Ophthalmology Practice-Related Factors and Patient Loyalty: Mediating Role of Patient Satisfaction.

Background: In the current period, competition among the healthcare sector has increased and healthcare providers try to get loyalty and satisfy the patients by establishing different strategies. Purpose: : This current study aims to discover ophthalmology practice-related factors and patient loyalty and to analyze the mediating role of patient satisfaction in private ophthalmology services in various private centers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: : The nature of the study is quantitative, and data is collected with a questionnaire. We used a pre-tested questionnaire that was divided into different sections assessing ophthalmology practice-related factors, patient satisfaction, and patient loyalty. These were measured using a 5-point Likert scale, focusing on financial aspects, access to facilities, staff services, and ophthalmologist services. Further, the smartPLS technique was used to extract the results by using SmartPLS. Results: : The analysis sample size consisted of 323 participants from Saudi Arabia. The results found that ophthalmologist service has a positive relationship with patient satisfaction (ß= 0.369, p = 0.000) as well as patient loyalty (ß= 0.234, p = 0.004), but there are some ophthalmology practice-related factors such as financial aspects, access and facilities, and staff service, which showed no relationship with patient loyalty but a positive relationship with patient satisfaction. Further analysis found that patient satisfaction as a mediator has a positive relationship between ophthalmology practice-related factors, namely, ophthalmologist service (ß= 0.228, P= 0.000), financial aspects (ß= 0.102, p = 0.019), access and facilities (ß= 0.109, p =0.000), and staff service (ß= 0.188, p = 0.000) with patient loyalty. Conclusion: : The present study findings reveal the importance of focused patient satisfaction improvements in enhancing patient loyalty within ophthalmological clinic settings in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, we recommend future exploratory prospective research to find the satisfaction and loyalty factors that change over a period of time.

Bookkeeping practices and SME performance: The intervening role of owners' accounting skills.

Aside from statutory requirements, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) hardly take into consideration reliable accounting systems. Therefore, poor and ineffective bookkeeping has contributed to the collapse of some SMEs. This paper examines the intervening role of owners' accounting skills in the relationship between bookkeeping practices and the performance of SMEs in the Ho Municipal Assembly of Ghana using a sample of 296 SMEs. In a structural equation modelling (SEM) framework, the Smart Partial Least Squares (Smart-PLS) software is employed to analyse the relationships between owners' accounting skills, bookkeeping practices, and the performance of SMEs. We find that bookkeeping practices and owners' accounting skills have significant positive effects on the performance of SMEs. Most importantly, we show the existence of a significant indirect relationship between bookkeeping practices and SME performance such that owners' accounting skills positively intervenes the relationship between bookkeeping practices and SME performance. Thus, in the presence of higher owners' accounting skills, the relationship between bookkeeping and the performance of SMEs is strengthened further. In a typical emerging economy context, while appropriate regulatory bodies, such as the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), in the Ghanaian context, and local revenue collection authorities could put forth measures like periodic compliance audits to ensure that registered SMEs are managed by skilled personnel, fostering them to meet basic requirements for keeping records and managing their accounts to improve their performance, it is worth acknowledging that the onus lies on SME managers to recognise the relevance of good recordkeeping and account management practices to ensure sustained business performance.

Reducing SDG complexity and informing environmental management education via an empirical six-dimensional model of sustainable development.

Effective environmental management higher education programs are essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet SDG complexity means many educators focus on environment and avoid critical but challenging social, economic and governance aspects. This undermines the calls for comprehensive environmental management education that effectively integrates all key sustainability dimensions. Various sustainability models, mostly founded on the pillars of sustainability, have consequently evolved. They are generally conceptual and/or involve subjective categorization of the SDGs, which has led to demands for more empirically based models. This study has consequently used a mixed-method approach to model Australian university students' SDG perceptions. The qualitative research identified three items (on average) for each SDG, and a quantitative survey then measured their perceived importance. Factor analysis generated a robust six-dimensional sustainable development model comprised of 37 SDG items, which validates environment and governance aspects of some traditional pillar-based sustainability models. It has also uncovered new social and economic dimensions: social harmony and equality; sustainable consumption and socioeconomic behaviors; sustainable production, industry and infrastructure; and acute poverty reduction. These findings can help educators, organizations and citizens to categorize and integrate SDGs via better understanding of their key dimensions and impacts.

