Street food nostalgia and COVID-19 perceptions on street food desire

With COVID-19 paralyzing street food businesses, street food vendors are trying to sustain their operations. The current study helps them by identifying the importance of five prominent stimuli viz. authenticity, quality, staff-service, ambience, and value for money in developing desire for street food in individuals in India. Furthermore, the study contributes by identifying the role of street food nostalgia (as a mediator) and perceived risk of COVID-19, age, and gender (as moderators) on the direct impact of each stimulus on the desire for street food. The study uses partial least squares path modelling to validate the hypotheses using SmartPLS. The findings are comparable to other developing Asian countries, as the proposed associations are validated with perceptual responses from three prominent cities and well-known street food destinations in India. The study showed the relative importance of the five-stimuli based on the stimulus-organism-response framework in developing a desire for street food. The findings suggest partial to complete mediation of street food nostalgia across the three samples. Lastly, the perceived risk of COVID-19 along with age and gender emerged as prominent moderators for many of the direct effects of stimuli on desires for street food. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Unveiling the antecedents of senior citizens′ behavioural intentions to travel: A mixed-method approach

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a multi-dimensional scale on factors affecting senior citizens’ behavioural intentions to travel in terms of approach and avoidance. The study is longitudinal in nature and has used a mixed-method approach (qualitative and quantitative) to collect and confirm a series of indicators concerning the different constructs. Under study 1, a pool of items was generated by conducting industry expert survey and reviewing the existing literature. Afterwards, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed for extracting the distinct factors. Under study 2, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to validate the proposed scale. The results of EFA and CFA revealed six dimensions of push factors, three dimensions of pull factors, two dimensions of perceived travel risks, three dimensions of perceived travel constraints and two dimensions of behavioural intentions of senior citizen tourists. Under pull factors, two additional dimensions were found, namely, familiarity and friendliness quotient of a destination as well as health safety and security quotient of a destination and under perceived travel constraints, outbreak of COVID-19 has been identified as a novel structural constraint. Since there is very limited research on senior citizens’ behavioural intentions to travel, the current study adds to the body of knowledge by identifying the additional factors that affect the same. Further, the study develops and validates the items through qualitative and quantitative analysis. © The Author(s) 2022.

Understanding Students' Behavioural Intentions To Use Social Media Learning In Education: A Utaut Model Approach

This paper seeks to examine students' behavioral intention to adopt social media learning in education through a unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model based on data collected from 279 undergraduate students of different colleges of Delhi University, Delhi, India. The results revealed that students' behavioral intention to use social media learning in education is significantly affected by their perceptions about performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and Covid-19 induced social isolation but not by social factors. Out of four moderating variables, the impact of only one variable, i.e., area of residence is found to be most significant across all the relationships studied. Study results are important for the policymakers to incorporate social media tools as an essential part of their future policies for higher education in India, and by extension for educational levels as well. © 2021 IEEE.

Applying the UTAUT2 to predict the acceptance of blended learning by university students

Purpose: The study applied the Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance and Use Theory 2 (UTAUT2) to predict blended learning acceptance by students in universities in Zimbabwe. Blended learning is a heterogeneous mode of teaching and learning that combines face-to-face (F2F) and online modes. Owing to advances in technology, and recently, the advent of pandemics, such as COVID-19, the need for multimodal teaching approaches, such as blended learning, to enhance access to education in universities has become very important. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach that used a structured questionnaire for data collection from a sample of 432 postgraduate students was used. Data validation was done using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The structural equation modelling technique was used for data analysis. Findings: Results showed that out of the seven factors of the UTAUT2, the factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influences, facilitating conditions and hedonic motivation significantly and positively influenced the behavioural intentions of students in universities to accept blended learning. On the other hand, habit and price value did not significantly influence university students' behavioural intentions to accept the bended learning mode. It was further shown in the study that behavioural intentions significantly influenced the acceptance of blended learning by university students. In light of the above results, it was concluded that the UTAUT2 could be used to predict the acceptance of blended learning by university students. Research limitations/implications: The main study limitation was that it was only carried out at universities that had information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure challenges owing to the fact that the economic situation in Zimbabwe is depressed. Limited ICT infrastructure in the universities might have had some impact on the nature of behavioural intentions of students to accept blended learning as a learning mode. Further research could be carried out in countries with better economies that are able to fund ICT infrastructures of their universities and to establish whether the results of the current study could either be confirmed, disconfirmed or enriched. Practical implications: The paper suggests that universities need to increase investment in ICT infrastructure as well as in capacitating students with the necessary ICT skills for the effective use of institutional ICT when learning using the blended learning mode. Without adequate and appropriate ICT infrastructure as well as necessary ICT skills, students may develop low motivation levels and negative attitudes towards blended learning, which may eventually may affect their acceptance of the learning mode. Originality/value: There is no known study that has been conducted using the UTAUT2 to establish antecedents of behavioural intentions of students to accept blended learning in the context of Zimbabwean universities. This study therefore opens new ground on factors influencing the acceptance of blended learning in the context of Zimbabwean universities. Also, the results showed that habit and price value do not significantly contribute to the behavioural intentions of university students to accept blended learning, which is not consistent with findings of past studies. This inconsistency opens new opportunities for further studies on the conditions under which these two factors can be used to significantly contribute to the development of behavioural intentions of students to accept blended learning. © 2022, Norman Rudhumbu.

