volume-20-number-3

Editor-in-Chief: Romeo B. Lee

Preliminaries

Year: 2020, Volume 20 Number 3

Page: 1 – 16

This paper reviews 482 SSCI English articles about the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)” with the bibliometric software Citespace. The visualization of country cooperation network and the geographical distribution of publications and funds demonstrate that international BRI studies are mainly carried out by countries along the routes of B&R (Belt and Road), with China, U.S.A., Australia, and the U.K. ranking as the top four in terms of research quantity and the number of international cooperation. Diachronically, the time-zone keyword display reveals the professionalization and reification of BRI research. The qualitative analysis of the top 40 high co-citation articles indicates three main research questions: the motivation of the initiative, the hegemony debate, and the potential opportunities and challenges. Besides, the Citespace keyword analysis proves the hypothesized correlation between the theme of the study and the national ideology of the author. Finally, suggestions for future study and further implementation of the initiative are given.

借助Citespace知识图谱软件，本文对482篇研究“一带一路”的SSCI英文期刊文献进行统计分析。通过 国家合作网络，基金和文章发表地理分布的可视化分析，作者发现国际相关研究主要由 “一带一路”沿 线国家展开，且以中国、美国、澳大利亚和英国的文章数目和国际合作研究数量居多。从历时视角来 看，时间区关键词分析揭示出“一带一路”研究专业化和具体化的发展趋势。在量化统计的基础上，对 40篇高共被引文献的质性分析得出三个主要研究问题:倡议动机、中国是否争霸，以及倡议实践的机 遇和挑战。此外，Citespace关键词分析证实了研究主题和作者意识形态之间存在关联的假设。最后， 基于量化统计和质性分析结果，提出“一带一路”国际研究趋势的预测和倡议推进的可行性建议。 关键词:一带一路 Citespace 国际期刊 知识图谱

Keywords: Belt and Road Initiative, Citespace, International journals, knowledge mapping

Page: 17 – 31

The study investigates the influence of brand experience on brand loyalty and the mediating effects of two constructs—brand satisfaction and brand trust. The participants of the study were identified using a convenience sampling technique, and they were mobile phone users situated in Pampanga, Philippines. The study employed a predictive-correlational research design and used partial least squares (PLS) path modeling to measure the research hypotheses. It was found out that brand experience significantly and positively influences brand satisfaction, brand trust, and brand loyalty. Moreover, brand satisfaction was found to be statistically related to brand loyalty and brand trust. The relationship between brand trust and brand loyalty was also positive and significant. The mediation analysis shows that brand satisfaction and brand trust mediate the link between brand experience and brand loyalty.

Keywords: brand, PLS-SEM, brand experience, brand loyalty, mediation analysis

Page: 32 – 41

The biography of the Hồng Bàng Clan is considered as a legend, a semi-historical document and an important part of the Viet’s cultural heritage. According to this work, the Viet people are the descendants of Shen Nong (an ancestor of the Han Chinese), migrating from China to the Red River Delta. A large number of scholars have built a Hundred Viet/ 百越 hypothesis, also known as “migration-from-the-north hypothesis” from this document. Throughout the long history, Hồng Bàng legend has created popular misunderstandings of the Viet about their origin and misconceptions for later researchers of various subjects, such as literature, linguistics, history, and ethnology. By using the interdisciplinary and ethnographic methodology, this research provides an overview of the Hồng Bàng legend, points out illogical statements, and gives a plausible hypothesis for it. In addition, by analyzing ancient historical documents and examining modern molecular biology, this paper supplies the supportive arguments for “migration-from-the-south hypothesis” which plays a crucial role in determining Vietnamese ancient history.

Keywords: Hồng Bàng, Viet, legend, ethnic origin, molecular biology evidence.

Page: 42 – 55

Researches on Deaf mental health show that Deaf individuals are two to three times more vulnerable to psychological distress compared to their hearing counterparts because they have been exposed to several environmental vulnerabilities. Using the assumptions of stress-vulnerability-protective factors model of Liberman (2008), this study looked into the moderating role of protective factors (general self-efficacy and perceived functional social support) on the effect of vulnerabilities in the psychological distress of 120 self-contained Deaf college students aged 18 to 25 (M=21.83; SD=4.11). Results show that (a) there is a non-significant relationship between environmental vulnerabilities and psychological distress, and (b) general self-efficacy and perceived functional support do not act as moderators. This entails inapplicability of Liberman’s (2008) framework across Deaf sample and may be attributed to three factors: (a) normalization of environmental vulnerabilities in Deaf culture, (b) occurrence of inconsistent mediation in perceived functional social support, and (c) unique context of Deaf individuals in being in a hearing society. Limitations, together with recommendations in research and practice, are discussed to support the mandates of UNCRPD and Magna Carta for PWDs.

