Sofiah Abd Rahman

Measuring shopping values of Malaysian retail consumers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to verify the measurement scale of shopping values in the Malaysian context. Both hedonic as well as utilitarian shopping value measurement scales were tested for their reliability and validity. Further, a series of hypotheses was developed to test the differences in the shopping values across the market segments based on demographic characteristics of the consumers. Finally, the discriminant analysis was used to determine the relative importance of each variable measuring shopping value in discriminating between the groups of interest.Design/methodology/approach – The scale developed by Babin et al. for measuring shopping values has been put on test with modifications on selected questions to fit the local content. A convenient sampling technique was used to obtain information on hedonic and utilitarian values on a seven‐point Likert scale from a sample of 200 consumers from major shopping centres in Klang Valley, the most developed region in Malaysia. Statistical t...

Modelling marketing resources, procurement process coordination and firm performance in the Malaysian building construction industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish a link between marketing resources, procurement process coordination (PPC) and firm performance. To allow for greater understanding in the field of supply chain management, the present study looked into the coordination between the construction firms and their main building materials suppliers. Design/methodology/approach – This study employed the quantitative method where stratified random sampling and self-administrated questionnaires were sent to respondents in the construction industry. The research framework was tested using structural equation modelling technique. Findings – The empirical result revealed that marketing resources have positive and significant effects on PPC dimensions. It was also found that PPC (mainly joint operation planning and supplier relationship development dimensions) has significant positive relationship towards firm performance. Research limitations/implications – This study focused solely on the firms in the construction...

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.

Buying Groceries Online: The Influences of Electronic Service Quality (eServQual) and Situational Factors☆

Abstract The advancement of the technology has changed the way people shop for products and services. Consumers in Malaysia, too, are now avid online shoppers just like the others. The main objectives of this study are to examine the state of online shopping adoption, particularly in the groceries product category and assessing the electronic service quality (eServQual) provided by online grocers and situational factors influential to the online grocery shoppers. Data was collected using online questionnaire sent to potential respondents through personalized electronic mails and online private messages. The findings indicate that the online grocery shopping adoption is still not catching up where Malaysian shoppers still do not have the affinity towards buying groceries online. It was also found that they have the core competencies in online business technology, but should outsource certain capabilities especially if to widen their service coverage, expanding into other markets beyond the major cities.

The Effect of National Park Mobile Apps on National Park Behavioral Intention: Taman Negara National Park☆

Abstract National Park Mobile Apps (NPMA) is an interesting construct which might open new paradigm in tourism research in context of national parks. Although previous research investigated tourist behavioral intention in national parks, the effect of NPMA on National Park Behavioral Intention (NPBI) of tourists from developed countries in still lacking in literature. To address this gap, the current study developed a model which includes the effect of NPMA, as well as mediating effect of National Park Satisfaction (NPSat) on tourists’ NPBI. The research hypotheses where NPMA, and NPSat have a significant effect on NPBI was examined. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed among 500 tourists from developed countries visiting Taman Negara National Park (TNNP). The data was examined through deployment of structural equation modelling. The findings revealed that NPMA does not affect NPBI directly, however, NPMA has significant indirect effect on tourists’ NPBI through mediation effect of NPSat. Furthermore, NPSat was a full mediator. Findings of this study had practical implication for sustainable NPBI in national parks.

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.

Examining the Importance of Religious Commitment Towards Takaful Participation Intention (TP1)

Malaysia is one of the Muslim countries committed in developing a complete Islamic financial system including Islamic insurance (Takaful). Until today, Takaful penetration rate lags behind conventional insurance. This dismal performance, despite government’s commitment and the growing inclination towards ‘Islamisation’, warrants an empirical investigation. A sample of 500 respondents classified as professional was taken to examine the effect of religious commitment on Takaful participation intention, using Theory of Planned behaviour as the theoretical foundation. This chapter found that religious commitment is positively related to the Takaful participation intention (TPI). Not only that, religious commitment has the greatest influence on TPI.

Theorizing Islamic Retail Experiential Value in Predicting Total Islamic Experience Quality: A Hypothesised Model☆

Abstract The understanding of Muslim consumers behavior is essential for retailers to gain profit maximization, competitive advantage and longer sustainability as this group of customers demonstrate different personality compared to conventional customers. As such, retail businesses should adapt the Islamic retail concepts in their business strategies to tap the emergence of Muslim market and position themselves as the Islamic retailers. The conceptualisation of Islamic Retail Experiential Value scale is derived from the typology of experiential value framework reflecting the benefits of perceptions of atmospheric values (aesthetics), customer return on investment, service excellence and playfulness. The aim of this study is to examine the plausibility of refining the established Experiential Value Scale (EVS) by incorporating a new dimension. The proposed framework is based on the Stimulus (S) – Organism (O) – Response (R) paradigm ( Mehrabian & Russell, 1974 ). This paper proposes a new dimension that is spiritual value to be integrated into Experiential Value concept, which will be known as Islamic Retail Experiential Value. This extended concept will be tested and validated in the context of Indian Muslim food outlets or famously known as the “Malaysian Mamak” food retail outlet. In this paper, it is proposed that Islamic Retail Experiential Value (IREV) will represent the organism element, and hypothesised as a predictor of Total Islamic Experience Quality(TIEQ).

Investigating the Effect of National Park Sustainability on National Park Behavioral Intention: Kinabalu National Park

Abstract National Park Sustainability (NPSus) is an important construct in the context of national parks which will lead tourism industry to move towards sustainable national parks. Although previous studies examined the tourist behavioral intention through deployment of sustainability principles or destination sustainability, there is a lack of research on the effect of NPSus on National Park Behavioral Intention (NPBI). To address this gap, this study developed a model which investigates the effect of NPSus as an independent variable, and National Park Satisfaction (NPSat) as mediator on tourist NPBI. The research hypotheses where NPSus and NPSat have a significant effect on NPBI was examined. A self-administrated questionnaire was distributed among 600 tourists from developed countries visiting Kinabalu National Park (KNP). The data was examined through deployment of structural equation modelling. The findings revealed that NPSus does not affect NPBI directly, however, NPSus has a significant indirect effect on tourist NPBI through mediation effect of NPSat. Furthermore, NPSat was a full mediator. Findings of this study had practical implication to enhance destination sustainability by better understanding the NPBI.