Your search

Government service mini-programs have become an integral component of eGovernment in the Greater Bay Area, and successful eGovernment is necessary for building a smart city. Service quality and citizens' trust play a vital role in urban integration and in-depth cooperation in the Bay Area. The ubiquitous nature of mini-programs based on WeChat and Alipay provides excellent flexibility in accessing government services. Technology advantages, mutual recognition of cross-border data, and online transactions bring value and benefits to citizens. However, the mechanism of mini-program adoption has not been elaborated. Homogenization, conflict of regulations, and policy effectiveness are issues of great concern. This study employed Self-Determination Theory and Motivation Theory, proposed an empirical model based on the extended SOR paradigm, and aimed to identify the critical factors determining the intention of government service mini-program adoption from the user’s perspective. Six hundred and nine valid samples were collected from Macau, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen through online survey platforms. The findings suggested that service quality, trust in eGovernment, ubiquity, and social influence constituted the determinants of intention to adopt. Service quality and ubiquity were salient determinants, and a great extent of service quality and ubiquity could promote perceived value and intention. Citizens' trust in government service mini-programs was reasonable, where benevolence, integrity, and competence were crucial indicators of trust. Social influence amplified and transmitted risk perception while perceived risk significantly reduced intention. Perceived value positively associated with the four determinants and enhanced user intention; it acted as a mediator with high explanatory power in the model. Government support received positive ratings from citizens; it negatively regulated the relationship between intention and the determinants respectively, implying that excessive intervention from the government could lead to inhibition. Finally, we proposed relevant implications and suggestions for the GBA government agents and policymakers

Food waste has become an increasingly pressing issue worldwide, and Macau is no exception. A substantial portion of municipal solid waste in Macau is comprised of organic waste, with household food waste being a significant contributor. This can be attributed to households purchasing excessive food, preparing more than necessary, or not consuming items before they spoil, leading to detrimental resource and environmental impacts, particularly in the form of greenhouse gas emissions. It is crucial for Macau to develop a sustainable food waste management system that fosters prevention and responsible consumption and to develop food waste recycling habits among its residents. This study employed a two-pronged approach: a literature review of food waste source separation policies and practices in four neighboring regions to identify adaptable good practice examples for Macau, and a questionnaire survey completed by 143 local residents. The survey aimed to comprehend residents' behaviors and awareness regarding food waste prevention and treatment, evaluate their satisfaction with Macau's existing food waste recycling program, examine their resistance and motivation toward participating in the recycling program, and assess their attitudes toward implementing a polluter-pays-principle system in Macau. The survey aimed to provide insights into the current state of household food waste in Macau and inform future waste management policies and strategies of stakeholders. The survey findings highlight the need for enhanced public awareness and education on food waste prevention. Additionally, upgrading recycling facilities may encourage residents to participate more actively in food waste recycling. Ultimately, implementing suitable policies can help prevent food loss and waste and regulate food waste generation and elevate recycling rates. This study offers preliminary recommendations for policymakers or government entities as a orientation for future planning

Informal recycling plays a crucial role in municiapl solid waste management in many cities, particularly in the global South. This study examines the practices, challenges, and opportunities of informal recycling in Macau, a small city and Self Autonomous Region (S.A.R.) in China. Using qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews, this study explores the motivations and strategies of informal recyclers, the challenges they face, and the potential for collaboration with formal waste management systems. The findings of this study reveal that informal recycling in Macau is a complex and multifaceted reality and practice that involves a range of actors, from waste pickers to small-scale processors to exporters, all with their specific challenges. Informal recyclers are motivated by economic necessity, and they employ a variety of strategies to collect and process recyclable materials. However, they also face significant challenges, including high rental and transportation costs, lack of manpower, China’s waste import policies and ensuing restrictions, fluctuating global price rates of materials and the unstable income as serious consequence, accompanied by limited support from the local Government. This study also identifies opportunities for sustainable development of informal recycling in Macau, supported by the analysis of data collected via questionnaire survey regarding Macau citizens’ waste separation habits and their willingness to pay for resource separation and recovering process. The identified oppurtunities include establishing partnerships between informal and formal waste management actors, improving the infrastructure, and introducing environmental levy system and consistent policies and regulations. Overall, this study contributes to a better understanding of the role of informal recycling sector in waste management in Macau and provides insights into potential strategies for improving the sustainability of resource and waste management practices in the city