Keywords: Deaf, environmental vulnerabilities, psychological distress, self-efficacy, social support

Page: 56 – 75

Vocabulary size (VS) and English language proficiency (ELP) are acknowledged as important factors in students’ overall cumulative grade point average (CGPA) in tertiary education. This study attempts to investigate the associations among vocabulary size, ELP, and CGPA. It also determines whether vocabulary size or ELP can better predict tertiary students’ CGPA. The study sample is comprised of 96 undergraduates on four programs at a Malaysian public university. The students’ vocabulary size was measured using a 20,000-word vocabulary size test, their ELP that was derived from their Malaysian University English Test scores, and their CGPA that was obtained from their academic transcripts. The correlational, comparative, and predictive analyses revealed a moderate and significant positive association among all the variables. In addition, vocabulary size emerged as a better predictor of CGPA than ELP, with a contribution of 25% to overall CGPA. The findings provide strong empirical confirmation demonstrating the significant function of vocabulary size in tertiary students’ CGPA. As a result of these investigations, suggestions were identified for future research.

Keywords: vocabulary size, cumulative grade point average (CGPA), English language proficiency, second language acquisition, tertiary education, English-medium instruction (EMI), language testing

Page: 76 – 88

The satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as defined in self- determination theory, plays a crucial role in adolescents’ healthy development. It seems important to assess their satisfaction of all three needs. However, few existing valid and reliable measures especially assess need satisfaction in this age group. Besides, in Vietnam, very little is known about self-determination theory’s basic needs. Therefore, this present study aims to validate the youth report version of the basic need satisfaction and frustration scale (BPNSFS) in the Vietnamese context to pave the way for future research in this field. A total of 680 Vietnamese adolescents completed the Vietnamese youth version of the BPNSFS, along with the Perceived Stress Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to examine the factor structure of the measure; multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the predictive validity of the measure; and finally, MANOVA was used to examine the differences in the need satisfaction and frustration among sociodemographic variables. The findings showed that a six-factor solution best fitted the data of Vietnamese adolescents; the dimensions of need satisfaction and need frustration meaningfully predicted adolescents’ well-being outcomes; and need satisfaction and need frustration did not vary, along with the sociodemographic characteristics. In general, the Vietnamese version of BPNSFS appears to be a reliable and valid measure of the satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs in Vietnamese adolescents. The limitations and implications of the results are also discussed.

Keywords: Vietnamese, adolescents, BPNSFS, well-being, validity

Page: 89 – 101

Building sustainable communities is fast becoming a common principle in urban development, and a sustainable community is one that has a prevailing social order and strong cohesion among its members. Today, rising crime is destabilizing traditional neighborhoods by creating fear, which leads to residential turnover. This study aims to assess whether strengthening social cohesion by communities of practice and knowledge-sharing behavior may prevent residents from harboring intentions to leave. A framework based on environmental psychology principles has been developed; communities of practice and knowledge-sharing behavior are believed to stimulate residential satisfaction, which acts as a counteraction to flight intention. A survey was conducted among residents in crime-ridden neighborhoods in the southern region in Malaysia to assess whether the factors have contributed to their flight intention. Three hundred nine responses were obtained and analyzed using partial least squares structural modeling. Findings revealed that communities of practice reduce flight intention indirectly through the moderation of residential satisfaction, whereas low knowledge-sharing behavior have reduced flight intention. Findings of the former are expected, but the latter is surprising, suggesting residents’ resilience and experience in handling crime, hence not requiring any sharing of safety practices. The findings identify suitable methods to improve social interactions to prevent residential turnover and keep the neighborhoods relevant and safe for future inhabitants.

Keywords: residential turnover, urban flight, flight intention, communities of practice, knowledge-sharing behavior, residential satisfaction.

