goals than American counterparts. Values and goals predicted cognitive and behavioral sport involvement with variance in each population. Results generally supported a large cultural variation between the cultures. Lastly, similarities and differences in the perceived importance of values and goals and their subsequent impacts on cognitive and behavioral sport involvement suggest a need for a unique managerial approach when American businesses enter new cultural boundaries like China.

This research is significant because studies exploring values and goals and their influences on sport consumption at the cross-cultural level are still limited in sport literature. Furthermore, an empirical examination of the impact of values and goals on sport consumers across cultures will help increase generalizability of the findings to sport literature.

The study delves into the influence of wear cycles on these parameters. The purpose of this paper is to identify characteristic patterns of σ_RS and ε_PEEQ that discern varying wear situations, thereby contributing to the enrichment of wear theory. Furthermore, the findings serve as a foundational basis for nondestructive and in situ wear detection methodologies, such as nonlinear ultrasonic detection, known for its sensitivity to σ_RS and ε_PEEQ.

This paper elucidates the wear mechanism through the lens of residual stress (σ_RS) and plastic deformation within distinct fretting regimes, using a two-dimensional cylindrical/flat contact model. It specifically explores the impact of the displacement amplitude and cycles on the distribution of residual stress and equivalent plastic strain (ε_PEEQ) in both gross slip regime and partial slip regimes.

Therefore, when surface observation of wear is challenging, detecting the σ_RS trend at the center/edge, region width and ε_PEEQ distribution, as well as the maximum σ_RS distribution along the depth, proves effective in distinguishing wear situations (partial or gross slip regimes). However, discerning wear situations based on ε_PEEQ along the depth direction remains challenging. Moreover, in the gross slip regime, using σ_RS distribution or ε_PEEQ along the width direction rather than the depth direction can effectively provide feedback on cycles and wear range.

This work introduces a novel perspective for investigating wear theory through the distribution of residual stress (σ_RS) and equivalent plastic strain (ε_PEEQ). It presents a feasible detection theory for wear situations using nondestructive and in situ methods, such as nonlinear ultrasonic detection, which is sensitive to σ_RS and ε_PEEQ.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-01-2024-0005/

Although both sports and cities have transformed over the last century, research on the intersection of sports and urban development remains scarce. This special issue was designed to advance a research agenda in relation to sports and urban development. The sports and urban development special issue of International Journal of Sport Marketing and Sponsorship brings together a collection of conceptual, empirical and commentary papers from four continents. Themes explored in this special issue include legacy, governance, image, climate change and sustainability. We encourage collaborative approaches between sport researchers and those with a focus on urban development, urban design and urban governance. Understanding the role of sports in the development of smart cities is an excellent opportunity for these collaborations to occur.

A comprehensive review of literature was undertaken to assess the literature related to sports and urban development.

In addition to this introductory article, there are ten manuscripts selected for this special issue investigating sports and urban development.

This special issue seeks to promote more research on sports and urban development, ultimately ultimately advancing theories and providing solutions.

Blockchain (BC) is a technological innovation that emphasizes the opposite paradigm compared to the available technology. This paradigm enables changing the firm’s business models (BMs) and has been elaborated by many experts. However, the discussion is scattered in various sources, particularly academic journals. This study aims to investigate the literature on the coexistence of BCs and BMs and depict the currently available situation that has not been discussed.

This study investigated articles focusing on the coexistence of BCs and BMs through heterogeneous academic databases, namely, Emerald, ProQuest, Taylor & Francis, ScienceDirect and Scopus. The systematic approach and development of inclusion criteria used in this study resulted in 52 key articles for further review. This systematic review followed the PRISMA framework and a timeframe between 2012 and 2022.

This study classifies literature based on specific themes, the integration of BC (interaction and evolution) and BM innovation (innovativeness, new value system and system logic), including the research design. As expected, the literature on BCs and BMs appears to be focused on particular themes since this topic appears to have grown. This study identifies gaps in the literature and describes future research to accommodate the study discrepancy.

The major limitation of this study is the research bias. Such a bias might occur due to the misinterpretations of researchers in this study. In the process of devising databases and keywords, this study identified the potential for misinterpretation. This study sought to use rigid protocols through a manual approach to mitigate the potential bias. A research bias also has the potential to arise in the literature classification. A literature categorization is performed back and forth, by referring to the theory or concept of a particular topic. The next limitation is limited access to scientific databases. This study drew upon several reputable scientific journal databases. However, the researcher considered the journal selection to be built upon a journal’s accessibility, multi-disciplinary nature and data size compared to other journals. It allows the analysis results to be biased, as they do not represent all available databases. However, the study used the available formal access to maintain the integrity of this research.

This study conducts a systematic review that discusses the coexistence of BCs and BMs. Furthermore, it provides a profound understanding of the discussion carried out through certain themes and the outlook for the future.

The objective of this paper is to quantitatively assess shear band evolution by using two-dimensional discrete element method (DEM).

