Solo dining has gained substantial recognition in the restaurant business worldwide. Considering the growing trend of solo dining, it has attracted increasing interest from academia and industry. Since the current stage of knowledge on solo dining practices and their management is limited and scattered, it requires integration to provide scholars with an outline of the current state of knowledge in this field, as well as the industry expert insights. To address this issue, the current study applies a mixed-method approach to first gather insights from the existing literature by conducting a systematic literature review (SLR). Subsequently, in order to substantiate SLR findings, a qualitative study is designed to garner industry expert views on solo dining experience, enhancing restaurant practices and strategies. The SLR has revealed three distinct thematic areas, such as solo dining antecedents, solo diner's experience while dining, and the solo diner's outcome behaviour. Based on these insights, it was necessary to identify the practical takeaways for the restaurants in the hospitality industry; therefore, a qualitative study was designed following the mixed-method approach of research design. The empirical results present solo dining strategies implemented by restaurant owners and staff. The Gioia technique of qualitative analysis of data brought forward four solo dining aggregate dimensions presenting the solo diner's profile, adaptive comfort, human touch, and restaurant strategies. This study makes a novel contribution to the solo dining literature by identifying psychophysiological aspects of solo dining and offering managerial insights for restaurant industry professionals.

Short videos are reshaping the digital landscape and opening a new frontier in digital marketing. By fostering binge-watching tendencies, cognitive lock-in, and stronger influence over consumer attention and choice, short videos create conditions for sustained engagement. Drawing on Media Systems Dependency Theory (MSDT), this study introduces a new zone phase construct and advances an integrative conceptual model that explains how the psychological mechanisms operating among short video users generate immersive experiences. Using a mixed-methods design that combined inductive exploration with deductive testing, we developed and empirically validated the model through statistical analysis. The study clarifies the drivers of habitual short video use and offers creative, actionable insights for practice. Overall, the findings yield clear implications for digital marketing strategy and make a compelling case for the strategic deployment of short videos to enhance commercial viability.