s The luxury sector targets its products and services at consumers on the top-end of the wealth s... more s The luxury sector targets its products and services at consumers on the top-end of the wealth spectrum. These self-selected elite are more or less price insensitive and choose to spend their time and money on objects that are plainly opulence rather than necessities. For these reasons, luxury and prestige brands have for centuries commanded an unwavering and often illogical customer loyalty. In fact, luxury goods are often highly priced products in the niche market of goods and individuals purchase these goods for different purposes. Thus, this research would like to investigate why women are likely to purchase a piece of expensive headband accessory rather than buying a normal hair band accessory. This research generally would like to understand the attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavior control of the women on their intention toward buying luxury brand of Sereni & Shentel headband. Data from 187 questionnaires were completed by women living in Kuching City, state of Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings of the research showed that Perceived Quality and Emotional Value have a significant effect on the intention to purchase luxury brand of Sereni & Shentel headband product. Implications, limitations and areas for future research are also discussed.
The two dimensions of value co-creation behaviour from the perspectives of customer participation... more The two dimensions of value co-creation behaviour from the perspectives of customer participation and customer citizenship and its effect on loyalty were examined in this present work. The customer in the context of this study refers to members of credit cooperative who have used credit services and facilities provided. Hence, the present study lays the foundation by examining the effect of two dimensions of value co-creation behaviour on loyalty and the mediating effect of trust on the relationship. The study adopted a quantitative approach by using self-administered questionnaire and utilizes variance-based structural equation modelling to perform the latent variable analysis. The contribution of this present study stems the knowledge of the mediation effect of trust by incorporating value co-creation in the context of cooperatives that has filled up the knowledge gap and contributed to the management practice of value co-creation by delving into its effect on trust and eventual loyalty.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchase intention of students in Kota Samarahan ... more The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchase intention of students in Kota Samarahan and its association with electronic word of mouth and brand image. Also, this study aims to identify which of the independent variables (electronic word of mouth and brand image) provide more impact toward purchase intention. The data set is collected through self‐administered questionnaire and conveniently collected using non‐ probability random sampling method. A sample of 380 was collected from Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between brand image and purchase intention but an opposite for electronic word of mouth. Based on the results, it can be said that brand image provide more impact toward purchase intention compared to electronic word of mouth. This study is more important for marketers to understand the consumer's smart phone purchase intention to be more competitive. This study explores the contribution of interpersonal influence and brand image on purchase intention in smart phone industry. In addition, research showed that e‐WOM has no direct effect on purchase intention. As compared to other previous studies carried out, the result is unique as most studies show that e‐WOM has a strong direct effect on purchase intention.
Although there are a number of studies on entrepreneurial intention, women in entrepreneurship ar... more Although there are a number of studies on entrepreneurial intention, women in entrepreneurship are becoming one of the main attractions and concerns among researchers nowadays. The entrepreneurial intention of women is essential to the development of entrepreneurial activities because it acts as a background for entrepreneurs to be competitive and enhance their abilities to achieve the business objective. The present study serves a ground work to determine the factors that influence women's entrepreneurial intention with a focus on women as micro-enterprise entrepreneurs in Small and Medium Industries (SMEs) in Kuching, Sarawak. Self-Efficacy and familial factor are looked into to assess their effect on women's entrepreneurial intention. A quantitative approach was adopted whereby a self-administered questionnaire was designed and pre-tested. Questionnaires were distributed to women entrepreneurs in Kuching who registered under the Wawasan Women Entrepreneur Sarawak (SARANITA) program. The data obtained were then analyzed using SPSS 22. The result shows that both dimensions of self-efficacy and familial factor have a positive effect on women's entrepreneurial intention. The result also indicates that self-efficacy is the critical factor followed by familial factor that drives their business intention. Hence, understanding women's entrepreneurial intention towards business could help to strengthen their roles in the developing market and economies.
