East Asian Context Research Articles

Antecedents of Vaccine Hesitancy in WEIRD and East Asian Contexts.

Following decreasing vaccination rates over the last two decades, understanding the roots of vaccine hesitancy has become a public health priority. Vaccine hesitancy is linked to scientifically unfounded fears around the MMR vaccine and autism which are often fuelled by misinformation spread on social media. To counteract the effects of misinformation about vaccines and in particular the falling vaccination rates, much research has focused on identifying the antecedents of vaccine hesitancy. As antecedents of vaccine hesitancy are contextually dependent, a one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to be successful in non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic) populations, and even in certain (non-typical) WEIRD sub-populations. Successful interventions to reduce vaccine hesitancy must be based on understanding of the specific context. To identify potential contextual differences in the antecedents of vaccine hesitancy, we review research from three non-WEIRD populations in East Asia, and three WEIRD sub-populations. We find that regardless of the context, mistrust seems to be the key factor leading to vaccine hesitancy. However, the object of mistrust varies across WEIRD and non-WEIRD populations, and across WEIRD subgroups suggesting that effective science communication must be mindful of these differences.

Confucian Democracy in East Asia: A Discussion of Sungmoon Kim’s Democracy After Virtue: Toward Pragmatic Confucian Democracy

Confucian Democracy in East Asia: A Discussion of Sungmoon Kim’s <i>Democracy After Virtue: Toward Pragmatic Confucian Democracy</i>

Fragmented Pragmatism: On Sungmoon Kim’s Pragmatic Confucian Democracy

Fragmented Pragmatism: On Sungmoon Kim’s Pragmatic Confucian Democracy

The Effect of Perceived Product Quality, Brand Personality, and Loyalty on Brand Switching Intention of Technological Products

&nbsp; Research Aims: Laptops are essential in people's everyday lives. Since laptop utilization has been very high during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, many laptop manufacturers have made efforts to drive consumers to switch to their laptop brands. The main objective of this research is to examine how perceived product quality, brand personality, and loyalty affect brand switching intention. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected online from 216 consumers. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was employed to analyse the data. &nbsp; Research Findings: The result demonstrates that perceived product quality, brand personality, and loyalty have both direct and indirect negative effects on consumers' switching intention. It is revealed that variables play a pivotal role in consumers' evaluation of laptop products and their subsequent switching intention. &nbsp; Theoretical Contribution/Originality: There is currently a dearth of studies testing the impact of brand personality dimensions on consumer brand identification, perceived product quality, loyalty, and switching intention. Our findings provide more insight into switching intention as a means to achieve a competitive edge in global laptop shipments during the Covid-19 pandemic. &nbsp; Managerial Implications in the South East Asian context: This study can serve as a comprehensive guideline for businesses to position their brands successfully to reduce any consumer switching intentions affecting their products. However, consumers' perspectives on brand personality with a laptop product affect their critical evaluations. Global laptop manufacturers should leverage brand personality to engender positive consumer evaluation and reduce switching intention. &nbsp; Research Limitations &amp; Implications: Other factors beyond the scope of the research, such as brand-related factors, have many different inherent attributes (e.g., specifications, functions, designs, prices, and advancements) whose influence on switching intention needs to be considered in future research.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Perception and Challenges of Select Higher Educational Institutions on its Role in the Technology Business Incubation in the Visayas, Philippines

Research Aims: The present study aims to document perceptions and identify the challenges on the participation and role of technology business incubators (TBIs) of select academic institutions in Visayas, Philippines. Design/methodology/approach: It is quantitative-qualitative research, which utilized survey questionnaires and focus group discussion of twenty-five (25) key informants (KIs) from nine higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Visayas. KIs include key officials and faculty who handled research, technology transfer, business incubation, intellectual property, and/or technology licensing functions in their respective HEIs. Research Findings: All KIs were from state universities or colleges, and most KIs were female (64%), married (60%), and holders of a doctorate degree (72%). Results showed that most KIs had good knowledge of TBI operations and intellectual property rights, but acknowledged the need for developing capacities and facilities for the TBI operations. Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This study identified key challenges and concerns of the HEIs that can affect the implementation and operations of the TBI program in the Philippines which include the training needs of the faculty, lack of manpower and budget, and the sustainability of the facility/operation. The HEIs also need support from government agencies and non-government organizations. Managerial Implication in the South East Asian context: TBI can help in the improvement of the country's innovation index, technopreneurship, and value creation. Philippine HEIs should consider the cost and sustainability of setting up TBIs as well as how they benchmark their activities against other Southeast Asian countries. Research limitation &amp; implications: Although the sample appears to be limited, data was collected from key HEI managers and decision-makers. Therefore, this study can still provide insights for current and prospective TBIs to help address common concerns and formulate policies and strategies for the operations and sustainability of the program in their respective HEIs. &nbsp;

