This study examines whether perceived artificial intelligence personalization (AIP) is associated with consumer-based brand equity (BE) and whether consumer identity signaling (CIS) accounts for part of that association in Pakistani e-commerce. Survey data were collected from 378 active e-commerce consumers between January and March 2026 and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling. AIP was positively associated with both BE and CIS, and CIS was positively associated with BE. Bootstrap estimates further indicated a statistically significant indirect association between AIP and BE through CIS, while the direct AIP-BE path remained significant, indicating partial mediation. The study contributes a context-specific test of how functional personalization cues may acquire symbolic value when consumers use brand-related recommendations to express identity. Because the design is cross-sectional and based on self-reports, the findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects. For practice, the results suggest that e-commerce firms should combine relevant personalization with consumer autonomy, transparency, and opportunities for identity-consistent brand engagement.
BACKGROUND: To validate a new practical Sepsis Severity Score for patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAIs) including the clinical conditions at the admission (severe sepsis/septic shock), the origin of the cIAIs, the delay in source control, the setting of acquisition and any risk factors such as age and immunosuppression.
METHODS: The WISS study (WSES cIAIs Score Study) is a multicenter observational study underwent in 132 medical institutions worldwide during a four-month study period (October 2014-February 2015). Four thousand five hundred thirty-three patients with a mean age of 51.2 years (range 18-99) were enrolled in the WISS study.
RESULTS: Univariate analysis has shown that all factors that were previously included in the WSES Sepsis Severity Score were highly statistically significant between those who died and those who survived (p