Behaviour In Malaysia Research Articles

Students’ online purchasing behavior in Malaysia: Understanding online shopping attitude

AbstractStudies examining the factors that affect the online purchasing behavior of consumers are rare, despite the prospective advance of e-commerce in Malaysia. The present study examines particular factors that influence the attitude of potential consumers to purchase online by using the attributes from the diffusion of innovations theory of Rogers, the attribute of perception of risk, and the subjective norms toward online purchasing. Consumers’ perceived risks of online shopping have become a vital subject in research because they directly influence users’ attitude toward online purchasing. The structural equation modeling method was used to analyze the data gathered on students using e-commerce, and, thus, to validate the model. According to the results, consumers’ attitude toward online purchasing affects the intention toward online purchasing. The other influential factors are compatibility, relative advantage, and subjective norm.

Food Labels’ Impact Assessment on Consumer Purchasing Behavior in Malaysia

ABSTRACTThe 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.

The Direct Drivers of Ethnocentric Consumer, Intention and Actual Purchasing Behavior in Malaysia

The Malaysian government had consistently revived its campaign for “Buy Malaysian Goods” from time to time.The purpose of the campaign is to remind consumers to be ethnocentric and patriotic when purchasing product and services.This is necessary to ensure high demand for local products and services compared to foreign products.However, the decline of domestic investment in 2012 has triggered concern for the Malaysian economy. Hence, this study attempts to determine the drivers of actual purchasing behavior, intention to purchase domestic products and ethnocentrism. The study employs the cross-sectional primary data, self-administered on household, selected using stratified random sampling in four Malaysian regions.A nine factor driver of actual domestic purchasing behavior (culture openness, conservatism, collectivism, patriotism, control belief, interest in foreign travel, attitude, ethnocentrism and intention) were measured utilizing 60 items, using 7-point Likertscale. From 1000 questionnaires distributed, a sample of 486 were returned representing 48.6 percent response rate. From the fit generated structural model (SEM analysis), it was found that the drivers of actual purchase behavior are collectivism, cultural openness and patriotism; the drivers of intention to purchase domestic product are attitude, control belief, collectivism and conservatism; and drivers of ethnocentrism are cultural openness, control belief, foreign travel and patriotism.It also shows that Malaysian consumers scored high in ethnocentrism and patriotism.The findings are discussed in the perspective of its implication to Malaysian National Agenda.

A Law and Economics Analysis of the Incentives Driving Malaysian Banks’ Compliance with the Malaysian Competition Act

Judging by only economic incentives, Malaysian financial institutions (particularly banks) should carefully consider the incentives driving the Competition Act. The data show that Malaysian banks remain vulnerable to incentives leading to anticompetitive behaviour. The Malaysian Competition Commission will likely lack the resources to investigate and sanction anticompetitive behaviour in Malaysia's banking industry. Maximum fines of MYR 10 million and revenue-tied penalties of only 10% of worldwide revenue mean that banks still have strong incentives to engage in anticompetitive behaviour and to pay any low fine that might be levied. By staying the course, Malaysian banks can continue to earn about MYR 15 billion (approximately USD 4.6 billion in anticompetitive rents).

Interest burden and external finance choices in emerging markets: Firm-level data evidence from Malaysia

This paper provides empirical evidence on the credit channel of the monetary transmission mechanism within the framework of external finance choices using a firm-level panel data. We estimate the corporate finance behaviour in Malaysia, a country with relatively developed capital market, but significant involvement of banking sector in financing the economy using a panel dataset of over 900 listed firms in Malaysia for the period 1990–2010. The analysis suggests the following insights: firm-specific characteristics are important factor in explaining the corporate financing choices of firms; different monetary conditions affect the rate of interest charged by lenders to firms, with financially constrained firms paying a higher premium; and financially constrained firms have limited access to external finance and are severely affected during times of increasing interest rates. Overall, our results are consistent with the existence of credit channel and support the unequal propagation of monetary policy among firms in different monetary conditions.