Transformational Leadership Dimensions and Job-Based Psychological Ownership as Facilitators in International Intrapreneurship of Family Firms

&nbsp; R esearch Aims: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of transformational leadership dimensions (TL) and job-based psychological ownership (PO) on nonfamily employee international intrapreneurship in family firms (FFs). &nbsp; Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a sample of 246 key role nonfamily employees at 118 family-owned export and import SMEs in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The data are analysed using a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Results: The article identifies four dimensions of TL and international intrapreneurship in which both concepts are interlinked. Job-based PO plays a significant role in the TL dimensions' effects on international intrapreneurship. &nbsp; Theoretical Contribution/Originality: The article establishes the mechanism by which TL constructs influence nonfamily employee international intrapreneurship actions by examining the mediating role of employee job-based PO in FFs. &nbsp; Managerial Implication in the South East Asian context : FFs need to develop the architecture and mechanisms for enabling nonfamily employees' international intrapreneurship to be committed to TL constructs and job-based PO. &nbsp; Research limitation &amp; implications: This article contributes to international business theory by interpreting the export trading results of FFs using entrepreneurship theory. However, each stage of FFs international business requires a unique set of resources. As a result, it is necessary to incorporate theoretical perspectives from both domains to explain each internationalisation stage of FFs adequately. &nbsp;

The Impact of Achievement Motivation on Organizational Capabilities and Firm Performance in the Creative Industry Context

Research Aims: This paper aims to validate achievement motivation (AM) as a possible cause of the issues faced in the Indonesian creative industry context and establish a possible relationship between variables comprising organizational capabilities and organizational performance. &nbsp; Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper is a confirmatory study that uses a quantitative approach utilizing an online survey/questionnaire. The study examines 214 valid respondent survey answers from invited respondents from the Indonesian creative industry via email and social media platforms. &nbsp; Research Findings: This paper provides empirical validation of the hypotheses that AM is positively related with organizational capabilities and that those capabilities are positively related to firm performance (FP). This paper confirms past research findings regarding the relationships between the variables. &nbsp; Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This paper extends the research on AM to the organizational level and analyzes its relationships with organizational capabilities and FP in an integrated fashion. &nbsp; Managerial Implications in the South East Asian Context: This paper reveals AM as the possible true cause of the issues faced by the creative industry in Indonesia. Managers and government actors seeking to improve the industry should consider the AM of the workforce. &nbsp; Research Limitations &amp; Implications: &nbsp; The limitations of this study are that the resulting analysis is limited to affirming past research on the variables and that this is a cross-sectional study with a specific research context; which implies that the results of this study only represent the condition at the specific point in time the research is conducted.

­The Effect of Work-based Benefits and Demand on Engagement and Well-being as Mediated by Work-University Facilitation and Conflict Among Working Students in Indonesia

Research Aims: This study uses a depletion and enrichment model to examine the effect of role&nbsp; conflict whereby work-based benefits and demands on a person&rsquo;s first role (workers) influence facilitation&nbsp; and conflict on their second role (university student), and influence the students&rsquo; engagement&nbsp; and well-being. Design/methodology/approach: This research tested whether facilitation and conflict acted as mediators&nbsp; between benefits and demands with engagement and well-being. The hypotheses were tested&nbsp; using 290 respondents (63.4% were female with an average age of 23.4 years) who were working&nbsp; while studying. Research Findings: The results suggested that benefits were associated positively with facilitation;&nbsp; demands were associated with more conflict; and facilitation was associated with engagement and&nbsp; well-being. Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This study supports the enrichment model that the first role&nbsp; will energize and facilitate students in the second role, and influences engagement and well-being.&nbsp; Whereas in the depletion model, demands have a positive influence on conflict, but do not have a&nbsp; negative impact on the engagement and well-being. Managerial Implication in the South East Asian context: This study shed lights on understanding&nbsp; that working while studying has its own benefits. The experience at work can become an asset to&nbsp; carry as students enter the full-time job market while accelerating their launch into full-time career. Research limitation &amp; implications: Due to time constraints, the researchers only examined the&nbsp; relationship between variables, while previous research tested the dimensions contained in the variables.&nbsp; Most respondents come from universities located in Java and less is known about the experiences&nbsp; of working students in other islands.

