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Effective policies that address both the supply and demand dimensions of access to affordable, healthy foods are required for tackling malnutrition in South East Asia. This paper presents the Protocol for the South East Asia Obesogenic Food Environment (SEAOFE) study, which is designed to analyze the retail food environment, consumers’ and retailers’ perspectives regarding the retail food environment, and existing policies influencing food retail in four countries in South East Asia in order to develop evidence-informed policy recommendations. This study was designed as a mixed-methods sequential explanatory approach. The country sites are Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. The proposed study consists of four phases. Phase One describes the characteristics of the current retail food environment using literature and data review. Phase Two interprets consumer experience in the retail food environment in selected urban poor communities using a consumer-intercept survey. This phase also assesses the retail food environment by adapting an in-store audit tool previously validated in higher-income countries. Phase Three identifies factors influencing food retailer decisions, perceptions, and attitudes toward food retail policies using semi-structured interviews with selected retailers. Phase Four recommends changes in the retail food environment using policy analysis and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. For the analysis of the quantitative data, descriptive statistics and multiple regression will be used, and thematic analysis will be used to process the qualitative data. This study will engage stakeholders throughout the research process to ensure that the design and methods used are sensitive to the local context.

Research Aims: T he current study proposes to fill in the gap in customer orientation literature by focusing on the relationship between customer orientation, employee rhetorical sensitivity and customer retention from the customer perspective. Design/methodology/approach: The questionnaires were distributed at the KLIA and KLIA2 among experienced customer of travel agency, where the respondents were selected using convenience sampling. Research Findings: The finding indicates that customer orientation and employee rhetorical sensitivity has positively influence customer retention. Additionally, employee rhetorical sensitivity partially mediates the relationship between customer orientation and customer retention. Theoretical Contribution/Originality: Academically, this study contributes to the literature of customer orientation and rhetorical sensitivity. Managerial Implication in the South East Asian context: Practically, it will lead to better understanding of customer orientation as well as employee rhetorical sensitivity in enhancing travel agency’s services in Malaysia and South East Asian Country. Research limitation & implications: This study only focus es on customer orientation and employee rhetorical sensitivity as a predictor of customer orientation. It also employs a cross-sectional research design, which only measure s the phenomenon once.

[EN] Purpose of the research: This research aims to empirically examine the relationship between entrepreneurs’ personality traits and cloud computing adoption among Malay-owned SMEs in Malaysia. The research was done under theoretical framework that was developed based on the previous literature. Methodology: This study adopts non-probability sampling which is convenient sampling for data collection. Data collection was done in all major towns in West Malaysia. Hypotheses related to personality factors (determination, opportunity, independent, innovativeness, locus of control, creativity, risk taking ability and achievement) and cloud computing adoption among Malay entrepreneurial society were tested by using multiple regression analysis on survey data from a sample of 383 entrepreneurs from major towns in Malaysia. Major conclusion: The result of this study indicates that cloud computing adoption depend on the entrepreneur’s trait. This study confirms that personality traits have significant influence on cloud computing adoption. Research limitation: Like other empirical studies, this study is not without its limitations. The sample size itself is small. The study can be strengthened by increasing the sample size and including participants in other geographical areas. Originality and value: The findings of this paper serve as a reminder for the Malay-owned SMEs that they have to consider cloud computing for their business operation, particularly for managing and maintaining all their virtual resources at their own end. [ES] Objetivo de la investigación: Esta investigación tiene como objetivo examinar empíricamente la relación entre los rasgos de personalidad de los empresarios y la adopción de la computación en la nube entre las PYME Malayas. La investigación se realizó bajo un marco teórico desarrollado sobre la base de la literatura previa. Metodología: Este estudio adopta un muestreo no probabilístico para la recolección de datos. La recopilación de información se realizó en todas las ciudades importantes de Malasia occidental. Las hipótesis relacionadas con factores de personalidad (determinación, oportunidad, independencia, innovación, locus de control, creatividad, capacidad de asumir riesgos y orientación al logro) y la adopción de la computación en la nube entre el colectivo emprendedor malayo se analizaron usando un análisis de regresión múltiple de datos de una muestra de 383 empresarios de las principales ciudades de Malasia. Conclusión principal: Este estudio confirma que los rasgos de personalidad del empresario tienen una influencia significativa en la adopción de la computación en la nube. Limitación de la investigación: Al igual que otros estudios empíricos, este estudio no está exento de limitaciones. El tamaño de la muestra en sí es pequeño. El estudio se puede fortalecer con futuras investigaciones que aumenten el tamaño de la muestra e incluyendo a los participantes en otras áreas geográficas. Originalidad y valor: Las conclusiones de este documento sirven como recordatorio para las PYME de propiedad malaya que tienen que considerar la computación en nube para su operación comercial, en particular para administrar y mantener todos sus recursos virtuales para la consecución de sus objetivos.

