Zainalabidin Mohamed

Enhancing young graduates’ intention towards entrepreneurship development in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Basic Student Entrepreneurial Programme (BSEP) among local university graduates who have undergone the training programme in entrepreneurship development.Design/methodology/approach – In total, 410 respondents who had participated in BSEP were interviewed with a structural questionnaire to gather information on their social attitude towards the effectiveness of BSEP on their intention to become an agri‐entrepreneur. Chi‐square analysis was used to determine the relationship between demographic variables towards motivating agri‐entrepreneurship among the participants.Findings – The results show that the participants agreed upon the effectiveness of BSEP in developing graduates’ intention towards becoming agri‐entrepreneurs. The results also show that there is a significant relationship between three variables which motivate participants to become agri‐entrepreneurs. These were the origin of the participant, the presence of family m...

SOURCES OF PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN RAINBOW TROUT AQUACULTURE IN IRAN: TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY CHANGE OR TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS?

This study investigates the sources of total factor productivity (TFP) growth in rainbow trout production in Iran using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The Malmquist index is then employed to decompose the TFP growth into technical efficiency change and technological progress. We utilized panel data of 207 trout farms in the country over a 5-year period from 2003 to 2007. The results of this study revealed that TFP growth of rainbow trout farming has an increasing trend over the period at an average annual rate of 3.7%. The trend of cumulative technological change is negative and tends to be contrary to cumulative technical efficiency change. Although there is no technological change or innovation on trout farming, the technical efficiency change was found to be the sole source for TFP change, whereas the mean of technical efficiency was estimated to be about 66%. Therefore, there is still a great relative potential for increasing trout production through improvement in managerial efficiency as well as technological progress. The study suggests that Iran also has considerable room to enhance trout aquacultures TFP growth by shifting the production frontier with adoption of new technologies and improving innovation.

Food Labels’ Impact Assessment on Consumer Purchasing Behavior in Malaysia

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to validate the impact of food labels among Malaysian consumers using an extended theory of planned behavior model (TPB). In doing so, the study assessed the direct and indirect effect of food labeling on consumer intention to purchase or otherwise the food products of interest. A stratified random sampling technique was adopted in selecting 2,014 consumers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The results of structural equation modeling supported the adequacy of the proposed model. This study contributes to and extends the understanding of food labeling and purchasing behavior, identifying the rationales for purchasing of food products with labels that contains information such as halal logo, ingredients, and nutritive value.

Structural Equation Modeling of Consumer Purchase Intention Toward Synthetic Functional Foods

Functional foods are gaining greater popularity around the world. They are not just a new category of food products marketed for their health benefits, but their competitive market has made consumers become more favorable toward firms that are involved in this industry. The public is increasingly concerned about health and food-related risks. They tend to make decisions on food consumption, food storage, and food preparation on a more ideal perspective based on health and safety. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the factors and intention of Malaysian consumers to purchase synthetic functional foods. Structural equation modeling is used to accomplish the objectives of this study with the feedback received from the 2,004 households who were interviewed through a structural questionnaire. The results show that the most influential factors influencing consumer purchasing intention toward synthetic functional foods are perceived benefits followed by attitude and subjective norms.

Can Halal Be Sustainable? Study on Malaysian Consumers’ Perspective

Halal provides guidelines for food production, processing, and handling. Thus, the extent of which segments of Halal food preparation (food safety, environmentally friendly, animal welfare, and fair trade) influence consumers’ perception toward sustainable agriculture development is being studied. Using an ordered probit model, factors that significantly influence the sustainability concept arising from practicing Halal principles are determined. The majority of consumers reported that Halal food production can be an effective vehicle to promote sustainable farming and agriculture. Food safety, environmentally friendly, fair trade, and animal welfare are the most likely determinants associated with Halal principles and production to support sustainable agriculture.

Quality-Labeled Vegetable Consumption in Malaysia: Factors Affecting Attitude and Purchase Intent

The rising rate of foodborne diseases has caused not just consumers but also food producers to become increasingly concerned about food safety. As a result, the government of Malaysia, together with relevant bodies, have introduced quality-assurance agencies to certify food products that are produced, processed, and handled with methods that are acknowledged by the certification agencies as clean and safe for consumption. This study aims to identify the factors influencing consumer purchasing behavior toward quality-labeled vegetables. A survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire and distributed randomly to consumers in public places in the Klang Valley. Four hundred and sixteen respondents were approached. The results indicate that most of the respondents are aware of food quality labels. Using factor analysis, four latent factors that influence consumer attitude toward quality-labeled vegetables were identified, and the importance of quality attributes (sensory, health, safety, and social attributes) in shaping those attitudes was also shown.