The impact of deontological and teleological variables on the intention to visit green hotel: The moderating role of trust.

Green hotels have grown in popularity due to customers' increased awareness of environmental issues. This study aims to construct and evaluate a model that combines the theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the theory of ethics to explain green hotel visitors' intentions and behavior. The study also considers the role of trust & subjective norms as a moderator. The framework of the study was evaluated using a quantitative method. Most of the respondents to the study, which was carried out in Noakhali, Bangladesh, were students at Noakhali Science and Technology University and their family members. The data was collected from 414 respondents and analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The data collection took around two weeks, starting from December 3, 2021. According to the study's findings, the deontological (Moral obligation and justice) and teleological variables (perceived benefit and perceived risk) significantly influence green hotel visitors' intentions and actual behavior. Moreover, trust noticeably influences the relationship between subjective norm (SN) and Intention, and subjective norm affects the connection between attitude and intention. Therefore, hotel management can utilize this research to examine and understand visitors' intention and actual behavior to visit green hotels, which will assist them in attracting guests by portraying their services as eco-friendly. Furthermore, the findings may help hotel management formulate competitive marketing strategies, design effective promotional tools, and help generate an eco-conscious customer base.

Factors affecting adoption of self-service E-ticketing technology: A study on heritage sites in Bangladesh.

E-ticketing as a self-service technology has become very popular in tourism, especially in the airline industry. But, the e-ticketing adoption behavior of heritage visitors received very little attention from tourism researchers, especially in developing countries. This research applied the technology acceptance model and theory of planned behavior to investigate heritage visitors' self-service e-ticketing adoption behavior. This research used primary data collected from visitors at five heritage sites in Bangladesh. The PLS-based structural equation modeling technique was applied to test the structural model. This research has found that ease of use and subjective norm have significant positive associations with attitude and intention to use e-ticketing. But, privacy concern has a significant negative association with attitude and e-ticketing intention. Perceived usefulness has a significant positive association with attitude but not e-ticketing intention. Attitude plays an important role in e-ticketing adoption behavior by moderating the relationships between e-ticketing intention and other constructs (ease of use, subjective norm, and privacy concern). This research provides valuable insights into visitors' technology adoption behavior for the academics and authorities of heritage sites in developing countries. This paper has discussed the theoretical and practical implications.

Modeling circular economy innovation and performance indicators in European Union countries.

The concept of circular economy (CE) is increasingly prominent in European Union (EU) countries, considering the demand for incorporating renewable resources into end products. Similar to sustainable development dimensions, CE indicators can be classified within economic, social, and environmental protection categories, depending on their measuring scope, and within micro-, meso-, and macro-level, depending on the level of observation. The aim of the research is to determine the impact of CE innovation on CE performance in EU countries by modeling the Eurostat indicators via SmartPLS software. Relying on the relevant literature review, the paper first presents the concept of CE and the composite indicators used for evaluating its specific performances, as well as previous global and European experiences. Further, the study focuses on the modeling options for CE performance composite indicators demonstrating the relationship between the accomplishments of CE and the use of innovative measures at the level of products, services, or processes. Based on the data from EU27 countries for the period 2018-2021, the paper explores the relationship between variable and model composite indicators using SmartPLS software. SmartPLS output results support four assumption paths between CE indicator groups which are also confirmed with convergent and discriminant validity and heterotrait-monotrait ratio (HTMT) values. CE path modeling structure confirms the positive connection between CE innovations and CE performance emphasizing the need for providing a supportive environment and funds for innovations.