Technology is an essential and valuable tool nowadays. New technology and innovations are introduced to the public day by day. Metaverse will be a new trend, as the Macau government has been trying to promote this technology since the COVID-19 pandemic is still here. Before this technology goes deeply to the public, this paper attempts to examine the consumer’s perspective of Metaverse and understand the cognition of Macau people about Metaverse. And bring out what factors and conditions will make them accept this technology. A qualitative research method will address the questions and problem to understand consumer perspectives towards this technology. Entrepreneurs, managers, and professionals will be invited to take part in this research. Ten interviews will be carried out in this research for data analysis, which may provide a board overview of this technology in Macau and give recommendations to local entrepreneurs. In conclusion, consumers think it is still not a well-developed technology and is not globally used at this stage. In contrast, if this technology is ready-to-use, it will be a helpful assistant in their businesses. They expect the metaverse to be fully developed in ten or more years

With the rapid expansion of mobile e-commerce, an increasing number of businesses have jumped into the fray in all facets of the mobile electric commerce industry chain. The payment link is the most competitive. From the norm in the sector to the consumer market, telecom operator rivalry, as well as third-party payment between different companies, never ceases. In the context of mobile e-commerce, however, competition has shifted from traditional product-centered to customer- centered, and business success frequently rests on the customer. As a result, the competition in the mobile e-commerce payment industry is essentially about competing for users. Mpay is characteristic of mobile e-commerce payment firm representatives; on the basis of theoretical analysis, combined with the reality of the economic background, the study chose Mpay mobile payment users as research subjects and analyzed the major variables of user acceptability. The model was built on the basis of an extensive evaluation of past research results of user acceptance model and reference to UTAUT model. The model considered performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence, facilitating condition as independent variables determining user behavior intention, Based on the conceptual model, the paper conducted an empirical investigation as a case study of a Mpay mobile payment user using data from a questionnaire, while also conducting a separate discussion of the impact of perceived risk and trust on user acceptance. The empirical results indicate that for mobile payment users, performance expectancy has the greatest positive effect on behavior intention, while facilitating conditions, social influence, perceived risk, effort expectancy, and trust have no effect. In addition, gender and age were discovered to influence user acceptance

Although there is a substantial body of research on the second language acquisition of adults, there is little specific research on the learning experiences of senior and very senior adults. This thesis investigates and discovers the experience of being a senior from a traditional Confucian Heritage Culture aged between 55 and 75 years old, learning English as a foreign language through various interventions, including, the introduction of an adapted version of synthetic phonics to improve pronunciation, alongside the use of andragogical and geragogical principles to accommodate and encourage the development of agency and self-directed learning. This research adopted a case study methodology to investigate the lived experiences of seniors, and investigated the participants’ subjective constructions of the situation, learning experiences, challenges, circumstances, needs, and wants with regard to the situation. Therefore, an open and exploratory case study design was selected to understand the participants and report the findings. Furthermore, this thesis identifies the challenges faced by senior and very senior learners who are post-work and post-family rearing to make recommendations from the findings to complement, enhance and empower their learning

Due to the expansion of the Internet and advancements in technology, e-commerce has been frequently and widely used nowadays. The popularity of online shopping continues to develop and become increasingly common, yet, the concept of impulsive buying has consistently drawn significant attention over the years. In order to fit into the current shopping trend, recognizing the needs and wants of online shoppers as well as providing appropriate approaches are essential tasks for companies to achieve. The question of how to attract consumers to make purchases has been a concern for a long time, and in fact, it is necessary to explore consumers’ online purchase decisions in relation to their impulse buying behavior. In accordance with current academic knowledge, the main objective of this study is to investigate factors that influence consumers' online impulsive buying behavior based on external stimuli (such as sales promotions and websites characteristics) and the elements of marketing mix strategy (product, price, place, and promotion). According to the analysis, the promotion strategy has been identified as the most significant influence on consumers’ decision to make an online impulsive purchase. Therefore, the findings from this study are beneficial for companies and marketers to build a framework in order to develop suitable and effective strategies in order to encourage and stimulate consumers' desire for purchases. Furthermore, the research applies the qualitative methodology by conducting semi-structured interviews with 11 consumers who have previously experienced an online impulse buying

