Understanding factors underlying actual consumption of organic food: The moderating effect of future orientation

The majority of past studies focused on investigating the motivational factors to purchase organic food as a proxy to foster organic food consumption. However, the preceding studies’ foci do not embrace the consumption itself where purchasing may come secondary to consumption decisions. Consumption reflects high involvement with the product; and the barriers and motivations are as real as the product itself, which makes it an ideal moment to examine the motivation. The research model was analyzed using the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling technique. Results show that product-specific attitude (PSA), willingness to pay (WTP) and perceived availability (PA) had a significant positive influence on individuals’ organic food consumption (OFC), while environmental attitude (EA) and subjective norms (SN) were not significantly related. The moderating role of future orientation (FO) between PSA, EA, WTP and OFC were examined and found to be significant except for EA. The result suggests that PSA and WTP are stronger and higher respectively when future orientation is high. The research provides a significant insight and better understanding of organic food actual consumption behavior and adds a new momentum to the growing literature. Discussions and implications of these findings are further discussed

Examining green consumerism motivational drivers: does premium price and demographics matter to green purchasing?

Environmental deterioration caused by consumers' non-sustainable consumption pattern is putting a strain on the environment and is hindering sustainable development. In order to impede this effect and promote a more sustainable economy, one solution is to reduce or shift consumption from conventional products to green products. The unfortunate reality indicates that inadequate information on how to promote consumers' green behavioral intention is slowing the growth of green markets; such inadequacy appears as a prevailing obstacle facing firms while developing segments and communicating strategies for effectively promoting green products. The mentioned impact is more prevailing and most experienced in countries like Malaysia. Hence, consumers' behavioral intentions must be better understood in order to strengthen knowledge about fostering green purchases. This study aims to determine the motivational factors that influence green purchasing intention and simultaneously assess the moderator roles of the premium price and demographic characteristics – given that consumers' degree of greenness varies. A survey was administered and a total of 405 usable questionnaires were obtained. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the hypotheses. Results indicate that environmental attitude, eco-label and cultural value (man–nature orientation) significantly influence the green purchase intention. The result also indicates that the premium price has no moderating effect, denying its role as one of the main barriers for consumers to walk their talk as it has previously been reported by studies and opinion polls. In addition, the findings revealed that education level and gender have a significant positive moderation effect. This suggests that green purchase intentions' motivational factors are greater among highly educated individuals especially with female consumers in particular. This study contributes to the understanding of the main factors that motivate consumers' intention to purchase green products in Malaysia. It also offers insights and discusses implementations for manufacturers, marketers and policy makers concerned with the drivers that motivate consumers' green purchasing intentions which require different marketing plan and strategy than conventional products

Online Impulse Buying: Investigating the Role of E-Commerce Attributes, Customer Motivation, and Urge to Buy Impulsively

Online impulse buying is shaped by both external e-commerce factors and individual psychological intricacies. Thus, it is vital to comprehend the interplay between external e-commerce factors and individual psychological intricacies, providing insights essential for developing effective strategies in the digital marketplace. This research, centered on 205 samples from Malaysia, provides a nuanced understanding of the interplay between internal and external factors in shaping impulsive buying behavior by employing the S-O-R paradigm. Structural equation modelling technique was applied for analysis. The findings indicate that hedonistic consumer motivation in online impulsive buying is influenced by three external factors, website personality (β = .25; p ≤ .001), product attributes (β = .16; p = .01), and retailer motivational activities (β = .60; p ≤ .001). Moreover, the results suggest that website personality (β = .17; p = .02), and retailer motivational activities (β = .57; p ≤ .001), have direct significant effects on utilitarian consumer motivation, while product attribute does not affect utilitarian customer motivations (β = .12; p = .11). Results also suggest that features of e-commerce platforms and the motivations of consumers can influence impulsive tendencies, providing an opportunity for businesses to offer conscientious nudges. By deliberately prompting customers about their goals and underscoring the value of products and their attachment from hedonic and utilitarian aspects, companies can guide impulsive buying shoppers towards more deliberate and gratifying decisions aligned with long-term goals and choice architecture in behavioral science

