Moderating effects of socio-cultural values on pro-environmental behaviors

Purpose: This paper aims to explain the discrepancy between pro-environmental intentions and behaviors with moderating effects of two socio-cultural values (espoused individualism and faith in others) on the link between intentions and actual behaviors to save electricity. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey of 303 consumers in Hong Kong with a structured questionnaire was used to collect the data to test all the hypothesized relationships. Findings: Attitude toward saving electricity has a significant positive effect on the intentions to save electricity, but subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have no such effect on intentions but do positively affect the actual electricity saving behavior. Finally, the link between intentions and behavior to save electricity is negatively moderated by espoused individualism and positively by faith in others. Research limitations/implications: This study was conducted with a sample of consumers in Hong Kong; hence, its findings may not be generalizable to other countries. Originality/value: This study provides new insights into the link between pro-environmental intentions and behaviors by looking beyond the theory of planned behavior and exploring the moderating role of socio-cultural values on the intention-behavior link

Does increasing supply chain flexibility contribute to the enhancement of a firm's sustainability performance?

The study empirically examines whether increased supply chain (SC) flexibility correlates with improvements in an SC's ability to address a firm’s sustainability performance (SP). In addition, we investigate how SC visibility impacts a firm’s SP by way of enhancing SC agility in the model. SC flexibility plays a vital role in SC operations to achieve sustainability. However, there is a limited understanding of the effects of SC flexibility on SP. The study explores the moderating roles of SC flexibility and environmental uncertainty in the connections between SC visibility, SC agility, and SP within the research framework. We use the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique to validate both the measurement and structural models. Besides, the mediation analysis, moderation analysis and multi-group analysis are employed to test the various effects in the model. The results indicate the positive and significant relationships among SC visibility, SC agility and the organisation's SP in the model. The significant moderating effects of SC flexibility on the relationships among SC visibility, SC agility, and the organisation's SP are identified in this study. Our findings show that increasing SC flexibility could potentially pose challenges. We argue that increasing SC flexibility cannot always help an organisation's SP, furthermore, firms with high SC flexibility may perform worse than firms with low SC flexibility in terms of a firm’s SP. The study provides valuable insight into sustainable SC management and contingency management post-COVID-19 pandemic, especially drawing attention to SC flexibility

Exploring the Role of Spotlight Effect in Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW) Pricing – An Anchoring and Adjustment Perspective

This paper investigates social influences on Pay‐What‐You‐Want (PWYW) pricing decisions by combining a socio‐psychological phenomenon, called “spotlight effect” (defined as an egocentric bias while estimating the salience of one's own behavior and external appearance), with the well‐established “anchoring and adjustment” perspective. We test our hypotheses with one field study and two lab experiments. Findings show that when making a payment in PWYW setting, customers perceive greater attention on self (vs. others) and in the presence of distant (vs. close) others, which makes them initially anchor the price they are willing to pay on their internal reference price. However, this anchoring effect is adjusted downwards (i.e., reduced) in the presence of external reference prices. Our findings would help managers understand the factors influencing customers' PWYW pricing decisions, based on their internal and external reference prices. Managers can further use this knowledge to develop more effective strategies to drive higher PWYW prices

Exploring the Role of Spotlight Effect in Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW) Pricing – An Anchoring and Adjustment Perspective

This paper investigates social influences on Pay‐What‐You‐Want (PWYW) pricing decisions by combining a socio‐psychological phenomenon, called “spotlight effect” (defined as an egocentric bias while estimating the salience of one's own behavior and external appearance), with the well‐established “anchoring and adjustment” perspective. We test our hypotheses with one field study and two lab experiments. Findings show that when making a payment in PWYW setting, customers perceive greater attention on self (vs. others) and in the presence of distant (vs. close) others, which makes them initially anchor the price they are willing to pay on their internal reference price. However, this anchoring effect is adjusted downwards (i.e., reduced) in the presence of external reference prices. Our findings would help managers understand the factors influencing customers' PWYW pricing decisions, based on their internal and external reference prices. Managers can further use this knowledge to develop more effective strategies to drive higher PWYW prices

Proceedings of The HKIE Geotechnical Division 43rd Annual Seminar: Towards a Smart-Green-Resilient Geo-Future for World-class City

This seminar proceedings contain articles on the various research ideas of the academic community and practitioners presented at The HKIE Geotechnical Division 43rd Annual Seminar (GDAS2023). This seminarprovides a platform for policymakers, practitioners, and academia to share their insights and brainstorm ideas with a view to seizing future opportunities and shaping the new future of Hong Kong. GDAS2023 was organized by the Geotechnical Division, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers on 19th May 2023. Seminar Title: The HKIE Geotechnical Division 43rd Annual SeminarSeminar Acronym: GDAS2023Seminar Date: 19 May 2023Seminar Location:  Hong KongSeminar Organizers: Geotechnical Division, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Link to the GDAS2021 Proceedings: Proceedings of The HKIE Geotechnical Division 41st Annual Seminar Link to the GDAS2022 Proceedings: Proceedings of The HKIE Geotechnical Division 42nd Annual Semina