Research article

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Market Segmentation for Sustainable Conscious Consumers in Mueang Chiang Mai District Paoreena Puangkingkaew and Patchara Tantiprabha Pages 1 - 25   DOI 10.14456/cbsr.2018.11  Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract The purposes of this study were to examine market segmentation for sustainable conscious consumers in Mueang Chiang Mai district and to investigate characteristics of each group of sustainable conscious consumers. Data were collected from 350 samples. The tool to collect data was questionnaires, composing of questions on sustainable conscious consumption in 3 dimensions: environmental consciousness, social consciousness, and economical consciousness. Data obtained were analyzed by factor analysis and cluster analysis to divide consumers into groups. The results of the study and the analyses indicated that the assessment of sustainable conscious consumers in Mueang Chiang Mai district could be sorted out into 7 components: social consciousness, environment-friendly consciousness, debt-free consciousness, saving and worthwhile consciousness, long term financial planning consciousness, non-sharing consumption consciousness, and sufficiency consciousness. Consumers can be divided into 3 groups: Group 1 sustainable consciousness group (56%), Group 2 uncommitted group (17%) and Group 3 beginners group (27%). The consumers in these 3 groups were significantly different in demographic characteristics; i.e. age, marital status, number of children, education background, career, and average monthly income. The group of consumers with sustainable consciousness (Group 1) was the group of those who intentionally took their consumption into full consideration of effects in all three dimensions without debt-free consciousness. For the uncommitted group (Group 2), the consumers took consumption without any consciousness on environment and society. However, they had slight awareness on their long term financial planning. Their sufficiently consumption was in the moderate level. For the group of the beginners (Group 3), they started to consume by considering the 3 dimension of effects into account especially social dimension and debt-free consumption. Nonetheless, they had no long-term financial plan and were not thoughtful of sufficiently consumption.
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Human Resource Management in Social Enterprises in Thailand: The Cases of Doi Chaang Coffee and the Doi Tung Development Project Chaturong Napathorn Pages 26 - 56   DOI 10.14456/cbsr.2018.8  Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract The objective of this research is to examine the following research question, “How do social enterprises motivate their employees to work toward the goals of these enterprises?” The qualitative research design, in particular the case study of two social enterprises in Thailand, i.e., Doi Chaang Coffee and the Doi Tung Development Project, was applied in this paper. Both social enterprises have been successful in their business operations in Thailand for some time and have been able to achieve both financial and social objectives at the same time. In this respect, the findings of this paper support the proposition that “Social enterprises in Thailand have motivated their employees to work toward the goals by paying more attention to intrinsic rewards than to extrinsic rewards”. These combined motivational practices support the contingency approach to human resource management and are different from best human resources practices or high performance human resources practices. The findings of this paper also have implications for practitioners and human resource professionals, especially managers of social enterprises. In particular, managers of these enterprises should implement appropriate motivational practices by creating good work environment, fostering sense of ownership, promoting pride in the organization, and developing commitment to the organization among their employees. These practices should finally motivate and retain their employees in the long term.
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A User-Centric Approach to Develop Indicators for Assessing Information Quality on E-Commerce Websites Wichuda Chaisiwamongkol, Lumpang Manmart and Wachara Chantatub Pages 57 - 102   DOI 10.14456/cbsr.2018.9  Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract The objective of this research was to find the indicators for assessing the information quality (IQ) on e-Commerce (EC) website. The approach of this research focused on the opinions and requirements of the users in Thailand from retail and accommodation services businesses. The researchers adopted mixed methods research, namely (1) qualitative research to analyze the structure and contents of the websites and analyzethe information usage behaviors of 30 experienced consumers and 5 experts and (2) quantitative research by bringing the attributes found from the qualitative research to develop an online questionnaire. There were 595 experienced consumersanswered the online questionnaire. Then the data collected from the online questionnaire was analyzed to find confirmatory factorsby using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results from the qualitative research show that majority of the experienced consumers selected to use the e-Marketplace websites.The key findings from analyzing these websites arethey haveboth the commercial and non-commercial informationand also the information for transaction processing, the design of information structure and navigation system of these websites help the consumers to access the data easily, conveniently, and quickly by concerning of data security, and there are 68 attributes of information quality which will be used to develop an online survey for quantitative research. The collected data from the online questionnaire were analyzed CFA. The results show that the consumers of both retail and accommodation services businesses seeked the website from friends or using Google to search and select the top-ranked URLs. Then they first considered the credibility of the website, such as reputation, business experience, trusted agency certification, policy, and satisfaction and reviews from consumers who had purchased or used the service. After that they would pay most attention on ordering process and payment processwhich consists of 5 quality indicators, namely accuracy, completeness, accessibility, information security and consistency.The attribute of retail businessthat has the highest average isthe correctness of total amount calculated whereas for the accommodation services business is the accommodation classification accuracy.
