The Asian Journal of Business Research Vol 2 No. 2

AJBR I SSN1 1 7 8 8 9 3 3 Vo l u me2Nu mb e r22 0 1 2

AJBR ISSN 1178�8933

Volume 2 Number 2 2012

Asian

Journal of Business Research

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Copyright Š 2012 Asia Business Research Corporation Limited

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

The work published is the sole responsibility of the author/s.

Founding Editor

:

Editor

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Professor Kim-Shyan Fam, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Professor Zhilin Yang, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Managing Editor

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Professor Ernest Cyril de Run, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia

Published by Asia Business Research Corporation (ABRC) Limited PO Box 5257, Lambton Quay, Wellington 6145, New Zealand

Volume 2 Number 2, 2012 ISSN 1178-8933

First published in 2012 Printed in Malaysia

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Editorial Board

Founding Editor Professor Kim-Shyan Fam Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Editor Professor Zhilin Yang City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Managing Editor Professor Ernest Cyril de Run Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia

Editorial Advisory Board Professor Russell Belk York University, Canada

Professor Susan Hart University of Strathclyde, UK

Professor John Dawson University of Stirling, UK

Professor Leslie de Chernatony University of Birmingham, UK

Professor Michael Hyman New Mexico State University, USA

Professor Phil Harris University of Chester, UK

Professor Lรกszlรณ Jรณzsa Szechenyi Istvan University, Hungary

Professor Zuohao Hu Tsinghua University, China

Professor Jรณzsef Berรกcs Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary

Professor Kara Chan Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong

Professor Charles Wang New Haven university, USA

Professor Datuk Md Zabid Abdul Rashid Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia

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Editorial Review Board Professor Ashish Sinha University of New South Wales, Australia

Dr Mark Davies Herriot-Watt University, Scotland

Assistant Professor Amy Na Wen City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Associate Professor Fang Wan University of Manitoba, Canada

Dr David Waller University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Professor HS Cheema CEO & Dean, IFEEL, India

Associate Professor Siva Muthaly RMIT, Melbourne

Associate Professor Joanna Scott-Kennel Waikato University, New Zealand

Professor Palanisamy Ganesan VIT University, India

Professor Michele Akoorie University of Waikato, New Zealand

Dr Rosli Mohammed Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia

Professor Pedro Brito Universidade do Porto, Portugal

Professor Kenneth Alan Grossberg Waseda University, Japan

Professor Syed Anwar Hamdan Bin Mohammed University, UAE

Professor Yang Xue North China University of Water Conservancy and Electric Power, China

Professor Wang Yangron North China University of Water Conservancy and Electric Power, China

Associate Professor Paurav Shukla University of Brighton, UK

Professor José Luis Vázquez-Burguete Universidad de León, Spain

Assistant Professor Fiona Sussan George Mason University, USA

Professor Zoltan Veres Budapest Business School, Hungary

Associate Professor Tho Nguyen University of Economics, HCM City, Vietnam

Associate Professor Boo Ho Voon Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak, Malaysia

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Asian Journal of Business Research Volume 2

Number 2

2012

Editorial Kim-Shyan Fam, Zhilin Yang and Ernest Cyril de Run

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Modern Retail Impact on Store Preference and Traditional Retailers in West Jave Sandra Sunanto

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Generation X and Y Attitude towards Controversial Advertising

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Hiram Ting, Ernest Cyril de Run A Model of Quality of Work Life, Life Satisfaction and Service Quality

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Mahadzirah Mohamad, Wan Norhayati Mohamed Purchasing Designer Label Apparels: The Role of Reference Groups Uchenna Cyril Eze, Crystal Hui Hui Chin, Chai Har Lee

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Attitude towards Advertising by Lawyers among Hong Kong Consumers Kara Chan, Vivienne Leung, Lennon Tsang, Toby Yip

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The Last Mile in Academic Publishing: Revising a Manuscript

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Kara Chan

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Editorial ____________________________________________________________________ Marketing in Asia Group (MAG) has consistently produced The Asian Journal of Business Research over the past few years. It has also been conducting the MAG Scholar conference as well in order to promote academic discussion in the context of business in Asia, yet with a global perspective. The next conference will be held in Dubai in 2013.

One of the invited speakers at the latest MAG Scholar conference in Hungary, Professor Kara Chan from Hong Kong Baptist University, was invited to write on her sharing during the conference. Her paper, The Last Mile in Academic Publishing: Revising a Manuscript is presented here as a guide for the many researchers who have to undergo revising of a manuscript. It is hoped that this article can be a guide as well as a comfort for all authors in knowing that all of us have to undergo such a process.

In the spirit of sharing knowledge of Asia, this edition has an important issue for Asia and its academics. The issue is on Attitude towards Advertising which is reflected in two articles. The article by Hiram Ting and Ernest Cyril de Run looks at Generation X and Generation Y views of what is controversial and why, exploring their attitudes towards such advertisements. The other article by Kara Chan, Vivienne Leung, Lennon Tsang and Toby Yip explores in a qualitative study on Hong Kong consumers attitude towards the advertising by lawyers. The findings allow for a glimpse of Asians attitude towards advertising.

Sandra Sunanto writes on the retail industry in Indonesia. Her article, Modern Retail Impact on Store Preference and Traditional Retailers in West Jawa, describes the situation of retailing in Indonesia. This is also a reflection of many other Asian countries where more and more modern retailing has encroached. Uchenna Cyril Eze, Crystal Hui Hui Chin and Chai Har Lee wrote on the role of reference groups on purchase in their paper Purchasing Designer Label Apparels: The Role of Reference Groups. The increase of consumption of luxury goods in Asia is apparent and it is important for marketers to know how Asians are impacted by reference groups.

Mahadzirah Mohamad and Wan Norhayati Mohamed studied nurses in public hospitals in their paper, A Model of Quality of Work Life, Life Satisfaction and Service Quality. Their article suggest that nursing staf with high quality of work life would deliver high service quality and at the same time achieve high life satisfaction.

We do hope that you will enjoy reading the journal and benefit from the knowledge shared. Our gratitude and thanks to all our contributors and reviewers without whom this journal will never be possible. The editorial team at the Asian Journal of Business Research encourages academic and industry-based researchers to contribute research papers and case studies for its peer-reviewed publication.

Kim-Shyan Fam Zhilin Yang Ernest Cyril de Run 6

Asian Journal of Business Research ISSN 1178-8933

Volume 2

Number 2

2012

Modern Retail Impact on Store Preference and Traditional Retailers in West Java Sandra Sunanto Parahyangan Catholic University

Abstract This study is distinctive in that it focuses on the impact of three types of modern retail. These are the mini market, the supermarket, and the hypermarket entrance in South East Asia. Introducing a store giving high diversity and choice in developing a country with large population into an environment of convenient one shop time saving stocking an extensive product range to create high consumer diversity. A survey was conducted using a questionnaire to investigate changes in consumers’ store preferences as a result of the introduction of modern retail in West Java, and also to determine whether modern retail negatively influences sales the traditional retailers. This research focuses on retailers selling convenience goods and analyzes which attributes of modern retail practices creates an environment attracting consumers to shift their store preferences. The results will help both modern retailers and traditional retailers to understand this market better despite the potential controversy.

Keywords: retail, convenience goods, west java, store preference

Introduction The presence of modern retail in Indonesia started with the emergence of supermarkets in 1970. Until 1983, supermarket formed a small sector located mainly in Jakarta area serving a niche of market-expatriates and upper-class Indonesians.

Introduction of unimpeded aggressive market penetration of foreign modern retailers in Indonesia after 1998 was supported by government policies of trade globalization, particularly in the retail sector as it allowed foreign modern retailers to enter and to compete with local retailers. Before retail liberalization, foreign modern retailers entered the market through a franchise system.

After 1998, each foreign modern retailer had to initiate joint ventures with local retailers. However, foreign modern retailers were able to buy out local retailers due to their financial strength. An example for this is one of major local modern

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retailers, Hero, was acquired by Dairy Farm International (Hongkong) and later affected the acquisition of 22 TOPS supermarkets owned by the Royal Ahold Group, the Netherlands.

The existences of foreign modern retail in Indonesia has created controversies, especially after Carrefour and Giant entered the market in 1998 and 2002 due, in part to their negative impact on traditional markets and local suppliers. In June 2005, foreign retailers have gained 8.4% of the total market sales, that are dominated by convenience stores and hypermarkets.

Carrefour opened its first store in Jakarta in October 1998. At the end of 1999, Carrefour merged with Continent, and since then all of merged company stores operate under the Carrefour name. In early 2008, there are 41 stores located in 10 major cities in Indonesia, and expanded until in the first half year of 2011. Its philosophy comprises of competitive price, a complete merchandise assortment, and excellent services, has enabled Carrefour to achieve success in applying the concept of one-stop shopping, extremely low price, full range of assortment choices, selfservice, and free parking.

In April 2010, 40% of Carrefour Indonesia’s shares were purchased by a national Group, Para Group. The new shareholder composition shows that majority of Carrefour Indonesia’s shares is owned by the national entrepreneur who focuses on building a good synergy among Carrefour, farmers or suppliers, and traditional retailers.

Hero supermarket was the first supermarket introduced in Indonesia in 1971 by M. Saleh Kurnia. Today, Hero is a retail group which offers four formats – Hero (supermarket), Giant (hypermarket), Guardian (drugstore), Starmart and Mitra (convenience). At the end of 2009, Hero was operating 35 Giant hypermarkets, 50 Hero supermarkets, 63 Giant supermarkets, 195 Guardians, and 124 Star Marts.

Hero also has expanded into other countries including Malaysia, Brunei, and China.

In 2010, a giant Hongkong retail group, Dairy Farm, officially owns 94.27% of Hero’s stocks through its subsidiary, Mulgrave Corporation BV. The presence of Giant hypermarket in Indonesia is a part of Dairy Farm strategy as the owner to expand Giant market into the Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Other major players are Hypermart and Lotte Mart. The presence of Hypermart in Indonesia cannot be separated from the biggest retail group in this country, PT. Matahari Putra Prima, Tbk (Matahari). Hypermart representing the modern, compact style hypermarket business within the fast growing Indonesia FMCG market with its nationwide operation through its current 47 stores spread over 21 cities and it will continue to expand in major areas in Indonesia.

Matahari also provides supermarket format for its customers, namely Foodmart, that represents the latest incarnations of the modern supermarket for lifestyle grocery shopping and convenience.

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In September 2008, Lotte group from Korea acquired Makro Indonesia by buying all its shares from the Netherlands SHV Holding NV. All Makro stores in Indonesia changed the store brand to Lotte Mart and plan to open 26 more stores to compete in the Indonesian retail market.

After 2000, mini market format has aggresively expanded its stores with two major local players – Alfamart, and Indomaret. Alfamart was established on June 27th, 1999, and currently, this mini market owns around 3,000 stores and has experienced dramatic growth using the franchise system. Indomaret is mini market chain store that provides convenience goods with an average sales area of less than 200 m2.

Indomaret owned 4,110 stores in March 2010, of which 2,327 of them are owned by Indomaret while the rest of them are owned by franchisees in some cities.

Background Information The province of West java is the densest area in Indonesia exceeding 43 million inhabitants dispersed across 26 districts. Bandung is the capital city of this province has the biggest population with 7,083,700 people located in this area, followed by Bogor (5,722,266), and Bekasi (4,965,272) (Sensus Penduduk, Badan Pusat Statistik, 2010).

Bandung as the capital city of West Java is the backbone of this province’s economy through the existences of several sectors of high potential i.e. tourism, manufacturing, and large scale retail. One of the fastest growing sectors in this city is modern retail. There were 17 department stores, 5 hypermarkets, 40 supermarkets, and 60 mini markets in 2007 (Kementerian Perdagangan Republik Indonesia 2010) compared to only 75 of traditional retailers in the same year. Unfortunately, the number of traditional retailers, particularly the traditional market has been continuously decreasing since rapid development of modern retail. To create a healthy business environment, the government has issued a trade regulation in 2009, which consists of some important concepts such as fair trade, zoning regulation, and partnership between modern retailers and local merchants.

As the buffer city of Jakarta, Depok has experienced an intensive growth of modern retail. There were nine traditional markets surrounded by 62 modern retailers in 2006, and 46 of them were mini markets while there were also three new supermarkets beginning operation. As modern retailers exist in this area, traditional supermarket and also traditional stores has been replaced by new supermarkets and other types of modern retail. This municipality has its own rules for regulating markets including modern markets, however, there is nothing in these regulations to address some important issues including rights and obligations of merchants, zoning regulations and, partnerships between modern retailers and local producers.

However, the development of modern retail has been posed a big question as to whether modern retailers negatively influence traditional retailers. Previous studies found that most of traditional retailers have had difficulties competing with the modern retailer which has resulted in reducing traditional stores share of sales and profit (Hernandez, 2003; Peterson and McGee, 2000, Seiders and Tigert, 2000; 9

Farhangmehr et al., 2000; Arnold and Luthra, 2000; Vance and Scott, 1994). But, there was an interesting finding from a study of traditional market versus supermarket in Hongkong, in that consumers perceived wet markets and supermarkets as complementing one another and as being equally important (Goldman, Krider and Ramaswami, 1999).

Indonesia defines traditional retailers as merchants who sell their merchandise in a small store owned by them or rent a space located in a traditional market or near a traditional market and/or residential area. They own and operate their business by themselves with 2-5 employees and usually involve their family members. However, there is one type of traditional retailer who sells merchandises openly on the pedestrian area namely street hawker. There are some types of traditional retailer known in this country: 1). traditional (wet) market, 2). small kiosk, called warung, 3). mom and pop store, and 4). street hawker. The traditional market is perceived as an old building, wet and dirty, and unsafe hence creates an inconvenient shopping environment due to bad management. It is supported by the fact that 67% of current traditional markets were built between 1976 and 1979 and most of them have never been renovated (Kementerian Perdagangan Republik Indonesia 2010).

The role of traditional markets in providing goods needed by consumers is very important, which is shown from the major variety of goods offered in traditional markets. Most of goods sold in traditional markets are staple goods such as rice, flour, sugar, fish, eggs, and cooking oil (57.8%), foods and beverages (20%), groceries (16%), clothes and shoes (12.22%), and other goods such as building materials, medicines, electronic goods (10%) (Kementerian Perdagangan Republik Indonesia 2010).

The development of modern market provides more choices for consumers to decide where they can do shopping. Consumers start to prefer to buy groceries in hypermarket or supermarket compare to the traditional market because of cleanliness, and conveniences. However, a previous study found that traditional market still became the most favorite place for shopping fresh goods markets (Goldman, et al., 1999), and particulary, modern market entry in West Java did not significantly influence the business performance of traditional markets (Suryadarma, et al., 2007).

With regard to Suryadarma et al. study that focused only on the impacts of supermarket and hypermarket in two major cities in West Java on traditional markets, and considering ongoing debates on modern retail development, this study tries to provide more thorough analysis by including not only supermarket, hypermarket, and traditional market, but also mini market, and other traditional retailers as the unit analysis.

The objectives of this study are: (1) to investigate the effect of mini market, supermarket, and hypermarket existence on consumers’ store preferences for the purchase of grocery goods; (2) to discover which store attributes of modern retailers influence consumers to shift their preferences from traditional retailers to modern retailers; (3) to analyze the impact of modern retailers on the traditional retailers i.e. traditional market, small kiosk, traditional grocery store, and street hawker.

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Theoretical Review Modern retail and consumer store preference Literature on retailing shows that there are several reasons for customer switching behavior: convenient location, changes in pricing, range of assortment, comfort services, quality, store environment, competition, ethical problems, and involuntary switching (Seiders and Tigert, 2000; Arnold, et al., 1983; Louviere and Garth, 1987; Eagle, 1984). Switching cost plays an important role in a customer’s decision to change. A new entrant who has a greater competitive advantage by bringing noticeable distinction with lower switching costs acquires a bigger portion of the switcher segment (Seiders and Tigert, 2000).

A study of consumer perceptions on the hypermarket and traditional stores in Portugal showed that consumers prefer to buy convenience goods or low involvement goods from the hypermarkets because they offer more benefits regarding prices, promotions, assortment, novelties, and schedules (Farhangmehr, et al., 2000).

However, for high involvement goods such as household appliances, consumers prefer to buy those goods from traditional retail stores considering the benefit of saving time spent on shopping. Farhangmehr, et al,. (2000) study finds that there is no loyalty to a single retail format, that proves that consumers prefer to buy in hypermarket; they also buy in several outlets and not exclusively in the hypermarket.

Modern retailer strategies take advantage of consumer ambiguity to shift consumer preferences in its favor. In another words, modern retailers may influence or even change consumer preferences (Seiders and Tigert, 2000). By modeling price and cost structures of grocery retailers, Setala (2000) found that modern large grocery retailers achieved store level economies, where both costs and prices were lower than small stores, and consumers enjoyed this benefit. Location, transportation cost, and household size determine the consumer’s utility; these large households are the ones that gain the main benefit from modern large retailers. However, the situation may not be the same in other local markets.

As consumers are asked to compare small stores versus big stores, they display interesting perceptions of both types. Uusitalo (2001) study found that consumers perceive a small store is attractive because shopping there is efficient, fast, and simple. Accessibility, familiarity, and intimacy are important factors, which encourage consumers to shop in small stores. Big stores, which are usually located in city centre, are associated with a wide variety of goods, encompassing a lot of walking and searching, and buying more goods at a lower price. Some consumers feel that shopping in big stores is convenient, however they compensate their extra walking in a big store space by its one stop shopping concept. An interesting experience through service and merchandise become a major consideration that causes consumers to show willingness to accept extra travel efforts to buy grocery and fresh goods (Sinha and Banerjee, 2004). However, their research in the Indian retailing sector found that the most important factor in attracting consumer loyalty for grocery stores was proximity, not the store atmosphere.

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There are some interesting findings regarding consumer’s perception of traditional and modern retailers. A study of the traditional market versus the supermarket in Hongkong found that consumers perceived wet markets and supermarkets as complementing one another and both being equally important (Goldman, Krider and Ramaswami, 1999). While wet markets offered more advantages than supermarkets in fresh food, consumers complained about the store/market environment, which did not have adequate convenience to do their shopping comfortably. Even though large modern retailers with mass merchandise sell the same products as traditional grocers, there is no direct substitution relationship between traditional grocery retailers and mass merchandisers (Fox, Montgomery, and Lodish, 1994).

A study of consumers preferences on small retailers in Latin America (D’Andrea and Lopez, 2006) shows that consumers do not prefer to buy in supermarkets or hypermarkets for a number of reasons. First, they need to spend extra time and money for transportation as they must travel comparatively further to get to those stores. The second reason is that consumers do not like how the staff of large retailers treats them. Finally, consumers perceive small retailers are cheaper than the large ones.

However, customer perceptions of indirectly competing stores differ between primary and secondary store loyaly (Mitchell and Kiral, 1998).

Recent studies on the impact of modern retailers on store preferences in West Java, Indonesia (Sunanto and Tuninga, 2009; Sunanto, et al., 2010) found that the opportunity to bargain and indulge in personal relationships between sellers and buyers are the main reasons why people still prefer to buy goods at a traditional market rather than at a modern market (Sunanto and Tuninga, 2009). Consumers switched their buying preferences from traditional stores to modern retailers, particularly supermarket due to convenience, assortment, and cleanliness. The one stop shopping concept becomes a competitive advantage offered by modern retailers to attract consumers to switch their buying preferences from traditional markets to modern retailers (Sunanto, et al.2010).

With regards to previous studies, this study proposes hypotheses which elaborate consumer’s store preference for buying goods in grocery category after entry of modern retailers: H1: Consumers have shifted their store preferences for fresh goods after the entry of modern retailers; H2: Consumers have shifted their store preferences for staple goods after the entry of modern retailers; H3: Consumers have shifted their store preferences for foods and beverages after the entry of modern retailers; H4: Consumers have shifted their store preferences for toiletries and other goods after the entry of modern retailers.