Malaysia is one of the Asian countries that triumph in producing national car with an outstanding achievements in automotive industry. Nowadays, Proton and Perodua are the famous Malaysian car brands among its citizens, where Perodua become the top of the list. Malaysian citizens appreciate and support Malaysian brand to demonstrate their ethnocentrism and patriotism. Therefore, it is inspiring to comprehend consumer buying intention, towards Malaysian national car. Thus, this study is intended to examine consumer’s buying intention of Malaysian national car by examining their ethnocentrism and patriotism by utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior. This study was conducted in Klang Valley covering respondents from various occupational levels. The finding of this study indicates that, patriotism, attitude and subjective norm affect consumer buying intention toward Malaysian national car. Therefore, this finding provides evidence to the Malaysian car provider upon the degree of ethnocentrism and patriotism in influencing Malaysian consumer’s buying intention. Keywords: Ethnocentrism; patriotism; buying intention ABSTRAK Malaysia merupakan salah satu negara Asia yang telah mencapai tahap kecemerlangan yang tinggi di dalam industri automotif terutamanya dengan penghasilan kereta nasionalnya sendiri. Pada masa kini, Proton dan Perodua merupakan jenama kereta nasional yang popular di kalangan rakyat Malaysia, di mana Perodua berada di tangga teratas. Rakyat Malaysia secara umumnya menghargai dan menyokong barangan keluaran Malaysia bagi menzahirkan rasa etnosentrisme dan patriotisme. Dengan itu, adalah menarik untuk meneroka niat pembelian pengguna terhadap kereta nasional Malaysia. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji niat pembelian pengguna terhadap kereta nasional Malaysia dengan mengkaji tahap etnosentrisme dan patriotisme mereka dengan menggunakan“Theory of Planned Behavior”. Kajian ini telah dijalankan di sekitar Lembah Klang dengan melibatkan responden yang terdiri daripada pelbagai peringkat pekerjaan. Dapatan daripada kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa patriotisme, sikap dan norma subjektif mempengaruhi niat pembelian pengguna terhadap kereta nasional Malaysia. Oleh yang demikian, hasil kajian ini memberikan bukti kepada pengeluar kereta Malaysia ke atas tahap etnosentrisme dan patriotisme dalam mempengaruhi niat pembelian pengguna di Malaysia. Kata kunci: Etnosentrisme; patriotism; niat pembelian

Self-congruity theory is remarkable link with attitude and purchase intention to determine the consumer behavior in purchasing cosmetic products. This study will determine the impact of self-congruity and attitude on purchase intention. The application of self-congruity theory is extensively studied; however, the focus on cosmetic products is rather limited. A total of 171 data were collected from respondents for this study that has experience in purchasing cosmetic product. The finding from the Smart PLS had identified that self-congruity and attitude significantly influences consumer purchase intention for cosmetic product. Therefore it is enthralling to deliberate the implication of self-congruity and attitude on purchase intention for cosmetic products.

The purpose of this article is to consider the development of research in loyalty programs and relationship marketing in international retailing and review their application in specific retail stores in Malaysia, namely, AEON, Parkson, the Store Corporation, and Metrojaya. The article reviews the development of the relationship marketing and loyalty programs literature and its application in Malaysia and suggests how relationship marketing and loyalty programs have emerged over the years and their significance to retailing in Malaysia. The article also emphasizes the importance of relationship marketing and loyalty programs in retailing and discusses where research needs to go with respect to loyalty programs to enable them to continue to offer a competitive advantage to retailers. At the moment most loyalty programs are too similar to provide any real differentiation advantage to the retailer. Furthermore, the article highlights the loyalty programs that have been successful in Malaysia, why they...

Self-congruity theory and purchase intention behavior are a unique combination to better understand the behavior displayed while buying cosmetic merchandises. The article is determined to discuss the effect of self-congruity on purchase intention. Self-congruity theory has been apply extensively in several studied; yet, the attention on cosmetic merchandises is quite limited. As there are four self-concepts that will reveal and predict consumer behavior in purchasing cosmetic merchandise. The four self-concept are actual self-concept, ideal selfconcept, social self-concept, ideal social self-concept. Personal self-images that are congruent with product images are usually link with self-congruity. Meanwhile, purchase intention is the degree of possibility to purchase merchandise by consumers. Therefore it is interesting to examine the effect of self-congruity on purchase intention for cosmetic merchandises.

The advancement in information technology had influenced customer attitude, behavior, and lifestyle in purchasing holiday and travel services. There are significant shift from utilizing travel agency to online travel agents. These change had pressured, travel agency to consider on refining their strategy to focus more on relationship marketing orientation (RMO) to achieve customer retention. The impact of RMO on the business or firm performance has been widely studied by previous literature in the organizational contexts. However, the empirical research from the customer perspective is rather limited. Therefore, this conceptual paper is proposed to fill in the RMO literature gap by focusing on the relationship between RMO and customer retention from the customer perspective. Academically, this study contributes to the literature of RM in business-to-customer context specifically from customer point of view and practically to the travel agency in comprehending RMO in enhancing their services in the travel agency sector.