Determinants of Organic Food Consumption in Narrowing the Green Gap

Understanding and recognizing environmentally friendly behaviour are vital in achieving the Sustainability Development Goals and driving the economy for countries and producers of environmentally-friendly goods. Nevertheless, various stakeholders have expressed concern about the existing green gap, which greatly hinders their marketing efforts. This situation persists as mainstream research investigates people’s purchasing intentions, under the notion that the intention to perform a specific behaviour would generally predict the actual behaviour. The key argument of this study is that examining the actual consumption behaviour of organic foods is the ideal approach towards investigating purchase intention drivers as a proxy for consumption. In response to the green gap, the theory of planned behaviour is expanded by including the dimension of temporal orientation, i.e., a future orientation that has an influential but unrecognised effect on many human behaviours. In contrast to the prevalent operationalization of attitude, the term is defined as a product-specific attitude which is markedly dissimilar to the environmental attitude in its orientations. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling technique was used to analyse the research model. The findings indicate that while product-specific attitudes and perceived availability positively affect organic food consumption, subjective norms do not. Additionally, the data implies that product specific attitudes are stronger when future orientation is high

Utilising a real-time continuous glucose monitor as part of a low glycaemic index and load diet and determining its effect on improving dietary intake, body composition and metabolic parameters of overweight and obese young adults: A randomised controlled trial

A randomised controlled trial to measure the effects of integrating real-time continuous glucose monitor (rtCGM) into a low glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) dietary intervention on dietary intake, body composition and specific metabolic parameters was carried out. A total of 40 overweight young adults [(means ± SD) age: 26.4 ± 5.3 years, BMI: 29.4 ± 4.7 kg/m2] were randomised into an intervention and control groups for a period of eight weeks. Both groups received nutrition education on low GI and GL foods. The intervention group also received an rtCGM system to monitor their glucose levels 24 h a day. While controlling for physical activities and GI and GL nutrition knowledge, the results indicated that the rtCGM system further improved body weight, BMI, fat mass, fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in the intervention group (p < 0.05). This trial unveils the robustness of the rtCGM where non-diabetic overweight and obese young adults can benefit from this device and utilise it as a management tool for overweight and obesity and a primary prevention tool for type 2 diabetes, as it provides real-time and personalised information on physiological changes

Online student engagement in fundamentals of Entrepreneurial acculturation during Covid-19 Outbreak

The purpose of this study is to investigate student characteristic and the level of online student engagement in entrepreneurship course. The study received 467 valid survey questionnaires from undergraduate’s student that enrolled in entrepreneurship course. The respondent is student from science cluster background. The study uses a quantitative approach, and purposive sampling was used to choose the respondents. The online survey questionnaire was self-administered using online google form and the results are analyzed using SPSS version 24. The foundation underpinned theory for this study is self-determinant theory. The results show that emotional engagement score the highest mean compare to skill engagement and participation engagement. The aims are to explore the factors influencing the online student engagement such skills engagement, emotion engagement and engagement during Covid-19 pandemic period. During the outbreak has forced all universities to adopt e-learning. The online learning is a new trend that had been practice in education 4.0. However, student engagement remains as an issue in online learning because the setting in online learning is different from traditional classroom learning. In addition, online student engagement is still considered a relatively new concept and studies are scarcely available. The findings also indicated that student prefer to choose hybrid approach in the future. These studies are important because they aim to improve online student learning by enhancing students' overall satisfaction with the experience. Second, to design and develop an interactive course where students are actively participating and involved in their class. Third, by assessing online student engagement as a potential student pathway on academic progress based on skills engagement, emotional engagement, and participation engagement, this study adds to the body of knowledge in the existing literature. A conceptual framework between online student learning and student performance should be developed for future research

Use of a Continuous Glucose Monitor to Determine the Glycaemic Index of Rice-Based Mixed Meals, Their Effect on a 24 h Glucose Profile and Its Influence on Overweight and Obese Young Adults’ Meal Preferences

Postprandial hyperglycaemia is associated with an increased risk of type-2 diabetes. This study aims to determine the glycaemic index (GI) of three varieties of rice-based mixed meals and their effects on glycaemic variability (GV), 24 h mean glucose levels and target ranges, and rice variety preferences among overweight and obese young adults using real-time continuous glucose monitoring (rtCGM). In a randomised controlled crossover design, 14 participants (22.8 ± 4.6 years, 32.9 ± 5.8 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to receive 3 rice-based mixed meals containing 50 g of available carbohydrates (white rice meal = WRM; brown rice meal = BRM; and parboiled basmati rice meal = PBRM) and 50 g of a glucose reference drink on alternate days. GI, GV, 24 h mean glucose levels and target ranges were measured. Rice variety preferences were compared with those of baseline data and determined at the end of the study period. Results: The analysis found that PBRM was low in GI (45.35 ± 2.06), BRM medium in GI (56.44 ± 2.34), and WRM high in GI (83.03 ± 2.19). PBRM had a significantly (p 0.05) lower GV compared to WRM. Prior to observing their postprandial glucose levels generated by rtCGM, the participants preferred WRM (64.3%) over other meals, whereas this preference changed significantly (p < 0.05) at the endpoint (PBRM, 71.4%). PBRM reduced 24 h glucose level and GV of overweight and obese young adults. The rtCGM is proven to be reliable in measuring GI, while providing robust continuous glycaemic information. This may serve as an educational tool that motivates eating behaviour changes among overweight and obese young adults

