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This paper aims to compare the pre‐service teachers from Singapore and the UK on their self‐reported attitude towards computer use (ATCU) by employing the technology acceptance model (TAM) as the research framework.

In total, 395 pre‐service teachers completed a survey questionnaire measuring their responses to three constructs: perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU) and ATCU. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used as the technique for data analysis.

The results of this paper show that there are full configural and metric invariance, and partial scalar invariance and factor variance. In addition, it is found that pre‐service teachers' attitudes towards computer use in the UK are less affected by PU compared to their counterparts in Singapore.

This paper contributes to the growing interest among technology acceptance researchers in expanding and extending the TAM to explain users' ATCU. Although much research has been conducted using the TAM, comparisons across different cultural users are few. This paper shows the similarities and differences of two culturally diverse technology users: Singapore and the UK. The use of multi‐group invariance analysis as part of the SEM framework allow more complex analysis to be conducted, relative to the t‐test that is commonly used to compare mean differences between two groups.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factor structure of safety culture construct among engineering students at university context and to examine the measurement invariance of this instrument across different socio-demographic groups in a sample of engineering students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

An exploratory online questionnaire was completed by 770 undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students across the UAE. Data were analyzed using a diversified multi-group and a robust and sophisticated cross-validation testing strategy. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test factor structures identified in previous studies. Multi-group invariance testing was conducted to determine the extent to which factor structure is comparable across groups (i.e. gender, educational and experiential background).

Three-factor model was preferred for its parsimony. The results showed that the level of safety awareness and attitude is relatively satisfactory, whereas safety behaviour is inadequate. No significant difference was showed in multi-group invariance between demographic groups.

This research is a cross-sectional study and limited to the views of engineering students (informal group). The study would benefit from both informal and formal groups in assessing safety culture at university for a robust empirical evidence. The research highlights relevant implications for policy and program development, by pointing to the need to promote safety culture and mitigate safety-related accidents among engineering students.

This paper offers insight into benefit of understanding the level of safety culture among engineering students and extend knowledge of informal group involvement in safety-related accidents at university level.

The testing of measurement invariance is important in cross-cultural research to establish whether the psychometric properties of an instrument remain valid and reliable across different sample groups as these assumptions are rarely tested statistically. The purpose of this paper is to determine the factorial invariance of the employee engagement questionnaire across the various race groups by means of structural equation modelling.

Cross-sectional and descriptive research designs were followed in this study in the form of non-probability, convenience sampling to attract a sample of 1,175 employees in financial institutions. The employee engagement instrument (EEI) was electronically administered to 285,000 people who form part of a research database.

The results confirmed the reliability and validity of the instrument as determined by the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Lastly, the results indicated that invariance can be assumed across race groups for financial institutions.

It is important for organisations to take cognisance of how specific socio-demographic variables influence the measurement of employee engagement, in this case race. The conclusion reached was that the EEI can be used with confidence in the financial sector for future employee engagement assessments.

These findings add to the current body of literature that exists on employee engagement and race in the South African work context and addresses one of the complexities assessment practitioners might have to comply with regarding questionnaire validity across race groups.

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale is a widely used instrument for studying depression in the general population. It has been translated into several languages. Cross-cultural relevance of the construct of depression and cultural equivalence of the CES-D items used to measure it are crucial for international research on depression. Given the increasing number of refugees from Eritrea entering the USA and Europe, there is a need among health care researchers and providers for an instrument to assess depressive symptoms in the native language of this vulnerable population. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The study employed forward–backward translation and assessed the CES-D scale for cross-cultural research and depression screening among Tigrigna-speaking Eritrean refugees. Forward–backward translation, cognitive interview and semantic analysis were conducted to ensure equivalence of comprehension of the items and instructions between Tigrigna- and English-speaking samples. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the measurement invariance of the translated version.

Translation efforts were successful as reflected by the results of semantic analysis and pilot testing. Evidence supporting the measurement invariance of data collected using the Tigrigna version of the CES-D was obtained from a sample of 253 Eritrean refugees in the USA.

The findings of this study provide support for reliability and validity of data collected using the Tigrigna version of the CES-D scale. This important tool for assessing depression symptoms among Eritrean refugees is now available for health care providers and researchers working with this vulnerable population.