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A Study of Push and Pull Factors Influencing Thai Consumers’ Purchase Behavior of Street Food: Case Study of Yaowarat (Chinatown), Bangkok Pichaya Sangtoop and Charoenchai Agmapisarn Pages 103 - 145   DOI 10.14456/cbsr.2018.10  Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract The purpose of this research was to study the push factors from consumers and the pull factors from the food and the destination environment which most influence Thai consumers of street food. The findings emphasize the relationship between the push and pull factors, and analysis of the findings then give rise to recommendations regarding how to develop street food in the Yaowarat Road (Chinatown) region of Bangkok, which is a popular and unique street food area. The recommendations are intended to benefit the stakeholders in the area (entrepreneurs and food providers) and improve the level of satisfaction for Thai customers. The study was based on a questionnaire survey collected from 270 Thai customers who purchased street food on Yaowarat Road. The study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis, first order confirmatory factor analysis, and second order confirmatory factor analysis, as statistical tools. The study revealed that the most significant pull factor influencing Thai consumers in the Yaowarat Road area is the diversity of foods offered for sale and the pull factor is a desire to escape everyday life. The study also found that the push factor is the more influencing determinant for Thai customers visiting to consume street food in the Yoawarat Road area.
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Managing Internal Communication for Employee Engagement Towards Customer Satisfaction: A Case Study of a Thai Restaurant Chain Panet Serirungsun Pages 146 - 178   DOI 10.14456/cbsr.2018.7  Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract This qualitative research investigates how employee engagement towards customer satisfaction can be driven through internal communication at a Thai restaurant chain. The study delves into mechanisms the company uses to internally communicate customer-centered issues to its members, how internal communication brings customer-focused employee engagement to the firm, and the approaches to overcome potential barriers to internal communication. Data collecting methods mainly consist of in-depth interviews with five top executives and four focus-group discussions with five employees in each group. With qualitative data analysis, results show that the indispensable off-line communication formats include the highest-ranking executive’s being good role model of customer-satisfaction enthusiast, training center, mobile teaching, and informal face-to-face meeting while e-mail and Line application are on-line channels particularly working for management-level employees. To drive employee engagement in customer-centered activities and overcome internal communication barriers, the firm exploits communication mechanisms and tactics, including implementing Kaizen projects and Im-Jai group meetings as two-way communication, delivering clear and easy-to-understand messages to employees, and making contents truly audience-oriented by applying the WIIFM concept. The communication framework proposed in this study suggests research potentials for communication and organization disciplines and can be used as a guideline by corporate communicators for designing internal communication strategies to drive employee engagement in any business-related concerns.
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Colors and Intensities Combination on Purchasing Intention in Relaxing Services: A Virtual Reality Experimental Research Guntalee Ruenrom and Ake Pattaratanakun Pages 179 - 208   DOI 10.14456/cbsr.2018.6  Download PDF  Article preview Cite Abstract The growth of the service business such as spa, resort, and health club indicates the increase in customers’ interest in the relaxing service business. Color is one of the most visualized physical evidences that could help customers perceive the relaxing atmosphere embedded in the service. Although the influence of colors on emotion led behavior has been previously studied, there are various dimensions of colors to be further investigated. One of the questions is whether the combination of different colors and intensities of colors could have any impact on inducing the behavioral intention of consumers. This study investigates the behavioral intention to use the relaxing service due to the designated combination of colors and different levels of intensity. The research objectives are to discover how the combination of colors and intensities can affect consumer purchase intention in the relaxing service business and what combination of colors or intensities can make the most impact on their decisions. The data collection starts with the pilot test by asking 110 subjects to choose the colors that they think represent relaxing services. Blue and green are selected then the intensities (chromas) are applied to the two colors using low and high quartiles of the intensity. An experimental research is designed by using the virtual reality (VR) camera as the contact method to collect the data from the randomly chosen subjects whom repeatedly do the experiment twice with a two-month interval to assure the reliability of the study. Six treatments (color and intensity combinations of blue and green) are randomly assigned to 180 randomly chosen subjects. Subjects then give the scores for the six treatments that they see in the VRs to indicate their intention to use the service. The data are then analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The results reveal that while the combination of relaxing colors (blue and green) has significantly worsen customer’s purchasing intention for the relaxing service, the combination of intensities do not have impact on the intention. It is suggested that the relaxing service business should apply the same color rather than using different colors to induce consumers’ purchasing intention. The research findings enhance better understanding of the combination of colors on purchasing intention in the context of relaxing service. The results could create interest especially among the interior designers and the management of the service business.