Travel risk in the ecotourism industry amid Covid-19 pandemic: ecotourists' perceptions

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a global turmoil which restricted movement and consequently, diminishing domestic and international travel. One that is severely affected is ecotourism in National Parks, that involves visiting fragile, pristine and undisturbed natural areas. One of the major concerns for ecotourists in destination decision-making is travel risk that could affect their safety. This study aims to examine their risk perception and how it affects the behaviour of ecotourists in Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia. The data was collected from 406 respondents and analysed using structural equation modelling. It is concluded that risk perception affects tourists’ decision-making, whereby health and safety information preference is the strongest predictor, and media’s influence has a very significant connection. This study has the potential of contributing to the management of ecotourism destinations in times of crisis. It also fills the literature gap on risk perceptions of ecotourists’ during the COVID-19 pandemic

The impact of knowledge, attitude, consumption values and destination image on tourists’ responsible environmental behaviour intention

The tourism sector has developed over the years as one of the main contributors to the nation’s socio-economy. However, tourism has also said to be the cause of the depletion of the natural environment especially the marine ecosystem due to the irresponsible behavior of tourists. There is a growing interest in understanding the impact of tourism towards the sustainability of a particular ecotourism destination, thus this study aims to examine the drivers of tourists’ intention to behave in an environmentally responsible manner specifically in marine parks. This study utilizes the responsible environmental behavior model with the addition of consumption values theory and destination image in hope to provide a more comprehensive explanation. A researcher-administered face-to-face survey was conducted among 103 tourists and analysed using partial least squares technique. The results empirically revealed that environmental knowledge and destination image significantly influenced the tourists’ intention to behave in an environmentally responsible manner. Thus, in fostering a more responsible behavior among tourists, more emphasis can be placed on enhancing their knowledge while capitalizing on the destination’s image

Antecedents of responsible environmental behaviour and influence of intention on marine park destination choice among millennial tourists in Malaysia

Due to the rising global concern over environmental pollution, ecotourism in protected areas such as marine park islands has been identified as one of the mitigation strategies. Besides promoting sustainable tourism, ecotourism is a key contributor to the country’s economy. However, over the years, there has been a continuous increase in the numbers of visitors to these marine park islands, alongside the growing tourist activities and the irresponsible behaviours of the visitors that threatens the marine ecosystem. Hence, in keeping up with the environmental pressures and the demand for ecotourism activities, many have turned their attention to the millennial generation. Millennial tourists are growing due to their exponential population size, spending power and distinctive characteristics. Despite the numerous efforts that have been made to gain an in- depth understanding of millennial tourists’ behaviours, there is still limited knowledge on the underlying factors that drive their environmental behaviours especially in marine park islands and how this would lead to their holiday destination decisions. This study applied an extended Model of Responsible Environmental Behaviour (REB) with the inclusion of Consumption Values Theory (CVT) and Tripartite Model of Destination Image (TDI). The objective of this study is to examine the antecedents of responsible environmental behaviour of millennial tourists and to determine the effect of behaviour intention in predicting millennial tourists’ pro-environmental behaviours and their destination choice. The antecedents of environmental knowledge and consumption values were formatively constructed and tested empirically with attitude and destination image in the extended framework. Additionally, overall affective and cognitive destination image were applied to predict the conative effect towards responsible environmental behaviour and destination choice among the millennials. Using purposive sampling to represent the local and international millennial tourists accordingly, a total of 427 data were analysed from tourists who had recently visited a marine park island in Malaysia. The face-to-face survey was conducted at six jetties located in Malaysia, at exit points of the marine park islands. After the data collected was screened and analysed using descriptive statistics, the reliability and validity of the measurement model were determined using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Results revealed that consumption values were the main predictor of behaviour intention followed by environmental knowledge and attitude. This indicates that millennial tourists’ behaviour intention is highly value-driven, rather than just a rational or altruistic decision as anticipated in earlier theories. Additionally, responsible environmental behaviour was empirically proven to have a more significant effect on destination decision compared to the destination image. The role of intention as a mediator was also strengthened in this study. However, one of the limitations of this study is it only focuses on marine parks. Due to the environmental issues that are constantly evolving and more critical, predicting tourist behaviours is increasingly complex which may render more variables to be included in the study. Other methodological limitations and data collection constraints were addressed. Overall, this study was able to empirically support the extended REB framework to effectively explain and predict responsible environmental behaviour and destination choice among millennial tourists. It also contributed to the body of knowledge on millennial tourists that could assist marketing and ecotourism practitioners in attracting the right market segment towards sustainable tourism development of marine park islands in Malaysia. Based on the results, it is suggested that millennial tourists’ consumption values can be heightened if practitioners develop unique eco-tour programs and promote eco-friendly practices using targeted marketing communications. Millennial tourists who are more engaged in responsible environmental behaviours would display higher tendencies in choosing marine park islands as their next holiday destination. In terms of policy contributions, courses in environmental management can be offered to increase the knowledge of millennials and upgrade their skills on relevant strategies to protect the natural environment. Besides, marine parks’ destination image can be enhanced by highlighting the underwater marine life to promote responsible behaviours in the marine park islands effectively

