Search results

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).

Using a conjoint simulation procedure, this paper predicts the impact that university attributes have on Malaysian and Chinese students’ preferences for international universities.

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.

The simulation suggests how international universities can improve their branding strategies, and highlights the need to understand students’ preferences when developing marketing strategies.

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.

Cultivating loyal customers is a pressing concern for streamers. The present study investigates how to build interpersonal relationships with streamers and whether different interpersonal relationship factors lead to repurchase intention and WOM intention in live streaming commerce. The moderating effect of gender is also examined.

A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 429 live streaming commerce users in mainland China. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results indicate that all four streamer attributes (expertise, authenticity, attractiveness, and homophily) have a positive influence on swift guanxi, and swift guanxi is effective in predicting both calculative commitment and affective commitment. In addition, all interpersonal relationship factors (swift guanxi, calculative commitment, and affective commitment) significantly affect repurchase intentions, with only affective commitment being linked to WOM intention. Also, the moderating role of gender was confirmed in expertise – swift guanxi, attractiveness – swift guanxi, cognitive commitment – repurchase intention and affective commitment – repurchase intention linkages.

This paper contributes to the live streaming commerce literature by integrating swift guanxi, calculative commitment, and affective commitment to understand the repurchase intention and WOM intention from the relationship-building process perspective. In addition, this paper enriches the source credibility and source attractiveness models by identifying gender boundaries on the effectiveness of these models in predicting swift guanxi.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This study empirically investigated the different attributes (i.e. convenience, online reviews, online ratings, visual appeal and various food choices) of food delivery applications (FDAs) that impacted customers' perceived benefits, satisfaction and loyalty. Price consciousness was positioned as the moderator while customer satisfaction was positioned as the mediator.

Utilizing the purposive sampling technique, 360 useable respondents were gathered from existing FDAs' customers in China. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to verify the interrelationships among variables.

The results confirmed the significant impact of four FDA attributes (i.e. convenience, online ratings, visual appeal and various food choices) on perceived benefits. Customer satisfaction positively influenced loyalty. Moreover, the mediating role of customer satisfaction and the moderating role of price consciousness were confirmed.

FDA operators should engage in providing more benefits to stimulate satisfaction and loyalty among customers. Promotion discounts remain a key factor in enhancing the satisfaction and loyalty of price-conscious customers.

This study extends the applicability of the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework and enriches FDA literature by assessing the external stimuli, organisms and moderating factors that trigger customer loyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to discover authenticity dimensions that draw tourists to Melaka and George Town World Heritage Site. It also examined the mediating effect of attachment and the moderating effect of cultural motivation.

A mixed-method design was used. Qualitative approach was conducted to discover authenticity dimensions followed by a quantitative approach to explore the dimensions’ ability in predicting attachment and intention to recommend.

Findings revealed that objective, existential and food authenticity were significant stimuli of recommend intention. The mediating effect of attachment on constructive authenticity-intention and existential authenticity-intention were also supported. Cultural motivation indeed moderated the relationship between objective authenticity-attachment, constructive authenticity-attachment and existential authenticity-attachment.

Knowing that authenticity can be perceived differently, therefore, a mixed-method study design offers more insight on discovering authenticity elements. Using a qualitative approach, the study began by exploring important authenticity dimensions from both supply and demand groups, and subsequently, these dimensions were verified using quantitative approach. As expected, food authenticity was found as a standalone dimension.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the antecedents and outcome of perceived value and trust toward on-demand ridesharing services (ODRS). The antecedents are perceived innovativeness, perceived personalization, perceived usefulness of rating system and service personal values. The outcome is the continuance intention toward ODRS. This study also aims to uncover the mediating role of trust and the moderating role of technology readiness.

The ODRS considered in this research are Grab and Uber in the context of Malaysia. A questionnaire was constructed, and responses were obtained from 280 Malaysian consumers who have experienced ODRS. The authors tested the framework using partial least square structural equation modeling technique.

The result indicates several significant relationships: perceived personalization, perceived usefulness of rating system and service personal values significantly influence perceived value and trust; trust mediates the relationships between perceived personalization, perceived usefulness of rating system, service personal values and perceived value; perceived value significantly influences continuance intention; and technology readiness moderates the relationship between perceived personalization and perceived value.

The current study adds significantly to the body of knowledge about ODRS by examining the direct determinants of trust and perceived value, and exhibiting how trust mediates the mechanism. This study also illustrates the interplay of moderator (technology readiness) and perceived value.

The well-being of the elderly is a growing issue of concern for countries around the world. One way to enhance the elderly well-being is to provide housing options suitable to their needs and lifestyle. Retirement village is an accommodation concept foreign to the Malaysian population. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to bridge this literature gap by analyzing factors that may inhibit or motivate the buying intention of a retirement village unit among the elderly in Malaysia.