The Part and Parcel of Doctoral Education: A Gap Analysis between the Importance and Satisfaction of the Experience

The doctoral student experience is complex and multifaceted, and although it is increasingly examined in higher education research, there is still much to explore and understand about the topic. Despite expanding discourse, few investigations have been conducted in the East Asian context with multiple universities and fields of study. The present paper aimed to overcome these limitations with research conducted in two Taiwan universities with 94 doctoral student subjects. The study was designed as a quantitative cross-sectional survey using gap analysis. Results showed that within three dimensions (experience with mentors, peers, and curricular engagements) nine distinct variables were validated. The importance of peer interaction and support from mentors were noted as key components for a successful, enjoyable doctoral experience within the Taiwan context.

How do Older Adults Spend Their Time? Gender Gaps and Educational Gradients in Time Use in East Asian and Western Countries

This study is the first to document how older adults in East Asian and Western societies spend their time, across four key dimensions of daily life, by respondent’s gender and education level. To do this, we undertook a pioneering effort and harmonized cross-sectional time-use data from East Asian countries (China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) with data from the Multinational Time Use Study (Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, United Kingdom, United States; to which we refer as Western countries), collected between 2000 and 2015. Findings from bivariate and multivariate models suggest that daily time budgets of East Asian older adults are different from their counterparts in most Western countries. Specifically, gender gaps in domestic work, leisure, and sleep time were larger in East Asian contexts, than in Western countries. Gender gaps in paid work were larger in China compared to all other regions. Higher levels of educational attainment were associated with less paid work, more leisure, and less sleep time in East Asian countries, while in Western countries they were associated with more paid work, less domestic work, and less sleep. Interestingly, Italy and Spain, two Southern European welfare regimes, shared more similarities with East Asian countries than with other Western countries. We interpret and discuss the implications of these findings for population aging research, and welfare policies.

Determinant Factors and Influence of Job-housing Imbalance in East Asian Context

In recent years, the imbalance of job-housing in metropolitan areas has intensified, raising hot discussion on job-housing spatial relationship and employment accessibility in related fields. This article aimed to classify the reasons, impact and the corresponding solution of job-housing imbalance by reviewing the formation and development process of this concept and analyzing the cases from 3 countries in East Asia. The article concludes that job-housing imbalance is related to urban sprawl and decentralization, with issues from the planning, industrial, and individual levels. The impact of job-housing imbalance is illustrated in limited travel choice, social segregation, low quality of life and pressure on the urban environment. Solutions that have been taken so far can be classified into ameliorating job-housing spatial mismatch and providing more travel choices.

Beyond price and income: Preferences and food values in peri-urban Viet Nam

Sub-optimal diets are one of the most important risk factors contributing to the global burden of disease. Developing a better understanding of the drivers of food choice, including the role of individual preferences, is important to address this issue. The objective of this mixed methods research was to identify the relative importance of preferences for different food quality attributes (e.g. nutrition, food safety, price and convenience) that might influence shopping habits and food choice in the context of a rapidly changing peri-urban food environment in Hanoi Province, Viet Nam. A total of 264 women were randomly selected and interviewed using Best-Worst Scaling to elicit preferences among food quality attributes for different food groups (leafy green vegetables, fruits, instant foods, snack foods). A subset of these respondents (n = 40) participated in focus group discussions in order to explore their preferences and food values in more detail. The food quality attributes considered to be most important varied by food group with nutrition and food safety (both immediate and future health) ranking highest for leafy green vegetables and fruits, convenience for instant foods, and taste for snack foods. Price was considered least important across all food groups. Focus group discussions reinforced these results with additional insights particularly regarding trade-offs between nutrition, food safety, convenience, and price. This research demonstrates the feasibility of identifying important drivers of consumption in a South East Asian context using Best-Worst Scaling. These results could help inform the design of behavior change interventions and guide food system policies that seek to shift consumer choices towards healthier diets.

Ethical Individualism and the Prospect of Confucian Political Theory

Abstract In his recent book, Shaun O’Dwyer defends liberal democracy as the only legitimate mode of political system in the East Asian context by critiquing various proposals of Confucian democracy and meritocracy. Underlying O’Dwyer’s critique of Confucian political theory is the seamless connection between ethical individualism (à la Kant), pragmatic democracy (à la Dewey), and political liberalism (à la Rawls), which in his view cannot be adequately accommodated by any version of Confucian political theory, unless it abandons its Confucian essence. This paper argues that the relation between these three philosophical components are far more complex than is rendered by O’Dwyer and that Confucian democracy can be justified on ethical, pragmatic, and progressive grounds.