Modern retail and indigenous traditional retailers A previous study on large retailer impact on the performance of existing retailers showed that there was such rapid market penetration in the initial growth stage, that is caused a decline in the sales of local retail stores, and growth and decline in various 12

commercial sectors caused by large retailer entry (Arnold and Luthra, 2000). Where the large retailers penetrate markets aggressively, indigenous retailers experience a decline in sales, market share, and profits. Research on Wal-Mart entry in the East Coast region of the US shows that local supermarkets lost 17% in sales volume amounting to a quarter million dollars of monthly revenue following Wal-Mart’s entry (Singh, Hansen, and Blattberg, 2004).

Study on hypermarkets entry in Malaysia shows that traditional outlets such as independent grocers and mini markets gradually closed. Emergence of modern retailing such as supermarket and hypermarket filled this gap (Shamsudin and Selamat, 2005). Local traditional retailers face intense competition from foreign hypermarkets and try hard to maintain their customers; however, they experience declining sales with low turnover.

Most of local and traditional retailers face difficulties in competing with large format retailers as indicated by a declining market share, sales, and profit (Hernandez, 2003; Peterson and McGee, 2000, Seiders and Tigert, 2000; Farhangmehr, et al.,, 2000; Arnold and Luthra, 2000; Vance and Scott, 1994). This phenomenon does not only happen in the host market, but also in the neighboring markets. The impact of large format retailer entry such as Wal-Mart may change not only the total sales, but also the distribution of sales through the various types of retail categories in the host community where Wal-Mart exists (Davidson and Rummel, 2000; Stone, 1995).

Stone’s study (1995) finds that all retail categories except food or grocery stores in the non- Wal-Mart towns were negatively affected after five years of Wal-Mart’s entry. There are two rules of thumbs recommended by Stone: 1. Merchants selling items that differ from those sold by the large format retailers will probably not experience a loss of sales. In fact, if these stores are in close proximity to the discount stores, they experience an increase in sales after the discount store opens because they benefit from the “spillover” of the additional traffic generated by the discounter.

2. Merchants selling the same things that the large format retailers are selling will probably experience a decrease in sales after the discounter opens. This applies not only to merchants in the local area, but those in the neighboring areas.

Davidson and Rummel study (2000) also find that Wal-Mart neighboring towns experienced a decline or only small increases in retail trade during the same period with the Wal-Mart host towns. Other research supported the facts that the entry of large format retailer stimulates growth in certain retail categories, but leads to a decline in other categories (Arnold and Luthra, 2000, Stone, 1995). Based on those previous studies, this study proposes a hypothesis: H5: modern retailers negatively influence sales of traditional retailers

Methodology This study performed a survey conducted in three major cities in West Java – Bandung, Bogor and Depok considering that in those cities we can find supermarkets, hypermarkets, and also mini markets that were established during 13

2003-2007. There were two groups of respondents in this survey - consumers who have had experiences shopping at modern retailers and traditional retailers who operated their businesses at least two years before the entry of modern retailers in their areas.

Questionnaires were delivered to 550 consumers and 300 traditional retailers.

Consumers were asked to give information of their store preferences before and after the entry of modern retailers, and their perceptions on store attributes of modern retailers, while traditional retailers were asked to report their businesses performance in terms of relative sales number after the entry of modern retailers in their areas.

Measures A preliminary questionnaire for the consumers’ survey was compiled by focus group discussions, and from three previous studies in Moreno (2001), Farhangmehr et al., (2000), and Carpenter and Moore (2006), that was tested by 100 respondents. A cluster sampling method was used to select the samples from people who live in the area near both modern markets and traditional markets (0-3km). A respondent should have an experience with grocery shopping both in one of modern retailers and in one of traditional retailers in the last six month. Mc Nemar’s test for two related samples from a categorical field was used to analyze whether consumers shift their store preferences from traditional retailers to modern retailers after an entry of modern retailers in their neighborhoods.

To test consumers’ perceptions on store attributes, they were asked to choose three provided responses, whether modern retailers provided worse, same, or better attributes compared to traditional retailers. The Spearman Rank’s correlation was conducted to test consumers’ perceptions on store attributes of modern retailers, which influenced their preferences to shop at modern retailers.The correlation coefficient is able to indicate which store attributes have strong, moderate, or weak influences on consumers preferences on modern retailers.

Using the same sampling method with consumer survey, a retailer survey measured the effect of modern retail entry on traditional retailers’ sales, whether their sales decreased, increased or did not experience any changes. Using Chi-square test, this study was used to test the hypothesis whether the entry of modern retailers influenced sales of traditional retailers.

Results of Cronbach’s Alpha test for consumer and retailer survey respectively are 0.601 and 0.590 shows that all questions asked in both questionnaires are reliable enough to support this study.

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Findings and Discussions Consumer store preference and store attributes There are some anomalies in patterns of consumers shopping frequency (Table 1).

Consumers usually go to small kiosk near their house to buy goods related to daily needs such as vegetables, seasoning, snacks, and toiletries while mosst consumers prefer to do shopping at traditional market for fresh goods that are purchased on a weekly basis due the location of traditional markets that are further from their houses. Another option for obtaining fresh goods is the frequent availability of street hawkers that usually offer their merchandises door to door of some neighborhoods.

Consumers found that they spent less time and efforts buying from street hawkers compare to the traditional markets or other retailers.

Shopping at supermarkets and hypermarkets is mostly preferred on monthly schedule and the majority of goods bought at the modern retailers are foods and beverages, toiletries, and household goods. Contrary to this, consumers also prefer to buy fruit at supermarket and/or hypermarket due to the fresh quality and cheaper prices. It is common for consumers go to mini market for a “fill-in� trip; consequently they do not spend much time or money at the mini market.

Table 1 Shopping frequency (%) Shopping Frequency

Traditional market Street hawker Kiosk Mini market Supermarket Hypermarket

Daily 35.6

Weekly 50.7

Monthly 12.5

Quarterly 1.2

Semester 0

Total 100

34.6

39.3

14.0

12.1

0

100

75.6 2.0 0.3 0

17.8 39.4 21.1 5.2

4.0 39.8 74.2 63.5

2.6 18.9 2.8 30.7

0 0 1.5 0.5

100 100 100 100

There were four product categories analyzed in this study to show whether consumers changed their store preferences after the entry of modern retailers.

McNemar’s test shows that consumers have changed their store preferences from traditional retailers to modern retailers for all products in the first category, fresh goods especially fruits (Table 2). Consumers also preferred to buy staple goods, particularly sugar and salt, egg, and cooking oil and butter at modern retailers (Table 3).

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Table 2 McNemar’s test for fresh goods

N Shift of shopping place (%) Chi-Squarea Asymp. Sig. a. Continuity Corrected b. McNemar Test

Fruits 532

Fish 530

Raw seasoning 537

49.1

20.4

18.2

118.008 259.004 106.009 .000 .000 .000

96.010 .000

Meats Vegetables 520 539 24.2 121.071 .000

22.3

Table 3 McNemar’s test for staple goods Sugar and Rice Salt Egg N 535 535 536 Shift of shopping place 20.9 46.4 44.0 (%) Chi-Squarea 110.009 246.004 234.004 Asymp. Sig. .000 .000 .000 a. Continuity Corrected b. McNemar Test

Cooking oil and Butter 538 62.5 331.027 .000

Modern retailers provide a high variety of food and beverages as well as toiletries, which are attractively displayed giving greater choice of comparative brands on the shelves, therefore consumers prefer to buy those goods at modern retailers (Table 4 and Table 5).

Table 4 McNemar’s test for foods and beverages Milk, Coffee and Tea Softdrinks Snacks 538 482 517

N Shift of shoppin 67.5 g place (%) Chi361.003 Squarea Asymp. .000 Sig. a. Continuity Corrected b. McNemar Test

64.9

62.1

Bread 524

Cake 503

49.2

45.9

Mineral Canned Instant water foods Confectionnaries noodle 334 367 457 531 35

81.7

311.003 319.003 256.004 229.004 115.009 298.003 .000

.000

.000

.000

16

.000

.000

64.6

65.7

293.003 347.003 .000

.000

Table 5 McNemar’s test for toiletries and other goods Toiletries Body treatment Detergent N 538 514 535 Shift of shopping place (%) 84 86 75.5 Chi-Squarea 450.002 440.002 402.002 Asymp. Sig. .000 .000 .000 a. Continuity Corrected b. McNemar Test All McNemar’ test for four product categories have accepted four hypotheses (H1H4), which means that consumers prefer to buy fresh goods, staple goods, food and beverages, and toiletries and other goods at modern retailers, compare to buy those goods at traditional retailers.

Using spearman rank’s correlation, this study found that consumers have changed their preferences due to the attributes offered by modern retailers (Table 6). The most preferred attributes were product availability, product quality, and product prices.

Store location and promotion were not enough to attract consumers to shop at modern retailers (Table 7).

Table 6 Spearman’s rank correlation of consumers’ perceptions on modern retailers’ stores attributes and store preferences Consumer Consumer perception on store total attributes preference Spearman's Consumer Correlation 1.000 .535** rho perception on total Coefficient attributes Sig. (1-tailed) . .000 N 551 551 Consumer store Correlation .535** 1.000 preferences Coefficient Sig. (1-tailed) .000 .

N 551 551 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (1tailed).

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Table 7 Spearman rank’s correlation of each modern retailers’ stores attributes Attributes Correlation coefficient Sig. (1-tailed)* Product availability .405 .000 Product quality .375 .000 Product price .359 .000 Shopping cost .358 .000 Product assortment .317 .000 Payment method .315 .000 Store location .273 .000 Store area .247 .000 Promotion .091 .017

Traditional retailers’ performances The impact of modern retailers on traditional retailers is measured by decreases or increases in their number of sales after the entry of modern retailers. Mini markets did not significantly influence all traditional retailers, but had a slightly negative impact on sales of traditional market and kiosks (Table 8). Sales of toiletries, food and beverages were the most influenced by mini markets.

Table 8 Sales changes due to mini market entry Sales Decrease No change Increase More Less than Less than More than 50% 50% 50% than 50% Traditional 2.5 15.6 51.6 0 0.8 market Kiosk 9 6.5 7.4 0 0 Street 0 2.5 4.1 0 0 hawker Total 11.5 24.6 63.1 0 0.8

Total 70.5 22.9 6.6 100

Similar patterns were also evident when supermarkets appeared in close proximity to traditional retailers (Table 9). Traditional markets faced larger sales reductions than other traditional retailers due to the shift of consumer preferences for supermarkets with fresh goods, food and beverages, and toiletries.

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Table 9 Sales changes due to supermarket entry Sales Decrease No change Increase More Less than Less than More than 50% 50% 50% than 50% Traditional 2.4 25.8 30.5 1.0 0 market Kiosk 2.4 12.7 18.3 2.0 0 Convenience 0 0.5 0.5 0 0 store Street 0 0.5 1.5 1.9 0 hawker Total 4.8 39.5 50.8 4.9 0

Total 59.7 35.4 1.0 3.9 100

Although hypermarkets offer a large selection of goods and a different store atmosphere, the majority of traditional retailers found no significant sales reductions following the entry of hypermarkets, the exception being for some merchants selling similar goods in traditional markets experienced a sales decrease (Table 10).

Table 10 Sales changes due to hypermarket entry Sales Decrease No change Increase More Less than Less than More than 50% 50% 50% than 50% Traditional 2.5 22.8 34.7 0.4 0.4 market Kiosk 0.4 11.0 13.6 0.7 0.4 Convenience 0.8 4.0 4.8 0 0 store Street 0 0.7 2.9 0 0 hawker Total 3.7 38.5 56 1.0 0.8

Total 60.8 26 9.6 3.6 100

Using Chi-Square test for one sample with 95% level of confidence, this study supports the hypothesis that mini markets, supermarkets, and hypermarkets entry negatively influenced the traditional retailers’ sales (Table 11).

Table 11 Hypothesis Testing Null Hypothesis 1. The categories of sales after mini market entry occur with equal probabilities 2. The categories of sales after supermarket entry occur with equal probabilities 3. The categories of sales after hypermarket entry occur with equal probabilities

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Sig. .000 .000 .000

Conclusion This study examined the effects of modern retailers in changes of consumers store preferences and also comparative sales trends of traditional retailers. The results of this study show that consumers have shifted their store preferences to modern retailers for all product categories studied due to product availability with good quality, prices, and assortment. The numbers of traditional markets have been noticeably reduced in some cities, this study’s findings support the hypothesis that modern retailers negatively influence sales in this type of market.

This study has a limitation by using categorical data to investigate the shift of store preferences and to examine sales trends of traditional retailers after modern retailers’ entries. Future research will be encouraged to explore the impacts of modern retail development on other important issues such as local economy and environment. A comparative study between two countries with different characteristics is also an interesting option to be explored.

Theoretical Implications This study provides both theoretical and managerial contributions to the areas of retailing and consumer behavior. In terms of theoretical implications, the results of current study proposes that product availability and product quality are two main reasons why consumers shift their preferences from traditional retailers to modern retailers, thus, not in line with previous studies, which found that price was the main reason (Farhangmehr, et al., 2000; Setala, 2000).

The study results contribute to the retail development and consumer behavior literature by suggesting major retail atrributes that significantly influence store preferences. The retail development has to consider its impacts on indigenous retailers, particularly traditional retailers, although only traditional markets have been experiencing significant impact on sales. Further research may examine the impact of retail development on backward and forward linkage of retail value chain.

Managerial Implications The findings of this study might have at least some important business implications.

Managers of modern retail and merchants of traditional retailers could understand how to attract consumers by offering more selective store attributes to individualize themselves. Considering the pros and cons of modern retailers, particularly in Indonesia, this study presents findings that could be useful for traditional retailers to identify areas of opportunity in the face of strong competition from modern retailers.

It is acknowledged that government plays an important role in developing the competitiveness of traditional retailers; however, government must also manage the development of modern retailers in order to provide win-win solutions for all stakeholders. Regulations of these retail markets needs to be monitored carefully due to the gap of autonomy in common practice.

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Acknowledgement We wish to express our gratitude to the Indonesia General Directory of Higher Education (Ditjen Dikti) for providing the financial means through the program of Competitive Research Grant (Hibah Penelitian Bersaing).

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Asian Journal of Business Research ISSN 1178-8933

Volume 2

Number 2

2012

Generations X and Y Attitude towards Controversial Advertising Hiram Ting Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Ernest Cyril de Run Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Abstract Segmentation has been useful in advertising decisions and subsequently the generation approach has emerged as a superior segmentation approach. The purpose of this article is to examine the attitudes of generation X and generation Y towards controversial advertising. Structured questionnaires were distributed throughout Malaysia, and a total of 768 usable questionnaires were obtained. Findings show that the two generational cohorts are significantly different in attitude towards controversial advertising. Generation X found the advertising of female contraceptives, feminine hygiene products, and funeral services to be more controversial, whereas generation Y found the advertising of alcoholic products, condoms, and gambling to be more of a controversy. In terms of the reasons of controversy, generation X found only health and safety issues to be more controversial whereas generation Y, hard sell, nudity, racist images, sexist images, and subject too personal. Future studies are therefore needed to validate the segregation of generations in Malaysia to secure effective marketing strategy.

Keywords: Generation X, Generation Y, Controversial advertising, Malaysia

Introduction Marketing practitioners are continually confronted with the intricate task of advertising products/services to increasing diversified consumers in the marketplace.

Hence it is paramount that the advertising communicates with the targeted ones effectively in order to yield favorable responses continually (Wells et al., 2003). This is why market segmentation has been used extensively in advertising decisions (Kamakura and Wedel, 1995; Kaynak and Kara, 1996). The underlying principle is to target groups of consumers with homogeneous bonds since they are more likely to be identical in their response to advertising (Schewe and Meredith, 2004).

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Although several segmentation strategies such as those based on demographic, geographic, and psychographic variables have been used (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011), an innovative and highly successful segmentation approach utilizing generational cohort, notably the Veterans, Baby-boomers, generation X and generation Y, organized by their respective birth years, is gradually being recognized (Meredith and Schewe, 2002). Even though generation cohorts may be viewed as just another useful demographic variable to create groups and describe segments, it actually goes beyond to unveil segment motivation. Generation cohorts also unveil values and lifestyle characteristics such as that of psychographics, but has superior tracking and forecasting ability due to its lifelong effect (Schewe and Meredith, 2004).

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of Malaysians towards controversial advertising based on two generational cohorts, namely generation X, who is born between 1961 and 1980, and generation Y, who is born between 1981 and 2000. It is postulated that people from the same cohorts, regardless of the change in life stages, will have similar attitudinal patterns towards the said advertising, thus extending the understanding of consumers and enhancing the predictability of their future responses. The relationship between cohorts will provide additional clarification to the past knowledge on consumer behaviour. The implication of generational cohort in the Malaysian context will also be elucidated.

Literature Review Generational Cohort Generational cohorts are groups of people who are born during the same time period, and go through similar experiences of external events. These shared experiences affect their beliefs, attitudes and purchasing behavior in ways that remain with them over their entire lifetime (Ryder, 1965; Meredith and Schewe, 1994). Such segmentation is particularly useful because it provides a long standing solution to understanding consumers. As cohorts age and enter into new life stages, they will bring along their value systems, needs and wants with them (Holbrook and Schindler, 1989; Schuman and Scott, 1989; Hauck and Stanforth, 2007).

The concept of generational cohort has been discussed widely in many disciplines, including business (Mannheim, 1952; Rodgers, 1982; Mason and Fienberg, 1985; Rogler, 2002; Glenn, 2005). A good amount of studies have been done on linking work value to generational differences (Smola and Sutton, 2002; Cennamo and Gardner, 2008; Chen and Choi, 2008; Gursoy et al., 2008). Many have concluded that such differences, especially in work values and expectations, are surreal between different cohorts in workforce (Yu and Miller, 2003; Cennamo and Gardner, 2008; D’Amato and Herzfeldt, 2008). Moreover, knowledge regarding to generational differences can help organizations predict the degree of receptivity and resistance of their workforce to planned corporate change and enhance the development of effective work relationships and organizational effectiveness (Jurkiewicz and Brown, 1998; Kupperschmidt, 2000).

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Research has shown the potential of generational cohort in developing segmentation profile and implementing marketing strategies (Reynolds and Rentz, 1981; Meredith and Schewe, 1994; Schewe and Noble, 2000; Noble and Schewe, 2003). Generational labels such as leading-edge boomers, trailing-edge boomers and generation Xers are generally associated with marketing activities (Schewe and Noble, 2000; Noble and Schewe, 2003). It is considered as a basis for marketing practitioners to segment the consumers (Mittal et al., 2008). For example, understanding cohorts is useful in developing marketing communication campaigns. Music, movie stars or icons that cohorts identified with from their coming-of-age years can be an effective means of directing communication messages to a given cohort (Noble and Schewe, 2003).

This study adapts two generation labels designated by Zemke et al. (2000): generation X and generation Y. The former is consisted of individuals born between 1961 and 1980, and the latter, who is also called Nexters or the Millennials, was born between 1981 and 2000 (Arsenault, 2003). Generation X is said to be born during the time of political and social instability (Moore and Carpenter, 2008). Hence they become skeptical about their future, and as a result they learn to survive, and are highly individualistic (Howe and Strauss, 1993). They are even entrepreneurial risk taker (de Meuse et al., 2001). Moreover they tend to put personal freedom and challenging work ahead of job security and status (Kupperschmidt, 2000; Schewe and Meredith, 2004). Generation Y, in turn, tends to be very positive about their future because of economic and technological developments, especially in the advent of the internet (Boulds, 2000; Smola and Sutton, 2002; Schewe and Meredith, 2004). They witness the increase of diversity including ethnic, linguistic, non-traditional families, and dramatic change of media (Paul, 2001). Furthermore they tend to be uncertain spenders, having little brand loyalty and short-term wants (Pendergast, 2009), It is believed that all these characteristics of the two cohorts will help articulate attitude of Malaysians towards controversial advertising.