Service quality is a global judgment or attitude relating to the superiority of the service, wher... more Service quality is a global judgment or attitude relating to the superiority of the service, whereas satisfaction is related to a specific transaction. Customer satisfaction has frequently been suggested to be the leading determinant of loyalty. In fact, various scholars proved that there is a significant positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty/retentio n. Service quality is the main thrust of success in business environment as to remain competitive in all businesses even in cooperative business. Thus, this study examines the relationship between service quality dimension, members' satisfaction and loyalty in credit cooperative. The empirical basis for the study stems from self-administered questionnaires that are distributed to 367 credit cooperative members in Sarawak. A mediation test was conducted to assess whether the members' satisfaction variable acts as a mediator between service quality and loyalty. The findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between service quality, members' satisfaction and loyalty. Cooperative members' satisfaction acted as a partial mediation which means there is a partially effect to the service quality mediated by members' satisfaction while another part was directly mediated by other variables that has not been thoroughly investigated in this study. This study has important implications for policy mak ers, government and stakeholders of cooperatives for devising appropriate interventions that could enhance the commitment, satisfaction and loyalty of members in credit cooperatives.
New trend has emerged within the handbag industry due to the consumer demand for status‐laden pro... more New trend has emerged within the handbag industry due to the consumer demand for status‐laden products. Generation Y has had exposure to high technology and economic independence since their upbringing days, as a result of which their preference has always been spending on technology goods and brands perceived to have quality and class. The purpose of this study is to investigate why Generation Y acquire luxury designer handbags either for mere use or just to show off apart from functional utility. Handbags have been selected as the focus of this research because they are consumed visibly by individuals and have the ability to be used for higher‐ level needs such as conveying self‐image, investment items, and self‐reward. The results reveals that, individual value is the critical dimension of Generation Y purchase intention of luxury branded handbags. In terms of relationships shows that there is a positive relationship between purchase intention and the independent variables; financial value, functional value, individual value, and social value. Among all the independent variables, individual value holds the strongest effect size with the purchase intention.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchase intention of students in Kota Samarahan ... more The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchase intention of students in Kota Samarahan and its association with electronic word of mouth and brand image. Also, this study aims to identify which of the independent variables (electronic word of mouth and brand image) provide more impact toward purchase intention. The data set is collected through self‐administered questionnaire and conveniently collected using non‐ probability random sampling method. A sample of 380 was collected from Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between brand image and purchase intention but an opposite for electronic word of mouth. Based on the results, it can be said that brand image provide more impact toward purchase intention compared to electronic word of mouth. This study is more important for marketers to understand the consumer's smart phone purchase intention to be more competitive. This study explores the contribution of interpersonal influence and brand image on purchase intention in smart phone industry. In addition, research showed that e‐WOM has no direct effect on purchase intention. As compared to other previous studies carried out, the result is unique as most studies show that e‐WOM has a strong direct effect on purchase intention.
The study aims to identify the level of stress and job satisfaction among call operators (COs) in... more The study aims to identify the level of stress and job satisfaction among call operators (COs) in Malaysia. It also explores COs views on the factors affecting their stress level and job satisfaction. This research is based on a case study of a telecommunication contact centre. A mixed-methods design was employed whereby a survey questionnaire was completed by 113 COs, and two in-depth interviews were conducted. The results indicate the reasons and potential outcomes of high level stress and low job satisfaction among COs. Stressful working environment, poor supervisory support, and heavy workload are found to be key factors affecting COs high level of stress and low job satisfaction. As such the study provides valuable insights to researchers and practitioners.
