Factors affecting customer loyalty of different strategic groups in the Vietnamese supermarket sector

The main objective of this research is to investigate factors affecting customer loyalty of different supermarket strategic groups, as the term of strategic groups in the grocery sector appears to have been ignored by most researchers and the topic of comprehensive factors affecting customer loyalty are is under-researched. There were two main phases of emperical research, including expert and supermarket-consumer interviews (Phase One) and questionnaire survey (Phase Two). In particular, there were 3055 questionnaires collected from 17 March 2018 to 27 July 2018 in the Vietnamese supermarkets through many channels, including email, postal and face-to-face contact. After data screening, 2913 questionnaires remained in the dataset. The three main quantitative techniques used were exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). The research used both SPSS and AMOS 24. The results revealed there are seven main direct indicators for customer loyalty: retail brand experience, service quality related to in-store employees’ knowledge and attitudes toward consumers, customer satisfaction, promotion effects, switching costs, e-service quality related to a core e-service quality scale, and alternative attractiveness. In that, customer satisfaction can explain only 17.8 percent variation in customer loyalty. In addition, price, habit and income also have a slight positive impact on customer loyalty. This research also revealed seven main factors directly and positively affecting customer satisfaction: customer perceived value, in-store logistics, service quality related to service employees’ knowledge and attitudes toward consumers, store image, customer experience, product quality, and alternative attractiveness negatively relating to customer satisfaction. Besides that, switching costs and price also have a slight direct impact on customer satisfaction. Furthermore, this research also found factors directly and positively affecting customer perceived value, including price, in-store logistics, trust, promotion effects, e-service quality related to a core e-service quality scale, service quality and customer service, and that switching costs are negatively associated with customer perceived value. The research also investigated differences across groups, including strategic groups, age ranges, location, gender, income, education level and occupation. The results showed that there were differences between groups regarding factors affecting customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and customer perceived value. It is believed that the research will prove meaningful for both academia and practitioners in understanding issues relating to factors affecting customer loyalty, especially since multigroup analysis was conducted to examine different relationships between constructs in the researched model; the research also revealed that the term ‘strategic groups’ in the grocery sector should not be ignored. The revised research framework generated in this research can be applied in any industry or market. There are some limitations to this research which are presented in section 8.3 and recommendations for future research

Optimal condition for Propagation and Growing of Dendrobium thyrsiflorum

Dendrobium thyrsiflorum is a medicinal orchid that is being gradually destroyed due to over-exploitation. This research focuses on in vitro production of D. thyrsiflorum plantlet under optimal acclimatization conditions. The results of the study showed that the best medium for seed germination was MS basal medium (full-strength MS nutrient plus 100 ml L-1 coconut water; 7 g L-1 agar, 30 g L-1 sucrose, and 0.5 g L-1 active charcoal) supplemented with 60 g L-1 mashed sweet potatoes, which induces 97.8% of seed germination. The shoot was well developed in MS basal medium supplemented with 60 g L-1 mashed sweet potatoes and 0.4 mg L-1 6-Benzylaminopurine (BA) and, corpulent and green in shoot morphology. The shoot multiplication rate was greatest on MS basal medium supplemented with 0.4 mg L-1 BA and 0.4 mg L-1 Kinetin with 4.53 times, and the shoot height was reported at 3.45 cm after 8 weeks of subculture. Further, The shoot was 100% rooting, with an average of 4.51 roots/shoot and 5.34 cm per root in length when the shoot was implanted on MS basal medium plus 60 g L-1 mashed sweet potatoes and 0.75 g L-1 active charcoal. Especially, plantlets after transplanting to the orchid net house reached a 94.8% survival rate on tree fern after 24 weeks. Hence, the results of the study suggested a successful production of D. thyrsiflorum plantlet on the selected media compositions

Some Factors Affecting The Intention Of Self-Studying Students Of An Giang University