Nowadays marketers and practitioners recognize the importance of social marketing as a strategy to acquire customers. Accordingly, the enterprises and brands are embracing the use of social network in communicating with potential consumers ad actual consumers, in order its performance so as to increase its sales. Among all those social media platforms, Instagram is one of the platforms which is image orientated and can easily connect with users and provide information with photos and images. As Macau is small‐sized city where there are abundant small to medium‐sized enterprises, the local small firms are switching their marketing strategies by utilizing the Instagram to promote their product online. In order to get a better grasp of how Instagram affects the promotion of the food and beverage product in Macau, the research question has been formulated: “To what extend can the local food sectors in Macau use Instagram as a marketing tool to engage purchasing intention and strengthen their brand equity? From the perspective of customers.” Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 13 participants who are the Instagram users, with diverse situations of engagement on Instagram. According to the interviews, participants expressed that how Instagram can associate effects with arousal and brand equity (brand awareness, brand image, perceived quality and brand loyalty) and formation of purchase intention eventually through the Instagram marketing activities. The results showed that Instagram marketing activities strongly correlated the brand equity (brand awareness, brand image, and perceived quality while which in turn led to purchasing intention towards the brand. This research comprehensively illustrates the influences of Instagram marketing activities on customer‐based brand equity. The findings of this study will enable local food brands to more accurately forecast the future purchasing behaviors of their customers through Instagram marketing activities and provide a guide in managing brand equity as well

This study identifies Portuguese residents’ behavioural intention towards Chinese electric vehicles from the perspective of the Country-of-Origin Effect (COE) and uses the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT-2) as a guide to design interview questions. According to the existing literature, UTAUT-2, a comprehensive technology acceptance model, has not been used to assess the Portuguese electric vehicle market, and no relevant research has been found to apply the method of combining the COE into the UTAUT-2 framework. The purpose of this study is exploratory in nature, it uses qualitative methods to identify the behavioural intention of Portuguese residents towards the acceptance of Chinese electric vehicles. Data from 16 Portuguese residents was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed with qualitative methodology. The study found that factors such as performance expectations, environmental concerns, effort expectations, hedonic motivation, and social influence have a positive impact on Portuguese residents' purchase of electric vehicles, while price value, habits, and convenience conditions have a neutral or negative impact. Regarding COE, apart from social influence, it has no impact on other factors. To increase the popularity and sales of Chinese electric vehicles in Portugal, it is recommended that advertising and marketing efforts focus on price, charging services, after-sales service, and design

Public transportation is an important component of urban infrastructure and has a significant impact on the convenience and well-being of citizens. In Macau, with rapid economic development and urbanization, an efficient land transport system is essential to support sustainable development. Previous research has primarily focused on the sustainable development of the transportation sector in Macau, with little attention given to studies concerning employees. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of transformational leadership on employee work performance in the land transportation sector in Macau, with a particular focus on the mediating role of employee work engagement. Through a quantitative research methodology, this study utilized an online questionnaire to collect data from 194 employees from the bus and LRT sectors in order to achieve the research objectives. Convenience sampling and snowball sampling methods were used in this study to analyze the data through SPSS software to assess the relationship between transformational leadership, employee work engagement and employee performance. The findings reveal that there is a significant positive relationship between transformational leadership and employee performance, as well as a significant positive relationship between transformational leadership and employee work engagement. In addition, employee work engagement played a partial mediating role between transformational leadership and employee performance. The findings suggest that transformational leadership not only directly enhances employee performance, but also indirectly enhances employee performance by increasing employee work engagement. These insights have important practical implications, indicating that adopting transformational leadership behaviors can effectively enhance employee engagement and performance, thereby improving organizational effectiveness. Specifically, managers in Macau's transportation sector should pay attention to and cultivate transformational leadership behaviors in order to enhance employee work engagement and performance, and thus achieve higher organizational effectiveness and building a strong team

