Exploring Service Gratuity Motivations from a Cultural Context Aspect and the Moderating Role of Gender (Published)
The Saudi consumer, being the focus of this study, is driven by multiple forces and motivations that impact their consumption behavior, where the gender of consumer is another major determinant of those behaviors. While recent macroenvironmental changes were observed to justify the shifts in consumer behaviors, the cultural dimension and gender of consumer are the focus of our research. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between cultural context level and tipping motivations, and the moderating role of gender on this relationship. To assess this research, an SEM model is presented along six hypotheses to uncover the nature of relations among the said variables. With a sample size of 351 participants, respondent’s data confirmed that majority of sample do represent features of a high context culture, and the results are only similar with previous findings when assessing service as a dimension for tipping motivation. Social norms and peer pressure were not significant indicators of tipping behaviors for consumers in high context cultures. Furthermore, gender differences were clearly spotted, where females showed higher motivation to tip following motives of social norms and peer pressure. This study adds to the literature of cultural consumer behavior, and the findings represent handful information that can be applied by international managers to better understand and serve their global agenda.
Keywords: Consumer Behavior, Cultural Context, Saudi Arabia, Tipping
The Buying Pattern of Energy Drink and its Use among the Young Generation of Saudi Arabia (Published)
Energy drink intake has to turn into a favorite exercise around the world, in particular among the younger generation. In Saudi Arabia, there are significant limitations in energy drinks – in abstract, tastes, advertising, the attention of sponsorship, are not permitted,” however, it is not limited to the use of social media. The core purpose of this study is to investigate the consumption patterns of energy drinks among young people in Saudi Arabia even after partial restrictions on the promotion of energy drinks. This method of the research was used an exploratory approach in nature with the data collection through survey method (Maxim, 1999) were gathered from the respondents. A self-administered structured questionnaire was developed using survey monkey online services. After getting the responses, the data were edited, tabulated and analyzed using descriptive statistics (Frequency distribution) through the excel sheet and the result was explained accordingly. The result reveals that there is a trend of widespread use of energy drinks among young people, especially students in the age group 23-27 (72.10%). It also indicates that there is a high level of social acceptance of energy drink consumption in the region. The respondents showed a tendency towards buying decisions of it, but between the choice of brands, a certain degree of loyalty was shown. There is a call of some awareness program to increase the knowledge among the youth about the consumption of energy drinks and their effects on health.
Keywords: : Energy Drinks, Buying Pattern, Consumer Behavior, Power Drink, Saudi Arabia, Youth
AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF FACTORS AFFECTING CUSTOMER LOYALTY OF TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA (Published)
This research aims to evaluate the effect of the variables; namely, price, service quality, brand image and trends on customer loyalty of service providers of mobile phones in Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to a convenient sample throughout the major cities of Saudi Arabia. A total of 775 were returned representing a response rate of 89.6%. The study showed that the majority of respondents had prescribed to more than one service provider at the same time. Additionally, it was revealed that all the variables tested; price, service quality, brand image and trends, had a direct effect on customer loyalty of service provider. Results obtained from this research will offer necessary feedback for improving a company’s strategy, marketing mix, services, and product offerings, thereby, achieve customer satisfaction and improve their customer loyalty while attracting new ones.
Keywords: Brand Image, Customer loyalty, Price, Saudi Arabia, Service Quality, Trends, mobile phones