Lost in translation: implementing personal assistance in an East Asian context

Since 2012, Taiwanese citizens with disabilities have been entitled to personal assistance from local authorities. To explore current features of personal assistance and barriers to its implementation, and distinguish it from homecare services, 33 disabled people and 12 staff members representing 10 local authorities in Taiwan were interviewed. Findings indicate that disabled people prefer personal assistance to homecare and perceive that relationships with their families have improved since the availability of personal assistance. However, many users’ needs are unmet due to insufficient hours of service and costly co-payments. Results also show that development of personal assistance has been hindered not only by limited resource allocations but also by a lack of awareness of the concepts of independent living and personal assistance among staff. In the context of East Asian culture, independent living is misinterpreted as self-reliance, leading to the resurrection of the medical model of disability. Points of interest In Taiwan, personal assistance was launched by a pilot program (2008-2010) run by a disabled people’s organization. Since 2012, Taiwanese disabled people have been entitled to receive personal assistance from their local authority, but personal assistance has not been widely recognised by local authorities as an option to support disabled people’s independent living. As in Western societies, Taiwanese disabled people prefer personal assistance to homecare. Personal assistance has also promoted positive relationships within families. Limited resources and local authorities’ lack of understanding the meaning of independent living and personal assistance are the main barriers to the provision of adequate support. In the East Asian context, independent living has been misunderstood as self-reliance, suggesting no need for assistance or support, which has led to the domination of the medical model and of professionals’ and carers’ perspectives in the implementation of personal assistance.

Housing transitions of Taiwanese young adults: intersections of the parental home and housing pathways

In the global context, studies have found that young adults are facing increasing difficulties in accessing homeownership and delaying home-leaving. While the Western literature on housing circumstances among younger generations indicates the importance of family support, in an East Asian context, the family is particularly intertwined with housing arrangements given the cultural heritage of filial piety. To elucidate the dynamics of housing transitions, this paper adopted a holistic approach and used sequence analysis to establish distinct housing pathways in a less studied social context, Taiwan. Drawing on data from the Panel Study of Family Dynamics, apart from providing empirical evidence on the emergence of the private rented path and a decline in homeownership associated with housing inequality, this paper explored the diverse housing pathways associated with the principal platform of family support, i.e. the parental home, and found that it may function as both a familisation instrument for young adults seeking independence and negotiating leverage sustaining the filial reciprocity.

A techno-feminist analysis of beauty app development in China’s high-tech industry

ABSTRACT Drawing on a techno-feminist approach, this article foregrounds the socio-technological process of beauty app development in China’s high-tech industry. I conducted semi-structured interviews with ten professionals, six women and four men, who previously worked at a leading Chinese high-tech company and participated in the development of a pioneer, popular beauty app – BeautyCam (Meiyan Xiangji). The research findings reveal that Chinese high-tech professionals often perceive the development of beauty apps as providing female users with a sense of empowerment and facilitating the inclusion of female professionals in the high-tech industry. Despite this feminist veneer, beauty app development poses no challenge to the status quo in Chinese society. Instead, it supports an underlying gendered logic not only by reinforcing existing standards of beauty but also in creating a niche job market that restricts female professionals’ career development. The discussion sheds light on the intersection of gender and technology in an East Asian context where neoliberal pseudo-feminism is evidently on the rise.

‘Transnational film, transnational memory? Collective remembrance in recent pan-asian war films’

ABSTRACT This paper explores the conflict over memory in East Asia by analyzing three pan-Asian film productions that attempt to produce a shared transnational memory of World War II: Purple Sunset (China, 2001), Distant Bonds (Japan, 2009), and My Way (South Korea, 2011). Using Hjort’s taxonomy of transnational cinemas (2009), it argues that all three productions appeal to pan-Asian transnational memory through affinitive transnationalism (transnational memory based on shared cultural heritage), but their overall transnational strategies diverge into cosmopolitan, modernizing, and globalizing transnationalism. Each strategy works to varying success for domestic and international audiences, suggesting that the cultural production of transnational memory remains elusive in the East Asian context. This paper ends with the question of whether cohesive transnational war memory is possible in East Asian cinema, and more broadly, how a stronger trend of pan-Asian transnational filmmaking might emerge outside of contested topics like World War II.