Mediating role of wellbeing among organizational virtuousness, emotional intelligence and job performance in post-pandemic COVID-19.

It is devastating to people's mental and emotional health to be exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the multifaceted response strategies are required to curb it. As a result of social distancing and self-isolation, people have faced many challenges in their lives. The suffering is even greater at the workplace where the employees are working with the fear of getting exposed to the virus and its new variants which is adversely affecting their wellbeing. This study explores and tests a model that extends the wellbeing research across organizational settings and targets the crucial factors that lead to job performance improvement even in the post pandemic COVID-19 situation. To improve both in-role performance and extra-role performance behaviors in the Pakistan banking sector, organizational virtue (also known as organizational virtuousness) and internal virtue (also known as emotional intelligence) are examined. Data were collected from the 416 bank employees using disproportionate stratified sampling technique. In the bank sector of Pakistan, wellbeing was identified as the key psychological factor that relates the in-role performance and extra-role performance to internal and organizational factors. Research findings also determined that conceptualizing subjective wellbeing in the context of work is more meaningful in understanding its relationship with the workplace variables than the general or global subjective wellbeing.

Impact of environmental triggers on students' behavior to use ride-sharing services: the moderating role of perceived risk.

Ride-sharing services are a sustainable form of the transportation system that needs to be popularized among students by examining the crucial factors that determine the students' behavior to use the innovative service. Therefore, this paper attempts to explore students' behavior regarding the use of ride-sharing services by extending the "Technology Acceptance Model." The expanded model includes the current TAM structures and integrates contextual stimuli that may or may not affect the ride-sharing service's behavior. Moreover, the study focuses on determining the moderating role of perceived risk between the proposed relationships. The paper uses PLS-SEM to analyze the research model and determine the results of the hypotheses. The findings of this research are useful for ride-sharing service providers and policymakers who can promote the services among students by reducing the perceived risks and promoting the environmental benefits of ride-sharing. Furthermore, the limitations of this paper pose future research directions.

The Impact of Extraversion and Introversion on Millennials Propensity to Recommend Their Preferred Fitness Center.

Millennials of the 21st century tend to have an active daily life and practice more sports, spending more on health and fitness. Therefore, the present paper seeks to investigate the propensity of Millennials to recommend their preferred fitness center, depending on their psychological condition (i.e., introversion versus extraversion), which may lead to their tendency to practice and to their involvement and satisfaction with the fitness center. The authors deduce a conceptual model from the literature, which is further analyzed with data collected through an empirical investigation based on a face-to-face administered questionnaire. Data gathered from 2138 Millennials are investigated with the help of structural equation modeling using SmartPLS. The results show that a positive image of a fitness center stimulates the satisfaction of extravert and introvert consumers. Millennials have different personality types, such as extraversion and introversion, that influence their propensity to practice fitness and to recommend their favorite fitness center. It can be concluded that not only extraversion but also introversion influence consumers' satisfaction, positively impacting the consumer's intention to recommend their favorite fitness center to peers.

The use of self-protective measures to prevent COVID-19 spread: an application of the health belief model.

This study uses a health belief model to examine the preventive behavioral orientation or self-protective measures adopted by people in the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 603 participants were selected from the city of Bangalore, India. The data was collected through an online survey with participants' age varying between 17 and 54 and mean as 23 years (SD = 4.32). The findings revealed that perceived barrier has significant negative impact, while perceived threat, perceived consequences, perceived benefits, community and individual self-efficacy, and general health cues have a positive influence on an individual's intention to follow self-protective measures against COVID-19. Based on the constructs of the health belief model, this study proposes multiple health-related interventions to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards the adoption of hybrid rice production in Bangladesh: an PLS-SEM approach.