Due to the rapid rise of communication technologies, mobile payment system has emerged as a popul... more Due to the rapid rise of communication technologies, mobile payment system has emerged as a popular method to facilitate payment transactions. Notwithstanding its widespread use, what affects intention of mobile users towards paying through mobile phones and why in the context of developing market remain largely unanswered. M oreover, little is done to articulate the implication of ethnicity on payment behaviours. By using the theory of planned behaviour as the underlying basis, this study aims to investigate the effects of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control on intention towards the use of mobile payment system among M alays and Chinese in M alaysia. Beliefs are included as antecedent variables in the framework so as to enhance understanding of the subject matter. Quantitative approach by means of questionnaire-based survey is adopted. 450 copies of questionnaire are distributed throughout the country, and 311 usable copies are subsequently collected. In addition to descriptive analysis, multiple linear regression and independent sample t-test are utilized to perform tests of association and difference. The findings show that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control are positively predicted by th eir respective belief factors, and they also have positive effect on intention to use mobile payment system. However, subjective norm and perceived safety are found to be significantly different between M alays and Chinese. As a result, the intention of the tw o ethnic groups is also found to be different. The study highlights the need to understand what contributes to users' intention towards mobile payment system in developing markets. It also underlines the importance to know what is shared and what is not in multi-ethnic and cultural countries like M alaysia. It therefore provides insights into effective service operation and marketing of mobile payment system so as to utilize such communication technology and achieve service excellence.
Homestay was established in Malaysia since 1980's. It has brought a potential economic activity t... more Homestay was established in Malaysia since 1980's. It has brought a potential economic activity to the country in tourism sector in Malaysia. Sabah as one of the states in Malaysia is a leading tourist destination in Malaysia that requires more efforts to boost this sector to be continuously competitive towards achieving Vision 2020. This study focused on the tourist perception towards homestay businesses in Sabah. To be specific is to understand the relationship between tourist perception towards the element of service quality, infrastructure, promotion and product they have experienced. With the returned questionnaires of 319, only 300 were valid and usable. From the regression analysis, the result shows there is a moderate strong relationship between tourist perception towards service quality, infrastructure, promotion and product of homestay business. Service quality and promotion were found to influence more on tourist perception that leads to satisfaction. This study provides a greater understanding of the tourist perception that relates to service quality, infrastructure, promotion and products.
Attitude towards advertising, its antecedent and outcome are well-documented in advertising liter... more Attitude towards advertising, its antecedent and outcome are well-documented in advertising literature. Moreover, the theory of reasoned action is often used to support the relationships between belief, attitude and intention towards advertising, especially in the western context. However, little is done to attest the dimensionality of belief factors in explaining attitude and intention towards advertising in the developing markets. Consequently, misspecification of model and omission of measures due to deficiencies in analysis may likely lead to irrelevant conclusion to knowledge and practices. Hence, the present study is aimed to revisit the belief-attitude-intention model in advertising research using two-stage approach in PLS-SEM. Belief factors are constructed as formative measurement to form personal and societal belief factors in higher order component model. Questionnaire-based survey was administered at universities in Malaysia and 347 respondents were subsequently sampled. The findings show that attitude of Malaysian young consumers towards advertising is formed by both positive and negative beliefs. In
Due to the rapid rise of communication technologies, mobile payment system has emerged as a popul... more Due to the rapid rise of communication technologies, mobile payment system has emerged as a popular method to facilitate payment transactions. Notwithstanding its widespread use, what affects intention of mobile users towards paying through mobile phones and why in the context of developing market remain largely unanswered. Moreover, little is done to articulate the implication of ethnicity on payment behaviours. By using the theory of planned behaviour as the underlying basis, this study aims to investigate the effects of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control on intention towards the use of mobile payment system among Malays and Chinese in Malaysia. Beliefs are included as antecedent variables in the framework so as to enhance understanding of the subject matter. Quantitative approach by means of questionnaire-based survey is adopted. 450 copies of questionnaire are distributed throughout the country, and 311 usable copies are subsequently collected. In addition to descriptive analysis, multiple linear regression and independent sample t-test are utilized to perform tests of association and difference. The findings show that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control are positively predicted by their respective belief factors, and they also have positive effect on intention to use mobile payment system. However, subjective norm and perceived safety are found to be significantly different between Malays and Chinese. As a result, the intention of the two ethnic groups is also found to be different. The study highlights the need to understand what contributes to users’ intention towards mobile payment system in developing markets. It also underlines the importance to know what is shared and what is not in multi-ethnic and cultural countries like Malaysia. It therefore provides insights into effective service operation and marketing of mobile payment system so as to utilize such communication technology and achieve service excellence.
