Jamaliah Mohd. Yusof

Examining market accessibility of Malaysia's Harumanis mango in Japan: challenges and potentials

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to seek to illuminate the challenges and potentials that might be encountered by the exporters of Malaysians tropical fruits, particularly the Harumanis mango into the Japanese market.Design/methodology/approach – The research method utilised in the study were in‐depth interview with appropriate government authorities, fruit traders, importers and retailers in Malaysia and Japan.Findings – The findings suggest that to succeed in this challenging and competitive yet lucrative market environment, it is vital that farmers, fruit exporters and relevant government agencies implicitly understand the aforementioned regulations, procedures and the Japanese trend of fruit consumption.Research limitations/implications – The study focuses on the challenges and potential of Malaysians tropical fruits, especially Harumanis mango into the Japanese market.Practical implications – The results provide insights to the Malaysian agricultural sector and other organizations of similar ...

Self-congruity effect on store loyalty: The role of green environment image

Past research had demonstrated that congruence between store image and self-image is positively related to consumer behaviour such as patronage, store choice, store preference, and also store loyalty. With the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), specifically, the green environment having gained a legitimate place in retail strategy, the need to understand the function of this concept in self-congruity model of retail industry has become imperative. Despite of much attention has been given on this concept, few, if any, has reported its role in the self-congruity model. Thus, this study attempts to fill the void by developing a model which examines the role of green environment image of the retail store in self-congruity theory in influencing consumer behaviour. It attempts to test the relationship between self-congruity, and green environment image of a retail store and also to examine the role of green environment image in the self-congruity model in influencing store loyalty. Based on the study of consumers of casual apparel, it was found that self-congruity, specifically actual self-image and ideal self-congruity as well as green environment image have positive effects on store loyalty. Importantly, green environment image has shown a biasing effect on the relationship between actual and ideal self-congruity and store loyalty. As a result, this study provides empirical support for the new framework on the role of green environment image in the self-congruity model. The result also provides important findings to the researchers and practitioners as well as implications for future research directions and management of retail industry.

Factors Influencing Perceived Quality and Repurchase Intention Towards Green Products

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the green value, emotional value, environment conscious, consumers’ perceived quality, and repurchase intention towards green products at Parkson Bandar Utama, Selangor. The variables are divided into three models where perceived quality is acting as the mediating variable and repurchase intention as the dependent variable. The questionnaires were filled by the respondents who already purchased green products at Parkson Bandar Utama. For this quantitative research, a total of 200 respondents participated in the survey. The study has found that green value has significant relationship with both perceived quality and repurchase intention. Emotional value has significant relationship with perceived quality. However, its relationship with repurchase intention is insignificant. For environment conscious, though its relationship with perceived quality is insignificant, when paired against repurchased intention, the relationship is found to be significant.

Preliminary Investigation on the Determinants of Household Debt Burden

The study of household debt burden is important because households are an essential element of each social and economic system. This means that any debt-service problems that they encounter will portray a negative influence on the whole economy in the long run. Further, household debt is currently becoming a very crucial social and economic problem for both highly developed countries and emerging markets (including ASEAN). This paper attempts to conduct a preliminary investigation on the determinants of household debt burden by looking first at the trend of household debt in some advanced economies and emerging ASEAN countries. It will also review some macroeconomic factors inherent in household debt burden, namely, interest rate, inflation rate, housing price index, unemployment rate, and aggregate consumer consumption. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to produce a conceptual framework and discuss the methodology process involved. It is hoped that the evidences laid out from previous literatures on the importance of solving the household debt burden issue, in some way, have caused the curiosity for further investigation in determining, uncovering, and validating the determinant factors that may affect household debt burden in the selected countries under this study.

Examining the effects of shopping orientation and corporate social responsibility on store loyalty

With previous literature that supports the importance of CSR in consumer behavior, this study is aimed to examine its role on store loyalty. In addition, shopping orientations has also been investigated as the antecedent of CSR and also store loyalty. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaire based on quota sampling of the population. Using structural equation modeling, the study developed and tested structural model of the interrelationships between shopping orientations, CSR, and store loyalty. The findings indicate that there are significant relationships between shopping orientations and CSR on store loyalty. Shopping orientations is also found to significantly influence CSR. Interestingly, there is also an indirect link between shopping orientations and store loyalty, which is mediated by CSR. This study offers important findings to the researchers and practitioners, as it presents a new framework on the importance and antecedent of CSR. It also provides important implications for future research directions and management of retail industry.

The Influence of Self-Congruity, Functional Image, and Emotional Attachment on Loyalty☆

Abstract This paper seeks to investigate the interrelationships of self-congruity, functional image, and emotional attachment and loyalty. Specifically, this study tested hypotheses of self-congruity theory in the Islamic banking sector. Much of the previous studies of self-congruity have examined product, brand, and retailers contexts and not much has been explored in the context of banking sector. Questionnaires were distributed to customers of Islamic bank in the city. Results showed that self-congruity has a significant influence on functional image as well as emotional attachment. Functional image is found to have a stronger effect on emotional attachment. Also, self-congruity, functional image, and emotional image have significant influence on loyalty. Interestingly, emotional attachment is a very strong predictor of loyalty and in turn, self-congruity is a strong factor influencing emotional attachment. The key management implication is that Islamic banks should focus on strategies to harness customers’ emotional attachment with the banks.