The DEM model was first calibrated by retrospectively modelling existing triaxial tests. A series of DEM analyses was then conducted with the focus on the particle rotation during loading. An approach based on particle rotation was developed to precisely identify the shear band region from the surrounding. In this approach, a threshold rotation angle ω₀ was defined to distinguish the potential particles inside and outside the shear band and an index g(ω₀) was introduced to assess the discrepancy between the rotation response inside and outside shear band. The most distinct shear band region can be determined by the ω₀ corresponding to the peak g(ω₀). By using the proposed approach, the shear band development of two computational cases with different typical localised failure patterns were successfully examined by quantitatively measuring the inclination angle and thickness of shear band, as well as the microscopic quantities.

The results show that the shear band formation is stress-dependent, transiting from conjugated double shear bands to single shear band with confining stress increasing. The shear band evolution of two typical localised failure modes exhibits opposite trends with increasing strain level, both in inclination angle and thickness. Shear band featured a larger volumetric dilatancy and a lower coordination number than the surrounding. The shear band also significantly disturbs the induced anisotropy of soil.

This paper proposed an approach to quantitatively assess shear band evolution based on the result of two-dimensional DEM modelling.

This study aims to examine factors affecting Chinese adolescents’ purchase intention for local brands; this study focuses on the effects of perceived social status value and materialistic values.

A theoretical model relating perceived social status value of brands to purchase intention, including materialistic values as a moderator, was developed and tested, using a sample of 587 Chinese adolescent respondents. Another experimental study examined the variability of the moderation of materialistic values across different levels of peer pressure in a product usage occasion.

Perceived social status value associated with local and foreign brands significantly influences purchase intention for local brands. Moreover, influence of perceived social status value of local versus foreign brands on local brand purchase intention is greater for materialistic adolescents. Additionally, the moderation of materialistic values is found in a product usage occasion with high peer pressure, but not in an occasion with low peer pressure.

The findings show that perceived social status value associated with brands shapes purchase intention for local brands. The moderating effect of materialistic values is complex and suggests further research. The study’s scope is limited to Chinese adolescents.

The findings provide understanding of the drivers of purchase intention, and thus serve as a guideline for Chinese firms and foreign marketers seeking to enter the growing Chinese market, as well as consumer educators in China.

This study contributes to the limited empirical research into the factors shaping country-of-origin effects. Moreover, the findings suggest the need to consider the moderating role of materialistic values on purchase intention for local brands.

The paper formulates a bi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear programming model, aimed at minimizing the total labor hours and the workload unfairness for the multi-skilled worker assignment problem in Seru production system (SPS).

Three approaches, namely epsilon-constraint method, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm 2 (NSGA-II) and improved strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA2), are designed for solving the problem.

Numerous experiments are performed to assess the applicability of the proposed model and evaluate the performance of algorithms. The merged Pareto-fronts obtained from both NSGA-II and SPEA2 were proposed as final solutions to provide useful information for decision-makers.

SPS has the flexibility to respond to the changing demand for small amount production of multiple varieties products. Assigning cross-trained workers to obtain flexibility has emerged as a major concern for the implementation of SPS. Most enterprises focus solely on measures of production efficiency, such as minimizing the total throughput time. Solutions based on optimizing efficiency measures alone can be unacceptable by workers who have high proficiency levels when they are achieved at the expense of the workers taking more workload. Therefore, study the tradeoff between production efficiency and fairness in the multi-skilled worker assignment problem is very important for SPS.

The study investigates a new mixed-integer programming model to optimize worker-to-seru assignment, batch-to-seru assignment and task-to-worker assignment in SPS. In order to solve the proposed problem, three problem-specific solution approaches are proposed.

This paper aims to offeri novel nano-additives polymer microgels to precisely improve the lubrication properties of titanium alloy under different temperatures.

The surfactant-free emulsion polymerization method was used to prepare Poly(N-isoprolylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels. A ball-on-disk tribometer was applied to investigated the temperature-sensitive lubrication behavior of PNIPAM microgels.

The results show that the as-prepared microgels are ball-like nanoparticles with the size of 50–900 nm. In addition, potassium persulfate as initiator, complete mixing technic and high sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration contribute to the formation of microgels with small size. The tribosystem shows a lower friction coefficient with the lubrication of PNIPAM microgels as aqueous solution additives when the temperature exceeding the critical temperature.

This work reports the temperature-sensitive lubrication of PNIPAM microgels. The critical temperature of PNIPAM microgels could be regulated by the addition of SDS in the solutions. This offers an effective and facile strategy for regulation of the critical temperature of smart microgels, which is helpful for the smart lubrication in the future.

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the size effect (groove width, unit length and area density) of the hexagonal texture on tribological properties under lubrication.

The tribological properties of nine hexagonal textures with different hexagon lengths and groove widths have been investigated under mixed lubrication to elucidate the size effect.

Overall, the friction coefficient decreases as the groove width increases within the examined range, whereas the hexagon length shows an optimal value around 3 mm. In particular, one hexagonal texture (3 × 3 mm) exhibits lower friction coefficients and less wear losses than the others. Interestingly, two hexagonal textures of similar area density (1 × 1 mm and 3 × 3 mm) yield the worst and best tribological performances, respectively, which can be explained by the simulated distribution of equivalent stress.

The tribological properties of nine hexagonal textures are examined under lubrication. The 3 × 3 texture exhibits lower friction coefficient and wear loss than the others. Two textures of similar area density yield the worst and best tribological performances. The results agree with the simulated distribution of equivalent stress.