s The luxury sector targets its products and services at consumers on the top-end of the wealth s... more s The luxury sector targets its products and services at consumers on the top-end of the wealth spectrum. These self-selected elite are more or less price insensitive and choose to spend their time and money on objects that are plainly opulence rather than necessities. For these reasons, luxury and prestige brands have for centuries commanded an unwavering and often illogical customer loyalty. In fact, luxury goods are often highly priced products in the niche market of goods and individuals purchase these goods for different purposes. Thus, this research would like to investigate why women are likely to purchase a piece of expensive headband accessory rather than buying a normal hair band accessory. This research generally would like to understand the attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavior control of the women on their intention toward buying luxury brand of Sereni & Shentel headband. Data from 187 questionnaires were completed by women living in Kuching City, state of Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings of the research showed that Perceived Quality and Emotional Value have a significant effect on the intention to purchase luxury brand of Sereni & Shentel headband product. Implications, limitations and areas for future research are also discussed.
The two dimensions of value co-creation behaviour from the perspectives of customer participation... more The two dimensions of value co-creation behaviour from the perspectives of customer participation and customer citizenship and its effect on loyalty were examined in this present work. The customer in the context of this study refers to members of credit cooperative who have used credit services and facilities provided. Hence, the present study lays the foundation by examining the effect of two dimensions of value co-creation behaviour on loyalty and the mediating effect of trust on the relationship. The study adopted a quantitative approach by using self-administered questionnaire and utilizes variance-based structural equation modelling to perform the latent variable analysis. The contribution of this present study stems the knowledge of the mediation effect of trust by incorporating value co-creation in the context of cooperatives that has filled up the knowledge gap and contributed to the management practice of value co-creation by delving into its effect on trust and eventual loyalty.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchase intention of students in Kota Samarahan ... more The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchase intention of students in Kota Samarahan and its association with electronic word of mouth and brand image. Also, this study aims to identify which of the independent variables (electronic word of mouth and brand image) provide more impact toward purchase intention. The data set is collected through self‐administered questionnaire and conveniently collected using non‐ probability random sampling method. A sample of 380 was collected from Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between brand image and purchase intention but an opposite for electronic word of mouth. Based on the results, it can be said that brand image provide more impact toward purchase intention compared to electronic word of mouth. This study is more important for marketers to understand the consumer's smart phone purchase intention to be more competitive. This study explores the contribution of interpersonal influence and brand image on purchase intention in smart phone industry. In addition, research showed that e‐WOM has no direct effect on purchase intention. As compared to other previous studies carried out, the result is unique as most studies show that e‐WOM has a strong direct effect on purchase intention.
Although there are a number of studies on entrepreneurial intention, women in entrepreneurship ar... more Although there are a number of studies on entrepreneurial intention, women in entrepreneurship are becoming one of the main attractions and concerns among researchers nowadays. The entrepreneurial intention of women is essential to the development of entrepreneurial activities because it acts as a background for entrepreneurs to be competitive and enhance their abilities to achieve the business objective. The present study serves a ground work to determine the factors that influence women's entrepreneurial intention with a focus on women as micro-enterprise entrepreneurs in Small and Medium Industries (SMEs) in Kuching, Sarawak. Self-Efficacy and familial factor are looked into to assess their effect on women's entrepreneurial intention. A quantitative approach was adopted whereby a self-administered questionnaire was designed and pre-tested. Questionnaires were distributed to women entrepreneurs in Kuching who registered under the Wawasan Women Entrepreneur Sarawak (SARANITA) program. The data obtained were then analyzed using SPSS 22. The result shows that both dimensions of self-efficacy and familial factor have a positive effect on women's entrepreneurial intention. The result also indicates that self-efficacy is the critical factor followed by familial factor that drives their business intention. Hence, understanding women's entrepreneurial intention towards business could help to strengthen their roles in the developing market and economies.