This work is an original work of the authors and it has not been published previously.

The goals of this study are to evaluate the factorial validity of a measurement model of cultural heritage portals and to test the model's invariance as it relates to user satisfaction.

A measurement model was created by adapting multiple existing scales with the hypothesis that overall user satisfaction with a cultural heritage portal consists of satisfaction with data quality, satisfaction with service quality and users' technology acceptance. The validity of the indicator variables of each of the adapted scales was tested, then a combined measurement model was tested, via confirmatory factor analysis. The re-specified measurement model was then tested for invariance between two age groups with increasingly stringent criteria.

The analyses indicated that the three frameworks complement each other in assessing the factors influencing user satisfaction, especially in cultural heritage portals, and that the factor structure is the same across age groups, confirming the findings of the recent online trend: some of the key internet activities such as information consumption are becoming uniformly popular across different age groups.

Considering that it is not usual for non-profit organisations to assess customer satisfaction, and there exists limited literature examining factors influencing user satisfaction with cultural heritage portals, especially with different age populations, the findings of the current study provide a valuable contribution to the literature. The study also benefits practitioners in the field by providing a framework to assess user satisfaction with existing cultural heritage portals and/or to build cultural heritage portals in a way that increases users' satisfaction, regardless of age group.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of product and customer dimensions in the contribution of brand experience to the formation of true brand loyalty. The dimensions included are brand credibility, affective commitment and involvement. Synthesising past studies, the researcher proposes brand credibility and affective commitment to mediate the relationship between brand experience and true brand loyalty. Furthermore, the researcher investigates the variation in hierarchical pattern, i.e. brand experience-brand credibility affective commitment-true brand loyalty, under different levels of involvement.

The variations in hierarchy were compared by design. The authors investigated the variations in hierarchy on the basis of products which belong to different level of involvement, on the basis of individual differences in involvement, and on the basis of the interaction of product involvement and subject involvement. Multi-group invariance tests in SEM were used to explore model variations.

The hierarchy-of-effect model was found to vary based on the level of product involvement, subject involvement and interaction involvement. Three patterns of hierarchy have been observed: the first pattern was observed in high-high groups (both product involvement and subject involvement were high), the second pattern was observed in low-low groups (both product and subject involvements were low) and the third pattern among high-low or low-high groups.

The variation observed highlights the need to segment the market by interaction involvement. This would be useful for managers engaged in building sustainable consumer-brand relationships.

This study considered the interaction of product approach and subject approach in defining involvement which is rarely attempted in research. The study also integrates the variations in the role of customer dimensions, namely involvement, brand credibility and affective commitment with the relationship between the central constructs brand experience and true brand loyalty. The variations observed are among a socio-economically homogeneous sample of respondents.

The integration of relevant antecedents into TAM would lead to better understanding of the decision factors which act as enablers for the adoption of internet banking. The purpose of the paper is to determine the influence of the antecedents subjective norm, image, banks initiative, internet banking self-efficacy, internet usage efficacy, trust, perceived risk, trialability and government support on the existing constructs of the technology acceptance model (TAM) and to test measurement invariance and the moderating effect of the demographic variables on the relationship between the latent constructs used in this augmented TAM.

A survey questionnaire was administered on internet banking users and a total of 300 responses were collected. A two-step approach suggested by Hair et al. (2006) and Schumacker and Lomax (2004) was used in this study. The proposed model was assessed using the confirmatory factor analysis approach. The structural model was then tested in order to establish nomological validity. The data based on four demographic dimensions gender, age, income, education were divided into two groups for each of these demographic dimensions. The invariance test was first performed on the measurement model and then on the structural model. The measurement model and structural model were subjected to tests of equivalence of parameters across groups.

To a large extent the results of the study supports the proposed model and thereby contributes to understand the influence of subjective norm, image, banks initiative, internet banking self-efficacy, internet usage efficacy, trust, perceived risk and government support on internet banking adoption. The predictor variables in the augmented TAM were able to explain 29.9 per cent of the variance in the actual usage of internet banking as compared to the TAM which was able to explain only 26.5 per cent variance in the actual usage of internet banking. A significant difference in the relationship between the different constructs of the model was observed when the model was subjected to multi-group invariance testing.

