Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition (Thomson Reuters)

Weights of criteria are playing a significant role in the wide range of MCDM (multiple criteria decision making) evaluation models. Results of evaluation significantly depend on magnitudes of weights as they proportionally transmit importance of each criterion to the final result of evaluation along with values of criteria placed in the decision matrix. There are two broad categories of methods for eliciting weights of criteria, subjective and objective. The former methods are based on opinions of experts, while the latter group of methods reflects the structure of data. The entropy method can be found within the most popular group of objective methods; it reflects the degree of diversification among values of criteria. Shortcomings of the entropy method are explained in the paper, especially the ones that are arising in the way of its extension to fuzzy MCDM. The authors propose extension of the earlier introduced criterion impact loss (CILOS) method to fuzzy MCDM that mitigate some shortcomings of the entropy. The latter method is based on the losses of values of criteria comparing to the ones that belong to the alternative with the best values. In the paper extension FIDOCRIW (Fuzzy Integrated Determination of Objective CRIteria Weights ) of the combination of both above-mentioned methods, entropy and CILOS, to fuzzy MCDM is proposed. Obstacles related to such extension are outlined and described. The paper provides a detailed explanation of the obstacles of extending the methods to fuzzy MCDM. Proposed in the paper FIDOCRIW method retains idea of the IDOCRIW method of combining the entropy with CILOS method. In contrast, the FIDOCRIW processes fuzzy numbers instead of real ones. This comprises uncertainty of data. The method allows to fully retain the fuzzy structure of the decision matrix along the full framework of the method. Resulting fuzzy weights allow to use the full scope of fuzzy MCDM methods, e.g. to comprise FIDOCRIW fuzzy weights with the fuzzy data that describe alternatives. Thus evaluation of alternatives in the environment with a degree of uncertainty can be performed.

As a part of SNS, the social media has developed rapidly in the cyber world, provoking researchers to study the effects of social media on various dimensions of the societal life. The literature review reveals that social currency and brand equity have been investigated so far, but the effect of these variables on consumers' purchase intention is yet unknown. Therefore, this paper intends to investigate the effect of social currency aspects on purchase intention for consumers with the mediating role of brand equity measures. First, this study aims to provide empirical data on the topic. Second, it provides empirically tested model to analyse the effect of brand equity measures on purchase intention in social communities. To do this, partial least squares approach was utilized to analyse the date obtained from the customers of an internet store in Iran. The results reveal that brand trust and brand loyalty as measures of brand equity are affected by social currency. But the impact of social currency on brand perceived quality is not supported. Our findings can broaden the understanding of researchers and managers in various dimensions of social currency, brand equity, and purchase intention and further the research agenda in the literature.

Competition is increasing in some market. In order to gain share and compete with firms, building consumer loyalty is a crucial factor. Current study's goal is examination of the practicality and applications of perceived value (PV) and customer satisfaction (CS) on customer loyalty (CL) in banking industry based on European customer satisfaction index (ECSI) model. The results showed that PV affected positively by customer image (CI), customer expectation (CE), perceived quality of hardware and software. In addition, PV influences CS. On the other hand, CS affects CL positively. Based on the results, CS is the most important factor in determining CL. Therefore, organizations should go beyond customers' initial needs, meet customers' expectations and focus on creating loyalty and faithfulness by building a long-term, profitable and mutual relationship rather than concentrating on customer satisfaction solely. This paper provides valuable insight into the measurement of ECSI model in banking industry.

The development of the sustainable tourism is the core policy for many developed and developing countries. The paper aims to assess the connections between agriculture and tourism by enhancing sustainable development in both tourism and rural communities and agriculture sectors. The principles of sustainable economic development are analysed and priorities of sustainable tourism development in EU are provided. The framework of indicators for connection of sustainable rural tourism with rural sustainability is given by providing empirical data for five new EU member states: Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland and Hungary.