This dissertation investigates the relationship between nature exposure in the workplace, job satisfaction, and creativity among full-time employees in Macao. The study aims to examine the impact of exposure to greenery and sunlight on job creativity and job satisfaction, as well as the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between workplace nature exposure and creativity. Drawing on existing literature, the study proposes the following hypotheses: (H1) Workplace nature exposure, including greenery and sunlight, positively influences job creativity. (H2) Workplace nature exposure, including greenery and sunlight, positively affects job satisfaction. (H3) Job satisfaction mediates the positive relationship between workplace nature exposure (specifically, greenery and sunlight) and job creativity. A quantitative methodology utilizing cross-sectional self-response questionnaires was employed for data collection. The measures used were pre-validated and translated into Chinese through a rigorous process of translation and back-translation. The final sample consisted of 450 full-time workers in Macao. The results highlight the significance of integrating natural elements, such as greenery and sunlight, into the work environment to promote a more favourable setting for innovation and the overall well-being of employees. The implications of these findings, both in theoretical and practical terms, are thoroughly discussed. By examining the relationships, this study contributes to the understanding of how the physical environment influences employee well-being and performance. The findings offer valuable insights for organisations and policymakers in designing workspaces that foster creativity and job satisfaction among employees

This research is to assess the current status quo, strengths, and weaknesses of financial consumer protection mechanisms in Macao. According to the World Bank, financial consumer protection can bring positive impact on the development of financial sector, broadening financial inclusion and fostering economic growth. In 2022, under the backdrop of COVID-19 and downturn in economy, Macao Government announced its ambition to recover and diversify the economy of Macao by leveraging “1+4” Diversified Development Strategy, in which developing modern finance is one of the main priorities. The new Financial System Act took into effect on 1st November 2023 and this Act will enable non-financial institutions to apply for temporary licenses on fin-tech innovations within a controllable risk area. In the local context, does Macao have a strong financial consumer protection mechanism in place to goal for developing modern finance and face challenges brought by fin-tech? In this research, a mixed method consisting of doctrinal legal research method and comparative legal research method is adopted. 10 jurisdictions (Ireland, Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, European Union, Canada, and United States) were selected in comparison of rights for financial consumer protection based on the G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection and the results of which were then compared to the rights for financial consumer protection in Macao. The findings of this study show that the main strength of financial consumer protection mechanisms in Macao lies on the supervision of the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) on the banking sector and insurance sector, other financial institutions according to international principles; however, the in-depthness of work done by Macao in financial consumer protection is not as much as those done by other jurisdictions: in Macao, there is no policyholder protection scheme in the event of failure of insurance companies; no mystery shopping and consumer survey done by oversight bodies; narrow range of definition of vulnerable consumers; no financial literacy survey; no in-depth competition law; no in-depth guidelines to monitor advertising materials for financial products; no database for consumers to search for unregulated firms and scammers; no in-depth financial educational materials about the rights of financial consumers. It is recommended that Macao Government can learn from United Kingdom, Canada and European Union to adopt behavioural insights in developing financial consumer protection policy to protect financial consumers from being exploited by the financial service providers based on the consumers’ behavioural biases. Some literature suggested that consumers are vulnerable in digital landscape. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that Macao Government shall take proactive actions to strengthen the current financial consumer protection mechanism by adhering to the G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection, in order to develop modern finance and protect consumers from the risks posed by fin-tech

This dissertation identifies factors driving consumer shopping behavior within the realm of live-streaming commerce, an area fast emerging in the e-commerce domain. Live-streaming shopping or commerce involves real-time interaction and entertainment with traditional online shopping, forming a unique endogenous environment where consumers can contact sellers or influencers directly. The study employed quantitative surveys that identified some of the main determining factors of consumer behavior within this context. The findings show that the significant factors in determining consumer behavior are trust and engagement, which are strongly influenced by the credibility and authenticity of the live streamer. Another significant finding is the role of social interaction and community building in providing consumers with a sense of belonging and validation, enhancing their confidence and purchase intention. Moreover, it highlights how marketing strategies of flash sales, limited-time offers, and partnerships with influencers make their way into the system to help invoke engagement and impulsive buying behavior among consumers. The implications of these findings extend to e-commerce platforms and marketers. Any improvements in features leading to trust, engagement, and interactivity within the community would drive higher customer satisfaction and sales. According to researchers, working partnerships with believable influencers and more extensive integrations of real-time marketing might further activate live-streaming commerce. This study thus fills a gap in the existing body of literature by detailing the drivers of consumer behavior toward live-stream commerce. It also identifies areas of future research on the current studies, including developing technologies and the cultural variances in the impact of live-stream commerce, including ethical considerations. These results are principle for guiding work on potential live-stream commerce in the digital age for anybody from workers to academicians