Although the government policy supports the adoption of hybrid rice in Bangladesh but there is no significant progress has been made over the last decades. The study aimed to determine farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) of hybrid rice adoption, and the causal relationship between them in Bangladesh. Using a stratified random sampling technique, 244 cross-sectional surveys were done from the Sherpur district of Bangladesh. The descriptive statistics, two-round Delphi method, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) were used to estimate latent variables and identify the causal relationship between KAPs. The results revealed that farmers' knowledge and attitudes were directly and significantly associated with the adoption of hybrid rice. This implies that farmers who are well informed about the usage of hybrid rice and are likely to embrace it and raise their revenue, can be influenced by knowledge. The study found a significant positive role for knowledge about hybrid rice, attitudes, and practices in adopting hybrid rice. This study provides a primary understanding of the relationship between psychological factors and the adoption of hybrid rice technology to increase rice farm productivity. The findings suggest that policymakers, researchers and development agencies should focus on farmers' psychological factors in improving the adoption of hybrid rice in Bangladesh.

Physical Activities and Learning Experience of Higher Education Students: Mediating Role of Quality of Life and Physical Self-Esteem.

The impacts of physical activities (PAs) on psychological and physical health consequences have been examined in both nonclinical and clinical contexts. Although PAs' influences on physical consequences are regularly beneficial, the psychological positive impacts are less well-understood. This study investigates the effects of PA on physical consequences (i.e., physical self-esteem) and psychological and cognitive consequences (i.e., quality of life and learning experience). PA has been found to improve quality of life (QOL), learning experience (LP), and physical self-esteem. Mixed findings from prior studies suggested that the relationship between these variables might be direct or indirect. Data were collected via a self-administrated questionnaire from 510 higher education students in different Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) universities. The collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) and the SmartPLS 4 program. The SEM results show that PAs directly help in enhancing the student learning experience. The results support the mediating role of student physical self-esteem and quality of life in the relationship between physical activities and learning experience. Several theoretical and practical implications were elaborated on and discussed, along with limitations and further research opportunities.

Job Disengagement Among Physical Education Teachers: Insights From a Cross-sectional Web-Based Survey With Path Modeling Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Physical education teachers often experience stress and job disengagement. OBJECTIVE: This study's aims were as follows: (1) to adapt in the Arabic language and test the reliability and the validity of the work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC) scales, (2) to develop and assess the psychometric properties of work disengagement among physical education teachers, and (3) to evaluate an explanatory model by presenting the mediating role of perceived stress as a major influencing factor in work disengagement and job satisfaction. METHODS: A total of 303 primary and secondary school physical education teachers, comprising 165 (54.5%) men and 138 (45.5%) women participated voluntarily in our study. The measuring instruments are the Work Disengagement Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, the WFC scale, the FWC scale, and the 9-item Teacher of Physical Education Job Satisfaction Inventory. RESULTS: The Arabic language versions of the WFC and FWC scales had reasonably adequate psychometric properties, which were justified by confirmatory factor analyses and by the measurement of reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity through the measurement model using SmartPLS software. Similarly, the structural model established with SmartPLS confirmed strong links of the concepts of FWC, WFC, the job satisfaction questionnaire, and perceived stress with work disengagement among teachers of physical education. CONCLUSIONS: There is a growing interest in helping teachers cope with the daily pressures of work and family. A positive organizational context is a context with clear values regarding work priorities, which constitutes the basis of a feeling of shared responsibility and professional support. Good conditions can act as protective factors reducing work stress and positively influencing personal well-being, work attitudes, work commitment, and professional efficiency. Additional research on teachers is needed to examine the relationship between perceived work stress and the role of families, along with the extent to which this association can have a significant impact on teachers' commitment to work.

Improving consumer stickiness in livestream e-commerce: A mixed-methods study.