Controversial Advertising Given the dynamism of the contemporary setting, managers and marketing practitioners have been employing fresh and creative methods in advertising in order to gain awareness, interest and desired response from the consumers (Jewler and Drewniany, 2001). As a result, images, slogans and themes which are potentially controversial are used and exploited (Waller, 1999; McIntyre, 2000; Waller, 2004).

Due to its probable usefulness coupled with the rapid development in media, such exploitation has become increasingly common over the last three decades (Severn et al., 1990; Pope et al., 2004). However, it is also palpable that it can cause negative reactions or offence, and result in actions like negative publicity, receiving complaints, falling sales, and even product boycott (Fam and Waller, 2003). In spite of the concerns, marketing practitioners nowadays continue to seize every opportunity to draw attention boldly (Fogul, 2002).

Accordingly, many academic researchers began to investigate consumer attitudes towards controversial advertising based on different factors, such as gender, religion, and culture (Ricks, 1983; Luqmani et al., 1987; Root, 1987; Terpstra, 1987; Cateora, 1990; Michell and Al-Mossawi, 1999; Phau and Prendergast, 2001; Prendergast et al., 2002; Waller et al., 2005; Fam et al., 2009). Descriptions like “unmentionables�, 26

“offensive, intrusive, and irritating advertising”, “socially sensitive products”, “decent products”, “acceptable advertising” and “advertising ethics” were used to understand the subject matter (Bartos, 1981; Wilson and West, 1981; Aaker and Bruzzone, 1985; Rehman and Brooks, 1987; Triff et al., 1987; Shao and Hill, 1994; Fahy et al., 1995; Waller, 1999; Phau and Prendergast, 2001; Li et al., 2002). Due to the prevalent use of controversial advertising with no sign of abatement, similar studies are also performed in Malaysia in recent years (Waller and Fam, 2000; Waller et al., 2005; Munusamy and Wong, 2007; de Run et al., 2010).

Controversial Products and Reasons Two different aspects to controversial advertising, namely products and reasons or executions, are identified in past studies (Barnes and Dotson, 1990). In the same way, “the matter” (goods, services or ideas being advertised), and “the manner” (advertising executions) of the advertising are also investigated (Phau and Prendergast, 2001). To date researchers have come out with a list of 17 controversial products and 12 reasons (Waller and Fam, 2000; Waller et al., 2005; de Run et al., 2010). These products and reasons are adopted in this study. With alphabetical order, the products are alcohol, charities, cigarettes, condoms, female contraceptives, female hygiene products, female underwear, funeral services, gambling, guns and armaments, male underwear, pharmaceuticals, political parties, racially extremist groups, religious denominations, sexual diseases (AIDS, STD prevention), and weight loss programs. The reasons, in turn, are anti-social behavior, concern for children, hard sell, health and safety issues, indecent language, nudity, racist images, sexist images, stereotyping of people, subject too personal, violence and Western images.

The literatures aforementioned have shown the clear differences between the older generation as in generation X and the younger generation as in generation Y. Therefore it is inferred that there are differences in their attitude towards the two components of controversial advertising in its product and reason. Accordingly two hypotheses are formulated in this study for subsequent analysis. First, there is difference between generation X and generation Y for what is controversial, hence the following hypothesis: H1 :

Generation X would find controversial advertising of products more controversial than Generation Y.

Secondly, there is difference between generation X and generation Y for why it is controversial, hence the following hypothesis: H2 :

Generation X would find the reasons of controversy more controversial than Generation Y.

Methodology In order to investigate the products and the reasons that are controversial for Malaysians when advertised, a structured-questionnaire was designed based on previous studies (Shao and Hill, 1994; Waller et al., 2005; de Run et al., 2010).

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Purposive and snowball sampling strategies were used as only respondents who were born between 1961 and 2000 were sampled. They are the generation X and generation Y in Malaysia, and are now between 11 and 30 years old, and between 31 and 50 years old respectively (Zemke et al., 2000). Questionnaire was distributed throughout Malaysia, and a total of 768 usable questionnaires were obtained and computed.

The questionnaire was part of a larger study but only sections related to this paper are discussed here. Part A contained questions on demographics. Part B contained a list of 17 products and Part C 12 reasons for respondents to determine levels of controversy. A five-point Likert type format where 1 = not at all controversial to 5 = extremely controversial was used. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and t-test.

Findings Table 1 depicts a summation of respondents’ demographic information. Age is used to indicate which cohorts the respondents belong to. Mean scores for controversy of the advertising in the components of the products and the reason is shown in Table 2.

Table 1: Respondent Demographics Variable Gender Male Female Age cohort Generation Y (11 - 30) Generation X (31 - 50) Religion Muslim Buddhist Christian Hindu

Frequency 365 403 505 263 445 166 136 9

Percent 47.5 52.5 65.8 34.2 57.9 21.6 17.7 1.2

Findings of the t-test analysis based on the two generational cohorts are also incorporated into Table 2. For controversial products, there was statistically difference between the two cohorts on alcoholic products, condoms, female contraceptives, feminine hygiene products, funeral services, gambling, and pharmaceuticals. Comparatively, generation X found the advertising of female contraceptives, feminine hygiene products, funeral services, and pharmaceuticals to be more controversial, whereas generation Y found the advertising of alcoholic products, condoms, and gambling to be more of a controversy.

Hence the testing of the first hypothesis was found to be partially acceptable as not all the products tested were seen as more controversial by generation X over that of generation Y. Seven products were found to be significantly different between generations but only four were seen as more controversial by generation X.

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Table 2: Means & t-test for Controversial Advertising by Generational Cohort Overall Gen Y Gen X Variables Mean S. D Mean S. D Mean S. D Alcoholic products** 3.48 1.48 3.60 1.45 3.24 1.53 Charities/Fund raising 2.22 1.00 2.18 1.05 2.31 0.89 Cigarettes/tobacco 3.19 1.27 3.22 1.30 3.14 1.23 Condoms** 3.38 1.29 3.50 1.28 3.14 1.26 Female Contraceptives* 3.33 1.37 3.25 1.36 3.50 1.38 Female Underwear 3.30 1.32 3.30 1.36 3.29 1.23 Feminine Hygiene Products** 3.17 1.24 3.08 1.30 3.33 1.12 Funeral Services** 3.01 1.52 2.78 1.50 3.45 1.46 Gambling** 3.34 1.27 3.44 1.32 3.14 1.13 Guns & Armaments 2.97 1.34 2.91 1.40 3.08 1.20 Male Underwear 3.24 1.36 3.22 1.39 3.27 1.31 Pharmaceuticals** 2.45 1.46 2.29 1.43 2.76 1.46 Political Parties 2.58 1.36 2.54 1.34 2.66 1.39 Racially Extremist Groups 3.41 1.32 3.34 1.38 3.52 1.20 Religious Denominations 2.99 1.22 2.96 1.28 3.03 1.08 Sexual Diseases 3.05 1.41 3.06 1.47 3.05 1.29 Weight Loss Programs 2.38 1.19 2.35 1.27 2.42 1.04 * t-test significant at .05, ** t-test significant at .00 In terms of reasons for being controversial, there was statistically difference on concern for children, hard sell, health and safety issues, indecent language, nudity, racist images, sexist images, and subject too personal. Comparatively, generation X found just health and safety issues to be more controversial, whereas Generation Y found concern for children, hard sell, nudity, indecent language, racist and sexist images, and subject too personal to be more controversial. Findings of the t-test analysis by generational cohort are also incorporated into Table 3.

Hence the testing of the second hypothesis was found to be partially acceptable as not all the reasons tested were seen as more controversial by generation X over that of generation Y. Eight reasons were found to be significantly different between generations but only one was seen as more controversial by generation X.

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Table 3: Means & t-test for reasons for Controversy by Generational Cohort Overall Gen Y Gen X Variable Mean S. D Mean S. D Mean S. D Anti-social Behaviour 2.94 1.25 2.92 1.28 2.97 1.19 Concern for Children* 2.75 1.34 2.83 1.35 2.60 1.29 Hard Sell* 3.23 1.25 3.30 1.29 3.10 1.16 Health & Safety Issues** 2.90 1.35 2.71 1.34 3.29 1.27 Indecent Language** 3.13 1.24 3.33 1.30 2.75 1.01 Nudity** 3.50 1.35 3.70 1.34 3.11 1.27 Racist Images* 3.23 1.32 3.31 1.36 3.06 1.24 Sexist Images** 3.35 1.23 3.46 1.25 3.16 1.16 Stereotyping of People 3.08 1.26 3.14 1.31 2.97 1.16 Subject too Personal** 3.32 1.22 3.41 1.21 3.14 1.21 Violence 3.37 1.25 3.43 1.26 3.27 1.22 Western Images 3.37 1.29 3.42 1.30 3.26 1.27 * t-test significant at .05, ** t-test significant at .00

Discussions The results indicate a very appealing outlook on how generation shapes and affects the attitudes towards controversial advertising in its bare component of the products and the reasons. First, it must be said that Malaysians can indeed be segmented into different generational cohorts because their dissimilarities are shown in their attitudes towards controversial advertising. This validates the past studies on the implication of generational cohort in marketing in various countries. (Excousseau, 2000; Meredith and Schewe, 2002; Schewe and Meredith, 2004; Hung et al., 2007; Motta and Schewe, 2008). This also highlights the fact that using cohort as a basis to segment the consumers is useful in developing goods and services because they can be more aligned with the consumers’ needs and wants (Mittal et al., 2008).

From the testing of hypothesis it appears that generation Y is sensitive towards the advertising of controversial products and has shown stronger sensitivity to a variety of reasons as to why the advertising of products are controversial. Both hypotheses are only partially accepted, and this indicates that while the older generation has different views as to what is controversial, the younger generation has developed its own strong views.

Female contraceptive and hygiene products are found controversial in both generations X and Y because these products are still perceived as something sensitive and secretive today. Additionally, religion must have played an important role because Muslims, along with other religious groups, continue to uphold modesty in their teachings (de Run et al., 2010). Specifically, the advertising of these two products is found to be more controversial in generation X because the level of exposure to them in 1970s was very minimal. Communicational and digital technologies were not in place in many parts of Malaysia during those times.

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Moreover, middle-aged Malaysians today are more cautious or skeptical in their characteristics due to their social upbringing.

Funeral services, in turn, always maintain as a grave matter to all Malaysians (Waller and Fam, 2000). This explains why the older ones in generation X found it controversial. However the findings in relation to generation Y may infer something different. Younger generation is becoming less interested and bound by family’s tradition, superstition and culture as diversity in ethnics and non-traditional families continues to grow. They could even see the advertising of funeral service as a good thing because it facilitates awareness and adoption process.

Interestingly, in spite of the fact that the advertising of alcoholic products, condoms, and gambling is becoming more apparent as a result of the advancement of media, generations X and Y still consider them controversial, with the younger ones finding them to be more controversial. This is most likely because Muslims, who make up the highest percentage of religious group in the population of Malaysia, recognize Sharia laws, and the general public are becoming more and more aware of the regulations enforced by Malaysian government to safeguard these advertisements (Waller and Fam, 2000; de Run et al., 2010). Another noteworthy finding is that both cohorts found racially extremist group to be controversial. This supports the findings of Waller (2005), and Fam and Waller (2003) in their respective cross-cultural studies.

Since Malaysia is a multi-racial and cultural country, Malaysians have relatively learnt, through past experiences and education, the importance of maintaining harmony between races.

As far as the reasons for being controversial are concerned, the findings show a very one-sided phenomenon in generation Y, which nearly defeats the second hypothesis.

Generation X found only health and safety issues to be more controversial but generation Y found concern for children, hard sell, indecent language, nudity, racist and sexist images, and subject too personal to be more controversial. As expected, living through the period of instability, most remarkably the times of social insecurity, where discrepancies between races and opportunities were often the issues at hand, have caused generation X to be more individualistic and cautious in their lives and works. Although they also found hard sell, nudity, subject too personal, racist and sexist images to be controversial based on the means scores, the responses are not as strong as that of generation Y. For generation Y, despite the rapid development in media, especially the internet, it is apparent that the regulations on the contents and executions in advertisement stipulated by the governing bodies, such as the Advertising Code in Malaysia are still prevailing (Deng et al., 1994). Although younger generation may be more receptive to incessant exposure from various advertisements, they are still aware of the potential negativity that these executions may generate in an increasing diverse community. The findings commensurate with the study conducted by Fam and Waller (2003) where Malaysians with the average age of 21 perceived racist and sexist images, and nudity as the top three reasons of controversy. Lastly, the controversies instigated by indecent language, hard sell and subject too personal imply that the younger generation is becoming more collective in their behavior.

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It is necessary to take note again that seeing the advertising controversial is not necessary a bad thing. Marketing practitioners can continue promote their controversial but lawful products in such a way that it generates consumers’ interest and minimizes distrust. At the same time, consumers may become more aware of and familiar with a certain products due to its controversial element. When considering the characteristics of generation Y, such as uncertain in what they want and spend, and highly exposed to media, this may provide another viewpoint as to why the younger generation found a good number of products and reasons to be more controversial than the older generation. From the managerial standpoint, this demonstrates the potential in utilizing controversial advertising to capture generation Y, but it also discloses the complexity in grasping the needs and wants of the younger ones. For example, a young non-Muslim may find the advertising of alcoholic products to be controversial and the use of indecent language as a cause of controversy because he knows what are the norms and regulations in the community that he lives in. Nevertheless it does not mean he has not consumed beer and sworn at others, and will not perform these behaviors in the future. Neither does it mean he has been offended and would not have favorable behavior towards the product. On the contrary, the perceived controversy may become subject of a talk, and end up having more people interested in the advertisement and the product. Studies have shown that advertising can even be something entertaining (Pollay and Mittal, 1993; Korgaonkar et al., 2001), and it may be the case with generation Y when viewing controversial advertising. Generation Y does not inherit everything from generation X, nor are they becoming more conventional due to their sensitivity towards controversial advertising, particularly the reasons of controversy. It just shows the unpredictability and intricate change of attitudes in generation Y or the younger ones today.

Overall, the findings reveal that the reason for being controversial is a stronger indicator of controversy than the product itself. In other words consumers are generally more concerned with the execution of the advertisement than the matter or the product itself (Prendergast et al., 2002). While generation X views the products to be generally more controversial, generation Y considers the reasons to be more of a controversy. This further shows the complexity in the younger ones.

Conclusion It is essential at the foremost to identify the products that are controversial to different groups of people. It is equally important to know the reasons for being controversial so that the execution of the advertisements can be fittingly implemented.

Notwithstanding its usefulness in capturing attention, Dahl et al. (2003) pointed out that controversial advertising can turn into offensive when it becomes something that violates the norm of the society. Therefore marketing practitioners have to know the perception of the public towards their products, identify their targeted segment, and execute the advertisements wisely to secure desired results, thus preventing unwanted outcomes.

This study validates the magnitude of understanding generational cohorts in order to make the products effectively appealing to the consumers through meticulous design of the products and advertising executions. On the whole it exemplifies the use of cohort in generations X and Y in the Malaysian context to identify the different 32

attitudes that they have towards controversial advertising. Moreover it indicates a significant change of attitude in generation Y towards the level of controversy between the products and the reasons. It is therefore surmised that recognizing the homogeneity within cohorts and the heterogeneity between cohorts can enhance the understanding of consumers and the subsequent segmentation strategy. It can also allow better forecasting of future responses of the consumers from the same generational cohorts (Schewe and Meredith, 2004).

It is believed that future research should be conducted to validate the segregation of generational cohorts in Malaysia because labels such as generations X and Y are borrowed from that of the West. The forming of these cohorts and the relationships between cohorts can thus be further explored and investigated to underpin the understanding of the Malaysian consumers and the implementation of segmentation and marketing mix. Moreover generation study can be applied on specific controversial or non-controversial advertisements in order to examine consumers’ attitude towards specific products. Furthermore, since Malaysia is a country endowed with diversity of races, a cross racial and cultural study can be done to gain more insights on the implication of race, religion and cultural values on the formation of generational cohort.

Acknowledgement This paper is based on research at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) under Geran Dana Principal Investigator (Grant no: 03/DPI07/823/2011 (07)). The authors express their gratitude to UNIMAS.

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37

Asian Journal of Business Research ISSN 1178-8933

Volume 2

Number 2

2012

A Model of Quality of Work Life, Life Satisfaction and Service Quality Mahadzirah Mohamad Wan Norhayati Mohamed Universiti Malaysia Terengganu

Abstract The study was conducted with the purpose of identifying the impact of Quality of Work Life (QWL) on Life Satisfaction (LS) and Service Quality (SQ) among nurses in the public hospitals. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to examine the internal reliability of a measure and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the goodness of the proposed hypothesised model. The findings of the study supported the first two proposed hypotheses that postulated firstly, that the higher the perceived QWL, the higher the LS and, secondly, the higher the perceived QWL, the higher the perceived nursing SQ. The third hypothesis stated that the higher the LS, the higher the nursing SQ was not supported. The implication of the study suggests that nursing staff with high quality of QWL would deliver high SQ and at the same time achieve high LS. Keywords: Quality of Work Life, Life Satisfaction, Service Quality

Introduction Research on Quality of Work Life (QWL) started in the early 1970s (Saklani, 2004) and studies on it are essential to help organisations identify gaps that could improve employee’s QWL since high QWL could attract and retain employees (Sandrick, 2003). This is especially crucial in the case of the Malaysian public health-care sector. The demand for public health-care service is increasing and this creates a greater need for health-care services personnel. Consequently, the government is facing a great challenge to ensure sufficient personnel and financial resources are in place to satisfy the demand. With society becoming more affluent, the general public demands a better quality of life, hence the basic level of the health-care services is no longer sufficient to meet the escalating needs for quality health-care services. In a situation where the industry is facing a shortage of trained staff, it is important to ensure that a high performance of the current workforce is achieved.

Undoubtedly, it is challenging to provide a high-quality nursing service when the sector is confronted with a shortage of trained staff. In addition, greater wages and 38

benefits offered by other counterparts in the local private sector and developed foreign countries, especially the Middle-East, were argued to be the possible contributing factors that worsen the situation. However, some argue that compensation and benefit strategies are short term in nature. Perhaps it is more relevant to focus on planning long-term strategies that concentrate on improving QWL which is said to be a more practical and long-term approach in improving hospital nurse retention. The current shortage of nurses in Malaysia highlights the importance of understanding their work environment, giving emphasis to the different aspects of QWL, so that relevant policies can be formulated to retain them in the workforce and provide quality service. This study attempts to study nurses’ QWL, its relationship with nurses’ Life Satisfaction (LS) and the quality of their health-care service delivery.

Quality of Work Life, Life Satisfaction and Service Quality The QWL construct is complex as it comprises of both physical and mental wellbeing of employees (Lawler, 1982). In general, the definitions of QWL focus on the good feeling perceived from the interaction between the individuals and their work environment. The definition by Hackman and Oldhams (1980) described QWL in relation to the interaction between work environment and personal needs and is the extent to which employees can enhance their personal lives through their work environment and experiences. Sirgy et al. (2001) postulated that people have sets of needs which they seek to fulfil at their workplace. Parallel to the previous definition, Haskett et al. (1997) advocated that QWL is the feelings that employees have towards their jobs, colleagues and organisations that stimulate organisations’ growth and profitability. In addition, Sirgy et al. (2001) suggested that the outcomes of QWL are job satisfaction and other life domains termed as LS, as postulated by Beutell (2006).

