Higher education is an increasingly competitive global market. Consequently, it is crucial that universities fully understand students’ motivations in university selection. While past research mainly focused on university-level attributes, this study extends the factors used to evaluate different international universities to include both the university's country and the programme's mode of delivery. Following a qualitative stage, conjoint analysis was used to examine the relative importances and part-worth utility scores of these attributes on students’ perceived risk (performance, financial and social) when selecting an international university. The study found that country of origin and delivery mode contributed significantly to all three risk types, in particular to social risk. With an enhanced understanding of factors affecting these risk perceptions, higher educational marketers are better placed to implement suitable marketing strategies that minimise risk perceptions, helping to attract more international students.
While gender and age are considered as important demographic factors in tourism segmentation, lack of attention has been given by tourism researchers. Moreover, gender and age analysis within tourism studies are still limited, particularly in the context of choice of destination. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of gender and age in determining the destination choice. Langkawi has been chosen as a location for the study due to its popularity among the local and international tourist. Survey questionnaire is used as a tool for data collection. A total of 529 Langkawi holidaymakers participated in the study. T-test and ANOVA has been employed to analyse the data. The findings indicate that gender and age both influence Langkawi being chosen as a holiday destination. Male and female consumers place different emphasis on the selection of Langkawi as a destination of choice. These findings suggest that tourism advertisers and destination promoters need to be aware of different needs and wants of both males and females. However, tourists of different ages evaluate Langkawi similarly, which marketers can use a variety of promotion packages for all age group. The study's practical implications and limitations are discussed.
Competition in the on-demand ridesharing service industry is becoming increasingly intense, and sustainability of this innovative business model is uncertain. Studying service personal values may provide insight for service providers to implement appropriate customer retention strategies. Therefore, the objectives of this study was to validate a structural model where service personal values influence perceived value, and perceived value acts as the predictor of satisfaction, which in turn, affects customers’ continuance intention. Through a purposive sampling technique, 280 questionnaires were collected from respondents with experience using on-demand ridesharing services in Malaysia. The findings revealed that service personal values influenced perceived value, perceived value influenced satisfaction, and satisfaction influenced continuance intention. Furthermore, perceived value mediated the relationship between service personal values and satisfaction. Implications and future research directions were discussed.
Purpose In recent times, many universities have been pressured to become heavily involved in university branding. The purpose of this paper is to investigate students’ perceptions of different international universities (brands) in terms of important university attributes, including the country in which the university’s main campus is located and educational programs are designed (COD) and the method by which the educational services are distributed internationally (DM). Design/methodology/approach Using a conjoint simulation procedure, this paper predicts the impact that university attributes have on Malaysian and Chinese students’ preferences for international universities. Findings The results suggest that, although COD and DM are important factors, the extent to which these factors dominate student preference differs significantly across students according to nationality. Research limitations/implications The simulation suggests how international universities can improve their branding strategies, and highlights the need to understand students’ preferences when developing marketing strategies. Originality/value Past research has compared the importance of university attributes across countries from the perspective of students, but failed to assess this issue in the light of existing university brands (at an institutional or country level). Such knowledge can provide an indication of student preferences and competitive performance, which are of great interest to education marketers. The present study predicts the impact of various university attributes on Malaysian and Chinese students’ preferences for specific international universities (brands) in four different countries, and changes in preference that occur when the style of delivery or course suitability is altered.
The importance of halal tourism has prompted countries and business operators to place more emphasis on this lucrative sector. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of halal-friendly destination attributes on inbound tourists’ behavioral intention in the context of Malaysia. Furthermore, a comparative analysis was conducted to investigate the similarities and differences between Chinese and Indonesian Muslim tourists. A total of 666 observations were collected using surveys and the data sets were analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling. The empirical results show that both countries have indicated variations in terms of preferences for social environment, services, and facilities. We contribute to the knowledge on the constitutive attributes of the halal-friendly destination, while providing theoretical explanations for the differences among Muslim tourists in the Asian markets. Finally, directions for future research are proposed.
Amid limited understanding on the effect of knowledge-based human resource management on innovative outcomes as well as international performance, this paper intends to narrow these gaps by providing empirical evidence from the lens of 278 business service small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Malaysia. This is pertinent as knowledge-based human resource management, which is a performance-based HRM practice, is the key in facilitating the creation of innovative services that will lead to international performance. Our study indicates three key findings. First, knowledge-based human resource management was found to positively influence international performance. Second, innovative service offering was found to mediate the knowledge-based human resource management - international performance relationship. Third, innovative service offering's influence on international performance relationship was contingent upon foreign experiential knowledge (indicated by the number of markets that the SMEs are serving). In other words, this study uncovers a mechanism and a conditional factor for knowledge-based human resource management that will bring optimised effect on the international performance of business service SMEs.
Purpose Based on the computers as social actors (CASA) theory, this study aims to explore the impact of three characteristics of virtual influencers (conversational tone, autonomy and responsiveness) on social presence, telepresence and customer engagement. Design/methodology/approach Using the purposive sampling technique, online survey was administered to Chinese Gen-Z consumers engaging with virtual influencers. Subsequently, 357 respondents were sampled. SPSS 29.0 and Smart PLS 4.0 were used to perform the analyses. Findings The results show that conversational tone and responsiveness have significant positive effects on both social presence and telepresence. Autonomy has a positive effect on telepresence, but not social presence. Social presence and telepresence have a positive impact on customer engagement. Originality/value As a burgeoning field, there is still uncertainty among both practitioners and researchers about the methods that virtual influencers engage their users in the context of social media. Limited research has focused on presence (social presence and telepresence) due to virtual influencers. Therefore, the CASA theory offers valuable insights into how virtual influencers’ characteristics contribute to the presence and customer engagement and provides practical guidance for the design of virtual influencers.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: This paper presents a systematic literature review on flow experience to identify the theoretical underpinnings, outcomes, antecedents, and empirical dimensions of the phenomenon used in social commerce empirical models.
Due to their perishable nature, the supply chain of fresh fruits and
vegetables is sensitive and uncertain, which poses several risks to
agropreneurs of fresh fruits and vegetables in Malaysia. The country’s farming community faces dire challenges in terms of escalating food production costs and the need to push for higher productivity gains. In particular, agri-fresh supply chains need to be managed in ways that help firms and managers effectively handle risks and improve performance. Therefore, to investigate the complex nature of agri-fresh supply chain risk, a qualitative study was conducted amongst 50 smallholder agropreneurs from five different states of Malaysia. Using thematic analysis of respondent interviews, multiple risks were identified that highly impact performance and create uncertainty along the supply chain. Although most agropreneurs work well internally, the major issue faced by them is the failure to implement external supply chain risk management with other trading partners. Moving forward, to minimize supply chain risks and increase performance of
agri-fresh supply chains in Malaysia, the development of a formal
mechanism of supply chain risk management is necessary.
Organ transplantation is considered an alternative treatment to save lives or to improve the quality of life and is a successful method for the treatment of patients with end-stage organ diseases. The main objective of the current study was to explore the determinants of the attitudes and willingness to communicate the posthumous organ donation decisions to the families. Questionnaires were used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results confirmed altruism, knowledge, empathy, and self-identity as the antecedents to attitude. We also found perceived behavioral control, moral norms, and attitude as significant antecedents to the willingness to donate organs after death. The results of the study also indicated that those who were willing to sign the donor card were also willing to communicate their decision to their families. Religiosity moderated the relationship between willingness to donate and signing the donor card, and it strengthened the relationship. The findings of this study would provide insight into the factors which can influence posthumous organ donation among university students in Pakistan.
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