Asas keusahawanan

Buku Asas Keusahawanan ini mengupas secara mendalam informasi penting tentang usahawan dan keusahawanan, kreativiti, peluang perniagaan, kemahiran perniagaan, pentadbiran, pemasaran, operasi, kewangan, rancangan perniagaan dan kemahiran pembentangan. Panduan praktikal dalam memulakan sesuatu perniagaan juga dimuatkan dalam bab kemahiran perniagaan seperti cara mendaftar bentuk perniagaan yang berbeza, prosedur dan perundangan yang perlu diketahui sebelum memulakan sesuatu perniagaan serta sokongan dan bantuan kerajaan

Exploring Humour Usage in Service Encounters: Evidence from both the Customer and Employee

The aim of this thesis is to examine the extent to which humour usage by frontline employees (FLEs) in a service encounter has a positive impact on customers' service experience and FLEs' psychological well-being. The thesis comprises one conceptual paper and two empirical studies (Study 1 and Study 2). The conceptual paper provides a systematic overview of humour research in multiple disciplines, decodes the findings of humour research, and then applies them to the services domain by proposing two avenues for humour research in service encounters. Anchored in the principles of positive psychology, Study 1 is a field study which investigates customers' experiences following a humorous service encounter, accounting for the type of humour used. The sample comprised 252 respondents in a retail context in Sydney, Australia. Study 2 explored the impact of humour usage as a personal resource for FLEs, and the extent to which type of humour has the most beneficial impact on FLEs' psychological well-being. Study two is conducted with 301 employees in an established aged care company in Sydney, Australia. Findings suggest that the use of humour by FLEs significantly enhance customers' experience, especially, for customers in a negative mood. Moreover, humour is warranted to be a promising strategy to enhance FLEs' psychological well-being. This thesis will contribute to a comprehensive synthesis of multidisciplinary humour research to develop a research agenda for humour in services. The empirical findings will assist service firms with 1) encouraging appropriate humour type to be used by FLEs in order to boost employee-customer interactions, create positive customers experience, which also enhancing FLEs' psychological well-being; and 2) provide guidance on how an organisational humour climate, that encourages humour, may represent an effective approach to FLEs for boosting their psychological well-being

The interactive effects of emotions and numerical information in increasing consumer support to conservation efforts

Nearly 50% of all Earths’ forests have been cleared and considering forests hold 80% of the world’s diversity, it is crucial to support efforts by non-profit organizations (NPO) and government to stop deforestation. Yet, NPOs combat in an increasingly competitive donation sphere, with only 3% of donations going to conservation and animal welfare NPO’s. The present research aims to develop a novel perspective to increase consumer support (financial and time resources) to NPOs by examining the use of emotion (hope vs. fear) and numerical information (range vs. point value). Across three experimental studies, we provide concrete empirical evidence that hope increases the effectiveness of numerical information specified as a point value format, whereas fear will increase the effectiveness of numerical information specified as a range format. Our results provide practical implications for conservation NPO marketers in terms of matching emotion and numerical format

The Congruence Effects between Product Emotional Appeal and Country-based Emotion: The Moderating Role of Country-of-Origin

Previous research has suggested that country-based emotions (i.e., emotions associated with a country) can influence consumer evaluations of a product from that country. However, it remains unclear when and how country-based emotions can be influential in consumer decision making. The results from an experiment reveal that only for a destination with a less favorable country-of-origin image will the match (vs. mismatch) between the country-based emotion and the emotional appeal of the product advertisement increase the purchase likelihood of the product. These findings are beneficial for local brands in that they can promote tourist spending at their destination by cooperating with destination marketers in developing integrated promotional campaigns that elicit congruent emotions

Perceived Threat of COVID-19 Influences Product Preferences: The Moderating Role of Consumers’ Mindset

