Boon-Liat Cheng, Tat-Huei Cham, Zijie Gao, Mohd Fairuz bin Abd Rahim, Teck Chai Lau and Michael M. Dent
The surge in pharmaceutical and health supplement usage among consumers aims to enhance personal well-being. This growing opportunity for pharmaceutical brands has resulted in…
Abstract
Purpose
The surge in pharmaceutical and health supplement usage among consumers aims to enhance personal well-being. This growing opportunity for pharmaceutical brands has resulted in increased market share and intensified industry competition. Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this study aims to identify the factors influencing Malaysians’ choices regarding pharmaceutical and health supplements. In addition, the variable of past behaviour was incorporated to account for consumer decisions based on prior experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
Using purposive sampling, 300 questionnaires were gathered and analysed via Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and structural equation modelling technique via Analysis of Moment Structures software to validate the reliability of each variables and the postulated relationships within the research framework.
Findings
Results revealed a pronounced impact of past behaviour on the intention to consume pharmaceutical and health supplements. The mediating role of perceived behavioural control in bridging past behaviour and consumption intention was also ascertained. Notably, the findings support the inclusion of past behaviour in the TPB as a pivotal determinant of intention.
Originality/value
The insights gleaned underscore the escalating trend of pharmaceutical consumption in Malaysia, providing strategies to enhance and maintain the competitive edge and market position of pharmaceutical brands.
Details
Keywords
Muhammad Nizam Zainuddin, Mohd Fairuz Abd Rahim and Mohd Rozaini Mohd Rejab
With internet technology, knowledge acquisition surpasses the confinement of the university's campus or syllabus. Concurrently, an entrepreneurship programme has recently been…
Abstract
Purpose
With internet technology, knowledge acquisition surpasses the confinement of the university's campus or syllabus. Concurrently, an entrepreneurship programme has recently been offered to students, positioning universities as an experimental ground for the breeding of entrepreneurs. Thus, this paper seeks to evaluate the effect of entrepreneurship education syllabi empowered with current information communication technology (ICT) exposure towards students' entrepreneurial self‐efficacy together with social norms and their entrepreneurial intention; and whether this latest development lives up to stakeholders' expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a census survey of entrepreneurship students at four MSC‐Status universities that offer entrepreneurship degree programmes. Quantitative analyses such as regression were performed.
Findings
Specialised entrepreneurship education with ICT exposure significantly affects a student's entrepreneurial self‐efficacy. However social norms were found to be a poor predictor towards entrepreneurial intention, explaining the diminished level of influence lecturers had upon their students' behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
This study focuses on a group of entrepreneurship students who are exposed to ICT applications at that stipulated time, and as such, the findings cannot be generalised as technology evolves rapidly. The findings are also limited to only entrepreneurial intention and demonstrate the outcome in Malaysia's higher education industry.
Practical implications
The two direct stakeholders i.e. the university's management and lecturers, may need to reconstruct their respective initiatives by introducing “creative disruption” philosophies, policies and pedagogies to facilitate the “creative destruction” mode of education into realising its full potential.
Originality/value
This paper provides an insight into challenges that universities face in delivering distinctive knowledge consisting of theories and practices. Together, they require constructive and radical yet practical initiatives.