Editorial: AI capabilities, psychological and behavioral perspectives, and sustainability mechanisms in business research

Existing research published in the ABAC Journal demonstrates that the diffusion of AI and generative technologies has generated complex implications across organizational, behavioral and psychological levels in diverse contexts. At the organizational and service level, studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic indicate that AI-based customer services can enhance engagement through performance value and trust, yet such engagement does not necessarily translate into customer loyalty and may even weaken it when compared with human-based services (Meeprom & Suttikun, 2024). In educational contexts, research on AI-generated content adoption among Chinese art and design students indicates that acceptance is primarily driven by perceived benefits, usefulness, social influence, hedonic motivation and facilitating conditions, whereas perceived risk appears to have minimal influence (Wang, Li, & Zhu, 2024). At the individual level, evidence suggests that the rapid emergence and widespread use of ChatGPT is associated with increased stress at the population level, inferred through proxy indicators of public concern rather than specific stress dimensions, with particularly pronounced effects during periods of viral adoption (Khanthavit & Khanthavit, 2023).

Building on existing research that has largely focused on outcomes of AI use, Duong (2026) advances the literature by shifting attention toward the psychological mechanisms through which AI readiness translates into proactive entrepreneurial behavior. By examining literacy and self-efficacy related to digital and AI capabilities jointly within a stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model, the study shows that these factors influence digital entrepreneurial hustle through entrepreneurial identity aspiration and self-efficacy, providing a basis for examining how alignment and misalignment between these capabilities shape subsequent entrepreneurial processes. Using polynomial regression and response surface analysis, the study further clarifies how AI-driven stimuli function as a psychological catalyst for digital entrepreneurial hustle. Rather than treating AI-related capabilities as independent linear predictors, the model explicitly incorporates congruence and incongruence between AI literacy and AI self-efficacy, with the findings demonstrating that incongruence weakens identity aspiration, self-efficacy and digital entrepreneurial hustle, whereas congruence produces the strongest behavioral effects.

Prior research published in the ABAC Journal illustrates, particularly within tourism contexts, that tourist behavior and performance outcomes are shaped by the influence of organizational responses, destination attributes, psychological mechanisms and identity processes. At the organizational level, customer and competitor pressures influence cross-channel integration, which in turn enhances firm performance in tourism businesses (Luu, Duong, & Tu, 2025). Research on secondary city tourism further highlights the role of perceived value, cultural and natural attractions and brand identity in shaping tourist preferences and behaviors, while emphasizing the significance of regional-level attributes and underscoring the importance of psychologically informed, context-sensitive marketing strategies (Manosuthi, 2024). Studies on cruise tourism indicate that perceived destination quality is multidimensional, encompassing attraction-related features, environmental conditions, service and cultural offerings, overall tourist atmosphere, recreational amenities and accessibility (Rungroueng, 2025), while intention formation within this context is shaped by cognitive and affective processes grounded in the theory of planned behavior, with experiential background moderating how novelty, onboard activities and perceived risk influence decision-making among inexperienced versus experienced tourists (Rungroueng et al., 2025). At the individual level, identity salience plays a critical role in shaping engagement, as mixed incentive strategies may backfire when symbolic cues conflict with tourists' moral or pro-environmental identities (Wattanawaraporn & Manosuthi, 2025).

Extending prior research, Worrachananun, Leruksa and Laowirojanakul (2026) advance the literature by shifting the analytical focus to interpersonal psychological dynamics within travel companions. By applying the Big Five personality framework as the basis for couple-level psychological segmentation, this research conceptualizes romantic travel as a relational system in which outcomes are co-produced through perceptions of a partner's personality rather than individual cognition alone. The integration of exploratory factor analysis (EFA), cluster analysis and importance–performance map analysis (IPMA) further extends prior behavioral tourism models by identifying not only which personality traits matter for relationship engagement but also where performance gaps emerge across distinct relational segments. In doing so, the study explains why similar travel experiences may generate differing levels of relationship engagement across couples, depending on their underlying personality configurations and trait-level performance gaps.

Prior research published in the ABAC Journal conceptualizes sustainability as a multi-level phenomenon operating across governance frameworks, organizational strategies and individual behaviors. At the macro level, bibliometric evidence shows sustained growth in accounting and corporate sustainability research, reflecting increasing integration of environmental, social and governance considerations into organizational accountability and strategic decision-making (Aljawarneh, Alqmool, Huson, Jarbou, & Alqudah, 2025). This systems perspective is reinforced by firm-level studies showing that sustainability performance is shaped by organizational capabilities and change, particularly through pathways linking digital transformation to ESG ratings via green innovation within Industry 5.0 contexts (Ren, Boonlua, & Jirawuttinunt, 2025). At the organizational level, and with implications for broader sectoral sustainability, research on digitalization among micro-sized enterprises shows that digital usage practices are influenced by trust, facilitating conditions and habitual continuation, which in turn support business sustainability over time (Cahyasari & Widyastuti, 2025). At the individual level, consumer responses to firms' sustainable practices vary across demographic and behavioral factors, with green practices implemented by hospitality providers influencing perceptions and revisit intentions (Khetjenkarn & Agmapisarn, 2025). Within tourism settings, sustainability behaviors are influenced by low-carbon experiential and infrastructural attributes that enable environmentally responsible actions (Suwannakul, Khetjenkarn, Suppavorasatit, & Na Nan, 2025; Worrachananun, 2025), while deeper motivational dynamics are shaped by normative and heritage-based values, with green heritage capital serving as a compensatory mechanism when green image conditions are weak (Manosuthi, 2025).

At a system-wide level, Koh (2026) advances sustainability research toward a system-wide diagnosis of sustainability in the global Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry and business events industry. Rather than examining sustainability as a set of dispersed organizational initiatives, the study conceptualizes MICE sustainability as a collective governance and coordination problem across an interconnected value chain. A key contribution lies in identifying the absence of an industry-wide carbon emissions baseline, which currently prevents meaningful assessment of the sector's environmental impact and progress. The study further isolates food and beverage, accommodation and stand design and production as the most carbon-intensive components within the MICE supply chain that remain directly controllable by industry stakeholders. Additionally, the study highlights structural fragmentation, showing that sustainability efforts are largely siloed across industry associations, limiting their cumulative effectiveness. By proposing coordinated emissions accounting, targeted mitigation within high-impact supply-chain components and the consolidation of fragmented initiatives into a unified global sustainability movement, the study reframes sustainability mechanisms in MICE as a strategic, multi-actor transformation challenge rather than a collection of isolated best practices.

To clarify how the articles in this issue collectively extend existing scholarship, Table 1 illustrates established knowledge and highlights the specific novel contributions across the three editorial themes.