The Spillover Theory is useful to explain how satisfaction in work life can influence satisfaction in other life domains (such as LS) and deliver quality service (Md-Sidin and Sambasivan, 2010). According to Sirgy et al. (2001), there are two types of Spillover Theory: horizontal and vertical spillover. Horizontal spillover explains the effect of one life domain on other life domains. For example, job satisfaction has an influence on personal life, family life, social life and leisure life. On the other hand, vertical spillover helps to explain the effect of life domains that are perceived by individuals to be organized in hierarchical order. Therefore, it is postulated that individuals with high QWL will attain a harmonious balance between career and personal lives. Similarly, Spillover Theory also explains the influence of LS on the delivering of SQ. Although Beutell (2006) suggested that LS, which is the non-work variable, could affect employees’ withdrawal behaviour, it is argued that it may also influence employees other behaviours such as delivering quality service during service encounters. Therefore, it is the main aim of the present study to develop such a model of QWL, LS and SQ. Life Satisfaction (LS) is one of the major components of subjective well-being, and both concepts with different levels of specificity, refer to the summation of evaluations regarding a person’s life as a whole (Vitterso et al., 2005). Pavot and Diener, (1993) argued that LS is a conscious cognitive judgement of one’s life in which criteria for judgement are up to the person. Moreover, Rice (1984) described overall LS as the degree to which an individual’s life experience satisfies the 39

individual’s needs and wants in different life domains, for example as an employee, parent, spouse and friend. Furthermore, LS is not considered a permanent or objective trait of an individual, but is rather sensitive to contextual change and is considered from the point of view of respondents themselves (Swami & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2009). The recent work of Beutell (2006) suggested that satisfaction assessment on the different aspects of work is identified as job satisfaction and non-work domain is labelled as LS. Thus, satisfaction in the non-work domain would mean satisfaction in aspects of other life domains which exclude job satisfaction and, according to Sirgy et. al (2001), these include aspects related to family, leisure, health, education, friendship, cultural and social status. It is noted that the link between job satisfaction and LS is undoubted (Demaerouti et al., 2000). Therefore, one of the main objectives of this study is to generate a model that provides a useful insight of improving LS through changes in QWL. Service Quality (SQ) is a multiple-dimension construct (Parasuraman et al., 1985) and different authors suggested different dimensions. Lethinen and Lethinen (1982) defined SQ as comprising three dimensions: physical quality, interactive quality and corporate (image) quality. Parasuraman et al., (1988), however proposed five dimensions of SQ (reliability, assurance, tangibility, empathy and responsiveness).

Sureshchandar et al. (2001) identified five factors of SQ, namely core service or service product; human element of service delivery; systematisation of service delivery: non-human element; tangibles of service (servicescapes) and social responsibility. There is evidence that QWL may have a significant impact on employee behavioural responses (Sirgy et al., 2001) such as job performance (delivering quality service during service encounters) and intention to quit. According to Kotler et al. (2009), the concept of internal marketing should be applied within organisations to enable employees to serve customers well. Berry and Parasuraman (1991) proposed internal marketing as the management philosophy of treating employees as customers. Therefore, organisations should meet the needs of the employees before meeting customer's needs. It is proposed that satisfied employees will be more productive and give satisfactory services to customers.

Methods Currently, there are 45,060 registered nurses working in public hospitals (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2009). The population of this study consists of registered nurses working at the Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pediatric Department in the statelevel public hospitals. These state-level hospitals provide a comprehensive range of secondary-care services and also function as referral centres for other hospitals in the respective state. They are the largest hospitals in the respective state with a bed capacity of more than 600 (Manaf, 2005). Referring to the Krejie and Morgan sample-size table (Sekaran, 2006), a sample size of 357 was considered large enough.

Using the Burns and Bush (2010) sample-size formula, the adequate sample size for the study was 221 respondents. To conduct Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), Garver & Mentzer, and Hoelter, in (Hoe, 2008), proposed a ‘critical sample size’ of 200. In other words, as a rule of thumb, any number above 200 is understood to provide sufficient statistical power for data analysis.

40

The selection of respondents involved two steps. First, using area-sampling technique, four state-level hospitals were selected and 300 questionnaires were distributed to each hospital. A total of 800 questionnaires were returned representing a 67% response rate. Second, a sampling frame was created using the returned questionnaires. From the created sampling frame, a total of 400 nurses were selected for the study using a random-sampling method. After a data cleaning process, a total of 392 respondent’s questionnaires were subjected for further analysis.

The research instrument developed by Brooks and Anderson (2005) was used in this study to measure nurses’ Quality of Work Life (NQWL). The NQWL consists of 42 items and measures four dimensions of NQWL: “work life-home life”, work design, work context, and work world. LS was measured using a five-item satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) developed by Diener et al., (1985). The SWLS assessed the concept of LS by measuring individuals’ global judgement of their lives. The SWLS has been widely used for the past 20 years since its development in more than 4,000 studies (Gouveia et al., 2009).The SWLS has been translated into Malay (Swami and Chamorro-Premuzic, 2009), Chinese (Sachs, 2004), Arabic (Abdullah, 1998), Dutch (Arrindell et al., 1999), Norwegian (Vitterso et al., 2005) and Spanish (Atienza et al, 2003). The factor structure, reliability and validity of SWLS have been supported in past studies (Swami and Chamorro-Premuzic, 2009; Diener et al.,1985). The 22 items of modified version of SERVQUAL developed by Lee and Yom (2007) was used in this study to measure nursing SQ in the public hospital. Lee and Yom (2007) have modified the instrument to make it more suitable to the nursing services. The SERVQUAL scale has been used in a wide variety of studies in health-care to assess perceptions of SQ in a number of service categories such as nursing homes (Kilbourne et al., 2004), colposcopy clinics (Wisniewski, 2005), hospitals (Taner and Anthony, 2006).

Results Analysis of the data revealed that the majority of the respondents were female (99%), reflecting the population of nursing staff in Malaysia, and married (72%). The majority of them had obtained a Diploma in nursing and was aged between 25 and 34 years old. Their children ranged from 1 to 4. Almost 60% of the respondents had served in the public health-care institutions for less than 10 years and only 8% of them had worked for a period of 21 to 25 years. This implies that there is a high nursing staff turnover within the sector.

The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to determine the underlying dimensions of QWL and SQ. The results of Barlett’s test of sphericity are significant and the values of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy are 0.91 and 0.91 for QWL and SQ respectively. QWL components loaded into two underlying factors termed as “communication and opportunities for career growth” and “work-family life balance”. These factors explained 64 % of the variation in QWL. SQ component also loaded into two underlying factors labelled as “empathy” and “reliability”. These factors explained 82 % of the variation in SQ. LS is manifested by four observed exogenous items. Reliability tests conducted on QWL, SQ and LS produced Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.91, 0.95 and 0.94 respectively.

The values of item-total correlation as illustrated in Table I, Table II and Table III for 41

QWL, SQ and LS respectively are more than 0.3, suggesting that these items correlate very well with the scale overall (Field, 2009). Unidimensionality of the underlying factors was assessed using factor loading of retained items from EFA. Factor loadings for all items of the identified factors are greater than 0.5, indicating that these items are associated with the underlying factors (Hair et al., 2010).

Table I: Quality of Work Life Item-Total Correlation Scale Scale Cronbach's Mean Variance Corrected Squared Alpha if if Item if Item Item-Total Multiple Item Deleted Deleted Correlation Correlation Deleted I am able to balance work with my family needs (W1) I am able to arrange for day care for my elderly parents (W5) I am able to arrange for day care when my child is sick (W6) I am able to communicate well with my nurse manager/supervisor (W15) My work setting provides career advancement opportunities (W19) I feel like I belong to the “work family� (W21) I am able to communicate with other therapists (physical, respiratory, etc.) (W22) I am able to participate in decision made by my nurse supervisor/manager (W24) I am recognised for my accomplishments by my nurse manager/supervisor (W28)

33.33

35.24

0.64

.446

0.908

33.82

33.68

0.64

.595

0.909

34.02

34.79

0.62

.546

0.909

33.30

34.35

0.71

.560

0.903

33.49

33.02

0.78

.635

0.898

33.35

33.65

0.78

.650

0.898

33.49

34.48

0.68

.526

0.905

33.74

33.41

0.71

.549

0.903

33.63

33.13

0.76

.620

0.899

Table II: Service Quality Item-Total Correlation Scale Scale Cronbach's Mean Variance Corrected Alpha if Squared if Item if Item Item-Total Multiple Item Deleted Deleted Correlation Correlation Deleted Provide nursing service in wellequipped facilities (S3) Provide good feeling because of appearance (S4) Provide precise nursing services (S5) Provide skillful nursing services (S6) Help patient willingly whenever help is needed (S12)

33.07

26.93

0.68

0.61

0.951

32.72

26.45

0.86

0.81

0.939

32.81

26.63

0.83

0.82

0.940

32.71

26.47

0.82

0.76

0.941

32.45

26.79

0.78

0.66

0.943

42

Induce emotional comfort (S21) Respect patient’s feeling (S22) Listen to patient’s complaints (S23)

32.48 32.35

26.48 26.28

0.82 0.86

0.85 0.92

0.941 0.938

32.32

26.38

0.85

0.90

0.939

Table III: Life Satisfaction Item-Total Correlation Scale Scale Cronbach's Mean Variance Corrected Squared Alpha if if Item if Item Item-Total Multiple Item Deleted Deleted Correlation Correlation Deleted In most ways, my life is close to my ideal (L1) The conditions of my life are excellent (L2) I am satisfied with my life (L3) So far I have gotten the important things I want in life (L4)

12.38

6.45

0.840

.720

0.926

12.54

6.24

0.886

.790

0.911

12.43

6.51

0.885

.786

0.913

12.58

6.37

0.817

.677

0.934

Hair et al. (2010) suggested that convergent validity is assessed using construct reliability (CR) and the average variance extracted (AVE). The calculated CR and AVE for all four latent constructs surpassed the threshold value of 0.7 and 0.5 respectively. The AVE values for the latent constructs was compared to the squared correlations between the corresponding constructs to examine the discriminant validity of the measurement model (Fornell and Larcker, 1981) and none of the squared correlation surpassed the AVE. The above test indicated that the discriminant validity is secured (see Table IV).

Table IV: Results for Measurement Model Constructs

Quality of Work Life Communication and Opportunities for Career Growth Work-Family Life Balance Service Quality Reliability Empathy

Construct Reliability (CR

Average Variance Extracted (AVE)

0.91

0.54

0.76

0.53

0.88 0.90

0.65 0.71

Squared Correlation Estimate

0.51

43

0.55

Figure 1: Structural Model of QWL, LS and SQ .63 .59 e4

e3

W15

.69

W19

W21

.77

.88 e24 WF1

.54

.83 .94

.59 e26

W

.93 SF1

.89

e19

.65

.66

.80

.82

W28

.74

S12

-.06

.67

e15

.72

LS

e21

S21

SF2

e25

e20

.87

.93 .55

W1

.79

S

.77 .52

e18

S5

W24 e27

e7

e17

.91

.88

.81

S4

S6

.70 W22

e16

.87

.74 e14

.93

.77 e1

S3

.86

.83 .85

.73 e2

.79

e12

.98 .96

.95 S22

e22

.93 .84

.70 e6

.88

W5

.78 e5

WF3

.61

.59

L1

L2

.77 W6

.92 L3

.86

e13 e11

.93

e10

.85 L4

.85 e9

.72 e8

S23

e23

Chi square=334.316 df=182 p-value=.000 Chi square/df=1.837 GFI=.903 AGFI=.876 TLI=.970 CFI=.974 NFI=.945 RMR=.040 RMSEA=.053 PCFI=.844 AIC=432.316

Note: W = Quality of Work Life, LS = Life Satisfaction, S = Service Quality

Research Model Figure 1 illustrates the structural model of QWL, LS and SQ. Universally-accepted statistical indexes such as Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI) and Adjusted Goodness-ofFit Index (AGFI) were used to assess the goodness-of-fit of the proposed model, with values closer to 1 indicating good fit (Byrne, 2009). The values of Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI) and Adjusted Goodness-of-Fit Index (AGFI) attained for the proposed model are 0.90 and 0.88 respectively. It is therefore concluded that the hypothesised model proposed in the study fits the sample data adequately well. The value of Root Mean Square Residual (RMR) for the proposed model is 0.04, less than 0.05, and also describes a well-fitting model. Baseline comparisons indexes, Normed Fit Index (NFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) are another sets of goodness-of-fit statistics are used to support the fitness of the hypothesised model.

The value of Normed Fit Index (NFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) ranges from 0 to 1, with values closer to 1.00 being indicative of good fit (Byrne, 2009). In this case, NFI, TLI and CFI values of 0.95, 0.97 and 0.97 respectively are consistent in suggesting that the hypothesised model represented an adequate fit to the data. The value of Root Mean Square Error of the Approximation (RMSEA) for the proposed model is 0.05; less than 0.08 indicates reasonable error of approximation implying that the model is acceptably fit (Hair et al, 2010). Based on the above goodness-of-fit statistics, there are enough supports to conclude that the 44

hypothesised model fits the data gathered adequately well and further analysis can be done.

Relationships among Constructs The path coefficients for the full model are as illustrated in Table V. Path coefficients are positive and have significant (p-value < 0.05), except for the path coefficient between LS and SQ which is not significant. Table VI indicates the standardised regression weights (ß) that illustrate the measures of strength and magnitude of the associations between variables examined in this study. The results indicated that there are positive significant relationships between QWL and SQ; and QWL and LS. However, there is no significant relationship between LS and SQ. Table V: Regression Weights Construct

Path

Life Satisfaction (LS)

<---

Service Quality (SQ)

<---

Service Quality (SQ)

<---

Communication (WF1)

<---

Work-Family (WF2)

<---

Reliability (SF1)

<---

Empathy (SF2)

<---

I am able to participate in decision made by my nurse supervisor/manager (W24) I feel like I belong to the “work family” (W21) My work setting provides career advancement opportunities (W19) I am able to communicate well with my nurse manager/supervisor (W15) I am able to communicate with other therapists (physical, respiratory, etc.) (W22) I am recognised for my accomplishments by my nurse manager/supervisor (W28) I am able to arrange for day care when my child is sick (W6) I am able to arrange for day care for my elderly parents (W5) I am able to balance work with my family needs (W1) So far I have gotten the important things I want in life (L4) I am satisfied with my life (L3)

<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<---

45

Construct Quality of Work Life (QWL) Quality of Work Life (QWL) Life Satisfaction (LS) Quality of Work Life Quality of Work Life Service Quality Service Quality Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Work-Family (WF2) Work-Family (WF2) Work-Family (WF2) Life Satisfaction (LS) Life Satisfaction

Est

S.E.

C.R. 10.0 70 6.75 0 .567

P ** * ** * .5 70

.832

.083

.823

.122

-.046

.082

.080

9.89 1

** *

.076

10.9 31

** *

15.7 51 15.2 06 13.9 12 13.1 89 14.8 41

** * ** * ** * ** * ** *

13.8 67 12.1 71

** * ** *

21.8

**

1.000 .793 1.000 .836 1.000 .998

.063

1.042

.069

.900

.065

.873

.066

1.034

.070

1.000 1.190

.086

.846

.069

1.000 .991

.045

Construct

Path

The conditions of my life are excellent (L2)

<---

In most ways, my life is close to my ideal (L1) Provide nursing service in well-equipped facilities (S3) Provide good feeling because of appearance (S4)

<--<--<---

Provide precise nursing services (S5)

<---

Provide skillful nursing services (S6)

<---

Help patient willingly whenever help is needed (S12)

<---

Induce emotional comfort (S21)

<---

Respect patient’s feeling (S22)

<---

Listen to patient’s complaints (S23)

<---

Construct (LS) Life Satisfaction (LS) Life Satisfaction (LS)

Est

S.E.

1.060

.048

.994

.050

Reliability (SF1)

1.000

Reliability (SF1) Reliability (SF1) Reliability (SF1) Empathy (SF2) Empathy (SF2) Empathy (SF2) Empathy (SF2)

1.039

.055

1.053

.055

1.026

.058

C.R. 06 22.0 32 19.9 33

P * ** * ** *

18.9 35 19.1 38 17.7 67

** * ** * ** *

20.2 01 21.8 27 21.3 30

** * ** * ** *

1.000 1.160

.057

1.201

.055

1.181

.055

Table VI: Standardised Regression Weights Construct

Path

Life Satisfaction (LS)

<---

Service Quality (SQ)

<---

Service Quality (SQ)

<---

Communication (WF1)

<---

Work-Family (WF2)

<---

Reliability (SF1) Empathy (SF2) I am able to participate in decision made by my nurse supervisor/manager (W24) I feel like I belong to the “work family” (W21) My work setting provides career advancement opportunities (W19) I am able to communicate well with my nurse manager/supervisor (W15) I am able to communicate with other therapists (physical, respiratory, etc.) (W22) I am recognised for my accomplishments by my nurse manager/supervisor (W28) I am able to arrange for day care when my child

<--<---

46

<--<--<--<--<--<--<---

Construct Quality of Work Life (QWL) Quality of Work Life (QWL) Life Satisfaction (LS) Quality of Work Life (QWL) Quality of Work Life (QWL) Service Quality (SQ) Service Quality (SQ) Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Communication (WF1) Work-Family (WF2)

Est. .745 .877 -.055 .938 .769 .911 .819 .768 .854 .829 .770 .736 .813 .784

Construct

Path

is sick (W6) I am able to arrange for day care for my elderly parents (W5) I am able to balance work with my family needs (W1) So far I have gotten the important things I want in life (L4) I am satisfied with my life (L3) The conditions of my life are excellent (L2) In most ways, my life is close to my ideal (L1) Provide nursing service in well-equipped facilities (S3) Provide good feeling because of appearance (S4) Provide precise nursing services (S5) Provide skillful nursing services (S6) Help patient willingly whenever help is needed (S12) Induce emotional comfort (S21) Respect patient’s feeling (S22) Listen to patient’s complaints (S23)

<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<---

Construct Work-Family (WF2) Work-Family (WF2) Life Satisfaction (LS)

Est. .840 .724 .850

Life Satisfaction (LS) Life Satisfaction (LS) Life Satisfaction (LS) Reliability (SF1)

.921 .926 .878

Reliability (SF1) Reliability (SF1) Reliability (SF1) Empathy (SF2)

.927 .934 .886

Empathy (SF2) Empathy (SF2) Empathy (SF2)

.932 .977 .963

.791

.804

Discussion and Conclusions The results of this study can provide insights to help decision-makers in identifying key workplace issues from employees’ perspectives in their initiatives to develop strategies that would address and improve the conditions of employees’ QWL within each of the individual health-care organisations and assist them to manage employees’ performance. The study suggests that paying attention to the different aspects of QWL which are related to employees’ needs for communication and opportunities for career advancement; and work-family life balance would result in them achieving high LS and deliver reliable and empathetic services.

Findings of this study also suggest that LS and SQ are the outcomes of nurses’ QWL. Nurses with high QWL appear to achieve high LS. They are described as those who perceived their life conditions as excellent, leading almost an ideal way of life and are satisfied with their life. Moreover, nurses with high QWL also appear to be delivering high SQ. They are described as providing empathy services such as understanding patient’s feelings, inducing emotional comforts and providing courage and hopes to patients. They are also described as providing reliable services such as providing medications and giving treatments at the correct time. Interestingly, the findings support the Spillover Theory that explains the effect of one life domain (QWL) on other life domains (LS and SQ). However, LS has no significant influence on SQ. Beutell (2006) suggested that the non-work variable, in this case LS, could affect employees’ withdrawal behaviour (negative behaviour). The findings of this study suggest that LS has no significant influence on nurses’ delivery of SQ, which in this particular case, SQ is a positive behaviour. Perhaps, the possible explanation to

47

this finding is that a non-work variable has an impact on negative behaviour (employees’ withdrawal) as proposed by Beutell (2006) but it has no direct significant influence on positive behaviour such as delivering high SQ. The findings of the present study have several managerial implications for the management of public hospitals in Malaysia. First, QWL is the antecedent of nursing SQ and initiatives to improve nursing QWL would lead to nurses providing quality service. Thus, the hospital management could address nursing shortage by addressing aspects that would enhance their QWL such as addressing to their needs for, what are termed as, “communication and opportunities for career growth” and “work-family life balance”. The needs for “communication and opportunities for career growth” could be addressed by providing a conducive work environment that permits participatory decision-making, free flow of vertical and horizontal communication, opportunities for career advancement and create the feeling of “work family” belonging among staff.