Service quality is a global judgment or attitude relating to the superiority of the service, wher... more Service quality is a global judgment or attitude relating to the superiority of the service, whereas satisfaction is related to a specific transaction. Customer satisfaction has frequently been suggested to be the leading determinant of loyalty. In fact, various scholars proved that there is a significant positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty/retentio n. Service quality is the main thrust of success in business environment as to remain competitive in all businesses even in cooperative business. Thus, this study examines the relationship between service quality dimension, members' satisfaction and loyalty in credit cooperative. The empirical basis for the study stems from self-administered questionnaires that are distributed to 367 credit cooperative members in Sarawak. A mediation test was conducted to assess whether the members' satisfaction variable acts as a mediator between service quality and loyalty. The findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between service quality, members' satisfaction and loyalty. Cooperative members' satisfaction acted as a partial mediation which means there is a partially effect to the service quality mediated by members' satisfaction while another part was directly mediated by other variables that has not been thoroughly investigated in this study. This study has important implications for policy mak ers, government and stakeholders of cooperatives for devising appropriate interventions that could enhance the commitment, satisfaction and loyalty of members in credit cooperatives.
New trend has emerged within the handbag industry due to the consumer demand for status‐laden pro... more New trend has emerged within the handbag industry due to the consumer demand for status‐laden products. Generation Y has had exposure to high technology and economic independence since their upbringing days, as a result of which their preference has always been spending on technology goods and brands perceived to have quality and class. The purpose of this study is to investigate why Generation Y acquire luxury designer handbags either for mere use or just to show off apart from functional utility. Handbags have been selected as the focus of this research because they are consumed visibly by individuals and have the ability to be used for higher‐ level needs such as conveying self‐image, investment items, and self‐reward. The results reveals that, individual value is the critical dimension of Generation Y purchase intention of luxury branded handbags. In terms of relationships shows that there is a positive relationship between purchase intention and the independent variables; financial value, functional value, individual value, and social value. Among all the independent variables, individual value holds the strongest effect size with the purchase intention.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchase intention of students in Kota Samarahan ... more The purpose of this study is to investigate the purchase intention of students in Kota Samarahan and its association with electronic word of mouth and brand image. Also, this study aims to identify which of the independent variables (electronic word of mouth and brand image) provide more impact toward purchase intention. The data set is collected through self‐administered questionnaire and conveniently collected using non‐ probability random sampling method. A sample of 380 was collected from Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between brand image and purchase intention but an opposite for electronic word of mouth. Based on the results, it can be said that brand image provide more impact toward purchase intention compared to electronic word of mouth. This study is more important for marketers to understand the consumer's smart phone purchase intention to be more competitive. This study explores the contribution of interpersonal influence and brand image on purchase intention in smart phone industry. In addition, research showed that e‐WOM has no direct effect on purchase intention. As compared to other previous studies carried out, the result is unique as most studies show that e‐WOM has a strong direct effect on purchase intention.
The study aims to identify the level of stress and job satisfaction among call operators (COs) in... more The study aims to identify the level of stress and job satisfaction among call operators (COs) in Malaysia. It also explores COs views on the factors affecting their stress level and job satisfaction. This research is based on a case study of a telecommunication contact centre. A mixed-methods design was employed whereby a survey questionnaire was completed by 113 COs, and two in-depth interviews were conducted. The results indicate the reasons and potential outcomes of high level stress and low job satisfaction among COs. Stressful working environment, poor supervisory support, and heavy workload are found to be key factors affecting COs high level of stress and low job satisfaction. As such the study provides valuable insights to researchers and practitioners.
