Using the increasing vaccination model and the moderating roles of chronic medical conditions and education to understand COVID-19 vaccination uptake in Singapore.

COVID-19 vaccination programmes have helped reduce deaths and morbidity from the pandemic and allowed for the resumption of normal life. However, vaccine hesitancy remains an issue even with recurrent surges in COVID-19 cases due to new SARS-CoV-2 variants. Purpose: To elucidate psychosocial factors that contribute to our understanding of vaccine hesitancy. 676 Participants in Singapore took part in an online survey on vaccine hesitancy and uptake between May and June 2021. Data on demographics, perception of the COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccine willingness and hesitancy factors were collected. The responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study found that confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines and risk perception of the COVID-19 situation are significantly associated with vaccination intention, while vaccination intention is also significantly associated with reported vaccination status. Additionally, certain chronic medical conditions moderate the relationship between vaccine confidence/risk perception and vaccine intention. This study contributes to our understanding of factors behind vaccination uptake which can help anticipate challenges to future vaccination campaigns for the next pandemic.

COVID-19 vaccination programmes have helped reduce deaths from the pandemic and allowed for the resumption of normal life. However, vaccine hesitancy among the public remains an issue even with recurrent surges in COVID-19 cases due to new SARS-CoV-2 variants. To understand psychosocial factors that contribute to vaccine uptake, this study surveyed 676 participants in Singapore through an online survey on vaccine hesitancy and uptake between May and June 2021. Data on demographics, perception of the COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccine willingness factors were collected. The responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study found that confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines and risk perception of the COVID-19 situation are significantly associated with vaccination intention, while vaccination intention is also significantly associated with reported vaccination status. Additionally, certain chronic medical conditions moderate the relationship between vaccine confidence/risk perception and vaccine intention. This study contributes to our understanding of factors behind vaccination uptake which can help anticipate challenges to future vaccination campaigns for the next pandemic.

The determinants of virtual reality adoption for marine conservation

Initiatives for marine conservation are funded by revenue from marine sites. However, the emergence of COVID-19 has restricted travelling, thus leading to decreased revenue and weakening conservation efforts. Virtual reality technology to support marine conservation efforts is explored as it allows users to experience marine sites, without having to be there physically. This study examines factors influencing users' desire to adopt virtual reality technology in marine ecotourism. With the integration of Stimulus-Organism-Response framework and three behavioural theories (i.e. health belief model, attitude, and eTrust), a hypothetical model was constructed to investigate consumers' intention to adopt virtual reality technology in marine ecotourism amidst the pandemic. The data were analysed and interpreted using structural equation modelling after 451 survey responses were obtained via an online questionnaire. Outcome expectation, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, self-efficacy, and cues to action exhibit significant positive effects on attitude towards virtual reality technology in marine ecotourism. Consequently, attitude has a direct and indirect influence on use intention via eTrust. Post hoc analysis revealed that self-efficacy has a direct impact on eTrust and use intention. Total effect analysis further concluded that attitude has the greatest influence on use intention of virtual reality technology in marine ecotourism. This research contributes to the existing literature by utilizing health belief factors to explain use intention of technology towards marine conservation efforts. Recommendations including policy formulation and marketing initiatives were generated for marine ecotourism operators and policymakers. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Application of the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behavior (COM-B) model to identify predictors of two self-reported hand hygiene behaviors (handwashing and hand sanitizer use) to prevent COVID-19 infection among U.S. adults, Fall 2020.

BACKGROUND: Handwashing with soap and water is an important way to prevent transmission of viruses and bacteria and worldwide it is estimated handwashing can prevent 1 in 5 viral respiratory infections. Frequent handwashing is associated with a decreased risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Using a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol when handwashing is not feasible can also help prevent the transmission of viruses and bacteria. OBJECTIVE: Since early 2020, the public has been encouraged to handwash frequently with soap and water and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer when soap and water are not available to reduce COVID-19 transmission. This study's objectives were to assess U.S. adults' perceptions of components of the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behavior (COM-B) Model in relation to these two hand hygiene behaviors and to identify relationships between these components and hand hygiene behaviors. METHODS: Items assessing capability, opportunity, motivation, and hand hygiene behaviors were included in FallStyles, a survey completed by 3,625 adults in the fall of 2020 through an online panel representative of the U.S. POPULATION: We calculated composite capability, opportunity, and motivation measures and descriptive statistics for all measures. Finally, we conducted multiple logistic regressions to identify predictors of handwashing and hand sanitizer use. RESULTS: Most respondents reported frequently washing hands with soap and water (89%) and using alcohol-based hand sanitizer (72%) to prevent coronavirus. For capability, over 90% of respondents said that neither behavior takes a lot of effort, but fewer agreed that they knew when, or how, they should engage in handwashing (67%; 74%) and hand sanitizer use (62%; 64%). For opportunity, over 95% of respondents said lack of time didn't make it hard to engage in either behavior; fewer said visual cues reminded them to engage in the behaviors (handwashing: 30%; sanitizer use: 48%). For motivation, the majority believed the two behaviors were good ways to prevent coronavirus illness (handwashing: 76%; sanitizer use: 59%). Regressions indicated that capability, opportunity, and particularly motivation were positively associated with both hand hygiene behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: The COM-B model was a helpful framework for increasing understanding of hand hygiene behavior; it identified capability, opportunity, and motivation as predictors of both handwashing and hand sanitizer use.