Second, this study also indicates that achieving work-family life balance is important among the nursing workforce. Tausig and Fenwick (2001) reported that “voluntary alternate scheduling” could reduce work-life time imbalance. Therefore, the hospital management perhaps should consider implementing “voluntary alternate scheduling”, where nurses have some choice or control over the hours or days worked instead of involuntary scheduling where nurses have no choice as to time or days worked. The hospital management should treat nurses as “assets” to an organisation instead of perceiving them as “cost” and allow them to participate in managing their work and making decisions.

Suggestions for Future Research The study was conducted not without limitations. This study only concentrated on nurses in the health-care sector, and did not include employees from other industries such as financing and educational industries. Therefore, the results of this study should not be generalised to other industries as different work cultures, human resources practices, and management systems might affect employees’ perceptions towards QWL, SQ and LS in a different manner. Future researchers could widen the scope of this study by including employees from other industries and perform a comparative study across different industries. The study was conducted using a quantitative research approach and data was collected using questionnaires.

Therefore, the results of this study were limited to providing numerical descriptions rather than a detailed narrative and generally provide less elaborate accounts of human perception. The development of structured standard questions could lead to false representation, where the data actually reflects the view of the researcher instead of the participating subjects. Future research should undertake to overcome the lack of depth and insight of a qualitative study. Conducting qualitative research is suggested to overcome the limitations of quantitative research by identifying the important issues and then confirm their validity through quantitative research.

48

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Asian Journal of Business Research ISSN 1178-8933

Volume 2

Number 2

2012

Purchasing Designer Label Apparels: The Role of Reference Groups Uchenna Cyril Eze Monash University, Malaysia Crystal Hui Hui Chin Multimedia University, Malaysia Chai Har Lee Multimedia University, Malaysia

Abstract Luxury brands have a growing market in Asia, and with the enormous contribution of Asian market to the growing global luxury brands market, it is imperative to understand the roles of key reference groups (peers, siblings, parents, and celebrities) in the purchase of designer label apparels. The increased consumption of luxury products can be attributed to the rapid economic growth in China and other Asian countries. Prior studies indicate that Asian consumers maintain conspicuous appreciation for designer products. In this paper, the roles of reference groups in a purchase decision for designer label apparels, were explored. The data analysis was based on 248 valid responses generated through personal administration. The findings reveal that the four hypotheses were supported. The findings would enable marketing and business strategists in building grounds in focusing on important variables in the context examined. Several implications for research and practice including suggestions for future studies were highlighted.

Keywords: Reference groups, designer label apparel, purchase decision, consumers, Malaysia

Introduction Clothing, generally, is a basic need for humans, but today has become a product that could express different dimensions of culture, social class, and identify the characteristics of the consumers. Designer clothes particularly are apparels that carry the logo of a well-known fashion designer. The term designer label usually refers to clothing and other merchandise, usually named after its designer. The designer label is often categorised within the luxury products. Examples of designer labels include Armani, Calvin Klein, Cartier, Dolce and Gabbana, DKNY, Kenneth Cole, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Louis Vuitton and many more.

52

Some firms use the names of designers who have succeeded in couture on their label because such designer products are normally perceived as prestigious and exclusive (Chang, 2006). Consumers would perceive designer apparels to be of good quality, and embody status and prestige. The designer-label apparel market is growing rapidly. According to a global survey by Nielsen (2008), one-sixth of the world’s consumers claim to buy designer brands, while one-third claim to know a designer label buyer. The survey also indicates that more than half (52%) of the consumers believe that people buy designer brands in a bid to project their social status. Luxury branded products, according to Bain and Company (2011) are a US$195 billion global industry. JP Morgan analysts suggest a higher figure of about US$210 billion.

Datamonitor (2011) that takes a broader definition suggest the market size to be US$1,439.7 billion. In addition, Datamonitor (2011) suggest that the market size for the whole of Asia Pacific region to be 27%. As the Asian economy grew, the industry for luxury brands expanded (Kim, Kim & So, 2007). As the Asia-Pacific luxury brand market represents about one-third of the world’s luxury brand market, the interest and influencing factors for consumers in this industry within the region becomes pertinent. The luxury brands industry, seen as a major market in Europe and North America, has a new growth landscape with the expanding Asian market (Kim et al., 2007). The significant increase in the consumption of luxury brands can be attributed, in part, to the rapid economic growth in Asia and the interpersonal influence within the culture.

Moschis (1976) indicated that consumers use reflective and comparative appraisal to choose their products. A subsequent study by Bearden and Etzel (1982) suggested that consumers would not only apply direct and verbal interactions to obtain evaluations from reference groups (such as friends, peers, siblings, and parents), but also observe reference group members’ behaviour to make a purchase decision.

Evidence from Park and Lessig, (1997) findings indicate that college students are more likely to be influenced by reference groups compared to housewives in their purchasing decision, and that advertisement and promotion using reference groups are more effective on consumers’ final decision. In addition, interdependent culture such as the cultures in Japan, Korea, China and South East Asian countries, emphasize conformity to groups’ norms and social acceptance unlike most western cultures (Zhou & Hui, 2003; Han & Schmitt, 1997; Shukla, 2010). Findings from prior studies also reveal that Asian consumers have the tendency to buy luxury brands conspicuously to express their social status and wealth (Phau & Prendergast, 2001; Wong & Ahuvia, 1998), consequently, making it easier for the luxury brands business to be successful (Ustuner & Holt, 2010).

Over the last decade, Asian countries have enjoyed enormous economic growth, wealth, and information. Asian countries, especially, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea and Taiwan, are swiftly morphing into brand conscious societies. This type of lifestyle is also reflected in the younger generation, especially among older teens and young adults. Akin to their western counterparts, the young adults of today tend to enjoy more financial independence to make their own consumption and purchase decisions. Hence, the increase in purchasing power, which enables the purchase of a wide range of consumer products including clothes, entertainment, and technological gadgets. This has also contributed to the increasing phenomenon of conspicuous purchasing behaviour among the Asian young-adult 53

community. In Malaysia, it is common for citizens to crave for designer labels. Highend brands have the potential to grow in Malaysia, given the increasing awareness of and appreciation for more creative and stylish fashion items as well as increased spending power, especially among young executives. The mushrooming of malls, which cater exclusively for luxury label such as KLCC, The Pavilion, Starhill Gallery and 1 Utama Highstreet section also signifies the appetite for designer products in the country. According to Official Portal Economic Planning Unit (2010), approximately 34% of the Malaysian population is between the ages 15-34 years old, which indicates a lucrative market segment for companies.

This study examines the influence of reference groups on the purchase decision for designer label apparel. A reference group (e.g., peers, siblings, parents, and celebrities) is a person or group of people that significantly influences an individual’s behaviour (Bearden & Etzel, 1982; Park & Lessig, 1997; Shukla, 2011). The data analysis was based on 248 valid responses collected in Malaysia through personal administration. The findings reveal that the hypotheses developed based on the conceptual framework were supported. The findings will be useful to marketing strategists and business practitioners on the specific importance of the respective variables in this study. We also outlined several research contributions of this study, including suggestions for future research based on the limitations identified in this paper.

Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses Development While marketing models assert that a consumers’ purchasing attitude relates to how a product/service satisfies one’s needs, findings from studies on consumers’ social and interpersonal environment indicate that consumers’ decision to buy a particular brand could be affected by reference groups (such as friends, family, celebrities, and work associates). Social and interpersonal research could be traced back to the study by Hyman (1942), who first discussed the term reference group. Subsequently, studies

by Deutsch and Gerard (1955), and Kelman (1961) elaborated on several types of influence to include informational, utilitarian, and value expressive influences.

Informational influence is based on the interest to make informed decisions and choices. In periods of uncertainty, consumers tend to seek information, from many sources, and consumers would accept those sources considered genuine (which include referents with expertise). The utilitarian reference group influence reflects the attempts to follow the wishes of others to achieve rewards or avoid punishments (Bearden & Etzel, 1982; Childers & Rao, 1992). The value expressive is described by the identification process in which people are willing to express themselves to the society by making themselves appear similar to the group that they want to belong (Kelman, 1961; Mangleburg, Doney & Bristol, 2004). These three types of influences require the opportunity for social interactions. Seeking information, complying with the preference of others, and adopting values of others would involve communication and/or observation of decisions, opinions, and behaviours.

Bourne (1957) studied the roles of refernce groups in marketing and behavioral research, and concluded that the concept of the reference group has a pervasive influence on overall marketing research. Studies on reference groups have been used as bases for a variety of applications in different fields. For example, the reference 54

group concept has been applied in studies of specific groups, such as: farmers, scientists, alcoholics, mentally ill patients, and different segments of consumers (Hyman & Singer, 1968, pp.7). In subsequent studies, the reference group theory was applied to more groups including physicians (Coleman, Katz & Menzel, 1966), auto owners (Grubb & Stern, 1971), cosmetic users (Moschis, 1976; Chao & Schor, 1998), religious change and alcohol use (Beeghley, Bock & Cochran, 1990), and students and housewives (Park & Lessig, 1977; Bearden & Etzel, 1982). In the business world, marketers apply the concept of reference groups to products consumed in social settings, which tend to involve invitions of prominent/attractive spokespersons as endorsers of the products (Yang, He & Lee, 2007).

This paper is developed based on the belief that the trait of susceptibility to interpersonal influence varies across individual consumers. However, the literature on Sourtheast Asian consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; susceptibility to social influence appear limited. In order to be a successful competitor in a global marketplace, firms would need to apply effective marketing plans and strategies that are sensitive to consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; preference and dynamics, with speciifc focus on the roles of their referents. Hence, this paper is an attempt to address the above issue within the designer label apparels industry.

Figure 1 depicts the conceptual framework for this paper. It illustrates four independent variables (parents, peers, celebrities, and siblings) and the dependent variable (purchase decision for designer label apparel). Based on the framework, we developed four hypotheses. As noted earlier, the hypotheses were developed based on extensive literature review within the domain of this paper. The arguments and hypotheses for the variables are discussed in the following section.

Parents Peers Purchase Decision for Designer Label Apparel

Celebrities Siblings

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

Parents A parent is someone who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother. According to Yoh (2005), interactions with parents tend to influence 55

young consumers’ fundamental knowledge of their behaviour. Young consumers would seek information about products from their parents, from whom they develop specific buying behaviour. Hence, parents play an important role in their conversations and provide guidance whenever necessary (Bearden et al. 1989; Childers & Rao, 1992; Lachance, Beaudoin & Robitaille, 2003). Children’s identities were shaped by family pressure, usually through communication and observational learning and this intergenerational influence will continue to influence children even as young adults. It was also revealed that parents’ influence on children reduce as they grow older (Moore, Wilkie & Lutz, 2002). Moschis (1976) has proposed that family parental influence on consuption patterns and attitudes often overrides any other form of influence (see also Basow & Howe, 1980).

Based the foregoing, we developed the following hypothesis: H1: Parents’ will have a positive influence on the purchasing decisions of generation-Y for designer label apparels.

Peers Peers are persons who appear to be equal to another in abilities, qualifications, age, background, and social status. Peers are considered key elements in most decisionmaking processes, especially the buying decision process. Consumers would, to some degree, depend on the views, attitudes, thoughts, and actions of their peers to enable specific decision-making process to buy a product (Makgosa & Mohube, 2007). Park and Lessig (1977) noted in their research that young adults are most likely to be vulnerable to the pressure of their peers since they have limited capacity to cope with risk and uncertainness than more mature individuals. One of the reasons peers are able to influence purchasing decisions emanate from the fact that some young adults often feel less confident to evaluate their buying decisions, and would rather rely on their peers to enhance this process. In another study, peers emerged as the most important reference group in a purchase decision process (Kamaruddin & Mokhlis, 2003), consistent with the findings of Yoh (2005). In addition, the importance of peers is reinforced by the findings of Khan and Khan (2005), which concluded that friends tend to be dominant informational reference group. Based on the preceding analysis, we develop the following hypothesis: H2: Peers will have a positive influence on the purchasing decisions of generation-Y for designer label apparels.

Celebrities A celebrity is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media. Celebrities are renowned personalities, who enjoy public recognition by a large groups of individuals (Schlecht, 2003). They usually enjoy high public acknowledgment, and often have great influence upon endorsing products. They appear on television as spokespersons on behalf of the advertised brand, or ordinary users of such brand. In either way, they often convey a convincing message. Celebrities help boost awareness of advertised brands and generate positive feelings towards the brands (Solomon, 2002).

Consequently, these positive feelings towards a product tend to influence consumers’ behaviour, which may affect consumers' brand choices.

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Findings from prior studies indicate positive effects of celebrities on consumer buying behaviour, such as the adoption styles of clothing, product choice, and health behaviours (Spry, Pappu & Cornwell, 2011; Till, Stanley & Priluck, 2008). Evidence suggests that the perceived image of celebrity endorsers has a positive impact on product buying decisions (Seno & Lukas, 2007; Jo, 2007). In contrast, some studies appear to be critical about the use of celebrity endorsement. For instance, White, Goddard and Wilbur (2009), indicated that many consumers were sceptical of celebrities who were paid to provide negative information about a brand. On the other hand, past research indicated that celebrities exert influence on consumers purchase intentions and decisions (Choi & Rifon, 2007). Consumers have also bought products due to celebrity endorsement and physical attractiveness (Trimble & Rifon, 2006).

Celebrities were also found to enhance persuasiveness of messages, which enables actual purchases (Money, Shimp & Sakano, 2006). Based on the aforementioned, we developed the fourth hypothesis: H3: Celebrities are likely to have a positive influence on generation-Y’s purchasing decision for designer label apparels.

Siblings Siblings play a vital role as a reference for comparison and modelling for adolescence (Pechmann & Knight, 2002). A sibling (brother or sister) is one with whom an individual shares the same biological parents. Siblings are in fact sometimes similar, although the correlation may not be strong. Findings from prior research indicate that siblings exhibit more similarities on attitudes and interests compared with their general personality attributes (Hoffman, 1991). Prior research on siblings’ roles in a purchase-decision process, are mixed. For instance, Schacter and Stone’s (1987) revealed that siblings were found to be different from their parents, which is consistent with the findings of Festinger’s (1954). Based on the family traits and structure, the roles of siblings in key decisions in the family are becoming more apparent. In addition, with the growing application of social networks, there are possibilities for siblings to acquire critical information about specific products and may have access to critical information that enables informed decision. Siblings, therefore tend to play key roles on purchase decisions. Hence, the following hypothesis: H4: Siblings’ will have a positive influence on generation-Y’s purchasing decision for designer label apparels.

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Table I: Summary of Variables, Descriptions, and Sources Variable Descriptions

Sources

1. Parents

A parent is someone who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother. The influence of parents as consumer socialization agents is reported to be mostly instrumental in the development of childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consumer skills and in the basic rational aspects of consumer behaviour.

Lachance et al.

(2003); Bearden et al.

(1989); Childers and Rao (1992)

2. Peers

Peers are persons who appear to be equal to another in abilities, qualifications, age, background, and social status. Peers may be one of the earliest groups by which individuals learn to deal with the world outside the family.

Yoh (2005); Khan and Khan (2005)

3. Celebrities

Individuals whom are well known to the public for their advertisements in areas other than product class endorsed, and who symbolise an idealisation of life.

Lear, Runyan and Whitaker (2009); Money et al. (2006); Eze, Chin and Lee (2011)

4. Siblings

A sibling (brother or sister) is one with whom an individual shares the same biological parents. Siblings can serve as an important source of emotional support and act as a relevant peer group for comparison and modelling which may be distinct from other social resources such as parents, friends and lovers.

Pechmann and Knight (2002); Bearden et al.

(1989); Khan and Khan (2005)

Table I provide the list of variables, descriptions for the variables, and selected sources for the descriptions.

RESEARCH METHOD The primary data for this study was collected through a questionnaire survey.

Questionnaire approach was used because it is considered appropriate for gathering relevant data for studies of this nature, based on prior research, (Bearden et al. 1989; Lee, Eze & Ndubisi, 2011; Eze, 2008). It is also considered ideal for studies involving large sample sizes from a wide geographical area. Prior related studies that used questionnaire to collect data include studies by Yang et al. (2007), Khan and Khan (2005), and Mangleburg et al. (2004). In addition, we employed conveniencesampling method to select the participants in this study. We considered this method appropriate because there was no existing population frame for the potential 58

participants. This sampling method is often used in social science and studies. For example, Chang (2006) used convenience sampling method in his study on the choice of apparel brands. In addition, Makgosa and Mohube (2007) chose convenience sampling method in their study of peer influence on young adults’ purchasing decisions (see also Eze, Tan & Yeo, 2012).

Questionnaire Design, Item Selection and Development The questionnaire used in this study comprised two parts: A and B. Part A solicited responses on the demographic profile of the participants, including such items as the participants’ gender, age, ethnicity, profession, and economic status. Part B solicited responses on the key constructs of the research framework: parents, peers, siblings, celebrities, and the decision to purchase designer label apparel. A five-point Likert scale was used for the measurement of the conceptual variables (Eze, Yap & Lee, 2010). The scale consisted of five levels of agreement from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree (“1”=Strongly Disagree, “2”=Disagree, “3”=Neutral, “4”=Agree and, “5”=Strongly Agree) (see examples Mourali, Laroche & Pons, 2005; Eze, 2008; Poong, Eze & Talha, 2009). In addition, items for each construct were adapted from prior research as indicated in Table I. We adapted the items to take into account the context of study and to ensure adequate level of understanding by the participants.

Key sources of the items and materials used to develop the items include the works of Bearden et al (1989), Khan and Khan (2007), Lachance et al. (2003), Money et al.

(2006), and Yoh (2005). Appendix A provides the list of items for each construct.

Pilot Survey According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009) the main purpose of a pilot survey is to measure the face validity of the survey questionnaire to ensure that the items are suitable for the constructs assessed (Eze, Kwan & Wamala, 2011; Lee, Wahid & Goh, 2012). Once the draft questionnaire was completed, we selected a sample of 50 participants to complete the questionnaire. A cover note providing instructions, and advising that the participants’ involvement is considered voluntary, and a pledge for confidentiality for information provided, was attached to the questionnaire. The participants were given 2 weeks to complete and return the questionnaires. After one week, we sent a reminder to the participants. By the end of two weeks, we were able to collect 45 completed questionnaires, 3 of which were invalid due to uncompleted sections of the questionnaire. Based on the feedback from the pilot testing, we updated the questionnaire and revised questions and statements that appeared confusing, poorly structured, and ensured that the content, coverage, and relevance of the questions were acceptable. The revised questionnaire was further reviewed by 3 industry experts and 3 academics to ensure and enhance content validity. Subsequently, the questionnaire was updated based on the expert reviews, and was then distributed to the participants.

To establish the absence of nonresponse bias, it is desirable to collect data from a set of nonrespondents and compare them with data supplied willingly. For a meaningful number of surveys and for all survey items, this method is rarely achievable. A practical preference that has been argued to provide reliable results is to compare the mean values of responses for earlier returns with the means from later returns 59

(Compeau, 1995). This approach has the capacity to reveal any differences between early and late responders who required prompting. Tests were conducted on the first week responses and responses after 5 weeks, and the differences between the two groups were insignificant (two-tailed t-test P<0.05), indicating that time had no apparent effect on the perceptions and that nonresponse bias was remote.

Data Analysis and Findings We distributed 350 questionnaires and 253 completed questionnaires were returned.

Out of the 253 completed returned questionnaires, 5 were invalid due to incomplete data, accounting for 70.9% response rate. Majority (54.4%) of the respondents were female. Most of the respondents are from the age group of 19-22 years (73.8%).

About 86.3% of the respondents are Malaysian. Majority (97.2%) of the respondents are single. In terms of education level, most of the respondents are Diploma holders or undergraduates (85.1%). Majority (71%) of the respondents earn monthly income ranging from RM0 to RM500. In addition, the same group of respondents indicated that they would normally receive a monthly stipend of between RM500-1500 from their parents or guardians. Besides that, 47.2% of total respondents shop once in a year, with reference to designer label apparels. Lastly, most of the respondents (62.1%) spent RM0 – RM500 per shopping trip within the past 3 months, 85% of the respondents spent between RM200-600 in the past 6 months.