With the continuous development and improvement of Internet media technologies in China, the influence of livestream e-commerce is becoming increasingly prominent, and an increasing number of people are engaging in consumption activities in this field. It is important to study consumer stickiness in livestream e-commerce to promote economic structure adjustment and innovation-driven development. Therefore, in this study, we adopted the expectation confirmation theory (ECT) as the theoretical framework and analyzed the ECT and stickiness. The study considered satisfaction as the previous influencing factor of user and consumer stickiness, replaced the continuance intention in the expectation confirmation model with consumer stickiness as the explanatory variable, introduced the variable of perceived playfulness as the value perception after user experience, and established a consumer stickiness factors model. A total of 262 valid questionnaires were collected in this study, and SmartPLS analysis along with interviews were used to justify the limitations of data analysis. The results of the study demonstrated a significant effect of perceived usefulness and confirmation on satisfaction, a significant effect of confirmation on perceived usefulness, a significant effect of satisfaction on stickiness, and a significant effect of confirmation on perceived playfulness. Based on findings from the data analysis and interviews, we further proposed rationalized recommendations, and aimed to provide some theoretical guidance for future research on live streaming.

Relationship Between Unhappy Musicians, Resistance Toward Innovation and Uncreative Music Products: Psychological Security as Moderator.

Recently, uncreative music products have become a global issue due to the unhappy musicians and resistance to innovation that needs researchers' focus. This article explores the impact of unhappy musicians and resistance to innovation on uncreative music products in Malaysia. This article also investigates the moderating role of psychological security among the relationships of unhappy musicians, resistance to innovation, and uncreative music products in Malaysia. This study has applied the questionnaire method to gather the primary data from the selected respondents. The researchers have also applied the smart-PLS to check the nexus among constructs and test the hypotheses. The results revealed that unhappy musicians and resistance to innovation have a significant and positive linkage with uncreative music products in Malaysia. The results also revealed that psychological security significantly moderates the linkage among unhappy musicians, resistance to innovation, and uncreative music products in Malaysia. Thus, this study guides the regulators to develop the regulations to reduce the unhappiness among musicians and motivates the regulators to adopt innovation to increase the creative music product in Malaysia.

Determinants of Social Commerce Usage and Online Impulse Purchase: Implications for Business and Digital Revolution.

Since their introduction in the early 2000s, the use of social networking websites has exploded. Many businesses are seeing increased revenue due to their social commerce strategy. Despite the popularity of social commerce websites, some consumers are still hesitate to use them. This study aims to evaluate the factors that influence the adoption of social commerce. A sample of 721 Chinese We Chat users took part in the research. The findings reveal that social capital mediates the positive effect of social commerce adoption and perceived ease of use (PERU) on techno-stress and online impulse purchasing. Likewise, information overloading mediates the positive effect of social commerce adoption and PERU on techno-stress and online impulse purchasing. The findings have implications for both practice and research in understanding social commerce adoption in emerging economies.

Assessing Consumer Preference for Overpackaging Solutions in E-Commerce.

The emergence of e-commerce and express delivery services has significantly transformed business operations and consumer shopping experience. However, the resulting problem of packaging waste, particularly from overpackaging, poses serious challenges to environmental sustainability and human health. Existing research has proposed many solutions from various perspectives, but very few have considered the acceptability and consumer preference for these proposals. Using the value co-creation (VCC) theory, we established a research model to explore consumer preferences for e-commerce overpackaging solutions. A survey of 632 online consumers in Guangzhou and Shenzhen was conducted, and data were analyzed using the SmartPLS software. The results show that establishing a recycling system, government policy, and consumers' environmental awareness have a significant positive impact on consumer preference, while combined packaging has a significant negative impact. We also found that government policy plays an intermediary role in establishing a recycling system and consumer preference. Based on these findings, we recommend that enterprises establish and improve their packaging recycling systems and that e-commerce platforms provide alternative options to combined packaging. Also, the government should play a guiding and coordinating role for enterprises and consumers, and environmental awareness among consumers should actively be promoted.