Characteristic Affecting Charitable Donations Behavior: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia

Abstract The recent World Giving Index 2013 had shown that there is increasing rank for charitable donations in Malaysia. Generally, charities have to depend on individual donors and less on the government for fundraising in order to survive in the competition. As charities need to depend on individual donor, it is compulsory to study on the individual donor characteristics which can help to identify and describe recognizably the individual donor features. Furthermore, in Malaysia, there are limited studies on the characteristics of individual donor. Thus, this study aims is to investigate the characteristics of Malaysian charitable donors and the study followed the study on donor characteristics in Britain, Australia, Brunei and Pakistan to develop a better understanding of Malaysian donor's extrinsic determinants (demographic determinants and socio-demographic determinants) and intrinsic determinants (psychographic determinants). Data is collected from the individual donors in the Central Region of Malaysia that consist of Selangor, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka. To measure the results, factor analysis is used in the development and evaluation of test and scale. Later, logistic regression is used to analyse the relationship between variables. It is basically used when dependent variables is categorical (donor/non-donor). Findings show that age, income, education and religious factors affect the charitable donation behavior in Malaysia. Further, the research also identifies major differences between donor characteristic from Malaysia with Britain, Australia, Brunei and Pakistan. The findings indicate that the characteristics of donors differ between each country and more exploration is needed in this field.

The Effect of Muslim Products as an Islamic Retail Store Attribute: A Study on Muslim Consumer Patronage Behaviour in Malaysia

As Malaysian Muslim consumers are more concerned about religious teachings, the doubt about the halalalness of the ingredients, processing and handling of the products has attracted Muslim consumers’ attention. Recently, Muslims are not only concerned about halal but the issue of “halalal tayibbah” has obtained great attention. In order to verify the “halalal tayibbah” concept, the acceptance of Muslim-made products is increasing in the market. With the spirit of helping the economy of the ummah, Muslim consumers tend to give their support to Muslim products. With a high demand for Muslim products, an initiative to introduce an Islamic-focused retail store has shown significant growth. Essentially, the store will provide a range of Muslim products as a substitute for previous brands. With regard to this phenomenon, the present study investigates the effect of Muslim products in an Islamic retail store on Muslim consumer-patronage behaviour. In order to get feedback, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 384 patrons of Islamic retail stores in the northern region of Malaysia. The result of the partial least square analysis concluded that the provision of Muslim products has a significant impact on the patronage-behaviour of Muslim consumers. By buying Muslim products, Muslim consumers feel more confident that they are buying products that are religiously allowable and it prompts Muslim consumers’ buying-decisions in patronizing a store. Keywords: Muslim product. Muslim and patronage behaviour.

Energy Monitoring System in Common Room Based on Human Behavior in Malaysia

Energy Monitoring System in Common Room Based on Human Behavior in Malaysia

Influence of the Store Ambiance on Customers’ Behavior—Apparel Stores in Malaysia

This present study explores the effects of the apparel stores’ environment on customers’ behavior in Malaysia. Inessence, the social association that the consumer relates to the experience of shopping depends on theenvironment of the store. Developing a store ambiance that is culturally significant for the shopper will helpform the retailer’s image and reputation. As such, a survey of shopping mall customers’ attitude toward storeambience and its principal components were analyzed to identify the effect of the primary factors of storeambience on customer behavior. A questionnaire based on a five-item Likert scale, as well as random sampling,was employed for data collection. Data analysis was accomplished using SPSS software. The findings are incorrelation with the objectives stated prior to the start of the research. Moreover, the results reflect theachievement of the current study in achieving the aims that are expected to be discovered. Regardless ofnationality, the customers possess high level of knowledge, attitude, and opinions regarding the effects of thestore atmosphere, music, and service on customers’ behavior. The results show a positive and significantrelationship between the store atmosphere, service, and music with customers’ behavior, as the Pearson’scoefficients show positive values (correlation-bivariate) and the p-values are less than 0.05 (regression analysis)respectively. Thus, this relationship matches the fundamental aims of this research. The findings providesufficient information to the manager of the retail store regarding the importance of the store dimension andimage from the perspective of customers. Retailers that fail to maintain the proper store image tend to losecustomers and to diminish the corporate image of the company. The current study contributes to the retailers’understanding of the store image that meets customers’ requirements and upholds the corporate identity.

International students' travel behaviour in Malaysia

This article focuses on determining the travel behaviour of international students studying in Malaysia. Questionnaire surveys on a total of 409 international postgraduate students of research universities (UPM, USM, UM, UTM, and UKM) in Malaysia were carried out. The results show that most of the international students had a tendency for travelling during semester breaks, staying in hotels, eating at fast food restaurants, and travelling with their friends for the purpose of having fun, and exploring new places. Sightseeing and shopping were identified as the most preferred activities by students and primary sources of information regarding potential destinations by international students the Internet and friends' recommendations. This study also found that the travel behaviour of the different students is strongly associated with their demographic characteristics.