Table II: Mean, Standard Deviation and Reliability Value of Variables Mean Std. Cronbach’s Variables No. of items (n=248) Deviation Alpha Parents 2.432 0.721 8 0.856 Peers 2.677 0.642 10 0.854 Siblings 2.873 0.722 5 0.801 Celebrities 2.932 0.773 7 0.870 Purchase Decision 2.963 0.725 4 0.685 We assessed construct reliability using Cronbach’s Alpha. Nunnally (1978) suggests that the ideal alpha for scale reliability is 0.70 and the results obtained met this condition. A reliability analysis of the entire questionnaire revealed a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.911. The scale reliability for parents = 0.856, peers = 0.854, siblings = 0.801, and celebrities = 0.870 (see Table II). Lastly, the Cronbach's Alpha coefficient for purchasing decision is 0.685. Hence, the Cronbach’s Alpha values for all variables except purchase decision exceeded the scale of 0.70. The Cronbach’s Alpha value for purchase decision appear slightly low, however, very close to 0.70, and could be considered acceptable (Broekhuizen & Huizingh, 2009).

Blaikie (2003) suggests that Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure of Sampling Adequacy should be conducted before conducting Factor Analysis (FA) to ensure that selected items are suitable for further analysis. KMO values over 0.70 are considered sufficiently high and values over 0.90 are considered impressive for further analysis.

Items in this study achieve KMO of 0.778, which is considered suitable for further analysis. In addition, we conducted FA using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Maximum Variance Extraction (VARIMAX) rotation method from the variables (Pavlou, 2003).

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Table III: Factor Analysis for Each Item 1 2 0.721 Par1 0.589 Par2 0.621 Par3 0.743 Par4 0.722 Par5 0.588 Par6 0.631 Par7 0.620 Par8 0.723 Pee1 0.624 Pee2 0.573 Pee3 0.565 Pee4 0.607 Pee5 0.645 Pee6 0.670 Pee7 0.608 Pee8 0.616 Pee9 0.587 Pee10 Sib1 Sib2 Sib3 Sib4 Sib5 Cel1 Cel2 Cel3 Cel4 Cel5 Cel6 Cel7

3

4

0.772 0.796 0.705 0.781 0.516 0.619 0.671 0.620 0.730 0.793 0.612 0.611

During factor analysis, items were retained according to the following criteria: (i) factor loadings greater than 0.5 and (ii) no cross-loading of items. In other words, items were dropped if they have loadings that are less than 0.5 or where their loadings are greater than 0.5 on two or more factors. The result indicates that there were four factors extracted (see Table III). The analysis shows no cross construct loadings above 0.50. This indicates good discriminant validity (Klopping & McKinney, 2004).

Each item loads to its designated factor (variable), which indicates strong convergent validity. FA shows itemsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; consistency with the instrumentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s underlying structure and reflects the factors identified from prior literature (Bagozzi, Yi & Phillips, 1991; Klopping & McKinney, 2004; Eze, 2008; Jayasingh & Eze, 2012).

Normal P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residual provide a visual examination of the assumptions of normality between the predicted dependent variable scores and the errors of prediction. The primary benefit is that the assumptions can be viewed and analysed in one glance; therefore, any violation can be determined quickly and 61

easily. Figure 2 shows the Normal P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residual of this research. The 45-degree diagonal line represents the normal probability line. The dots represent the actual residual, if the residuals are normally distributed the values should fall on the diagonal line of identity. It shows that the value of observed cum prob are near to expected cum prob. It implies, therefore, a linear relationship between the variables. Hence, the data collected could be considered as normally distributed for a sample N = 248 derived from the normal population.

Figure 2: Normal P-P Plot of Regression Standardized Residual Common Method Variance (CMV) was assessed to check whether the variance in the data could be largely attributed to a single factor, using Harmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (1967) single-factor analysis. The unrotated factor analysis shows that the cumulative percentage of initial eigenvalues is 40.53%, which is less than 50%, indicating no obvious common method bias. In addition, common latent factor in structural modelling reveals that regression weight of a common factor on each construct is 0.23, which is equivalent to about 4.80% variance explained by the common factor. This result indicates no perceived issues of common method variance with the data. Although this test is popular in assessing CMV, it is argued that the test could be insensitive and likely to under-identify the sources of CMV (Podaskoff et al., 2003). A more robust assessment would be to estimate the method bias at the measurement level and control the measurement error based on recommendations by Podaskoff et al. (2003), and applied by Sharma (2010).

Subsequently, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) was calculated to measure constructs variance explained by the underlying indicators. To evaluate AVE, the sum of squared standardized loading was divided by the sum of squared standardized loading plus the sum of measurement error. The results in Table IV indicate that celebrity has the lowest AVE, which is 0.499, slightly lower than the recommended cut-off value of 0.5, and peers achieved the highest AVE of 0.843. These results indicate that the scale used exhibited reasonably adequate convergent validity (Wang, 2004). In addition, construct validity assessment was conducted. Discriminant validity was assessed by examining the square root AVE of a construct. If this value is greater than the correlation between the construct and other constructs, then satisfactory discriminant validity is achieved. Square root AVEs are depicted in Table IV. The results indicate that the square root AVEs are greater than the cross-construct correlations, suggesting satisfying degree of discriminant validity.

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Table IV reveals the correlation matrix of the conceptual variables. A two-tail test at 0.05 significance level, indicates that there are positive relationships among the dependent variable and the independent variables. Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to assess the relationships among the variables (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010). Based on the results in Table IV, the highest correlation value is 0.512 between dependent variable (purchase decision) and celebrities. In other words, purchase decision will increase or appear favourable, if there is an increase in celebrity endorsement/usage of designer label apparels because a positive sign indicates that as one variable gets larger the other variable appears to get larger as well. However, the lowest correlation value is 0.143, between celebrities and peers. The nearer the correlation value is to zero; the weaker the relationship is between the two variables.

Table IV: Pearson Correlation Coefficient Matrix AVE

Parents

Peers

0.778 1.000 Parents 0.843 0.296** 1.000 Peers 0.783 0.358** 0.361** Siblings * 0.512** 0.633 0.143 Celebrities 0.721 0.426** 0.485** Purchase decision ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level

Siblings Celebrities

1.000 0.301** 0.518**

1.000 0.532**

Purchase decision

1.000

Multiple Regression Analysis Multiple Regression analysis procedure is used to establish patterns of relationships between a set of predictor (independent) variables and an outcome (dependent) variable. Multiple Regression analysis would help to identify how the changes in value of independent variables would affect the dependent variable. It is used when independent variables are correlated with one another including the dependent variable (Coakes, Steed & Ong, 2010). Therefore, this analysis is vital in this study.

Table V: Multiple Regression Analysis (ANOVA Test) Sum of Mean Model df F Squares Square 1 Regression 64.285 4 16.071 59.572 Residual 65.557 243 0.270 Total 129.842 247

Sig. 0.000a

According to Field (2009), ANOVA test is necessary to know whether the model is significantly better at predicting the dependent variable than using the mean as a ”best guess”. The F-value represents the ratio of improvement in prediction, which is labelled “Regression” and the inaccuracy of the model is labelled “Residual”. In Table V, the F-value (59.572) is considered large based on the p-value = 0.000 < 0.05. This indicates that, at least, one of the eight-predictor variables can be used to model purchasing decision for designer label apparels.

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Table VI: Multiple Regression Analysis (Regression Coefficients and R2) Unstandardized Standardized Collinearity Model Coefficients Coefficients Statistics t Sig. R2 Std. B Beta Tolerance VIF Error 1 (Constant) 0.216 0.183 1.183 0.238 Parents 0.237 0.050 0.236 4.733 0.000 0.838 1.194 0.495 Peers 0.156 0.063 0.138 2.473 0.014 0.665 1.504 Siblings 0.281 0.052 0.280 5.438 0.000 0.781 1.280 Celebrities 0.322 0.050 0.343 6.386 0.000 0.721 1.388 Dependent Variable: Purchase Decision Mean Multicollinearity refers to high correlations among the independent variables. It is an often-encountered statistical phenomenon in which two or more independent variables, in a multiple regression model, are highly correlated (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010). A common measure for identifying multicollinearity is, therefore, the Tolerance Value and the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF). Tolerance value that is close to 1 represents little multicollinearity, whereas tolerance value close to 0 indicates the presence of multicollinearity (Field, 2009). The tolerance values among independent variables in Table VI are all above 0.6, representing little multicollinearity. The reciprocal of the tolerance is called the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF). The VIF indicates how much the variance of the coefficient estimate is inflated by multicollinearity. VIF tells how much larger the standard error is, compared with what it would have been if that variable were uncorrelated with the other independent variables in the equation. When VIF value is 9, this represents high standard error, but if VIF value is 1, it indicates low standard error. For instance, if the VIF for a variable is 9, its standard error would be three times as large as it would be if its VIF was 1. In such a case, the coefficient would have to be 3 times as large to be statistically significant. In this instance, VIF values are all below 2. Therefore, we can conclude that a little change in the cases would not completely invalidate the independent variable effects on the dependent variable (see Table VI).

Table VI indicates the results of regression of reference groups’ influence on consumers’ purchasing decision. The results point out that 49.5 percent (R2=0.495) of the variance in purchasing decision is explained by the combined reference groups.

The strongest predictor for purchasing decision is celebrities, attaining a β of 0.322, followed by siblings (β=0.281) and parents (β=0.237). The least factor influencing customers’ purchasing decision towards designer label apparel is peers (β=0.156).

The results, therefore, indicate that celebrities, siblings, parents, and peers play significant roles in predicting the purchase decisions of designer label apparel among young adults in Malaysia.

Discussion and Research Implications The findings of this study revealed that the reference groups have significant effects, although at varying degrees, on consumers’ purchasing decision for designer label apparels. The most influential factor would was the star power of the celebrities, followed by siblings, parents, and peers. Therefore, it is critical for marketers and

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managers in charge of designer labels’ to focus on the avenues and approaches to prioritize these factors to enhance the success of their marketing campaign to attract young adults in Malaysia. In contrast, previous studies revealed that peers influence tend to be considered as the most important factor in the decision to purchase designer label apparels (Kamaruddin & Mokhlis, 2003; Yoh, 2005). The industry, therefore, should take into account the findings in this study in order to ensure that they gain some insights about the dynamics of the key factors to consider within the designer label apparels market in Malaysia.

This paper serves as a frame of reference on reference groups’ and their roles in purchase-decisions for designer label apparels, particularly to researchers interested in conducting studies in related field. There are many studies on reference groups’ influence on products, but this paper is one of the few focusing on designer label apparels in Malaysia (de Run, Butt & Chung, 2010; Waller & Fam, 2000). Prior works in this area, as indicated were studies conducted mainly in Europe, North America, and some in Asian (Feltham, 1998; Bush & Martin, 2000). Consequently, this study provides an opportunity to understand the empirical perceptions of consumers in Malaysia on the roles of reference groups in the buying processes for branded clothing. This study provides a strong theoretical contribution with respect to literature on branded product, and advancement of research in reference groups, particularly as it concerns Malaysia and the Asian region.

Another important point to note is that the variance explained in the dependent variable by the predicting variables tends to be low (49.5%). This finding indicates that the four independent variables appear not to provide significant explanations of the purchase decisions for designer label apparels in Malaysia. About 50.5% of the variations in the decision to purchase this branded product may be explained by variables or buying situations not considered in this paper. This finding is not surprising because in most buying situations there tends to be other factors that may affect a specific decision to buy a product. Such factors may include the price of the product, the shopping environment, the personality of the store attendance, and more.

However, this indication does not diminish the significant roles played by reference groups. Forty-five percent may not be that high, but these factors to account for about 50% of the variations in the purchase decision explains how importance of these set of factors in designing research frameworks for similar circumstances.

Implications for Business Marketing Practice The findings in this study indicate the susceptibility of consumers’ purchasing decision to the four major reference groups with respect to designer label apparel. The findings, therefore, provide some insights into the social factors that affect profitability of those in the designer-label apparel industry. By manipulating the identified reference group factors that affect purchasing decision, marketers would be able to design marketing plans, and strategies that could help spur sales of their products, based on the findings in this paper, particularly with reference to the most important factor, celebrities. Marketing professionals could infer from this finding that the star power of celebrities and their roles in the society are strong drivers for young adults. Consequently, this implies that these young adults would be attracted to specific designer label apparels that these celebrities choose to wear or endorse.

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Business marketing professionals may consider designing marketing campaigns that showcases top celebrities in Malaysia, the regional countries, or other parts of the world, where possible, to be able to mount a competitive drive to gain the interest and loyalty of the consumers within the Generation-Y category.

The findings in this study could also assist business-marketing professionals in the fashion industry in promoting their products to the relevant parties, and in creating effective value propositions and attractions in their promotional efforts for designer labels apparels. For instance, in developing advertising messages, relevant business marketing professionals should continue to feature celebrities, but must not overlook the roles of siblings, parents, and peers. In the past, business-marketing professionals of designer label products have targeted mainly the baby boomers generation. The findings in this study provide an opportunity for business-marketing professionals to expand their market segments to include the generation-Y segment. This will of course depend on the specific industry, the business direction and the overall social structure within a country.

In addition, business-marketing professional should understand that family structure and the roles of parents and siblings are equally critical in the decision to buy designer label apparels. The findings in this study indicate that parents and siblings play critical roles as their β-values indicate, although not as strong as the role of celebrities. Business-marketing professionals should not neglect these findings as they indicate how much influence family members could have in decisions to buy products, particularly those examined in this paper.

Although this study examined the influence of the factors influencing purchasing decisions of designer label apparel, it could be adapted to understand the various issues associated with social factors that motivate specific a purchase decisions outside this domain in this paper. Issues that are socially motivated, for example, include smoking, alcohol consumption, and indulgence in illicit drugs the consequence of which could be very damaging to the Malaysian society. Since the findings indicate that celebrity appears to be the most important factor among the participants, celebrities or persons with celebrity figures that portray an image of smoking-dangerous substances, a drunk, or being involved in social vices, maybe considered unhealthy for a society as these could create added pressure for the young generation, especially,

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Studies Further research is essential to provide additional insights into reference groupsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; influence, which could be complementary to the findings in this study. Several possibilities for extensions could be considered. First, future research could include more coverage of generation-Y because this study did not cover the whole of Malaysia. A sample of about 2000 from major cities in Malaysia may provide additional information on the constructs examined and probably more relevant findings for practice and research implications. This would also enable a more robust representation of the population and a more solid basis for generalisation. In addition, another interesting avenue for research would be to consider a study that examines differences across various groups of celebrities (entertainers, fashion models, and 66

athletes) in comparison with the general classification of celebrities, and to see if there would be any differences. Future research could also broaden this study with the aim of replicating the findings in this study using other product categories. In addition, future studies should consider including other variables such as indicated earlier in this paper. Other variables that may be considered as moderators include perceived risk, prior knowledge and other attitudinal or socioeconomic variables. In addition, we used the terms siblings and parents in this paper, which may appear less scientific. Future research should consider more scientific terms, such as primary, secondary, or tertiary (aspirational) to enhance the quality of the constructs and item development. In addition, most of the participants in this study were students, whose purchasing power may be weak. We suggest that future research considers more participants who tend to have more earning and spending power, for a more robust outcome. This could also enable applications of analytical tools for indirect analysis and comparison. Finally, future research should consider checking for CMV during item measurement development to control measurement errors (see Podaskoff et al., 2003).

Conclusion The roles of reference groups in purchase decision processes, and how these roles affect information processing through evaluation of options to eventual decision to buy a specific product will continue to attract intense academic attention. The findings in this paper provide evidence that reference groups appear to be key factors in young adults’ decision to buy designer label apparels. Celebrities appear to be the most important factor in the buying decision followed by siblings. This indicates that marketers may need to design marketing and promotion campaigns that observe these dynamics to enable a more effective marketing strategy. The reference group framework initiated by Hyman (1942), developed by Deutsch and Gerard (1955), enhanced by Bourne (1957) and Kelman (1961), and expanded by Bearden and Etzel (1982) appears very useful in the study of reference group. There is the need to continue to expand on this framework to be able to address situational dynamics and variations and their roles in the complex structure of reference group effect on purchase decisions.

Finally, findings from this study reveal crucial insights considered useful to firms in related business and to knowledge development. The findings should, however, be interpreted within the context of the data set and the sample selected for this study. In addition, it would be important to assess the extent to which the findings in this study apply across different cultures within Malaysia, and among countries within the region.

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Appendix A: Items List for the Constructs Parents A1 I never buy any new product until my parents and I have discussed it A2 When I do not understand the designer label prices, I consult my parents.

A3 I often discuss my purchase plans with my parents.

I always follow my parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; decisions by buying the same products or A4 brands.

A5 My parents accompany me when I purchase designer label apparels.

A6 What brand I buy is affected by my parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interest.

A7 I always shop with my parents.

A8 My parents decide all my shopping needs.

Peers B1 I regularly ask my friends regarding the latest fashions.

B2 I always talk to friends about prices and quality before I buy B3 To make sure I buy the right product, I often watch my friends buy.

I rarely purchase the latest products until I am sure my peers approve of B4 them.

B5 It is important that my peers approve of the store where I buy.

B6 I am very loyal to stores where my peers shop.

B7 If I want to be like my peers, I always buy the brands they buy.

B8 I work long hours and save to afford the designer labels that my friends buy.

B9 I achieve a sense of belonging by buying the designer brands my peers buy.

B10 My peers very much influence the choices of my shopping.

Siblings C1 It is important that siblings like the products and brands I buy.

I achieve a sense of belonging by purchasing the same brands that my C2 siblings purchase.

I often ask my siblings about the product for products that I have little C3 experience.

I frequently gather information from my siblings about a product before I C4 buy.

I often identify with my siblings by purchasing the same brands they C5 purchase.

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Celebrities To make sure I buy the right product or brand, I often observe what D1 celebrities are using.

D2 I often try to buy designer labels to be like celebrities.

I frequently gather information from celebrities about a product before I D3 buy.

D4 I like seeing advertisements of what brands celebrities use.

D5 Celebrities help me to be more confident in the products I buy.

D6 I can get ideas about fashion from seeing celebrities.

Celebrities show me that people, like myself, who use similar D7 products.

Purchase decision for designer label apparel E1 I buy designer label apparel E2 Having the resouces enables me to buy designer label apparel.

E3 I enjoy buying designer label apparel.

E4 It is easy for me to decide on buying a designer label apparel.

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Asian Journal of Business Research ISSN 1178-8933

Volume 2

Number 2

2012

Attitudes toward Advertising by Lawyer’s among Hong Kong Consumers Kara Chan Hong Kong Baptist University Vivienne Leung Hong Kong Baptist University Lennon Tsang Hong Kong Baptist University Toby Yip Hong Kong Baptist University

Abstract A qualitative study was conducted to investigate attitudes toward advertising by lawyer’s in Hong Kong. The study found that interviewees in general appreciated the information values of these advertisements. There were mixed views regarding the impact on the image of the lawyers brought about by advertising by lawyer’s. Some interviewees found the advertisements helpful and hence perceive that the lwayers was now more approachable and transparent. However, some interviewees found advertising by lawyer’s that use price appeal misleading. They perceived the lawyers to have become more commercialized. Interviewees expressed concern that advertising by lawyer’s encourage the seeking of litigation as a preferred way of problem solving. The study informs lawyers regarding message design and media selection in the marketing of their services in a Chinese context.

Keywords: advertising by lawyer’s/attorney’s, cultural values, legal services, qualitative method

Introduction Relaxation in advertising rules concerning lawyers in Hong Kong has been a recent phenomenon. It was not until 1996 that Hong Kong lawyers were allowed to advertise in any media (Williams, 1998). While historically there were a few individual cases of lawyers adopting aggressive promotional strategies (Chow, 2002; Nick, 2006, 2008), mass media advertising is still under-utilized by legal firms and professionals in the field. In Hong Kong, there were 6,782 solicitors with a current practicing certificate in 2010. Among them, 5,303 solicitors were in private practice 75

working in 764 firms (The Law Society of Hong Kong, 2011a). The total advertising dollars spent on legal services in the same year was US $29.5 million (admanGo, 2011). In other words, each practicing lawyer on average spent US$5,600 on media advertising. About two thirds of this amount was spent on television, another 13 percent each spent on out-of-home media and the print media, and the rest on radio and other media (admanGo, 2011).

