Brand loyalty in online brand communities in Malaysia: A Uses and Gratifications perspective

This study examines the online communities’ gratifications of social media usage and to understand how their perceived values within an online brand page environment can affect brand loyalty. In addition to the content-oriented and relationship-oriented aspects of uses and gratifications of online brand communities, this study also includes economic value to the existing model considering online promotions and rewards may encourage consumer brand engagement and subsequently lead to brand loyalty. The data collected via snowball sampling method consisted of the responses of 150 respondents who are in one or more online brand communities of different brands in Malaysia. The result shows that functional value and hedonic value are the most important motivators to drive brand loyalty in online brand communities. The result implies that the brand loyalty in online brand communities in Malaysia depends on the functionality and pleasant sensations experienced from the brand fan page. The result suggests that brand page should deliver informative, rich and customised information contents to fulfil the satisfaction of online communities. This study provides insight on social media users’ perceived values that drive their satisfaction and loyalty towards the brand via the fan page, which in turn helps brand marketing practitioners in Malaysia to understand on how these perceived values may influence the brand loyalty of online communities, particularly from the perspective of the Uses and Gratifications theory.

The Effect of Workplace Spirituality on Employee Performance

Employees in the 21st century seek a work environment which allows them to find a sense of purpose at work, within an atmosphere filled with respect and courteous interactions between the employees and their surroundings. The spiritually-oriented work environment is crucial because it shapes employees’ behaviour at the personal level and eventually, improves employee performance. In this paper, a theoretical framework which explains how the spiritual work environment (inner self, community and meaningful work) improves employee performance is presented. This framework can be a reference for organisations in gauging their spiritual work environment, and subsequently incorporating spiritual elements at work as a way to influence employee performance. In return, it contributes to the long-term survival and success of the organisation.

Influencers of University Students’ Career Decision

Making a career decision is often challenging among students for which they are expected to decide on a career in times of uncertainty that will have an impact on the rest of their lives. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing undergraduate students’ career decision and to propose recommendations aimed to rectify career indecisions. The independent variables chosen for this research are extrinsic factors, intrinsic factors, and interpersonal factors, which is derived based on the tri-dimensional model of career choice proposed by Carpenter and Foster in 1977. An additional independent variable, which is industrial training, was added as an extension of the research framework as it is perceived to potentially influence undergraduate students’ career decision as well. All data were collected from 200 undergraduate students from a private university using questionnaires and analysed by utilising Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Version 22). The study results indicate that intrinsic factors are the most influential in affecting undergraduate students’ career decision which is followed by interpersonal factors.However, extrinsic factors and industrial training were found to have insignificant relationship with career decision making.