Luxury Consumer Behavior in Malaysia: Loud Brands vs.Quiet Brands

This paper investigates the relationship between social factors, personality factors, and the consumers’ purchase intention of loud and quiet luxury brands in the context of Malaysia. In particular, this study aims to obtain insights into the consumers’ intention of purchasing two types of luxury brands: loud (having conspicuous logos and signatures that are not clear or eye-catching) and quiet (having discrete logos and badges that are not clearly embalmed or easily noticeable). A survey questionnaire was administered to 190 participants from different walks of life. The results of data analysis revealed that Malaysian consumers were brand conscious. The findings suggest that the loud luxury buyers intend to impress others by following fashion and new trends, whereas the quiet luxury buyers prefer to feel a sense of accomplishment and social recognition through having finer possessions in life. At the end, the implications for brand managers are discussed, and recommendations for future research are offered.

The Cost of Antitrust Law to Malaysia's Financial Services Sector

Judging by only economic incentives, Malaysian financial institutions (particularly banks) should completely ignore the Competition Act. The data show that Malaysian banks probably benefit from anti-competitive behaviour. Political and family connections likely facilitate such behaviour. Given that the Malaysian Competition Commission will likely lack the resources to investigate and sanction anti-competitive behaviour in Malaysia’s banking industry – the banks’ best response to the Act probably consists of ignoring it. Maximum fines of 10 million ringgit and revenue-tied penalties of only 10% of worldwide revenue mean that banks still have strong incentives to engage in anti-competitive behaviour and to pay any low fine that might be levied. The best compliance programme for banks in Malaysia likely consists of actions that avoid detection rather than detecting and preventing anti-competitive behaviour. Private rights of action are unlikely to provide any stronger economic incentives for Malaysian banks to adopt strong antitrust compliance programmes and internal audit programmes. By staying the course, Malaysian banks can continue to earn about 15 billion ringgits (approximately US $4.6 billion in anti-competitive rents).

A Study on the Factors Affecting Consumers Adoption Toward Environmentally Friendly Car - Hybrid Car

The aim of this study is to understand the consumer in the country of Malaysia which is one of the most developed countries in Southeast Asia. The study is being carried out to explore the consumer buying behavior in hybrid vehicle (HV). The objective of this study is to study which factors affect consumers hybrid vehicle buying decision. In addition, the study also in-depth analyzed whether there is any relationship between influencing factors and demographic factors such as gender, income, education and age. SPSS version 20.0 has been used for analysis the data information. 500 respondents will be selected to fill the questionnaire. The finding of this study provided empirical results to academician and vehicle producer in the field of green vehicle buying behavior in Malaysia.

Risk factors for suicidal ideation, plans and attempts in Malaysia — Results of an epidemiological survey

ObjectiveThis is an epidemiological study to determine the prevalence of suicidal behavior and its association with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) in a nationally representative sample. MethodSuicidal ideation, plans and attempts were assessed in face-to-face interviews of respondents selected by a multistage probability sampling using items on suicidality from the WHO SUPRE-MISS questionnaire. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to generate DSM-IV diagnoses of GAD and MDD. A total of 19309 subjects were studied. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted controlling for demographic characteristics such as age, gender and ethnicity. ResultsThe prevalence estimates for suicide ideation, plans and attempts were 1.7% (95% CI: 1.4–1.9), 0.9% (CI: 0.7–1.1) and 0.5% (CI: 0.4–0.7) respectively. Younger people (16–24years) had higher risk of suicidal behavior (OR: 2.6, CI: 1.08–6.2). Females (OR: 1.6, CI: 1.2–2.1) and Indians (OR: 3.3, CI: 2.2–4.9) also had higher risk. ConclusionThe prevalence of suicidal behavior in Malaysia is low, but it broadly corresponds to the pattern described in other countries. This national study confirms that Malaysians of Indian descent have much higher rates of suicidal behavior than other groups. The younger age group, females and the Indian ethnic group would need focused preventive efforts.

Stock Market and Aggregate Investment Behavior in Malaysia: An Empirical Analysis

The present paper analyzes the role of stock market, more specifically real stock prices and stock market uncertainty/volatility, on aggregate investment behavior for an emerging market, Malaysia. Employing the autoregressive distributed lags approach to cointegration test, the paper establishes a long run equilibrium that ties the aggregate investment to its determinants—real income, real stock prices, real lending rate and stock market volatility. In the long run, we document a positive relation between aggregate investment and real stock prices and a negative relation between aggregate investment and stock market volatility. These results are further supported by our analyses of their dynamic interactions based on Granger causality and impulse-response functions. Based on the results, the real stock market prices, which has yet reached the level recorded prior to the crisis, may have explained the low investment in Malaysia after the Asian crisis. Moreover, the stock market volatility can also post a threat to the investment performance.

Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour Modelfor Measuring Households’ Recycling Behaviour in Malaysia

Malaysia generates 0.8 kg waste per capita per day. Despite the recycling previous programmeslaunched, the national recycling rate was as low as 5%. Households’ involvement is expected to be the key factor to the success of recycling. Therefore, empirical study is needed to examineon the behavioural determinants of households’ recycling behaviour. The paper aims to extend the Theory of Planned Behaviour in predicting the households’ recycling behaviour. The paper will provide useful information and guidelines to the respective authorities in designingstrategies to encourage higher participation from households in the recycling programs.

The influence of industry affiliation on corporate tax avoidance in Malaysia

Prior studies on tax avoidance have been emphasising on the individuals behaviour rather than corporations. In addition to this, the available studies on corporate tax avoidance, to date, have been focusing on the developed market while very little attention has been given to the developing countries. Thus, this study attempts to investigate the corporate tax avoidance behaviour in Malaysia, focusing on industry affiliations. Specifically, the objective of this study is to examine the importance of industry affiliations as possible contributions of corporate tax avoidance mechanism. This study documented the link between industry affiliations and corporate tax avoidance in an emerging market. This study tested the relationship by using a crosssectional-time series valuation using panel data analyses, which is Tobit estimations. The results confirmed the importance of industry differences in explaining corporate tax avoidance activity. As more data become available in the future, one could include tax avoidance study in non-listed companies.

The impact of ethnicity on auditor choice: Malaysian evidence

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of ethnicity on auditor choice for Malaysian listed companies.Design/methodology/approachThis study evaluates the effects of various independent variables on auditor choice behaviour, particularly ethnicity of auditor and ethnicity of management, using a logistic regression analysis approach for 300 companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia (formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange‐KLSE) over an 18 year period.FindingsAuditor choice is shown to be significantly influenced by client firm's characteristics, notably changes in management, complexity, and financial risk, lending support to the findings of previous survey studies. Ethnicity was found to be a significant factor influencing auditor choice only for auditor switches between non‐Big 4 and Big 4 firms.Research limitations/implicationsA number of important variables such as corporate governance characteristics, audit fees, client size, and growth that might enhance an understanding of auditor choice behaviour in Malaysia were not incorporated in the regression models, and might be considered in future studies.Originality/valueThe results presented in the paper have important implications for both the auditing profession and regulators in Malaysia.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi: A Malaysian Neo-Conservative?

AbstractThis article proposes an analysis of changes implemented during Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration (2003–09), using the theoretical framework commonplace in studies on conservatism. Based on the premise that transformations in conservative polities are prone to producing conflict, the dynamics of conflict situations during Abdullah's checkered Premiership is foregrounded. As we apply the main criteria defining conservatism to regime behaviour in Malaysia, it becomes clear that such criteria are stoutly held by the regime's elites in their quest for social harmony and political stability. Regime maintenance then finds justifications in such seemingly sublime ends, thereby self-perpetuating Malaysian conservatism. Such despondency prevailed during Mahathir Mohamad's administration (1981–2003), which displayed bias against changes and introduced schemes to justify the systems it upheld. Transmutations wrought during Abdullah's tenure may have been neither substantial nor totalizing, but within the conservative paradigm which had long gripped national politics, Abdullah's deviations were significant nevertheless.

The Political Structures and Subnational Government's Fiscal Behavior in Malaysia

This paper examines the relationship between the political characteristics of the Malaysian government and the state government's fiscal behavior. In particular, we seek to analyze whether the incentives for the state governments to observe a prudent spending behavior have not been undermined by the fact that they have been able to influence relevant central government decisions regarding their finance. Our estimations results show that states that are overrepresented at the executive level tend to have higher spending and deficits. However, we don’t find any correlation between overrepresentation at the Parliament and states governments’ fiscal outcomes. This can be explained by the fact that in Malaysia as is frequently the case in developing nations, the legislature is peripheral to the executive in terms of decision making power. The results also show that ideological belonging does not have any impact on the state governments’ level of expenditures and deficits. We do not find any significant correlation between the level of support obtained by the ruling party in state elections and the level of the state governments’ expenditures and deficits.