The roles of attitude,subjective norm,and perceived behavioral control in the formation of consumers’ behavioral intentions to read menu labels in the restaurant industry

Increases in food-away-from-home purchases brought public awareness to policies for improving nutritional value of foods served at restaurants. As a result, offering choices to consumers that affect health and wellness has become a growing concern in the food industry and restaurants, as evidenced by provisions for nutritional labeling to guide consumers’ food purchasing decisions for healthy eating. This study pursues an empirical examination of the consumers’ behavior toward reading nutritional labeling at casual-dining restaurants. The study tests the conceptual framework of the proposed effects of constructs on consumers’ behavioral intentions. Findings indicate that the variable of attitude acts as a mediator in the relationship between subjective norm and behavioral intention. This study is meaningful to academia by offering insights into the relationship between consumers’ behavior and nutritional information in the context of restaurants and is beneficial to the restaurant industry by offering implications for establishing marketing strategies to improve consumers’ perceptions of menu items.     

Understanding Personal Web Usage in Organizations

Personal web usage, that is, non-work-related use of the Internet for personal purposes during work hours, is a pervasive behavior observed in the daily work environment. U.S. companies have implemented several countermeasures to cope with personal Web usage, but those measures have not successfully mitigated this behavior. Considering the significance of personal Web usage, we need to understand why personal Web usage is not alleviated in current organizations. The goal of this study is to present an empirical investigation of why employees continue personal Web usage based on an extended theory of planned behavior. We are particularly interested in how people's perceptions of moral dimensions contribute to personal Web usage, recognizing that our work environment becomes more Web-embedded. We conducted a field survey of 426 U.S. business professionals and analyzed the data by using partial least squares. As a result, we demonstrate that an individual's attitude, subjective norm, denial of responsibility, self-efficacy, personal computer availability, seclusion of office, and workload are significant factors affecting personal Web usage. Interestingly, current organizational preventive efforts (e.g., Web-based activity monitoring and filtering systems and policies) and moral obligation are not as significant as we originally expected. Key implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Intention to pay conventional-hotel prices at a green hotel – a modification of the theory of planned behavior

Numerous studies have employed the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to understand customers’ behaviors in various fields, but none has tested and extended the theory to explain customers’ decision formation to pay comparable regular-hotel prices for a green hotel. This is the first study designed to test and modify the TPB by including environmental concerns, perceived customer effectiveness and environmentally conscious behaviors, which are critical in explaining eco-friendly consumer behaviors. Salient belief items were identified using an elicitation method (focus group and open-ended survey). A survey obtained 389 respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that measurement items for all study variables had an adequate level of reliability and validity. The findings from the structural equation modeling showed that the proposed model had a satisfactory fit to the data and better predicted hotel customers’ intention than the original TPB. The results also indicated that all antecedent variables of intention significantly contributed to forming the intention to pay conventional-hotel prices for a green hotel. Respondents were happy to have minor inconveniences, e.g. reusing towels and using recycled products, and were keen to learn about the positive environmental attributes of green hotels. Benefit awareness was shown to be important in customer decision-making.     

Institutional Pressures and an Evolving Forest Carbon Market

It is estimated that 87 million acres of forestland in the United States (US) is managed by private industrial forestland owners (nearly 14% of the forestland nationwide). Private industrial forestland owners include forest product companies, Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Current regulatory and voluntary carbon markets, as well as proposed national emission reduction legislation, in the US make provisions for substantial carbon offsets from domestic forestry projects. This research employs the theory of planned behavior by means of an online questionnaire in order to survey large industrial forestland owners (>30 000 acres) regarding intentions to manage forestland for carbon sequestration and trading. Quantitative results suggest that very few organizations (18%) were managing forestland for carbon values. Attitudes towards carbon sequestration and trading were significantly influenced by the managers' beliefs that emission reduction legislation would become law and that US forest carbon offsets can be used as a legitimate climate change mitigation tool. Qualitative results revealed that most organizations are taking a passive approach to carbon sequestration and trading until a suitable regulatory framework emerges and carbon prices provide the conditions for a sound investment. The researchers suggest that, given the size and scope of the climate change phenomenon as well as the multifaceted and unified mitigation strategy required to address it, the development of functional carbon markets will be an iterative process and may require a global carbon framework that reflects the globalized nature of the forest economy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

高职学生信息交互行为的影响因素研究

在高职学生的发展过程中,信息交互是高职学生获取隐性信息的重要方法之一,可以提高学生的可持续发展能力。然而由于其自身的特殊性,隐性信息的获取是及其困难的。因此本文以计划行为理论为基础,以高职学生为研究对象,深入了解高职学生对待信息交互的态度,在此基础上,拟定问卷并进行调研,最后利用SPSS13.0对调研的数据进行信度和效度分析,从而得出影响高职学生信息交互行为的要素。     

What Drives Micro-Angel Investments?

