Indonesian martial artists' preferences in martial arts schools: Sustaining business competitiveness through conjoint analysis.

The popularity of martial arts in the present times has become apparent, therefore, it is necessary to explore martial artists' preferences and the schools' competitiveness. The purpose of this study was to assess martial artists' preferences concerning the services offered by martial arts schools. Conjoint analysis was utilized to analyze the responses of fifty-five (55) martial artists based on the seven (7) martial arts schools' attributes. The results showed that the type of martial arts was found to be the most important attribute (30.449%) followed by distance (27.970%), price range (22.706%), social environment (11.097%), class preference (5.080%), goal (1.562%), and schedule (1.135%). Furthermore, Muay Thai or Kickboxing was the most preferred martial art, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) was the second priority, next was Taekwondo, then Karate, and finally Boxing. In addition, the martial artists' preferred distance was less than 8 km, and a monthly training cost of 150,000 to 450,000 IDR (10 to 20 USD). Martial artists liked attending open classes, treated martial arts as a hobby, and favored attending classes once or twice weekly. With the lack of conjoint-related studies in the martial arts industry, the findings contributed to academicians and addressed issues of inadequate studies. Most importantly, the researchers presented managerial implications to leverage marketing techniques and develop the business operations of martial arts schools.

Determinants of continuous visiting behavior to Palawan, Philippines: Integrating Uncertainty Reduction Theory and Expectation Confirmation Theory.

Palawan is a globally known island located in the Philippines. It has received several recognitions from a variety of international tourism organizations. The study aims to identify the factors affecting continuous visiting behavior to Palawan's travel accommodations. The study incorporated covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) to apply ideologies of Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) and Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT). 712 valid respondents answered an online questionnaire that was distributed to several social media platforms. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) identified that interactive uncertainty significantly influenced perceived performance compared to passive uncertainty. Both the physical environment and attitude of employees significantly produced an impact on service experience and price acceptance. However, the physical environment negatively influenced price acceptance. Meanwhile, the attitude of employees was the sole exogenous variable that influenced price acceptance. Food and beverage didn't contribute a significant influence on service experience and price acceptance. Additionally, perceived performance and service experience contributed to positive confirmation. It was also revealed that confirmation was significant towards price acceptance, but was insignificant towards tourist satisfaction. Moreover, price acceptance significantly influenced tourist satisfaction. This study is the first comprehensive study that analyzed the visiting behavior in Palawan. Finally, integrating URT and ECT can be applied and extended, especially for analyzing the visiting behavior of different tourist destinations worldwide.

Factors Influencing Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) Game Engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic: The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Hedonic Motivation System Adoption Model (HMSAM) Approach.

The prominent form of Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is found in the gaming industry. NFT games received immense attention during the COVID-19 pandemic because of their play-to-earn model. NFT gamers can enjoy and increase their finances in their spare time. Hence, the researchers utilized Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to investigate the intention and immersive behaviors of 1082 respondents. The modified framework from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Hedonic Motivation System Adoption Model (HMSAM) underwent SEM tests. These theories and methods were used to analyze relationships among hypotheses and assess factors influencing NFT game engagement. The results showed that hedonic motivation produced positive and significant influences on perceived usefulness, curiosity, joy, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Subjective norms significantly influenced perceived ease of use. In due course, perceived ease of use yielded positive and significant effects on perceived usefulness, joy, attitude, and perceived behavioral control. Moreover, perceived usefulness, curiosity, joy, attitude, and perceived behavioral control had significant positive effects on behavioral intention. In addition, perceived usefulness, curiosity, joy, and attitude significantly and positively affected immersion. Meanwhile, only four hypotheses were not supported by the study. These findings were translated into theoretical and managerial implications to contribute to the academe given the strong the change of behavior of users towards NFT games during the pandemic; gaming industry since they will be able to develop, improve and create a new ecosystem in the gaming space, and NFT stakeholders since they will benefit from the development that will influence this study.