The Importance Of Health Insurance Policy On Purchase Intention / Continuance – An Empirical Study In Malaysia

Penduduk seluruh dunia menyedari kepentingan polisi insurans kesihatan untuk menangani isu yang tidak diduga kepastiannya pada masa ini. People all of over the world realized the importance of health insurance policy as the unforeseen uncertainties has become the order of the day

Globalisation, Technology, and Asian Economic Growth

Although globalisation is by no means a recent phenomenon,1 its new wave has raised a number of questions—both about its supposed benefits and its alleged adverse consequences. Rather than exploring the wider ramifications of globalisation, this paper will confine its purview to the question of technology development and dissemination in the context of globalisation as it has affected the development of Asian economies in the last few decades. In particular, the paper will focus on the somewhat dazzling performance of the East Asian economies in the last three decades and their equally sharp and unforeseen downturn in the past two years, which has raised serious doubts first about the replicability and later about the robustness of the East Asian development experience. Although the palpable cause of the current East Asian crisis has generally been situated in the increasing complexity and fragility of the global financial system, many prescient international economists had attributed it to the weakness of the technological underpinnings of East Asian growth [Krugman (1994)]. The East Asian crisis has also raised a lively controversy concerning the impact and desirability of selective micro-economic interventions by national governments, which have often been oversimplified under the rubric of ‘crony capitalism’. While the debate on which causes contributed most to the sudden down-turn in the growth of the East Asian economies remains inconclusive, there seems considerable validity in the conjecture that their future growth prospects will depend on their ability not only to master current technologies, but also to significantly further their technological prowess through R and D and scientific achievement. Although the immediate trigger of the present crisis in East Asia may have been the turmoil in their financial markets, the underlying problems in the real economy, which have so far received insufficient attention, stem largely from their incommensurate technological development.

Economic Growth and Development in South Asia, with and without Regional Cooperation

Economic Development, Economic Growth, South Asia

Economic Analysis of Marker-Assisted Selection in Canola

Replaced with revised version of poster 07/19/11.Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Global Brands And Drivers Of Consumers’ Purchase Behavior: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective

As the world moves towards global economic interdependence and international cultural exchanges, more firms are looking towards expansion into overseas markets, to take advantage of emerging business opportunities and available resources. For a firm, that plans to sell its offerings in any foreign market, it is important to understand the consumer behavior and idiosyncrasies predominant in that market, to be more informed, competitive, and successful. Extant research on the dynamics and drivers of consumer’s buying behavior in a global market place has primarily focused, either on the impact of consumers’ personal predispositions, or the influence of brand/product related perceptions, or yet external factors, such as prevailing social, cultural, political, or business environment, on behavioral outcomes. There is a dearth of studies, which have considered the collective impact of factors that drive the buying preferences of consumers, a more realistic scenario, in any purchase scenario. The influence of these factors may also get differentiated across product category involvement (high vs. low), or/and by brand ownership (domestic vs. foreign), particularly in context of global brands. Besides, process elucidations about the mechanisms that transform individual predispositions and consumers’ brand perceptions into specific behavioral responses, need to be further explored. This research is an effort to shed some light on the drivers of consumer’s purchase behavior in a multi-dimensional perspective, using two product categories viz. midsize sedans and sportswear, involving, a domestic and a foreign global brand, using different sets of respondents in two separate studies. It investigates, which among the focal personal traits or/and the focal brand attributes, individually or as a group, has a stronger influence on behavioral outcomes, through formation of specific attitudes, using the “Attitude Theory” perspective as the main conceptual anchor. Further this research identifies consumer traits or(and) brand perceptions that drive a specific behavioral outcome more strongly than others, in totality. The mediating effects of brand attitudes are examined, contingent upon the individual’s characteristics and brand evoked attributes, on elicitation of behavioral outcomes. A comprehensive conceptual model is proposed with description and dimensions for each construct of interest, their relationships defined, and testable propositions suggested, in view of relevant theoretical background and established research findings. Structural Equations Modelling (SEM) is used to ascertain the plausibility of the proposed model, and paths and strength of relationships, and model generating approach used to determine the best fitting model, for each data cell. Survey data is used across the four cells in each study, in the domains of brand ownership (domestic vs. foreign) and product category involvement (sedan vs. sportswear). The paths, strength of relationships between constructs, mediators, and outcome variables are compared, for differences within and between the cells, and across two studies. Research contribution, managerial implications, limitations, and avenues of future research are also discussed