Due to the rapid rise of communication technologies, mobile payment system has emerged as a popul... more Due to the rapid rise of communication technologies, mobile payment system has emerged as a popular method to facilitate payment transactions. Notwithstanding its widespread use, what affects intention of mobile users towards paying through mobile phones and why in the context of developing market remain largely unanswered. M oreover, little is done to articulate the implication of ethnicity on payment behaviours. By using the theory of planned behaviour as the underlying basis, this study aims to investigate the effects of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control on intention towards the use of mobile payment system among M alays and Chinese in M alaysia. Beliefs are included as antecedent variables in the framework so as to enhance understanding of the subject matter. Quantitative approach by means of questionnaire-based survey is adopted. 450 copies of questionnaire are distributed throughout the country, and 311 usable copies are subsequently collected. In addition to descriptive analysis, multiple linear regression and independent sample t-test are utilized to perform tests of association and difference. The findings show that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control are positively predicted by th eir respective belief factors, and they also have positive effect on intention to use mobile payment system. However, subjective norm and perceived safety are found to be significantly different between M alays and Chinese. As a result, the intention of the tw o ethnic groups is also found to be different. The study highlights the need to understand what contributes to users' intention towards mobile payment system in developing markets. It also underlines the importance to know what is shared and what is not in multi-ethnic and cultural countries like M alaysia. It therefore provides insights into effective service operation and marketing of mobile payment system so as to utilize such communication technology and achieve service excellence.
Homestay was established in Malaysia since 1980's. It has brought a potential economic activity t... more Homestay was established in Malaysia since 1980's. It has brought a potential economic activity to the country in tourism sector in Malaysia. Sabah as one of the states in Malaysia is a leading tourist destination in Malaysia that requires more efforts to boost this sector to be continuously competitive towards achieving Vision 2020. This study focused on the tourist perception towards homestay businesses in Sabah. To be specific is to understand the relationship between tourist perception towards the element of service quality, infrastructure, promotion and product they have experienced. With the returned questionnaires of 319, only 300 were valid and usable. From the regression analysis, the result shows there is a moderate strong relationship between tourist perception towards service quality, infrastructure, promotion and product of homestay business. Service quality and promotion were found to influence more on tourist perception that leads to satisfaction. This study provides a greater understanding of the tourist perception that relates to service quality, infrastructure, promotion and products.
Attitude towards advertising, its antecedent and outcome are well-documented in advertising liter... more Attitude towards advertising, its antecedent and outcome are well-documented in advertising literature. Moreover, the theory of reasoned action is often used to support the relationships between belief, attitude and intention towards advertising, especially in the western context. However, little is done to attest the dimensionality of belief factors in explaining attitude and intention towards advertising in the developing markets. Consequently, misspecification of model and omission of measures due to deficiencies in analysis may likely lead to irrelevant conclusion to knowledge and practices. Hence, the present study is aimed to revisit the belief-attitude-intention model in advertising research using two-stage approach in PLS-SEM. Belief factors are constructed as formative measurement to form personal and societal belief factors in higher order component model. Questionnaire-based survey was administered at universities in Malaysia and 347 respondents were subsequently sampled. The findings show that attitude of Malaysian young consumers towards advertising is formed by both positive and negative beliefs. In
Due to the rapid rise of communication technologies, mobile payment system has emerged as a popul... more Due to the rapid rise of communication technologies, mobile payment system has emerged as a popular method to facilitate payment transactions. Notwithstanding its widespread use, what affects intention of mobile users towards paying through mobile phones and why in the context of developing market remain largely unanswered. Moreover, little is done to articulate the implication of ethnicity on payment behaviours. By using the theory of planned behaviour as the underlying basis, this study aims to investigate the effects of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control on intention towards the use of mobile payment system among Malays and Chinese in Malaysia. Beliefs are included as antecedent variables in the framework so as to enhance understanding of the subject matter. Quantitative approach by means of questionnaire-based survey is adopted. 450 copies of questionnaire are distributed throughout the country, and 311 usable copies are subsequently collected. In addition to descriptive analysis, multiple linear regression and independent sample t-test are utilized to perform tests of association and difference. The findings show that attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control are positively predicted by their respective belief factors, and they also have positive effect on intention to use mobile payment system. However, subjective norm and perceived safety are found to be significantly different between Malays and Chinese. As a result, the intention of the two ethnic groups is also found to be different. The study highlights the need to understand what contributes to users’ intention towards mobile payment system in developing markets. It also underlines the importance to know what is shared and what is not in multi-ethnic and cultural countries like Malaysia. It therefore provides insights into effective service operation and marketing of mobile payment system so as to utilize such communication technology and achieve service excellence.
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