Recent research has suggested conflicting evidence on how consumers respond to threat (from diseases) concerning their product preferences. Specifically, consumers might exhibit higher versus lower preferences for typical (vs. atypical) products. Drawing upon the literature on consumption-based affect regulation and consumers’ mindset, this research seeks to reconcile these seemingly conflicting findings by establishing the moderating role of consumers’ mindset. In three experimental studies, we show that among consumers with a fixed (vs. growth) mindset, perceived threat of COVID-19 would lead to higher (vs. lower) preferences for typical products. Furthermore, these divergent effects are explained by two distinct affect regulation strategies. The effect of threat among consumers with a growth (vs. fixed) mindset will be mediated by regaining a sense of control (vs. self-protection). These findings contribute the literature on disease cues, affect regulation, and consumers’ mindset, and offer practical implications for marketers during COVID-19 pandemic

The effect of humour usage on customer’s service experiences

Cross-disciplinary research recognises humour as an effective communication tool for fostering engagement and positive interpersonal relationships, although inappropriate use can create negative outcomes. Drawing on positive psychology, this study aims to empirically examine the extent to which frontline employee’s (FLE’s) humour usage can influence customers’ service encounter evaluations. Findings from 252 retail service customers indicate that their sense of humour drives humour perceptions and facilitates positive encounter evaluations. In particular, FLEs’ other-directed humour, rather than self-directed humour, leads to more enjoyable interactions for customers. This effect is moderated by pre-encounter mood, in that customers react more positively to other-directed humour when they are in a bad mood. This study contributes empirical support for the importance of appropriate humour usage to the service encounter literature. From a managerial perspective, the outcomes highlight that service encounters benefit from other-directed humour

Sharing luxury possessions in the age of digital experience economy: Consumption type and psychological entitlement

With the advent of the digital experience economy, contemporary luxury brands have embraced social media as an important channel for improving brand perceptions and developing customer relationships. This is because encouraging consumers to share luxury purchases on social media offers a strategic value for luxury brands. The present research investigates the conditions under which consumers are more likely to share luxury (vs. nonluxury) purchases on social media. Across two experiments, we establish that luxury (vs. non-luxury) purchases are shared more when they are associated with material (vs. experiential) consumption, and among consumers with a high (vs. low) sense of entitlement. These findings make several theoretical and managerial contributions, providing avenues for future research on what consumers do with luxury brands on social media

Impak Modenisasi dan Pengkomersilan Terhadap Keaslian Makanan Tradisi dan Identiti Budaya Etnik Kadazan- Dusun di Sabah

Modenisasi memainkan peranan besar terhadap perubahan identiti budaya sesebuah etnik termasuklah aspek makanan tradisi. Matlamat kajian ini adalah untuk mengkaji kesan modenisasi dan pengkomersilan terhadap keaslian makanan tradisi serta pelestarian identiti budaya dan mengenalpasti tahap serta kaedah pengkomersilan makanan berkenaan. Kajian ini memfokuskan kepada makanan tradisi etnik Kadazan-Dusun di Sabah khususnya tuhau dan bambangan. Kajian lapangan yang menggunakan teknik pengamatan turut serta, temu bual dan tinjauan soal selidik dilaksanakan di beberapa lokasi petempatan etnik Kadazan-Dusun termasuklah kawasan Pantai Barat Selatan (Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Tuaran, Tamparuli, Ranau dan Kundasang), Pantai Barat Utara (Kudat, Sikuati dan Kota Marudu) dan Pedalaman atas (Tenom, Keningau, Tambunan, Nabawan dan Sook). Dapatan kajian mendapati bahawa pengkomersilan dan modenisasi mempengaruhi keaslian makanan tradisi etnik Kadazan-Dusun khususnya tuhau dan bambangan tetapi tidak melenyapkan identiti budaya etnik berkenaan kerana penyediaan secara tradisi masih turut dipasarkan dan mendapat sambutan dalam kalangan penduduk. Sementelah itu, lokasi petempatan mempengaruhi keaslian dan improvisasi serta tahap dan kaedah pengkomersilan makanan tradisi berkenaan. Antara faktor