Exploring determinants shaping recycling behavior using an extended theory of planned behavior model: An empirical study of households in Sabah, Malaysia

Household waste and the exploitation of the environment are among the alarming and unsustainable consumption patterns that are harmful to the ecosystem. Hence, this study aims to determine the factors influencing recycling behavior by extending the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to an analysis of how recycling practices are fostered among citizens and how sustainable development goals (SDG) are upheld. The extended TPB model includes moral norms, convenience, and the cost of recycling. A total of 170 responses were received via the purposive sampling technique. The research model was analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling technique (PLS-SEM). Results show that subjective norms, moral norms, convenience, and the cost to recycle positively influenced recycling behavior. Environmental awareness was found to heavily influence attitudes, but attitudes were not found to translate into behavior. This research provides significant insight and a better understanding of recycling behavior and adds new momentum to the growing literature. The implications of these findings are further discussed

Integrating transaction cost theory with trust and commitment in agricultural supply chain

The current population is approximately 7 billion and is expected to grow to 9 billion by mid of this year 2050. It calls for increased and effective mechanisms of agriculture that will feed the growing population, particularly those in developing countries. A large number of farms, identified as more than 80 per cent of the world’s farms, are an important source of food, resilience, and income for the world’s population. However, these farmers bear some challenges, including higher transaction costs, thorny market access, modernisation and pandemic impacts. Small farmers must seek increased productivity and efficiency as a way of improving profits and breaking even; this will also justify the new business strategies required by farmers, especially those in the developing countries market, due to high transaction costs. Two of the most critical factors that have been argued to help in minimising these costs include trust and commitment; however, the impact they have on small farmers has not been the focus of most analytical works. This research aims to bridge this gap in the literature by developing an integrated model that combines trust and commitment theory with transaction cost theory, specifically in the context of small-scale farming in rural areas. This unique framework, based on existing literature, explores how trust and commitment can mitigate transaction costs, improve market entry or continued market presence, and contribute to market sustainability. The research adopts a conceptual research approach to build on existing theory and highlight its practical implications for rural farmers in developing countries, thereby engaging the audience with its real-world relevance. The significant research findings underscore the potential of trust and commitment to not only reduce or eliminate transaction costs but also enhance the flow of information and relationships between small farmers and buyers or suppliers. These findings shed light on the potential for coordinated operations, such as joint procurement of transportation and negotiation of operating expenses, to reduce overall costs and improve market viability. Furthermore, the research emphasisestrust as a relationship type that not only minimisestransaction costs but also aids in managing uncertainties, including those arising from the COVID-19 pandemic that affects small farmers in remote areas. The study concludes that it is possible to enhance the financial viability and sustainability of small-scale farmers through an integrated approach based on trust and commitment theory and transaction cost theories. It suggests future studies to measure these relationships and also find ways of enhancing the flow of information in the market, particularly for small farmers. Further, for institutional improvement and long-run sustainability and profitability, it proposes policies to invest in physical capital, strengthen the market information system and engage in collective activities

Does consumer religiosity matter for green banking adoption? evidence from a Muslim-majority market

Purpose A significant dilemma facing humankind in the present time is environmental degradation. To alleviate the pressure on natural resources, green banking (GB) has been acknowledged as an effective solution. However, creating consumer engagement is still challenging for banks. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of religiosity on GB adoption among Muslim consumers. Design/methodology/approach The deductive approach was used to explain how GB adoption is affected by the religiosity of the consumer. A total of 332 sample data were collected cross-sectionally from Islamic bank customers in the UAE. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) via Smart PLS 4 was used to analyse the data. Five dimensions (i.e. ideological, ritualistic, intellectual, consequential and experimental) were used to measure religiosity which served as the independent variable. Customer intention to adopt GB represents the dependent variable. Findings The PLS-SEM results revealed that Islamic religiosity affects the adoption of GB among Muslim consumers. Indeed, their religious commitment and beliefs affect the products they intend to adopt and how they intend to do it. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a pioneering study in the investigation of Islamic religiosity and its influence on the intention to adopt GB. This is a pioneering study in the sense that it proposes a comprehensive religiosity construct using five intertwined dimensions in the literature of GB. This study offers an improved and broader insight assessment of Islamic religiosity, which would help emphasise its significance and utility for business-related decisions by developing an emotionally-driven link between GB practices and the Muslim-oriented consumer market towards increasing the latter’s engagement