Factors that Influence Malaysian Muslim Travel Preferences

Tourism has become an important industry that contributes to a country’s economy. Currently, the Muslim tourist segment is viewed as one of the important segments in the tourism industry. In addition, there has been a growing interest in understanding the preferences and motivations of Muslim travelers. This is due to the increasing number of Muslim travelers worldwide and the recognition that catering to their specific needs is essential for successful tourism development. The number of Muslim tourists from a Muslim-majority country increases significantly. Muslim travelers are looking for destinations in which the majority of the population are Muslims. This study is aimed to determine the factors that influence Muslim traveler preferences and to determine the most dominant factor that influences Muslim traveler preferences. Therefore, a survey of 100 Malaysian Muslim travelers in Shah Alam Selangor was done to determine the factors that influence Muslim traveler preferences. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) is used to analyze the multiple regression to test hypotheses on the factors that influence Muslim traveler preferences. The result of the survey suggests that halal certification is a significant factor in explaining Muslim traveler preferences. The availability of halal food and Sharia-compliant hotels were found not to have a significant relationship with Muslim travel preferences. This study provides evidence of the detailed needs and preferences of Muslim travelers and enhances the knowledge of tourists, government, and service providers about Islamic touris

Factors Influencing Purchase Intention towards International Cosmetic Products among Malay Women

An attractive appearance is essential for women. Women are willing to spend money for the sake of taking care of their face and skin by buying trusted cosmetic brands. The utilization of cosmetic items has emerged as a significant aspect across the lifespan, from infancy to old age, with a growing number of consumers engaging in the consumption of such products. Consumers in developing countries prefer well-known international products rather than domestic products because they have more confidence in the quality of foreign products. Hence, the researcher aims to investigate the extent to which product quality, packaging, brand name and promotion influence purchase intention toward international cosmetic products among Malay women in Putrajaya Malaysia. Therefore, a survey of 105 Malay women in Putrajaya Malaysia was conducted to analyze the factors that influence purchase intention toward international cosmetic products. Correlation analysis is used to analyze the data to identify the relationship between the variables. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis is used to assess the significant influential factors toward purchase intention.  The result from the survey discovered that only product quality has a significant relationship with purchase intention towards international cosmetic products among Malay women in Putrajaya Malaysia. Packaging, brand name and promotion were not found to have a significant relationship towards purchase intention towards international cosmetic products

The adoption of electronic payment system among small medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia / Nuryusmawati Mohd Yusof … [et al.]

This study aimed to investigate factors that significantly affect the adoption of electronic payment system (EPS) by local small and medium enterprise (SMEs) in Malaysia. Referring to the Central Bank of Malaysia’s report, it has stated that this country would achieve higher economic growth and higher competitiveness by fully migrating from paper-based payment system to electronic payment because the latter provide opportunities to enhance productivity level and lower cost of doing business. These four factors were simplicity, security/privacy, organization culture and top management support and how these factors may have impact on the adoption rate of electronic payment system. The population of this study was all the SMEs that are listed in SME Corporation Bhd, concentrated at all major cities in Malaysia. Proportionate sample was targeted from the company listings from SME Corp. Survey method was adopted in this study to achieve its objectives. A Likert five- point scale questionnaire was developed to collect the required data after reviewing some previous studies that related to the subject of the study. This study revealed that top management support and organizational culture have the strongest impact among the other independent variables on the adoption of EPS by SMEs in Malaysia. For future research, it is suggested that this research can be targeted according to state individually or by industry for better understanding on the adoption of EPS

The Influence of Social Media on Self-Esteem among International Business Students in One of the Public Universities

Over the past few decades, there has been a remarkable expansion of Information Communication Technology (ICT), leading to significant changes in our lives as we advance in years. Internet addiction has become a major global concern, with the number of affected individuals increasing daily. The Internet has become the primary source of knowledge, and the exponential rise in students' engagement with social media is a noteworthy phenomenon. However, it cannot be overlooked that students are spending more time on social media than on their studies, which can hurt their exam performance unless they allocate more time to learning. Therefore, this paper explores the extent to which factors of social media usage and social media addiction influence self-esteem. The target respondents were among the 97 students of Part 5 in the international business program in UiTM. The objective of this study is to investigate factors of low self-esteem among teenagers (IB students) which it narrows down to the following aim; to identify the relationship between the usage of social media and low self-esteem and to measure the relationship between social media addiction and low self-esteem. The finding of this study revealed that social media addiction has positively influenced the teenager’s self-esteem. Consequently, the result of this study is hoped to help future research to do relevant & further study on social media associated with self-esteem. Besides that, it also gives recommendations to teenagers to foster healthier digital habits and strike a balance between online activities and their daily responsibilities

Device Features and/or Personality Traits? Disentangling the Determinants of Smartphone Nomophobia and Pathology among Urban Millennials

Smartphones have emerged as a mobile device that provides users with "smart" functionalities, aesthetics features and capabilities. These smart devices are the “must have” advanced communication tools and have been assimilated as an integral part of the everyday life. Although academic scholars and practitioners have started to venture into a research stream that focuses on behavioral models to elucidate and predict smartphone consumption trends and behavior, however, there is limited empirical research that attempts to unleash factors that triggered smartphone users to become nomophobia (no mobile phone phobia) and consecutively in turn become pathology (also known as addiction or dependency) user. Henceforth, this work seeks to explore both emerging phenomena by developing and validating a research model which is based on the Media Dependency Theory. The structural equation modelling analysis was conducted using Smart Partial Least Square (SmartPLS3) procedure with a dataset of 272 smartphone users who belong to the urban Millennials generational cohort. Two main predictors are hypothesized, which are the smartphone features (software and hardware) and users’ personality traits (openness, neuroticism, and extraversion). The results suggest that multiple facets of smartphone users’ personalities, particularly neuroticism significantly cause the smartphone users to become nomophobia and subsequently pathological. Whereas, the device hardware features have a positive significance effect on nomophobia, nevertheless not trigger pathology. Surprisingly, software features of the smartphone do not offer evidence of their effect on nomophobia as well as pathology. The key findings uncovered from this exploratory research provide rich insights for theoretical and practical implications

The Adoption of Electronic Payment System Among Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia

This study aimed to investigate factors that significantly affect the adoption of electronic payment system (EPS) by local small and medium enterprise (SMEs) in Malaysia. Referring to the Central Bank of Malaysia’s report, it has stated that this country would achieve higher economic growth and higher competitiveness by fully migrating from paper-based payment system to electronic payment because the latter provide opportunities to enhance productivity level and lower cost of doing business. These four factors were simplicity, security/privacy, organization culture and top management support and how these factors may have impact on the adoption rate of electronic payment system. The population of this study was all the SMEs that are listed in SME Corporation Bhd, concentrated at all major cities in Malaysia. Proportionate sample was targeted from the company listings from SME Corp. Survey method was adopted in this study to achieve its objectives. A Likert five- point scale questionnaire was developed to collect the required data after reviewing some previous studies that related to the subject of the study. This study revealed that top management support and organizational culture have the strongest impact among the other independent variables on the adoption of EPS by SMEs in Malaysia. For future research, it is suggested that this research can be targeted according to state individually or by industry for better understanding on the adoption of EPS

International business: An introduction. Second edition

Kuala Lumpurxii, 184 p.: fig.; 2