Historical and social aspirations: influence of SME key decision makers’ resilience, social skills and stress on attaining firm performance goals

Purpose>This paper examines how some specific psychological characteristics and stress levels of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) key decision-makers (founders/managers) (KDMs) influence firm goal attainment based on two firm aspiration types.Design/methodology/approach>This study hypothesizes that perceived resilience, social skills (self-promotion, ingratiation, expressiveness, social adaptability), and stress of SME KDMs will differently influence firm performance goal achievement based on firm historical versus social aspirations. IBM AMOS v27 is used to test these hypotheses on survey data of 267 Australian SME KDMs.Findings>The study reveals that KDMs’ perceived resilience, social skills and stress differentially impact the achievement of firm performance goals when selecting firm-level historical and social aspirations. Resilience and some specific social skills can even have a detrimental effect on achieving firm goals when applying historical and social aspirations. Historical aspirations are based on the firm’s performance history, while social aspirations are based on the performance of a reference group of competitor firms. The differences in the relationship between these characteristics and the two aspiration types are also explained. Furthermore, the study reveals the important role of perceived stress levels in achieving firm performance goals, using both aspiration types.Originality/value>This study is the first to investigate how the perceived use of some specific psychological characteristics of SME KDMs influence the ability to meet firm performance goals based on the discretionary use of historical and social aspirations and the relationship between these aspiration types. In this context, the paper explains the reasons for the differences and similarities in their use. Thus, this study provides an important empirical contribution to research on the emergent domain of micro-foundational SME goals.

Managerial entrenchment and corporate social responsibility engagement: the role of economic policy uncertainty

The behavioral theory of corporate governance is employed to investigate the relationship between managerial entrenchment and corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement. Effective corporate governance is argued to reduce managerial entrenchment, thereby increasing CSR engagement. The role of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) is investigated as a moderating variable in this relationship, such that high levels of EPU will increase the impact of entrenchment on CSR engagement. These arguments are supported using a panel of 386 US firms from 2011 to 2018 representing 3,088 firm-year observations in a variety of industries. In supplementary analysis, the CSR measure is disaggregated in order to provide further insight regarding these relationships as they pertain to the individual CSR dimensions under study. Findings inform research regarding the entrenchment-CSR link in particular environmental contexts. Practical implications include potential governance guidelines for boards of directors;stakeholder management given the policy environment;and the impact of government decisions as they affect policy uncertainty, firm actions, and CSR engagement.

Do investors react differently? Evidence from hospitality sector during the covid-19 pandemic.

Focusing on publicly traded U.S. eating & dining and lodging firms from 01July2019 to 30October2020, this paper examines investor reaction to restaurant and hotel firms throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Results show that there is no consensus on buying or selling shares of different hospitality firms in the beginning. Consistent with the behavioral theory, the market reaction is mainly negative to restaurant firms matching with investors' negative sentiments while investors are indifferent towards lodging firms. In later stages, investors trade less stocks, and the buy pressure in the market leads to a positive reaction to both types of firms.

How do external disruptions affect technological knowledge repository diversification? The role of repositories' historical and social aspiration levels and knowledge footprint

This study investigates how knowledge-intensive organizations cope with the extreme uncertainty generated by external disruptions. We advance a behavioral aspirations perspective with the power to explain the antecedents and boundaries of organizational knowledge diversification. We expect that external disruptions (such as Covid-19) led organizations not to meet their aspiration levels, and thus, we set forth to find how organizations responded to this challenge. We find that not meeting the aspiration levels, both historical (self-imposed) and social (peer-imposed), drives organizations to diversify their technological knowledge repositories. Further, we find that this crisis-response behavior is mitigated by the accumulated knowledge, which we define as the knowledge footprint. The investigation of a large longitudinal dataset of U.S.-based knowledge-intensive organizations shows that the behavioral aspirations perspective has explanatory power. This work contributes to the advancement of diversification research during external disruptions and suggests potential solutions for knowledge organizations facing extreme uncertainty.