The effect of ICT and higher-order capabilities on the performance of Ibero-American SMEs.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) has the ability to create value by enabling other firm capabilities. Based on the ICT-enabled capabilities perspective, this study explores the direct and indirect effects between lower- and higher-order capabilities, such as ICT, knowledge management capability (KM) and product innovation flexibility (PIF), on the performance of Ibero-American small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper uses second-order structural equation models to test the research hypotheses with a sample of 130 Ibero-American SMEs. The results contribute to filling the gap in the SME-focused literature on empirical studies examining ICT-enabled capabilities and firm performance. The results show an enabling effect of ICT on higher-order capabilities, such as KM and PIF, which, by acting as mediating variables, create value and improve performance through innovation in firms.

Augmenting the technology acceptance model with trust model for the initial adoption of a blockchain-based system.

BACKGROUND: In the collaborative business environment, blockchain coupled with smart contract removes the reliance on a central system and offers data integrity which is crucial when the transacting parties rely on the shared data. The acceptance of such blockchain-based systems is necessary for the continued use of the services. Despite many extensive studies evaluating the performance of blockchain-based systems, few have focused on users' acceptance of real-life applications. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this research is to evaluate the user acceptance of a real-life blockchain-based system (BBS) by observing various latent variables affecting the development of users' attitudes and intention to use the system. It also aims to uncover the dimensions and role of trust, security and privacy alongside the primary Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)-based predictors and their causal relationship with the users' behavior to adopt such BBS. METHODS: We tested the augmented TAM with Trust Model on a BBS that comprises two subsystems: a Shopping Cart System (SCS), a system oriented towards end-users and a Data Sharing System (DSS), a system oriented towards system administrators. We set research questions and hypotheses, and conducted online surveys by requesting each participant to respond to the questionnaire after using the respective system. The main study comprises two separate sub-studies: the first study was performed on SCS and the second on DSS. Furthermore, each study data comprises initial pre-test and post-test data scores. We analyzed the research model with partial least square structural equation modelling. RESULTS: The empirical study validates our research model and supports most of the research hypotheses. Based on our findings, we deduce that TAM-based predictors and trust constructs cannot be applied uniformly to BBS. Depending on the specifics of the BBS, the relationships between perceived trust antecedents and attitudes towards the system might change. For SCS, trust is the strongest determinant of attitudes towards system, while DSS has perceived privacy as the strongest determinant of attitudes towards system. Quality of system shows the strongest total effect on intention to use SCS, while perceived usefulness has the strongest total effect on intention to use DSS. Trust has a positive significant effect on users' attitudes towards both BSS, while security does not have any significant effect on users' attitudes toward BBS. In SCS, privacy positively affects trust, but security has no significant effect on trust, whereas, in DSS, both privacy and security have significant effects on trust. In both BBS, trust has a moderating effect on privacy that correlates with attitudes towards BBS, whereas security does not have any mediating role between privacy and attitudes towards BBS. Hence, we recommend that while developing BBS, particular attention should be paid to increasing user trust and perceived privacy.

The role of sense of place, risk perception, and level of disaster preparedness in disaster vulnerable mountainous areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.

The study endeavored to analyze the risk perception, sense of place, and disaster preparedness in response to landslide disaster-prone mountain areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. To this end, we surveyed 315 rural residents of two vulnerable landslide districts (Hunza and Nagar) of Gilgit-Baltistan. To explore the relationships between the dimensions of risk perception, sense of place, and disaster preparedness, we used partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the hypotheses. The results derived from PLS-SEM have implied that there is a significant negative relationship between risk perception (apprehension and unidentified) with a sense of place (bond with society and place dependence). It was observed that the residents usually overestimate the risks of disasters due to their limited scientific knowledge regarding disaster occurrence, which reduces their dependencies on the place. We revealed that disaster preparedness enhances the place attachment and reduces the apprehension of landslides in the study area. This study devotes to government and relevant agencies to devise policies that can help relocate the vulnerable rural settlements, develop, and educate the masses on disaster mitigation and prevention strategies, and help prepare a suitable landslide management plan.