Forum Scientiae Oeconomia

Wine Tourism as a Place-Based Strategy for Value Creation and Regional Development

Eduardo Sanchez-Garcia — 2026-06-24

This study aims to analyse how wine tourism contributes to economic, social, and environmental outcomes at both the winery and regional levels, and to examine its strategic role within an emerging wine tourism destination. A qualitative case study approach was adopted, and data were collected through an in-depth semi-structured interview with the winery’s senior management, direct observation, and documentary analysis, following a triple bottom line perspective to capture multidimensional impacts. The findings show that wine tourism does not function as a primary revenue source but plays a strategically significant role by enhancing financial stability, brand positioning, and market access, while at the regional level, it generates spillover effects through employment creation, cooperation with local actors, and destination branding. Socially, it contributes to cultural valorisation and learning opportunities, although deeper community embeddedness depends on education and long-term institutional commitment. Environmentally, it reinforces resource efficiency and landscape preservation but increases pressure on fragile ecosystems in the absence of coordinated territorial governance. This research presents empirical evidence from Mexico, an underexplored context in wine tourism research, advances understanding of wine tourism as a relational and place-based mechanism linking firm strategy with regional sustainability outcomes, and provides relevant theoretical, managerial, and policy implications for wine tourism and regional development, offering insights on how to integrate wine tourism into sustainable regional development strategies.

Urbanisation and Social Development among EU Countries within Attaining SDGs

Aleksy Kwilinski — 2026-06-24

Urban areas frequently provide improved access to resources and services; however, the presence of disparities (distribution of resources, opportunities, and services) within and among cities impedes the equitable achievement of global development objectives across EU member states. In the context of EU member states, these disparities can manifest in various ways and have significant implications for sustainable development and social equality. It is necessary to address these urban-related challenges and disparities to ensure the comprehensive implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in EU countries. This paper explores the complex interplay between urbanisation, social development, and the realisation of SDGs in EU countries during the period from 2004 to 2021. Employing the system generalised method of moments (GMM) analysis, this study seeks to empirically validate the hypothesis suggesting that increasing urbanisation is associated with enhanced social equity, which in turn positively influences the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The research findings reveal a compelling pattern: as urbanisation experiences growth, it stimulates a simultaneous reduction in social inequities within EU member states. Moreover, this diminishing trend in social inequalities exerts a favourable impact on the attainment of SDGs. This research contributes to the understanding of the multifaceted challenges and opportunities associated with promoting sustainable development across the diverse urban landscapes of the EU. These findings could lead policymakers to design targeted interventions and strategies aimed at fostering greater equity and inclusivity in the pursuit of the SDGs within the EU context.

E-commerce Orientation and Post-Pandemic Recovery: Evidence from Polish Textile Firms Listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

Tomasz Czajkowski — 2026-06-24

This research analyses the financial resilience of Polish textile and clothing firms listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) during the period of the pandemic known as the “COVID-19 shock” and the subsequent recovery. A comparative, year-to-year analysis of ten firms’ net revenues, net profits, total assets, equity, and profitability ratios (ROA and ROE) was conducted using publicly available annual financial statements for 2017–2023, complemented by profitability heatmaps, a growth–profitability strategy map, and fixed-effects panel contrasts to assess post-pandemic recovery patterns. The findings indicate a widespread decline in performance in 2020, subsequently followed by a strong (but uneven) normalisation in 2021–2022 and a deceleration in 2023, with considerable variation among firms and business models. These patterns are consistent with the view that differences in firms’ strategic positioning, including the ability to sustain sales and operations under mobility restrictions, may be associated with faster recovery. In addition, the study operationalises digital/omnichannel orientation using public disclosures and online-sales intensity, finding that higher pre-pandemic online intensity is associated with stronger post-2020 performance in fixed-effects contrasts, while non-parametric “rebound” tests yield more mixed evidence, underscoring that the relationship is not automatic. The evidence suggests that listed firms were largely able to restore profitability after the initial shock, but financial outcomes diverged markedly across companies.

The Role of Collective Intelligence in Fostering Green Innovation: The Mediation Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility

Houda Tira Nouicer — 2026-06-24

Green innovation has become a primary driver for the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems. While collective intelligence, corporate social responsibility, and green innovation have been studied individually, integrated theoretical models remain limited. This study has two main objectives. First, it examines the direct effect of collective intelligence on green innovation. Second, it also examines the indirect effect of collective intelligence on green innovation by focusing on the mediating role of corporate social responsibility in this relationship. The research adopted a quantitative research design via a survey conducted among 745 Tunisian firms. The data collected were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) by means of AMOS version 23 software to test the relationships between the integrated variables in the research conceptual model. A re-tested scale was adopted in the study based on a literature review. The convergent and discriminant validity as well as Cronbach’s alpha were tested and ensured that they met the requisite standard. A structural model was developed to confirm the abovementioned relationships. The quantitative results demonstrate that collective intelligence has a significant and positive effect on green innovation. Specifically, the study confirms that corporate social responsibility plays a partial mediating role in this relationship. Four key findings emerge: first, collective intelligence directly fosters innovative green practices; second, the interaction between collective intelligence and social responsibility strengthens firm outcomes; third, shared decision-making and knowledge exchange are vital capabilities; and fourth, the partial mediation highlights that social responsibility acts as a strategic bridge for sustainable initiatives. This study provides empirical evidence encouraging firms to invest in collective intelligence and capability development. The findings indicate that embedding corporate social responsibility into corporate strategy enhances the impact of green innovation. Ultimately, this integration supports genuinely sustainable decision-making processes within the Tunisian business context. Therefore, both theoretical and practical implications were suggested.

How Marketing Insight Shapes Brand Engagement and Loyalty: An Integrated Model of Psychological, Behavioural, and Creative Antecedents

Jose Magano — 2026-06-24

This study proposes and tests an integrated model of marketing insight–a brand's ability to understand and respond to how consumers think, feel, act, and derive meaning–comprising three theoretically grounded dimensions: psychological insight (attachment, self-congruity, brand trust), behavioural insight (habit, participatory behaviours), and creative insight (perceived creativity, narrative authenticity, symbolic resonance). Each dimension is theoretically mapped onto one of the three constitutive components of Consumer Brand Engagement (CBE) theory, ensuring coherence between the antecedent system and the mediating construct. A cross-sectional consumer survey (N = 462) was analysed using PLS-SEM. All three insight dimensions significantly predict brand engagement, which in turn predicts loyalty, with the model explaining 79.2% of variance in engagement and 72.7% in loyalty. Critically, the pathway from insight to loyalty is contingent: creative insight affects loyalty exclusively through engagement (full mediation; VAF = 54.9%), while psychological and behavioural insights retain significant direct routes to loyalty (partial mediation), with behavioural insight exhibiting the strongest direct path (β = 0.480). This contingency finding advances CBE theory by demonstrating that engagement is not a universal relational intermediary–a nuance that prior fragmented, single-antecedent models were structurally unable to detect. The study reconceptualises marketing insight as a measurable antecedent system, empirically differentiates habitual loyalty from engaged loyalty, and provides managers with a diagnostic framework for balancing psychological, behavioural, and creative brand strategies across industry contexts including technology brands, fast-moving consumer goods, and fashion and lifestyle categories.