This article examines the applied dimensions of relationship marketing, namely, customer service, loyalty/rewards programs, personalization, customization, and brand/store community with different customer retention levels in three retail stores in Malaysia. The relationship between customer service, loyalty/rewards programs, customization, personalization, and brand/store community with customer retention were examined via an empirical investigation of 450 loyalty/reward program members of three retail stores in Malaysia. The survey was personally administered but self-completed. All variables, namely, customer service, loyalty/rewards programs, customization, personalization, and brand/store community, were able to significantly discriminate between high and low customer retention levels. Retail managers in a developing country like Malaysia must be aware of the importance of these applied dimensions of relationship marketing (i.e., what can be done or practiced by the retailer to manage and enhance cus...

Most of the low-income women who are involved in micro enterprises (MEs) in Malaysia have low business sustainability due to low confidence and business skills. Current training programmes offered to the low-income segments have limitations such as too general training contents, expensive fees etc. The current assistance schemes given by the government have fallen into the trap of charity and high cost. Nevertheless, women who have undergone some kind of entrepreneurial training faced lesser obstacles and produced higher business growth than those who have never attended training. Despite the increase in the number of research involving women entrepreneurs, there is lacked of research about entrepreneurial training involving low-income women micro enterprises (MEs) in service businesses in Malaysia. For this reason, little knowledge exists regarding the entrepreneurial training for MEs and service sector, particularly in Malaysia. Therefore, this study intends to explore the problems and challenges relate to entrepreneurial training among low-income women MEs in service business. To achieve the objectives, this study will employ qualitative methods using focus groups and interviews targeted at low-income women MEs in the service sector in Malaysia. This study delivers an important contribution to our understanding of how to develop a better entrepreneurial training to low-income women MEs in service sectors in Malaysia.

PurposeRetaining and cultivating customer loyalty has become increasingly important for loyalty programme providers and retailers due to the highly competitive environment. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model investigating how loyalty programme service quality (LPSQual) enhances programme perceived value and programme satisfaction to win loyalty among cardholders.Design/methodology/approachQuota sampling technique, using a self‐administered questionnaire survey, was used with a total of 400 respondents who are card holders of loyalty programmes from departments and superstores in the capital of Malaysia.FindingsIt is found that all the loyalty programme service attributes (policy, reward, tangibility, information usefulness, courteousness/helpfulness and communication quality), with the exception of personalization, have a significant positive influence on perceived value. The positive relationship between perceived value‐programme loyalty and programme satisfaction‐programme loyalty was also significant. The result also suggests that programme satisfaction affects store loyalty only through programme loyalty.Practical implicationsThe results highlight the crucial role of loyalty programme service attributes in influencing value, satisfaction and loyalty among card holders of a loyalty programme.Originality/valueThis paper seems to be the first in investigating the impacts of LPSQual on value, satisfaction and loyalty in departments and superstores, particularly in the Malaysia context.

This article focuses on the key relationship marketing tools of customer service, loyalty/rewards programs, brand/store community, personalization and customization, and their relationship with customer retention. The relationship between customer service, loyalty/rewards programs, customization, personalization, brand/store community and customer retention were examined via an empirical investigation of 450 loyalty/reward program members of three retail stores in Malaysia. The administration of the survey was personally administered but self-completed. Four of the five relationship marketing tools, namely, customer service, loyalty/rewards programs, brand/store community and personalization, had a significant positive relationship with customer retention. The findings provided valuable insights into the loyalty program management practices of retail stores in a developing country context. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Previous research in the domain of relationship marketing has focused mainly on the antecedents of loyalty and commitment in the industrial market, distribution channel or consumer goods. This study however, models the antecedents of consumer's relationship commitment in the context of a retail banking service. The impact of the four key explanatory variables (personal influences, sociological influences, institutional influences, and trust) are examined. The results support the hypothesized model and shows sociological influences to be a key driver of all antecedent variables, and the most powerful determinant of the relationship commitment.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the factors that influence credit card misuse among working adults in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The relationship among self-esteem, materialism, impulsive buying, budget constraint, compulsive buying and credit card misuse are explored in this study. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 186 questionnaires was collected via convenience sampling from credit card users of working adults in Malaysia. A structural equation model that assesses the relationship between the proposed variables is tested using AMOS 20. Findings: The findings reveal that budget constraints, impulsive buying and materialism have a statistically significant influence on compulsive buying. In terms of credit card misuse, it is influenced negatively by self-esteem while positively by compulsive buying. Originality/value: Despite vast research on compulsive buying and credit card misuse, very few studies have examined it in the non-Western context.