Data were collected from 261 Malaysian elderly and analyzed using structural equation modeling PLS.

The results indicated that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control and social sustainability were significant predictors that explained elderly buying intention of retirement village.

The study also found a significant moderating role of religion in attitude–intention relationship. The paper concludes with the study’s implications, limitations and recommendations for future research.

In the vibrant world of social commerce (SC), where information flows freely, interactions thrive and online purchases abound, there is an escalating challenge. Users are uninstalling and disengaging due to approach and avoidance stimuli, a trend mirroring the approach-avoidance motivation model (AAMM). Our study, anchored in AAMM and the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model, aims to dive into the complex dynamics of these factors that shape users' SC continuance intentions.

Our findings, drawn from 472 SC users in Malaysia, paint an intriguing research framework via PLS-SEM analysis by testing the proposed hypotheses. A purposive sampling technique was utilized, deliberately selecting respondents based on specific criteria. Subsequently, data were gathered through the distribution of face-to-face questionnaires at selected shopping malls, facilitating a focused and comprehensive exploration of consumer perspectives.

The empirical results demonstrate the following: (1) Users' determination to stay engaged on SC platforms hinges on approach factors, like emotional support, surveillance gratification and multisensory gratification. (2) Simultaneously, avoidance factors such as technostress and perceived deception exert their negative influence. (3) Flow experience, rooted in flow theory, emerges as the underlying mechanism connecting these duality stimuli, influencing the continuance intention.

In a departure from conventional research, our study pioneers a comprehensive approach and boldly confronts the research gap by introducing a rich tapestry of antecedents, embracing both the appeal of approach factors and the deterrence of avoidance ones, using the AAMM that sheds light on how individuals navigate between embracing opportunities and avoiding pitfalls based on perceived gains and losses. This holistic approach enables us to redefine our understanding of digital engagement dynamics, offering a captivating journey into the realm of user experience and intention that transcends the ordinary.

By integrating the Uses and Gratifications Theory and Flow Theory, this research seeks to untwine the veiled effects of interactive commerce enhancements (ICEs), specifically haptic imagery and social presence, in promoting user immersion and sustaining social commerce (SC) users' usage intention, considering the moderating role of autotelic personality.

The research utilized purposive sampling of Malaysian SC app users with recent transactions. A dual-source data collection approach, encompassing offline and online channels, was employed to ensure a broad and diverse respondent pool. Partial least squares–structural equation modeling was chosen for its adeptness in analyzing complex relationships in predictive studies.

The findings revealed the significant positive effects of haptic imagery and social presence on user immersion and continuance intention within SC apps. Social presence and immersion were found to mediate the proposed paths. Additionally, autotelic personality traits were identified as moderators, influencing the strength of these relationships.

This research makes a unique contribution by addressing critical gaps in SC environments, extending the concept of ICEs, understanding the impacts of underlying mediators and pioneering the examination of autotelic personality traits' moderating effects. It introduces a fresh perspective on how individual differences impact user engagement. This groundbreaking study benefits social media and interactive marketing literature by comprehensively understanding how ICEs elevate SC, fostering innovation and heightened engagement.

The purpose of this paper is to determine factors that influenced international university preference, looking at country of origin (COO), that is the COO of the course and program modes (PMs). This study specifically focusses on differences in perceptions across students from Malaysia and China.

Conjoint analysis was used to examine the relative importances and part-worth scores of these attributes on international university preferences.

PM and country of design (COD) had a major influence on Malaysian and Chinese students’ preferences for international universities. Online distance learning was the least preferred option, while offshore campuses were more acceptable to Malaysian students compared to Chinese students. Malaysian students preferred to study in the UK, while Chinese students favored Australia. Malaysian students were also found to be more cost sensitive compared to Chinese students, while the latter were more motivated by job prospects offered by an institution.

Limitations include the specific sample, pre-university students only from developed countries (Malaysia and China), which limits the generalizability to students from other countries.

This study offers insights in the effect of COD and PM on students’ preferences for international universities, as well as other previously studied university-level attributes in a higher education setting. With a better understanding of factors affecting these preferences, higher educational institutions are better placed to implement a suitable marketing strategy to attract more international students.

This study examines the impact COD, Delivery Mode (DM) and other university level attributes have on Malaysian and Chinese pre-university students ' preferences for international universities. COD and DM were found to be extremely important factors that dominated the students ' preferences. The study highlights the need to focus on different university attributes in different markets and to consider COD and DM issues in order to gain a larger market share of international students.