Facing the trend of the 4th industrial revolution, the self-study capacity of students has a very important meaning in improving the quality of training. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the intention of self-study of An Giang University students. The study uses the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) on the basis of collecting data from 300 students studying the faculties of An Giang University. The study use methods of testing the reliability of scales by Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and multivariate regression analysis. Research results show that there are five factors that influence students' intention to self-study of students, such as: (1) Expectations for effort, (2) motivation for learning, (3) Perception of ease of use, (4) habits and (5) social influences. At the same time, this study provides some implications for management to help the school have strategies to support students' self-study to improve the quality of training to response the social needs

EFFECT OF SPENT MUSHROOM SUBSTRATE ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF THREE CULTIVARS OF MUSKMELONS (Cucumis melo)

Muskmelons are currently grown in several areas of Vietnam for domestic and international consumer markets. The fruit grows well in greenhouses in soil or soilless substrate such as coconut peat. Researchers in Vietnam are investigating the growth of muskmelons in a range of organic by-products. In this study, spent mushroom substrate was recycled for use as an organic substrate and to evaluate the growth, quality, and yield of three muskmelon varieties including RZ F1, PN 128, and TL3 in greenhouses over three months. The substrate was incubated for one month before use and contained 45% spent mushroom substrate, 30% manure, 7.7% rice husks, 1.5% phosphorus, 0.2% commercial Trichoderma (Tribac), 0.1% rice bran, 15% sand, and 0.5% micronutrients and water. Following incubation, the substrate had optimal pH for the growth of muskmelon and the concentration of nutrients and beneficial microorganisms had increased significantly. The growth of RZ F1 and TL3 cultivars was significantly better than PN 128 in terms of growth, fruit quality, and yield. Specifically, RZ F1 and TL3 species took 78 days and 75 days to complete their life cycle produced 1.76 kg and 1.62 kg of fruit, had a pericarp thickness of 4.0 cm, and possessed 14.20o Brix and 14.88o Brix of soluble solid content, respectively. These findings suggest that agricultural by-products, such as spent mushroom substrate, could be a valuable resource for the culture of muskmelons in Vietnam

EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF YOUNG LEARNERS’ ENGAGEMENT IN LISTENING LESSONS

In the context of EFL learning and teaching, listening skill is believed to be the most challenging of the four language skills due to typical challenges. Engaging learners in listening lessons is the desirable goal of most teachers to enhance the learners’ listening performance and success. To keep young learners engaged in their learning, teachers need to implement various engaging techniques to increase learner engagement. This study aims to explore EFL teachers’ perceptions of their young learner engagement through the three main aspects of behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and emotional engagement. The descriptive method was employed with 78 teachers of young learners in different foreign language centers in Mekong Delta in Vietnam. The results revealed that learning engagement in listening lessons is relatively emphasized, especially in the aspect of behavioral and cognitive engagement. Several important engaging techniques were suggested as effective ways to improve learners’ listening performance.  Article visualizations

Effects of hormone and fertilizers on early flower induction of Dendrobium anosmum hybrid seedlings under ex vitro condition

Early flowering of new orchids is important to save time for selecting valuable flowers and artificial induction of flowering is a critical consideration in the orchid production industry. In this study, a new Dendrobium anosmum hybrid was generated by cross-breeding between D. anosmum ‘Chau Nhu’ and D. anosmum ‘Di Linh’. The ancestors and hybrid seedlings from in-vitro culture were trained in the net house and their growth and flowering were evaluated under ex vivo conditions with specific fertilizers and hormones. The results suggest that the hybrid plants grew better than their parents in terms of stem height, stem diameter, and leaf number. Growth hormones were applied to stimulate early flowering in matured hybrids and it was discovered that ‘Keiki pro’, a commercial hormone product, produced the best results, with a flowering rate of 66.67% after two applications. Hybrid flowers varied in width from 36.36% (3.0-6.0 cm) to 63.64 % (more than 6.0 cm) from ancestral width in medium-sized and large-sized flowers, respectively. Also, the hybrid flower colours was mostly a combination of pink/violet (75C) and purple/pink (68A), which is different from their parents. Importantly, the dorsal sepal, petal colours, and shape of hybrid flowers varied significantly among individual hybrids, between hybrids and their progenitors. Some mutations in the lips and columns of the novel hybrid flowers were also visualized. Hence, the D. anosmum hybrid seedlings successfully induced flowers after a year of culture under optimal hormones and fertilizers conditions. The results can serve as a critical reference for the early flowering of the orchid seedlings