In a free market society like Hong Kong, marketing activities and advertising are considered a necessary part of the modern economy. With the twin forces of deregulation and increased competition, professional advertising is expected to be used widely to facilitate consumers’ informed choice (Ellis & Watterson, 2001). Public attitude of advertising generally in Hong Kong has been favorable. Surveys found that fifty percent of interviewees considered television advertising very good or good.

Overall speaking, fifty percent of interviewees expressed liking of television advertising (Chan, 2006). The attitudes of Hong Kong consumers toward professional advertising have historically been positive. A survey found that interviewees perceive that professional advertising did not lower the favorable image enjoyed by lawyers, accountants and doctors (Au, 1997). In such a market environment, what are consumers’ attitudes toward advertising by lawyer’s? How do they see the benefit and potential harm of advertising by lawyer’s? What do they want to know from the advertising by lawyer’s? Do they believe in the contents of advertising by lawyer’s?

Literature review Studies conducted in North America suggested that opposition to the use of mass media to promote legal services centers on the issue of reputation and credibility.

Lawyers are concerned that advertising may diminish their professional image and dignity in the eyes of the public (Burton, 1991; Crane, 1995; Kallis & Vanier, 1983; Moser & Johns, 1996; Traylor & Mathias, 1983). Besides, uncertainty about the benefits of advertising to the profession and to the consumer is another barrier to lawyer advertising (Crane, 1995). In addition, lawyers who are against advertising by lawyer’s cite reasons such as an increase of unnecessary or unmerited litigation, and that such advertising tends to create jury bias (Cutler, Javalgi, & Schimmel, 2003).

Since the relaxation of advertising restrictions in Western countries, perception of potential benefits for practicing lawyers increases (Crane, 1995). As a result, the lawyers have become more receptive toward advertising (Crane, 1995; McCann, Stem, & Muehling, 1993). Further, advocates of advertising by lawyer’s argue that professional advertising provides information to the public, allows consumers to make more informed decisions, and encourages positive competition among legal service providers (Brosnahan & Andrews, 1980; Johnson, Yazdi, & Gelb, 1993; Moser & Johns, 1996; Smith & Meyer, 1980).

A healthy development of advertising by lawyer’s works toward a more balanced approach that considers both the value of fulfilling the public’s information needs, the need of the professionals to maintain their professional image and ethical standard, as well as enforcing the advertising rules in a highly competitive business environment (Johnson, 2004; Hofer, 2010).

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Advertising by lawyer’s in Hong Kong In the past, lawyers in Hong Kong were not allowed to advertise their practice.

Significant changes gradually occurred after England abandoned their traditional rules prohibiting advertising by lawyer’s in the late 1980s’ (Love & Stephen, 1997).

In the same vein, as Hong Kong’s legal system bears a strong likeness to that of the United Kingdom (UK) where the Solicitors’ Practice Promotion Code became effective on March 1992 in Hong Kong. This Code permitted some form of publicity, except advertising by television, radio, and cinema as well as in public places. In 1996, the Code was further amended and the prohibited media clause was removed (Williams, 1998). The 1996 version generally permits all kinds of truthful legal services advertising, provided that the lawyers not deviate from the guidelines documented in the Solicitors’ Guide to Professional Conduct. Since then advertising by lawyer’s on television and public transport facilities such as buses and mini-buses can be seen. In recent years, some law firms have also used the Google AdSense or web banners to attract potential clients.

According to the Professional Guide, promotional activities of lawyers should not bring the lawyers’ profession into disrepute (The Law Society of Hong Kong, 2011b).

The general principle is that promotion must be truthful, legal, honest, and decent.

This is consistent with the ideal that professionalism is different from the unbound commercial spirits. The ethical aspiration of “dignified advertising” could be elaborated with the help of the comment of Peter Sit, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Compliance at The Law Society, “[the] aim of practice promotion is to increase the transparency of the firm, let the public know what sort of services are provided by the firm and how experienced they are in their areas of practice. Its purpose is to discourage lawyers to make more money through promotional activities” (Williams, 1998, p.33).

The professional standard all lawyers who advertise must meet is best illustrated in Mr. Paul Tse Wai-chun’s case which was deemed to breach the principles of Hong Kong Solicitors’ Guide to Professional Conduct, and Solicitors’ Practice Promotion Code. The offensiveness was constituted by undignified acts of Mr. Tse, a solicitor of Hong Kong, done for self-promotion. The complaints were summarized by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunals and documented in “A solicitor Vs Law Society of Hong Kong”, (Court of Final Appeal Hong Kong SAR, 2008). Throughout a period of over nine years, extensive news coverage has informed the public how and why the legal community found Mr. Tse’s promotional activities was unbefitting a lawyer. The offensive behaviors included his nude magazine cover, described lawyers as “vampire” in a media interview, dressing up as Superman in printed advertisements, and demonstrated in central commercial area only wearing trunks (Chow, 2002; Nick 2006, 2008; Tsui 2009; Wong 2006). The case lucidly exhibits that lawyer as a professional is different from a businessperson or a movie star. Aggressive, undignified or “bad taste” promotional strategies are strongly discouraged. From the news report, we know that the Hong Kong legal community felt that they were offended by Mr. Tse’s self-promotion and believed the public confidence in the lawyers hence would be prejudiced.

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Cultural factors Hong Kong as a city where East meets West, the cultural dilemmas in handling conflict and dispute resolution may give us some hints on the societal background in which the lawyers is practiced (Chan, 2003; Lau & Kuan, 1988). While the legal culture in Hong Kong is western-oriented, the distinctive ethos of the Hong Kong Chinese is a hybrid of Western acculturation, modern capitalist liberal spirit, localized pragmatism and continuation of traditional Chinese values (Lau & Kuan, 1988; Law, 2009). Being a high context culture, Chinese people tend to be less confrontational and more likely to employ a relatively indirect-inactive way of dealing with conflict, such as avoiding or ignoring the conflict situation, or seeking compromise (Kirkbride, Tang, & Westwood, 1991; Leung, 1988; Ma, 1992). On the contrary, people in lowcontext culture (e.g. North Americans) tend to adopt a direct-active stance toward conflict, and be more confrontational in disagreement (Ma, 1992; Ting-Toomey 1985). Hence, Americans are believed to be more likely to use confrontation and litigation to achieve their goals in settling of disputes. Chinese people show preference for mediation in resolving dispute (Goh, 2002; Leung, 1987). Mediation is preferred because it serves the multiple functions of repressing social conflicts, smoothing away discord and maintaining social relationships (Di and Wu, 2009).

Kirkbride, Tang, and Westwood (1991) point out that harmony, conformity, contextualism, guanxi, and face as the five most basic traditional Chinese cultural values that are relevant to conflict management behaviors. Collectivistic Chinese people’s character of cherishing social harmony, adopting subtle communication to save face, obeying authority even to the extent of “fear of officialdom” are attributes to the tendency of avoiding court proceedings. The “litigation-averse” nature of Chinese societies (Goh, 2002) is best summarized by the well-known Chinese proverb “in death avoid hell, in life avoid law courts” (e.g. Utter 1990; Wong, 2010).

Although throughout Chinese history mediation has long been the favored way of handling disputes (Di & Wu, 2009), Hong Kong people are also under the Western influence of perceiving law as a tool of protecting the rights of individuals. Survey results showed a belief in law as a foundation of prosperity and stability among interviewees. They valued the extent of liberties and civil rights they enjoyed and tend to support the protection of freedom as the major purpose of law (Lau & Kuan, 1988). Under the concept of “one country, two systems”, the community held faith in the independence and competence of the judiciary (Law Society of Hong Kong, 2007).

Consumers’ attitude towards advertising by lawyer’s Academic research in the area of legal services advertising is under-explored in nonWestern countries. The only published study on the topic in Hong Kong measured consumers’ attitude towards professional advertising in a general sense. A convenient sample survey was conducted just after the 1996 amendment. Results found that interviewee’s general perception of professional advertising at that period was fairly positive (Au, 1997). Interviewees believed that advertising would not significantly affect the current favorable image enjoyed by doctors, accountants, and lawyers. They agreed that professional advertising increased their awareness of professionals and 78

informed them about the nature and availability of services, as well as qualifications of professionals. However, interviewees were suspicious of professionals who advertise. Altogether 56 percent of interviewees did not agree that a greater use of advertising by professionals would improve the quality of their services. Along with 55 percent of interviewees worrying that prices would be increased because of the costs of advertising, 57 percent disagreed that when professionals advertise, prices would be lowered due to more competition.

Overall, Au’s (1997) study showed that Hong Kong lawyers enjoyed a high image in the eyes of the public. Consumers not only believed that advertising would not cause any image problem for the lawyers, but it could also serve as a means for the community to acquire information about legal services. The only concern was whether the cost of legal services would be increased due to more advertising.

Research objectives With the legality of advertising by lawyer’s established and the standard effectively regulated, it is now the responsibility of the profession and of society to work out effective advertising implementation within which non-exploitative, trustful, and decent promotional activities could take place. In order to communicate effectively with consumers about legal services through advertising and other marketing activities, there is a need to understand consumers’ attitudes and concerns about advertising by lawyer’s. Advertisers should also need to know the types of information sought by consumers when designing messages. A study was conducted with the following research objectives:  To examine perception of benefit and harm of advertising by lawyer’s to individuals as well as to society;  to investigate what information items are perceived by consumers as desirable or undesirable in advertising by lawyer’s; and  to examine perceived credibility of advertising by lawyer’s in various advertising media.

Methodology This study employed interviews. A qualitative methodology was justified because it allows for an exploratory examination of a phenomenon in which the relevant variables have yet to be identified (Wimmer & Dominick, 1997). Because there has been no previous study on attitudes toward advertising by lawyer’s in Hong Kong, interviewing was the preferred data collection method.

The interview opens with an introduction, “Some advertisements are about a specific profession. This will be the focus of our discussion today”. Two television commercials of advertising by lawyer’s were shown to the interviewees on a lap-top computer. The interviewees were asked about the perceived benefit and harm of advertising by lawyer’s to consumers and society. Interviewees were asked to report types of information that advertising by lawyer’s should have or should not have, and the reasons behind. Finally interviewees were asked to report on a medium that they find most trustworthy regarding where advertising by lawyer’s are placed and the 79

reasons for that opinion. The questions asked are listed in Appendix.

A convenience sample was adopted. The decision on sample size was guided by reference to the research interpretative framework and realistically by practicalities and logistic arrangement (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The interviewees were 36 Chinese adults aged 20 to 44 recruited through personal networks. Twenty-two were females and 14 were males. Undergraduate students of the Hong Kong Baptist University served as the interviewers. The study was conducted in Cantonese in October 2010. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Marshall and Rossman’s (1999) comparison analysis method was used throughout the data analysis process to link data by constantly comparing and contrasting them (Strauss, 1987).

The transcripts were analyzed question by question by two of the authors. A third author went through the coding and agreed with all the coding for questions 3 to 6.

Inter-coder reliability scores using Perreault and Leigh’s (1989) measure for questions 1 and 2 were 0.98 and 0.92 respectively. Disagreements were resolved through discussion by three coders. Similar answers were grouped and frequencies were recorded. Because of the small sample size and the non-random sampling method, the results can only be considered exploratory. They were not, therefore, analyzed by age or sex.

Findings Perceived benefit of advertising by lawyer’s A total of 76 answers about benefit of advertising by lawyer’s were reported. These answers were grouped into 5 categories (see Table 1).

TABLE 1 Perceived Benefits of Advertising by Lawyer’s Frequency Provide details about legal services: scope of services and fee structure

30

Help to find legal services more easily or to have more choices

26

Enhance the image of lawyers: more credible, more approachable, or 10 more transparent Enhance public legal knowledge

5

Lead to better and cheaper legal services

5

Total* * Interviewees can give more than one answers

76

The most frequently mentioned benefit of advertising by lawyer’s was the information value of the advertisements. Interviewees specifically mentioned scope

80

of services and fee structure as the information items provided by the advertisements.

Two typical quotas are as follows: “It provides more information about the available legal services. Consumers will be less panic, especially those who have never used such service before” (female, age 20-24).

“It gives a clear picture about the fee structure for the service. Consumers able to set their budget and expectation” (male, age 30).

The second most frequently mentioned benefit of advertising by lawyer’s was that it would make the search of legal services providers more easily. In other words, the time and effort to find a suitable legal service provider would be reduced. A typical quote is as follows: “With advertising by lawyer’s, it is much easier for people to find a lawyer than before. It saves time as well as effort” (female, age 20-24).

At the same time, some interviewees thought that advertising by lawyer’s provided them with more choices. One interviewee even commented that it set an example for other professions to follow.

The third most frequently mentioned benefit of advertising by lawyer’s was enhancing the image of the lawyers. Typical comments include “it makes the lawyers more approachable to the general public”, “I have more confidence on the legal services when they advertise” and “Law firms with ads are stronger financially and should be more trustworthy”. Other interviewees reported that with legal services advertisements, they found the lawyers more transparent, as well as more acceptable.

Other perceived benefits of advertising by lawyer’s include enhancing public legal knowledge or leading to better /cheaper service. For example, an interviewee commented that “Advertising by lawyer’s provide people with more legal knowledge.

If I have a traffic accident, I know I can find some lawyers to deal with the case. It gives me peace of mind”.

Perceived harm of advertising by lawyer’s A total of 58 answers about the harm of advertising by lawyer’s were reported. These answers were grouped into 5 categories (see Table 2).

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TABLE 2 Perceived Harms of Advertising by Lawyer’s Frequency Advertisements contain exaggerated or misleading information

19

Damage the image of lawyers: greedy, cunning, not-trustworthy, or 16 unscrupulous Encourage people to solve problems by litigation

12

Increase the cost of legal services

6

Lead to oligopoly or poor service because of unhealthy competition

5

Total* *Interviewees can give more than one answers

58

The most frequently mentioned harm of advertising by lawyer’s was that advertising by lawyer’s contained exaggerated or misleading information.

“Many advertising by lawyer’s on TV are misleading. For instance, the advertisement states that the service fee is only HK$888. I believe that there must be a lot of hidden costs” (male, age 34).

The second most frequently mentioned harm of advertising by lawyer’s was that it would damage the image of lawyers. Two typical quotes are given below: “It gave me a feeling that lawyers are encouraging people to take legal proceedings in order to earn more money. They were money-hungry and were therefore not trustworthy” (female, age 30-34).

“Advertising by lawyer’s deteriorate the profession’s image. They are only interested to deal with small problems such as divorce or personal financing. They are too commercialized” (females, age 20-24).

The third most frequently mentioned harm of advertising by lawyer’s was that these advertisements would encourage people to solve problems by litigation. Some comments were more general, such as “too many law ads lead to too many lawsuits.

That leads to pessimism”. Some comments were more specific. Divorce and personal finance were identified as scope of legal service that might be over-used. Two typical comments are quoted here. “Sometime law ads advocated divorce cases and spelt out that high alimony could be obtained. This would increase divorce rate. It educates people that divorce is easy and you may get a high alimony out of it”, “Personal financing service would lead to more problematic loans. People would think that there was always an easy way out”.

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Desirable and undesirable information in advertising by lawyer’s Regarding information items that advertising by lawyer’s should have, altogether 91 information items were reported. The top three information items were contact information, scope of service, as well as service fees. Interviewees were most interested in getting company contact information such as phone number, address and website. Interviewees reported that this information helps them to assess the strength of the company. Here is a typical quote: “…I want to know how big the company is, how many lawyers are working there, how many branches the company has, etc….from that I can tell whether they are trustworthy or not” (female, age 24).

Following contact information, interviewees were keen to know the scope of service provided by the law firms. They also wanted to know whether a law firm was specialized in certain types of legal services, such as divorce, work injury compensation or personal finance.

The third most frequently reported desirable information item was the fee structure.

Interviewees were eager to know how the legal services would be charged. As the service charge was not always explicitly stated in the advertisements, some interviewees worried that the actual service fees could be far beyond what they expect. Here is a typical quote: “… it would be good if the ad could state the fee explicitly. Lawyers consultation is not cheap…so consumers should at least know how and what to budget” (male, age 37).

Other desirable information items included qualifications of the lawyers. Some interviewees believed that different law firms would have different strength.

Advertising should therefore focus on their own expertise. Besides, interviewees were interested to know about the qualifications of individual lawyers. They perceived that the longer the working experience of a lawyer, the more credible and trustworthy he/she will be.

Regarding information items that advertising by lawyer’s should not have, altogether 49 information items were reported. The top three information items were exaggerated/misleading/inaccurate information, service fees and superlative claims.

Results indicated that interviewees perceived that descriptions such as “unbeatable prices”, “commission-free guarantee” or “all-inclusive package-fee” in the advertising by lawyer’s were deemed to be misleading.

Some interviewees suggested not including service fees in the advertisements because it would degrade the professional image of lawyers. For those advertisements that emphasized low service fees, interviewees found them deceptive as interviewees did not believe that a fixed cost would apply to all consumers.

Superlatives in advertising such as ‘the best’, ‘guarantee’, ‘sure win’, and ‘the cheapest’ were also unwelcomed by the interviewees. Other information items 83

perceived as undesirable in advertising by lawyer’s included criticism of competitors and successful rates of legal proceedings. Interviewees commented that advertising by lawyer’s should not bad-mouth competitors. As there is no guarantee of winning in a lawsuit, claiming 100 percent success rate was perceived to be incredible by interviewees. Four interviewees mentioned that advertising by lawyer’s should not focus on individual lawyers. They believed that focusing too much on one individual would over-shadow the contribution of the whole team of lawyers in the same company. Besides, self-promotion was perceived to be too hard-sell. Mr. Paul Tse Wai-chun’s self-promotion was brought up by two interviewees. Both of them condemned his promotional gimmicks as unprofessional and weird.

TABLE 3 Desirable and Undesirable Information in Advertising by Lawyer’s Information items desirable contact information scope of service service fees unique service/expertise professional qualifications total

Frequency 29 27 16 13 6 91

undesirable exaggerated/misleading/inaccurate information service fees superlative claims criticism on direct competitors successful cases/portfolios self-promotion total

24 8 5 4 4 4 49

Most as well as least credible media for placing advertising by lawyer’s Regarding the most credible media for advertising by lawyer’s, interviewees perceived television as the most credible medium, followed by newspapers, and magazines. The reported frequencies were 24, 11, and 4 respectively (see Table 4).

TV was perceived as the most credible media for advertising by lawyer’s because of two reasons. First, the cost for producing television commercials was perceived to be high. As a result, many interviewees believed that only successful and reputable companies could afford it. Second, TV commercials were perceived to be more credible because they were scrutinized by the government authority.

Regarding the least credible media for placing advertising by lawyer’s, interviewees perceived television as the least credible medium, followed by newspapers, and the Internet. The reported frequencies were 10, 8, and 7 respectively (see Table 4).

Television commercials were perceived to be least credible because interviewees 84

found them “too dramatic”, or “placing too much emphasis of slogans”.

TABLE 4 Advertising Media Perceived to be the Most or the Least Credible Most credible Least credible Advertising Media (frequency) (frequency) TV 24 10 Newspaper 11 8 Magazine 4 2 Out-of-home 2 6 Radio 2 2 Online/Internet 1 7 Direct mailing 0 4 Others/Not mentioned 4 3 Total* 48 42 * Interviewees can give more than one answer Newspaper advertising by lawyer’s were perceived to be less credible because of the small size, unappealing messages, or the placing of advertising by lawyer’s together with consumer products advertisements. Online/Internet advertising by lawyer’s was perceived to be less credible mainly because of a general mistrust of the Internet as an advertising medium.