Factors associated with using the internet for medical information based on the doctor-patient trust model: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Internet medical care has been advancing steadily, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the development momentum of Internet medical care in China is more vigorous. This study aimed to explore the factors associated with using the Internet for medical information, to examine the popularisation and implementation of Internet medical treatment and feasible strategies, and promote the further development of Internet medical treatment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 408 medical patients who had used online medical services. The one-way analysis of variance or independent samples t-test was used to compare the differences in the influence of demographic characteristics on behavioural intentions of different people seeking medical care. Pearson's correlation was used to evaluate the correlation between different measurement variables. A mediation regression analysis was used to explore the mediating role of trust in Internet medical care. RESULTS: The difference in the influence of Internet medical use frequency on the behavioural intention of different participants was statistically significant (F = 3.311, P = 0.038). Among the influencing factors, personal trust propensity (r = 0.387, P < 0.01), website credibility (r = 0.662, P < 0.01), hospital credibility (r = 0.629, P < 0.01), doctor's credibility (r = 0.746, P < 0.01), and online patient trust (r = 0.874, P < 0.01) were positively correlated with patients' behavioural intentions. In the analysis of intermediary factors, the total effect of the credibility of the diagnosis and treatment website on the behavioural intention of patients was 0.344. The total effect of the credibility of the diagnosis and treatment hospital on the behavioural intention of patients was 0.312; the total effect of the service doctor's credibility on the patient's behavioural intention was 0.385; the total effect of the personal trust tendency on the patient's behavioural intention was 0.296. CONCLUSIONS: This study found defects in various factors that produce distrust in Internet medical treatment. It also reveals the positive effect of trust factors on the development and implementation of Internet medical treatment and provides some ideas for improving the use of Internet medical treatment by the masses.

Personal experience with Covid-19 is associated with increased environmental concern and pro-environmental behavioral intentions.

Climate change attributable to human activities has created a global threat to humanity and the natural world. However, there is a tendency for people to view climate change as a threat primarily affecting those in far-away places and there is reluctance to engage in pro-environmental action, which is often costly. It is therefore crucial to understand the factors that shape willingness to engage in pro-environmental behavior. Existing research suggests that personal experience with the consequences of climate change may increase pro-environmental action, however it is unknown whether personal experiences in other non-environmental domains may have similar effects. The circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic allowed us to conduct a quasi-natural experiment to examine the effects of personal experience with a different global threat, namely Covid-19, on environmental responses. Across two studies conducted among UK and US participants, we found that personal experience of Covid-19 was associated with pro-environmental behavioral intentions, and that this relationship was mediated by increased environmental concern. We found that personal experience with Covid-19 was associated with stronger self-transcendence values of universalism and benevolence, which played a further mediating role between personal experience with the virus and environmental concern. These findings suggest that personal experience with at least some global threats, even when not directly related to climate change, may increase concern for distant others and also sensitize people to environmental issues and motivate pro-environmental action.

Experience or attribution? Exploring the relationship between personal experience, political affiliation, and subjective attributions with mitigation behavioural intentions and COVID-19 recovery policy support.

Scholars argue that personal experience with climate change related impacts can increase public engagement, with mixed empirical evidence. Previous studies have almost exclusively focussed on individuals' experience with extreme weather events, even as scientific research on health impacts of climate change is burgeoning. This article extends previous research in the domain of public perceptions about climate-related public health impacts. Results from a nationally representative sample survey in New Zealand indicates that subjective attribution of infectious disease outbreaks to climate change and to human impact on the environment is positively associated with mitigation behavioural intentions and climate-focussed COVID-19 economic recovery policies. In contrast, knowledge about COVID-19 and self-reported economic impact due to COVID-19 is not associated with policy support. Moreover, significant interaction between political affiliation and subjective attribution to climate change on policy support indicate that learning about the links between health and climate change will particularly help increase mitigation engagement among right-leaning individuals. Subjective attribution may be the key to help translate personal experience to personal engagement.

Data on corona-virus readiness strategies influencing customer satisfaction and customer behavioural intentions in South African retail stores.

This article presents raw inferential statistical data that determined the coronavirus readiness strategies at retail stores in South Africa and their consequences for consumer behavioural intentions. The data was collected from customers within the metropolitan area of Bloemfontein. The data were analysed using a quantitative approach. Structured questionnaires were provided to customers throughout South Africa's Bloemfontein metropolitan area. Reliability and validity were confirmed. The data was presented using Structural Equation modelling (SEM) using the Smart PLS program. The analysis of the SEM path shows estimates of the interconnectivity of the major constructs in the data. The findings from this dataset show that sanitised retail entrances, sanitised retail counters and sanitised retail shelves had a statistically significant effect on customer satisfaction with covid-19 readiness in retail stores. Furthermore, the data reveals that retail social distancing and senior citizens shopping hours had a statistically insignificant effect on customer satisfaction with covid-19 readiness. Moreover, the data reveals that customer satisfaction with covid-19 readiness strategies of retail stores also had a positive and statistically significant effect on customer behavioural intentions.