Consumers’ Shopping Preferences for Retail Format Choice Between Modern and Traditional Retails in Malaysia

The retail landscape in Malaysia is transforming from a traditional to a modern retail format. The large retailers are increasing their dominance over small shops in the country by offering their customers a wide stock of fresh food products. The small shops are still surviving, although with difficulty, and they continue to provide a choice of shopping venue. The objective of this study is to show the advantages of both the modern and traditional retailers that are available to Malaysian consumers and to investigate what determines consumers’ shopping preferences for their retail format. A structured questionnaire was constructed to gather shopping preferences from 650 respondents in Selangor. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and binary logit model were used to analyze the data. The results show that sociodemographic variables such as age, education, being accompanied by children while shopping, and family size as well as packaging, store environment, and price of products have influence on retail format choice.

Economic importance of tropical and subtropical fruits

Abstract: Asian countries are among the largest producers of tropical and subtropical fruits in the world. The top five tropical and subtropical fruits in terms of production volume are watermelon, orange, grape, banana and tangerine/mandarin. China is the largest producer of watermelon, Brazil of oranges, Italy of grapes and India of bananas. Most of the fruits are consumed as food in fresh and processed form. EU countries are the main destination for tropical and subtropical fruits, consuming nearly 50% of the total world export, while also supplying temperate and subtropical fruits to the global fruits market. The importance of fruit production for the economic development of a country can be seen in its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) and employment through agriculture. Most less-developed countries depend on agriculture as a major source of income and employment. Price demand elasticities for most fruits are elastic.

Malaysian consumers' willingness-to-pay toward eco-labeled food products in Klang Valley

Food labeling is an important aspect of food law that provides consumers with information about food products, and eco-labeling is one such tool for conveying that information. The products that are produced under environmentally friendly and sustainable practices can qualify to apply for eco-label certification. The purpose of this article is to investigate how much consumers are willing to pay for eco-labeled food products in Malaysia. A survey was conducted in Klang Valley, Malaysia, and 1,115 respondents were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Consumers’ willingness to pay for eco-labeled food products is determined by using contingent valuation method (CVM). Theory of planned behavior (TPB) is chosen for use in this study. Descriptive analysis summarizes the sociodemographic data, and binary logistic model is used to identify consumers’ sociodemographic factors, past experience, and knowledge in predicting the likelihood of willingness to pay for eco-labeled food products. The results indicate that education level, income, age, marital status, household size, attitude, past experience, and knowledge significantly influence consumers’ willingness to pay for eco-labeled food products.

Effect of perceptual differences on consumer purchase intention of natural functional food

Purpose - The concept of functional foods is not new to the Malaysian people. Functional foods as traditional medicine have made tremendous contributions over the past couple of centuries. The growth in the economy, coupled with a strong desire among the Malaysian consumers to maintain a healthy lifestyle has made functional foods an alternative medicine among the populace. Although the consumption of functional foods is increasing in Malaysia, relatively little is known about the factors which affect consumer purchase intention toward natural functional foods. The purpose of this paper is to determine Malaysian consumer intention to purchase natural functional foods. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was conducted in the country where 2,004 household were interviewed using structured questionnaires. The theory of reasoned action (TRA) and health belief model were adopted and modified in this study. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the collected data. Findings - The results have shown that the data set was normal, valid and reliable. Attitude has a partial mediating effect on perceived barriers, perceived susceptibility and perceived benefits which influence consumer intention to purchase natural functional foods. Nevertheless attitude had no mediation effect on subjective norms for consumers to form their intention to purchase natural functional foods. In other word, subjective norms had a direct influence on consumer intention to purchase natural functional foods. Research limitations/implications - The main concern of this paper is about the factors which affect consumer purchase intention toward natural functional foods. However the results from this paper are limited in terms of determining consumer purchasing behavior for natural functional foods. Originality/value - The paper expands on the TRA and health belief model to examine the factors which influence Malaysian consumer purchase intention toward natural functional foods.