Discussion In this qualitative study, researchers asked thirty-six interviewees aged 20 to 44 in Hong Kong about their views on advertising by lawyer’s. Based on the interviews, we have the following five observations about consumers’ attitudes toward advertising by lawyer’s.

First, interviewees appreciated the information values of advertising by lawyer’s. This finding is consistent with a previous study that consumers believed it is proper for professionals (including accountants, doctors, and lawyers) to advertise because consumers can obtain useful information from the advertisements (Au, 1997). As most of the interviewees were interested in basic information such as contacts, scope of services, and fee system, it suggests that most of the interviewees have insufficient knowledge about the availability and practices of the lawyers in Hong Kong. This is understandable given the low number of lawyers in the population (0.7 lawyers per 1000 population). Also, a majority of the law firms are located in the Central District on the Hong Kong Island and are physically remote from the residential areas. This makes the lawyers out of touch with the general public (Chan, 2012). Providing information is one of the basic functions of advertising and it is particularly important for high-involvement products and services. Legal service is undoubtedly a high involvement service and as a result, consumers need to have in-depth information about it before making a purchase decision. Another perceived function of advertising by lawyer’s is to reduce consumers’ time and cost in locating an appropriate legal services provider. Interviewees perceived that advertising by lawyer’s can inform 85

them under what situations they can seek advice from lawyers. This also suggests that interviewees are not familiar with their legal rights.

Second, together with the heavy reliance on advertising for information about legal services, interviewees placed great emphasis on the accuracy and validity of the information provided in the advertisements for legal services. This can be seen repeatedly in as much as interviewees worry about misleading information in the advertisements as well as the fact that exaggerated and false claims were most frequently reported as undesirable information in the advertisements. Service fee is a controversial information item among the interviewees. On one hand, they would like to know how the legal services are charged. On the other hand, they perceived an allinclusive package charge or the low charging fee unreliable. This is probably because legal services are extremely complicated and the charging fees are expected to differ significantly from case to case.

Third, there were diverse views about the impact of advertising by lawyer’s on the image of the lawyers. A previous quantitative study found that professionals in Hong Kong enjoyed a high image, and that consumers did not believe advertising would lower the favorable image enjoyed by professionals (Au, 1997). The result of our study was somewhat different from Au’s (1997) study. There were more interviewees expressing the view that advertising by lawyer’s damage the favorable image of the profession than the view that these advertisements elevate the image of the profession. As these two studies differed much in the coverage of professionals, the research methodology, as well as time of the study, direct comparison of findings was inappropriate. However, our finding suggests that the lawyers may suffer from a deterioration of image if advertising by lawyer’s are presented in a way that is not acceptable by consumers. Furthermore, interviewees were concerned that advertising by lawyer’s may encourage people to use litigation as problem solving.

Fourth, interviewees held strong belief in price-quality association for legal services.

Interviewees did not believe that quality legal services come with a rock bottom price. They expressed that they would rather pay more to enjoy a quality service than a cheap and unprofessional one. The perceived importance of quality of service and the reputation of lawyers was similar to that expressed by US consumers in a previous study (Moser, 2005). Interviewees associated low price with ineffective services. As an old Chinese saying said “the cheap buyer takes bad meat”.

Advertisers of legal services should bear in mind consumers’ deep-rooted beliefs and should not attract customers merely using price appeal.

Fifth, interviewees believed strongly in specialization of legal services and team work in providing quality legal services. Interviewees were interested to know about the expertise of individual law firms. They also wanted to see advertisements about the whole company, instead of focusing on one or two individual lawyers. This finding can be attributed to two reasons. First, Hong Kong is a collectivist society. People believe in group success rather than individual success. As a result, they found advertising by lawyer’s that focused on a single lawyer unacceptable. Second, interviewees were affected negatively by Paul Tse Wai-chun’s self-promotion case.

Several interviewees reported that they did not want to see similar advertisements again.

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Conclusion A qualitative study was conducted to investigate Hong Kong consumers’ attitudes toward advertising by lawyer’s. The study found that consumers in general appreciated the information value of these advertisements. There were mixed views of the impact on the image of the lawyers of advertising by lawyer’s. Some interviewees found the advertisements helpful and hence perceived that the lawyers was more approachable and transparent. However, some interviewees found advertising by lawyer’s that use price appeal misleading. They perceived lawyers to have become more commercialized. Interviewees expressed concern that advertising by lawyer’s encourage the seeking of litigation as a preferred way of problem solving.

The study informs lawyers regarding message design and media selection in the marketing of their services.

Based on the current study, we have the following recommendations for lawyers in marketing their services through advertising. First, advertising by lawyer’s should contain key information, such as scope of service, expertise, and contact information.

The advertisements should highlight the unique services offered by the firm. Second, lawyers should be sensitive in presenting price or fee information. They should not solely use price as an appeal to attract consumers. Exceptional low price or price guarantees will be perceived as misleading by consumers. We recommend that the fee system should be presented in a transparent and credible manner. Third, as Chinese culture puts much emphasis on social harmony, aggressive promotion of legal services could damage the image of the lawyers. We suggest that advertising by lawyer’s might encourage potential consumers to seek other problem solving channels before they consider legal action as a kind of disclaimer, or as a gesture toward corporate social responsibility. Fourth, advertising by lawyer’s should communicate the expertise of the law firm’s whole team of lawyers, and should not focus on individual lawyers. Fifth, lawyers should use a media mix in communicating their services. Television advertisements can be used to reach a wide range of consumers for awareness while print advertisements can be used to explain details of services.

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Appendix List of questions asked What would you say about the benefits of advertising by lawyer’s to consumers and the society?

What would you say about the problems or harms of advertising by lawyer’s to consumers and the society?

What types of information or messages do you think the advertising by lawyer’s should have?

What types of information or messages do you think the advertising by lawyer’s should NOT have?

What is the most credible/trustworthy advertising medium for placing advertising by lawyer’s? Why? What is the least credible/trustworthy advertising medium for placing advertising by lawyer’s? Why?

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Asian Journal of Business Research ISSN 1178-8933

Volume 2

Number 2

2012

The Last Mile in Academic Publishing: Revising a Manuscript Kara Chan Hong Kong Baptist University

Abstract Most of our journal or book manuscript submissions result in a request for revision according to the reviewers’ comments. This article outlines the process of revising a manuscript, the options we have, and the tips of responding to reviewers’ comments.

It helps to reduce the frustration and inertia, and hopefully to make the publication journey less bumpy and more enjoyable.

Keywords: Academic publishing, revising

Introduction This paper is based on an invited presentation at the Marketing in Asia Conference 2012 at Gyor, Hungary. Its objective is to help you achieve greater productivity in academic publishing by developing your competence in revising your manuscripts for book chapters or journal articles. The knowledge and skills involved include understanding the reviewing process and the reviewers’ comments, dealing with the comments, and preparing your responses. I will also share with you a documentation system that you may find helpful in managing your research projects efficiently.

Receiving the notification of submission results After months of waiting, the results come. You receive an email from a journal editor.

It almost invariably says that while he or she enjoyed reading your manuscript, the reviewers have some suggestions. Based on their remarks, the editor asks you to revise your manuscript. There are two possible reactions to the news. “Wow, it is great! I have come closer to the goal. It is a great step toward its being accepted.” Or one can think, “Oh, this is so bad. I need to work on that blasted manuscript again.

I’m sick of it. Why don’t they just accept it as it is?”

Very often, the response will at that point be put aside for a while. People get upset and do not want to spend time on the revision. After a certain time, the author fails to follow through, and as a result the paper will forever remain on disk on the author’s computer.

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Think of the time you have already invested in your study. You have probably spent three to six months or even more on the project, including writing the proposal for the funding, designing the study, collecting the data, and doing the analysis. You then put in another few weeks on the write-up and checking the references before you submitted the manuscript. The last mile of the run—the revision—will probably take you another five to ten days. If you fail to invest that time and energy, all your previous efforts go down the drain.

What are my options?

You need to pay close attention to what news the editor is actually communicating. It can be a conditional acceptance subject to your revision, or it can be an invitation for revision without commitment that the revised paper will be accepted. The former decision means that if you can revise it according the reviewers’ comments, it will be accepted. The latter means that when you have revised it according the reviewers’ comments, the editor will consider it again, but may still reject it. In either case you have three options. The first one, which is usually the most desirable, is to revise the manuscript according to the reviewers’ comments and resubmit it to the same journal.

If you can meet most of the reviewers’ expectations, there’s a good chance your manuscript will be accepted. The second option is to revise it according to the reviewers’ major concerns, then submit it to another journal, but this is risky. Recall that the editor and the reviewers are contributing their time, unpaid, to help you improve your presentation. You can appropriate their comments to improve your chances of success at another journal, but the editor knows your name, and once you’ve exploited his help and taken it elsewhere he may feel no hesitation to share it with the reviewers and others in the field. Is your field of study really that large? Do you need to offend in this way? The third option is to do nothing and just send the manuscript off to another journal as it stands. This can be the best course if the editor has selected a reviewer who fundamentally disagrees with your entire approach or if the reviewers are asking for additional work which is far beyond your budget. A brief email of explanation should leave no hard feelings. But of course the editor of the new journal may by chance send the paper right back to one or both of the same reviewers. If you choose the second or third option, you’ll still need to revise the citation and referencing style to meet the requirements of the new target journal.

Which option you choose depends on many factors, such as the quality of the original target journal, the estimated time it will take for the revisions they request, and how desperate you are for the paper to be accepted. If you have a major performance review such as tenure or a promotion review approaching, it is advisable to take the first option of re-submitting to the same journal. In that case you can at least show on your CV that the manuscript is in the second stage of review. It will sound more promising than just “submitted”.

Nowadays the editor often gives you a deadline for the revision. It can vary from one to three months. This is a way to push the manuscript to either move forward or be rejected. Editors do not want a huge backlog of manuscripts in their pipeline. The reviewers may be reluctant to read the revised manuscript again if the original manuscript is submitted a long time ago. If you do not resubmit the revised 92

manuscript by the specified time, the threat is that it will automatically be rejected. In fact, you can nearly always negotiate an extension if you have a good reason. So if you plan to revise and resubmit, send a reply email to the editor about your intentions, and if delays arise, keep him or her informed.

How do I revise a manuscript?

The three steps in revising a manuscript—preparing the revision, revising the text, and outlining the changes you have made in a response letter to the editor and reviewers.

First of all, you need to overcome your disappointment, anger, or even fear of not being accepted. The editorial decision is a fact that you cannot change, so live with it.

Don’t let negative feelings pull you down. Read the comments thoroughly to make sure you understand them. Sometimes you need to check with the editor if you do are not sure what a comment means. You don’t need to agree totally with the reviewers, indeed you rarely will, but treat your reviewers as rare species including the few scholars in the world who can understand what you’re writing and are willing to help you to improve it free of charge. They are your free publishing consultants.

You also need to see if outside help is needed and where you might get it. For example, the reviewer asks you to test the data using a structured equation model. If you have problem with it, you need to seek assistance from your network, perhaps a graduate student or a colleague. My practice is to make a hard copy of the manuscript and put it in a paper folder. If the reviewer suggests a paper or a book that you should make reference to, get the paper and put it in the same folder. Start reading those suggested papers as time permits.

If you have co-authors, it will be time to call for a meeting, perhaps using Skype if your co-author is from a different country. During the meeting, discuss what needs to be done and who is responsible for which part of the revision. Occasionally, you may need to go back to the original data and consider an alternative analytical approach.

For example, a reviewer has pointed out that the age profiles of the two sub-samples in a cross-cultural study are not compatible. It may be necessary to remove a specific age in one sub-sample and re-do all the statistical analyses. If such measures are necessary, your original data set should be retrieved efficiently and correctly. That points to the importance of a good research documentation system, of which more later.

The second step is the revision itself. I call it the “operation”. Depending on your experience and skill, you may need to schedule three to five working days. You need blocks of uninterrupted working time. For me each block consists of about three hours. Sometimes you will need to rearrange your work and family schedule in order to construct these blocks. For example, I am a morning person. I try to start working by 8am, and most likely I will not accept any incoming calls before 10am. Because of the accessibility of books and other reading materials, I usually do the revising in my office.

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Break down the “operation” into several smaller and more manageable tasks. Start with the easiest tasks first. The reviewers may, for example have asked you to further clarify the methodology or to add a citation, and such requests usually pose no difficulty. Do them and put a tick next to the reviewer’s comment to indicate that you have tackled his or her concerns. Then work on the more tedious tasks such as amplifying the hypotheses or elaborating the discussion session. Work furiously, session by session, until you finish the operation. Make it a discipline that you don’t overwork. If you overwork in one session you may be so exhausted that you have no energy to sustain the pace on the following day. You need to be persistent. Do little nice things for yourself to keep the momentum. If you have a collaborator, the process can be easier. You may find him or her willing to take care of some of the comments that you do not want to tackle. After the operation, go through the reference list again. You need to make sure that references have been added or removed appropriately.

After the revision has been completely drafted, read the manuscript over very carefully. See if the overall tone and manner is still fluent after all the changes here and there. If your university is supportive financially, this is the stage where you can bring in a technical editor. Some universities hire full time staff to provide proofreading services, but if you don’t have regular staff at your university to read over your manuscript, consider hiring a professional proofreader on a project basis. I used to think that only non-native English speakers need proofreading service. I was wrong. A native English-speaking colleague told me he uses an editor for everything he writes and introduced his technical editor to me. Experienced technical editors can be difficult to find, but they read papers from mathematics to sewage treatment every day. In addition to correcting your grammatical mistakes, a good editor will be able evaluate your entire paper with a fresh perspective and sometimes spot details that you have overlooked. For example, I referred to the Dove’s Evolution video in one of my papers. I treated it as a well-known case study, but my editor advised me to describe the campaign in detail, reminding me that not every reader would be familiar with it. Without that background, he himself found my arguments unclear.

Proofreading fees of course vary significantly in different parts of the world. In Hong Kong, an editor charges you by the hour or by the number of words. I pay approximately US$400 for a manuscript of about 5000 to 6000 words. You can consider approaching your departmental chair to request support for editing service.

Some journals require that you to highlight the parts of the manuscript where you have made significant changes. You can highlight the revised sentences or paragraphs with, for example, a different color. You are not expected to send in a word document with the changes tracked, as it is too hard to read. I prefer to use a bright blue color.

According to a book titled “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Nobel Prize winner in Economics Professor Daniel Kahneman, a clear and bright color is more likely to convince credibility.

The third step is almost a housekeeping job. Divide the reviewers’ comments into sections that resemble a list of bullet points. Create a memo to be returned to the reviewer (via the editor) responding to the comments made point-by-point. For each point, insert a paragraph describing what you have done to respond, and explain why you did it. Here are two examples to illustrate how to tackle comments. The 94

manuscript describes a qualitative study of young people’s perceptions of public service advertisements.

Reviewer comment 1: “‘We’ is used in the paper. Was the study conducted by one interviewer, or by several interviewers? The limitations of the study should be clarified as there are perceived differences in interviewing techniques and styles.”

Response: We now clarify in the text that multiple interviewers were used for data collection. We also now state in the limitations section that there may have been interviewing bias because of different interviewing styles.

Reviewer comment 2: “The study is superficial and appears to investigate immediate responses. It could have investigated a much deeper level of thoughts, awareness, and emotions of the interviewees.”

Response: In the original manuscript we classified the youths’ responses to public service advertisements into likable and dislikable attributes. In the revised version we have reanalyzed the data and developed a framework with two dimensions. The first dimension classifies a response as positive or negative response; the second classifies it as emotional or evaluative. We hope you find this treatment more informative.

Thinking through how to deal with that second comment and revisiting the data took about one working day.

Of course you don’t have to agree with all the suggestions proposed by the reviewers.

Where you do not agree, say so and give your justification. For valid concerns that you are not able to deal with, recognize them in the manuscript as limitations. For example, if the reviewer suggests you need a bigger sample size, you probably cannot restart the data collection. You can only admit that the small sample is a limitation and recommend that a future study adopt a larger or more representative sample.

Most editors will show understanding about these kinds of comments.

In preparing the reply memo I use another color (again, a bright blue color) to indicate the responses to improve the readability of the document. When all three steps have been completed, you need to re-submit before the deadline and wait for the good news.

In nineteen years as a full-time academic I have submitted approximately 120 manuscripts for journal papers and book chapters. About a quarter of those submissions were accepted without a request for revision. About an eighth were rejected or rejected after rounds (sometimes up to three rounds) of revision. But the rest, about sixty percent of them, were accepted after revision. So revising manuscripts is part of scholarly work. The better you can handle it, the more productive you will be.

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I have found that helping me revise is excellent training for junior colleagues. As a senior member in the department, I take the initiative to invite junior colleagues to coauthor with me. Very often they tell me that they learned a lot in handling reviewers’ comments. They were able to see the manuscript from a new point of view and became aware of loopholes in the study. It seems to me that working together is a great way of mentoring junior colleagues and postgraduate students.

Tracking your submission The turnaround time for the initial feedback from journals varies from six weeks to a few months. By the time you want to revise the manuscript, the first question will be “Which file is the version I submitted?” Take some time to organize your electronic files. Use one folder for each research project, and open a sub-folder solely for journal papers and conference presentations.

I use a table to monitor the progress of all my submissions. The table contains the title of the each manuscript, its filename on my computer, the journal or the book’s publisher, the submission date, the date of initial reply from the editor, the resubmission date, the dates of any subsequent replies from the editor, and remarks.

Each submitted manuscript can be seen as an egg, and you need to watch over them until they hatch.

Editors are dealing with volunteer reviewers, so they are reluctant to push them too hard. The reviewers have other responsibilities, and some may not find your paper very interesting. But if you hear nothing for three months after submitting a manuscript, you should contact the editor and ask about its status. Occasionally you may find the manuscript has been lost in the submission process. Sadly, most journals make no performance pledge about when an author will be notified of the initial decision. If you are eager to have some items on your CV, you need to consider submitting to journals with quick turnaround time.

Project documentation I like to have things organized; it makes me feel comfortable. There are a few files in the bookshelf that are the most important to my work. One contains all the questionnaires I have used in various studies. One contains all my published papers.

For each study I have done I label a file “Documentation”. It contains a one-page description of the project, as well as its survey document, if any. Figure 1 shows a sample one-page description of a project. Survey documents include the questionnaire with SPSS variable labels marked in red, or the coding frame for a content analysis study, or the interviewing guide for a qualitative study. The documentation file helps me acknowledge the source of funding in a journal paper, recall the method and data analysis used, and develop ideas for future studies.

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Figure 1. A sample documentation page

You should always bring with you all your computer files, even if you are travelling abroad. Several times I have needed to work on a revision during an extended overseas trip. A file storage system in good order and well documented will enable you to perform on the road. But of course, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to back up your hard disk 97

regularly, at least once every month. The data files are your assets; keep them in good shape.

Nevertheless, good documentation is only a facilitator. It can help you to write better papers, but I have seen excellent publications by someone whom I know to be very disorganized. He succeeds anyway, despite the untidiness.

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to celebrate When your revised manuscript is accepted, take time to celebrate. Go for a meal with your co-authors and research assistants. Or share the joy with someone you love or care about. Academic writing is a tough journey and needs a lot of positive thinking and social support. A celebration may help give you energy to continue with your next writing assignment. As a beginner in academic writing, a more experienced collaborator can be very beneficial. You feel that you are not a lonely traveler. You are accountable to one another in meeting deadlines and moving the project ahead.

You can discuss ways to tackle specific reviewersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; comments. How to find like-mind researchers? Attending academic conference is definitely one way. Hopefully, we shall meet each other at the next Marketing in Asia Group conference or on some other occasion.

Suggested readings Boden, R., Epstein, D., and Kenway, J. (2005). Building your academic career, London, UK: Sage Publications.

Epstein, D., Kenway, J., and Boden, R. (2005). Writing for publication, London, UK: Sage Publications.

Hartley, J. (2008). Academic writing and publishing: a practical guide, Oxon, UK: Routledge.

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