SELECTING A NUMBER OF TACTICAL COORDINATION EXERCISES TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’S CALCULATING CAPACITY IN CHESS CLASSES AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

Based on the assessment of teaching and students’ current state of calculating capacity in chess classes, the topic has selected a number of tactical coordination exercises to improve the calculating capacity for students of chess classes at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (HCMC UTE). Thereby, indirectly support students to study well other subjects in the school's general curriculum.  Article visualizations

AN INVESTIGATION OF VIETNAMESE EFL TEENAGE LEARNERS’ KNOWLEDGE OF COMMON ENGLISH IDIOMS: IMPLICATIONS FOR IDIOM INSTRUCTION

This article explores the EFL teenage learners’ knowledge of common English idioms in a Vietnamese context. Seventy-six teenage students between 14 to 17 years old, including 33 males and 43 females participated in an idiom test. The test consisted of 50 idioms selected from common English proficiency test books and the lists of common idioms by Grant (2007) and Liu (2003). Descriptive statistics showed that the students had very limited idiomatic knowledge. This finding uncovers the needs for idiom instruction. Based on the literature, the current paper proposes an instructional direction for improving their knowledge of idioms.  Article visualizations

Effects of project-based learning in a Japanese language course: A case study from the Yesin University of Dalat

Project-based learning (PBL) is an approach that can improve learner motivation and enhance learner autonomy. This report describes the implementation of a clarified project with a poster and video clip linked PowerPoint presentation structure and the student perceptions of this project within a Japanese language course at the Department of Foreign Languages, Yersin University of Da Lat. The study used student questionnaire data with a sample size of n = 31. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’ alpha measurement, and Pearson product-moment tests were means for the analysis of responses. Results showed that the students’ attitudes towards the project were favourable, and the respondents gained significant improvement in learning motivation and autonomy. Findings also indicated that the teacher’s instructions were helpful throughout the process

The factors affecting employee's satisfaction and loyalty: An evidence from the People's Committee of Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Employees are seen as a valuable resource that can contribute in various ways to an organization's activities. In order to prevent the phenomenon of "brain-drain" from the public sectors to other sectors and have a stable human resource, the organization needs to make employees feel satisfied in work and want to have a strong attachment to the organization for a long time by their loyalty. The aim of the study is to explore the factors that affecting the job satisfaction of employees in the People Committee of Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; to examine the relationship between employees' satisfaction and loyalty; and to provide solutions to improve the degree of satisfaction and loyalty for employees in this organization. The research model includes six variables, including four independent variables (empowerment, salary and rewards, training, and career advancement opportunities), one dependent variable (loyalty) and one intermediate variable (satisfaction). These variables corresponds with five hypotheses. The research is conducted on 170 staffs who are working at People's Committee of Binh Tan District through a survey by the questionnaires. Amos 20 was used to test the model, and then, the author ran Amos 20 for CFA and SEM with purpose of enhancing the value of the model, analyzed the data and brought out the results for this study. The results indicated a remarkably positive correlation between satisfaction with salary and rewards as well as a positive relation was also illustrated between the satisfaction with training and empowerment. However, career advancement opportunities has shown an insignificant relation with satisfaction in this organization. Apart from that, implications for management and policy markers in the context of personnel source in People's Committee of Binh Tan District in particular and the Vietnamese local governments in general are discussed in this study