The study suffers from the same limitations as most other studies involving TAM. In this study self-reported measures about the usage were taken as the actual usage. The findings of the study can be of use to marketers for target-specific marketing by customizing the marketing campaign focussing on the factors that were found to be strong influencers leading to the usage of internet banking for each target audience.

The main challenge in this study was to develop the conceptual model for the internet banking adoption by extending the TAM and to get a robust theoretical support from the extant literature for the relevant factors along with their relationship to uncover new insights about factors responsible for the internet banking adoption. The augmented model had an improved predictive capability and explanatory utility.

This study aims to investigate the impact of service quality (SQ), perceived value (PV) and consumer satisfaction on Thai street food, with customer satisfaction (CS) as a mediator for customer loyalty and repurchase intention (RI). It also explores how consumer trust (CT) in Thai street food safety moderates these relationships.

Structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilised to analyse the complex interrelationships between various constructs. Multi-group analyses were conducted to investigate the moderating effects of CT on the structural model, considering two distinct groups based on trust levels: low and high.

The findings revealed that SQ and PV significantly influenced CS and behavioural intention, while the perceived quality of Thai street food had no significant impact on post-COVID-19 consumer satisfaction. The study highlighted the critical role of CT in moderating the relationships between SQ, PV and CS, with distinct effects observed in groups with varying trust levels.

The research emphasises the importance of enhancing SQ and delivering value to customers in the context of Thai street food, which can contribute to increased CS, RI and positive word-of-mouth. Furthermore, the study underscores the critical role of building CT in fostering enduring customer relationships and promoting consumer satisfaction and loyalty.

This research offers valuable insights into consumer behaviour and decision-making processes, particularly within the realm of Thai street food. It underscores the significance of understanding and nurturing CT, especially in the post-COVID-19 landscape, emphasising the need for effective business strategies and consumer engagement.

This study develops and tests a theoretical research model delineating the relationships between consumers' patriotism and their response to patriotic advertising and the advertised brand, and examines if the research model has the same pattern across different sporting events. Structural Equation Modeling is employed to test the model by using data collected from three different sporting event contexts. The results provide empirical evidence of the positive influence of consumers' patriotism on attitudes towards patriotic advertising and brands in sporting event contexts. A direct effect of patriotism on sports event involvement is found in international mega-sporting events but not in a domestic (or national) sporting event.

This paper aims to examine the effects of gender and visit frequency as moderating variables on the relationships among destination perceived quality, tourist satisfaction and word-of-mouth (WOM).

This study incorporated several previous research models to propose a conceptual model that fully explains the relationships among destination perceived quality, tourist satisfaction, visit frequency and WOM. One important thing to consider is whether gender and visit frequency impact on the relationships among these factors. In addition, this study was able to generate measurement items for the dimensions by analyzing specific tourism conditions in Danang City and referring to the scales of these factors in previous studies. Quantitative research was conducted to test the scales of the research model and hypotheses through data collected from 303 domestic tourists.

Structural equation modeling and a multi-group analysis were used to test the hypotheses and the invariance of structural coefficients across groups. The results indicate that destination perceived quality has significant, positive and direct effect on tourist satisfaction; WOM is positively influenced by destination perceived quality and tourist satisfaction; and there is significant relationship between visit frequency and WOM. In particular, when exploring the impact of moderating variables such as gender and visit frequency, this study also found that the impacts of destination perceived quality on WOM are different between genders, and this impact is stronger for female rather than male tourists; and the effect of destination perceived quality on tourist satisfaction is stronger for the first visit than for later visits.

This paper is limited in its ability to gather a larger sample to more generally represent the complete domestic market, as well as in its lack of a comparison of online versus offline WOM effects by gender.

This paper was conducted to have a better understanding of how tourist demographic characteristics such as gender and visit frequency are important contributors that influence the relationships among these three factors. This paper has important implications for marketers and managers of Danang, such as local tourism authorities, commercial association managers, hotel owners, restaurant owners and tour managers working to improve the quality of this destination, and thus better satisfying tourists and competing with other destinations.