Branding Strategy of Rumah Rempah Café Based on Regional Potential

Economic growth will be able to encourage increased economic growth, that is, business units carried out by individuals and companies. After the Covid-19 pandemic, various efforts have been made by the government to help businesspeople. Business branding is a classic problem often faced by business actors, especially in micro, small, and medium business units. Branding is a marketing method required to introduce a product. This study aimed to compare health drinks in the Spice House café in the Anwar Medika University environment. Efforts to improve product brand identity and introduce a stronger business brand image, so that these efforts will help the business achieve greater success in an increasingly competitive market. Through this branding strategy, businesses can become businesses that grow based on the brand they build. Branding can be remembered more easily, both in taste, location and the menu served at the Rumah Rempah Cafe, Anwar Medika University.

The future of social enterprise cafe in Malaysia: a study on millennials’ perception and intention

Over the past decade, there have been a growing number of social enterprises in Malaysia, especially in the food and beverage industry. However, social enterprise cafes face various challenges in liquidity and lack of public awareness that hindered their progress. In view of this, millennials are the potential target market for social enterprises due to their rapid growth in population and increasing purchasing power. Millennials have high awareness of social issues and support for socially responsible organisations. Based on a survey collected from 424 millennials in Malaysia, data were analysed using the structural equation modelling. Results indicate that millennials are influenced by perceived price and attitude, followed by social norms, while social enterprise knowledge had a significant but weak influence on their intention. In moving forward, the findings suggest that social enterprise cafes could emphasize more on creating value through their pricing strategy and encourage knowledge sharing and attitude towards social enterprises to strengthen purchase intention towards social enterprise cafes. This study not only sheds light on millennials but also assist social enterprises to sustain their business and have a long-term impact on society and environmental causes

Eating with a purpose: development and motivators for consumption of superfood

This research aimed to examine an integrated and modified Health Belief Model by encapsulating the factors influencing consumer likelihood to consume superfoods as adjusted to the Malaysian population. It was conducted in Peninsular Malaysia from May 2019 until October 2019 using a sample size of 1,000 individuals obtained via purposive sampling, whereby the data were analysed by using structural equation modelling. The result showed that consumer likelihood to consume superfoods was positively influenced by perceived benefits and perceived susceptibility, while negatively influenced by perceived barrier. The cue to action had a direct influence on perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness, and perceived benefits. Surprisingly, the cue to action was not too influential on perceived barrier and likelihood to consume superfoods. Nevertheless, the proposed modified Health Belief Model fitted the data better than the original model. This implied that it is important to focus on the cue to action especially in the superfood-buying context as opposed to the original Health Belief Model which neglected the cue to action

The role of marketing stimuli and attitude in determining post-COVID buying decisions toward organic food products: evidence from retail consumers in Beijing, China

Customers are diverse, and their preferences have changed tremendously, especially post-pandemic, as many business organizations are facing major challenges in meeting those needs. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of consumer buying decisions plays a vital role to develop effective strategies. The aim of this study is to determine whether the marketing mix (4Ps) elements and their attitude have a significant effect on organic food product buying decisions among retail consumers in Beijing, China. A quantitative method was used in this study, whereby 334 questionnaires were physically collected randomly from walk-in customers at Walmart, Darunfa, and Yonghui supermarkets in Beijing, China. Based on the results of the hypothesis test using PLS-SEM, it was confirmed that product, place and promotional strategies had a significant positive relationship with attitude and consumer buying decisions. Interestingly, price had no effect and income was not a moderator. The results of this study provided relevant suggestions to marketing practitioners, especially organic food producers and retail stores on developing and implementing marketing strategies effectively to address changing consumer preferences

Strengthening the University-Maritime Industry Collaborations (UMICs): Technology Issues

In management practise and research, the university-maritime industry collaborations (UMICs) have grown in significance. This trend is reinforced by the necessity for innovation in the current industry environment and the desire of policymakers to commercialise knowledge from academia. Much less is known about these collaborations, although significant research efforts have been made to identify the success factors for these collaborations. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify and explore the key factors that strengthen UMICs and propose a framework to enhance collaboration, so that a research agenda for the future will be developed based on an assessment of the existing literature. This study adopted a method of systematic literature review using published and unpublished theoretical literature to conduct analysis using five research databases in order to propose a framework aimed at identifying the key factors to strengthen UMICs. The findings of this study concluded that effective communication, trust, and adequate fund resources are essential for UMICs to succeed. Open communication channels, mutual trust, and shared vision can help build strong partnerships, while adequate funding can support research and development of new technologies, practices, and solutions. Based on previous research, none of them treated combined fund resources, effective communication, and trust as an independent variables towards UMICs relationship specifically. Hence, this study fills the gap by proposing a framework to test the relationship between fund resources, effective communication, and trust towards UMICs. Thus, the proposed framework can be used as a benchmark to strengthen UMICs in the future. This study also will encourage the managers in the maritime industry to drive innovation, establish strategic collaborations, actively involve stakeholders, and foster innovation and economic growth in the maritime industry to strengthen UMICs. The existing limited body of knowledge and literature will also benefit from this study