Navigating Sexual Racism in the Sexual Field: Compensation for and Disavowal of Marginality by Racial Minority Grindr Users in Singapore

Abstract This study investigates racialized sexual desires of Grindr users in Singapore, a multiracial East Asian society. We found that users are continually pigeonholed into racial categories tethered to stereotypes, hierarchizing users such that the Chinese majority are considered more desirable. Users employ race labels to communicate racial membership, circumnavigating Grindr’s preset ethnic categories. Users also creatively appropriate interface affordances to enforce racialized preferences; this includes a preoccupation with verifying racial identities, especially through photos. Racial minorities strategically respond to sexual racism by negotiating for Chinese majority membership, emphasizing the cosmopolitan self over the ethnic self, and/or reframing the situation to disavow victimhood. This research counterbalances the ethnocentric focus of existing sexual racism literature on white-centric contexts by applying sexual fields theory to multiracial East Asia, yielding meaningful theoretical contributions. We also foreground the importance of considering internal dispositions of feelings and attitudes as situated resistance against sexual racism on Grindr.Lay summaryThis article explores how sexual desires of Singaporean users on Grindr (a gay dating app) are socially conditioned to include racial preferences, which in turn constitutes sexual racism. This research is important as it examines the complexities of sexual racism within a multiracial and postcolonial East Asian context, balancing the existing scholarly focus on sexual racism in Western societies. Our interviews with Grindr users in Singapore revealed that users tend to slot themselves (and others) into racial categories that appear fixed and linked to racial stereotypes. This allows a pecking order to emerge, such that the racial majority (Singaporean Chinese users) are generally seen as most desirable. Race is therefore one important dimension of the interactions on Grindr. If racial identity is not immediately obvious on app profiles, users often seek to find out the racial identities of other potential partners by, for example, requesting photos to make guesses about their race. We also studied the responses of racial minorities to sexual racism. These strategies include trying to present a Chinese or Chinese-mixed racial identity, emphasizing an identity that is globalized rather than ethnic, and reframing their situation to disavow their victimhood.

The Antecedents of Calling: A Career Construction Perspective

"Research Aims: This study aims to examine the moderating role of leader autonomy support (LAS) in the indirect relationship between cognitive flexibility and calling through job crafting. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected through an online survey from employees who have been working at a private company for a minimum of one year. Using a convenience sampling method, data were collected from a total of 140 respondents. Data were analysed in SPSS using a moderated mediation model. Research Findings: The results showed that LAS moderated the indirect effect of cognitive flexibility on calling through job crafting. Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This study illustrates the complex relationship between cognitive flexibility, job crafting, and LAS as the antecedents of calling by drawing on career construction theory (CCT), while simultaneously emphasising the importance of situational factors (i.e., LAS) in finding a calling, especially for employees. Managerial Implication in the South East Asian context: Companies are expected to put more effort into understanding the role of individual and situational factors in their employees' journey toward finding a calling. Specifically, leaders' support for employees' job crafting should be strengthened to facilitate employees in discerning their work as a calling. Research limitations &amp; implications: This study has limitations regarding the data collection, as it only uses a cross-sectional design. Additionally, this study only examines the antecedents of calling through employees' perception."

Developing Innovation Ecosystem between Cross-Sector Industry Players through Human Resource Quality Improvement

"Research Aims: This study aimed to analyze the effect of workforce agility on innovative behavior, the effect of digital literacy and psychological conditions on workforce agility, and the role of digital literacy and psychological conditions as moderator variabels on the relationship between workforce agility and innovative behavior. Design/methodology/approach: The type of data collected was primary data using an online questionnaire. The sampling method was purposive sampling technique. The collected data were then processed and analyzed using SEM-PLS. Research Findings: The results of this study indicated that workforce agility had a positive effect on innovative behavior. Digital literacy and psychological conditions also had positive effect on workforce agility. However, only psychological conditions had a moderating effect on the relationship between workforce agility and innovative behavior. Theoretical Contribution/Originality: The results of this study illustrates how workforce agility affects innovative behavior. The use of digital technology through good digital literacy will further encourage the creation of industrial innovations. Managerial Implication in the South East Asian context: Organisations should build massive collaboration among various industry players in all sectors, by encouraging workforce agility in order to create industrial innovations. Research limitation &amp; implications: This study has uneven number of samples in each industry. Future studies can consider sampling where each industrial sector can have sufficient sample similarity so comparisons can be made."