Despite of the significant role of informal venture capital in the financing of new entrepreneurial ventures, there is little research explaining the factors determining the propensity of individuals to make microangel investments. Building on two theoretical frameworks, a social psychological theory of planned behavior and an economic theory on the determinants of demand for risky assets in household portfolios, we develop a set of hypotheses predicting the propensity of individuals to make informal investments in new businesses owned by others. In our analysis we test whether the determinants of micro-angel investments are similar when investing in a business owned by a close family member versus more distant business. The hypotheses are tested using data from 6007 interviews of Finnish adults carried out in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor program in 2000–2002. The findings show that the theoretical frameworks have more power in explaining investments in firms not owned by close family members. The study provides new understanding of the differences in the drivers of different types of micro-angel investments.     

Applying an extended theory of planned behavior to examine state-branded food product purchase behavior: The moderating effect of gender

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to use an extended model of the theory of planned behavior to investigate the antecedents which lead to consumers’ purchase of state-branded food products. Relationships among attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, health-consciousness, intention to purchase, and actual purchase were examined. In addition, the moderating role of gender on consumer purchasing was assessed. The hypothetical model was empirically tested using data collected via Amazon Mechanical Turk (Mturk). Results implicated that consumers’ attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control of purchasing state-branded products significantly predicted their intention to purchase, and consumers’ intention to purchase significantly predicted their actual purchase of state-branded products. The relationship between health-consciousness and intention to purchase, however, was not found. Gender differences were found only between consumers’ perceived behavioral control of state-branded purchasing and their intention to purchase. Implications for marketers, farmers, and restaurant owners are provided.     

知行转换视角下水利工程精细化管理推进机制研究

精细化管理能有效保证水利工程安全、健康、高效运行,是水利工程发展的必然趋势,但水利工程精细化管理推行过程中普遍存在知行偏差问题。从知行转换视角出发,在梳理水利工程精细化管理特点的基础上,从个体和组织两个层面分析了水利工程精细化管理知行转换偏差的成因,利用动因理论和计划行为理论,遵循“行为意向影响因素—行为意向—行为”的逻辑分析了知行转换的内在机理,构建了“利益、激励约束、绩效评价和协同”四位一体的水利工程精细化管理推进机制总体框架,并结合水利工程管理体制与机制特点,对4个机制的运行展开了探讨。研究结果表明：利益机制是精细化管理知行转换的内驱力,运行内容主要包括利益诉求信息的收集处理、合理利益诉求的满足和各方利益合理诉求的引导等;激励约束机制是精细化管理知行转换的外驱力,由于精细化管理自上而下行政推动的特性,其运行方式需从组织和个体两个层面考虑;评价机制是激励约束机制的前置环节,同时也是精细化管理知行转换的外驱力,运行主体内容包括结果或成效端口和管理要素端口两部分;协同机制是精细化管理知行转换的重要保障,包括外部政产学研协同和内部“三全育人”协同两个层面。     

基于扩展计划行为理论的乡村旅游经营者从众行为研究——西安市上王村实证

乡村旅游是实现巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果同乡村振兴有效衔接的重要路径选择。乡村旅游经营者的从众行为能够促进旅游地的规范化与规模化发展,但一味地盲从也必然会给旅游地造成不可挽回的损失,理性对待乡村旅游经营者的从众行为对旅游地的可持续发展意义深远。本文基于扩展的计划行为理论基本框架,引入精英影响感知和模糊情境感知两个变量,对乡村旅游经营者从众行为意向的影响因素进行实证研究,并构建乡村旅游经营者从众行为形成机制的理论模型。研究发现,行为态度、指令性规范、知觉行为控制、精英影响感知和模糊情境感知与从众行为意向呈显著正相关关系。另外,乡村旅游经营者的受教育水平对从众行为意向存在显著影响,且呈现受教育水平越高从众行为意向越低的趋势。为了进一步发展乡村旅游,助推乡村振兴,建议提升乡村旅游经营者的经营能力;发挥乡村旅游精英的信息传递与示范带动作用;落实政府的引导与监管职能;防范政府决策层的盲从行为。     

Factores determinantes de la lealtad al proveedor de servicios turísticos online

The aim of this study is to analyze the factors determining loyalty towards online tourist services supplier with a model which integrates the influence of trust in tourism websites with the conceptual framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 305 airline travel tickets online purchasers, with the use of structural equation models. The results of the empirical study suggest that the three variables of TPB (perceived control, subjective norm and attitude) positively influence loyalty towards Internet use to purchase airline tickets. The role of trust is especially relevant as it also boosts the effect of TPB variables. Finally, a set of managerial implications are considered.