Page: 102 – 110

The term inday implies two possible meanings depending on where one is in the Philippines. In the Luzon group of islands, more specifically in Metro Manila, inday refers to the female help, usually of Visayan descent. On the other hand, in the Visayas and Mindanao group of islands, inday is a term used for endearment and respect for female family members, friends, and women of influence. What this paper aims to do is to provide a theoretical grounding, through oppositional gazing, of why the term inday oscillates between varied definitions in the context of placism or discrimination of people based on where they (used to) live or where they come from, and displacement or the movement of something (in this case, someone) from one’s place. Furthermore, it shows the role that the term inday plays in the complex web of oppressive realities given the actuality of inday’s membership in marginalized groups. Finally, it explores ways of how one can recover the endearment for inday despite placist culture.

Keywords: displacement, inday, intersectionality, placism, regionalism, Visayas

Page: 111 – 119

In Thailand, the Chinese smartphone brands, such as Oppo, Vivo, and Huawei, seek to increase further their combined domestic market share of around 50% in the foreseeable future. Therefore, systematic data on the purchase decision among Thai customers on Chinese smartphone brands would be informative. This study discusses the effects of innovative products, marketing mix, customer preferences, and customer satisfaction on Thai customers’ purchase decision of Chinese smartphone brands. Data were drawn from a survey involving a randomly-selected sample of 600 Thais who had purchased a Chinese smartphone brand. Using SPSS 22.0 and LISREL 9.2, data were analyzed to ascertain the statistical significance and the extent of the effects of the four factors. Results suggest that innovative products, marketing mix, customer preferences, and customer satisfaction had statistically significant direct, indirect, and total effects on a purchase decision. Customer satisfaction and customer preferences were the top-tiered factors, whereas marketing mix and innovative products were the lower-tiered. Overall, customer satisfaction, customer preferences, marketing mix, and innovative products explained 58.0% of the variation in the purchase decision, whereas customer preferences, marketing mix, and innovative products explained 43.0% of the variation in customer satisfaction. To further increase their local market share, the Chinese brands have to continue addressing the preferences and satisfaction of domestic customers while recalibrating their brand strategies so that these become more impactful on the customers’ purchase decision. Research is needed in these areas.

Keywords: purchase decision, customer satisfaction, Chinese smartphone brands, Thai customers, Thailand

Page: 120 – 129

The Philippine microenterprises sector is considered as an important stimulus of the country’s economic growth. Previous studies have cited that the struggles faced by micro and small entrepreneurs are brought about by the difficulty in access to finance and the lack of entrepreneurs’ financial literacy and inadequate business acumen. Anchored on the resource- based view theory, the primary objective of this study is to determine the role of financial sophistication, as a human capital resource, and its components, on the link between the strategy–sustainability indicator relationship. Based on a study of 384 micro-entrepreneurs from the National Capital Region, results of the partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) showed that business strategy is positively linked to each of the sustainability indicators, that is, economic, environmental, social, and governance. Conversely, the entrepreneur’s financial sophistication increases the effect of business strategy on each of the sustainability indicators. The results of the study also showed that a positive financial behavior and decision-making style are significant components of financial sophistication.

Keywords: financial sophistication, financial literacy, business strategy, sustainability, MSMEs

Authors: Ilman Hakim and Maddaremmeng A. Panennungi

Research Brief

Year: 2020, Volume 20 Number 3

Page: 130-141

Authors: Mahat Hanifah, Hashim Mohmadisa, Saleh Yazid, Nayan Nasir, Suhaili Samsudin, and Norkhaidi Saiyidatina Balkhis

Research Brief

Year: 2020, Volume 20 Number 3

Page: 142-152

Author: Syed Imad Alatas

Research Brief

Year: 2020, Volume 20 Number 3

Page: 153-162

Authors: John Paolo R. Rivera, Lailani L. Alcantara, and Anahata Harikumar

Research Brief

Year: 2020, Volume 20 Number 3

Page: 163-181

Authors: Dumrong Bamrongpol, Puris Sornsaruht, and Samart Deebhijarn

Research Brief

Year: 2020, Volume 20 Number 3

Page: 182-191

Author: Karansupamas Engchuan

Research Brief

Year: 2020, Volume 20 Number 3

Page: 192-197

Author: Jamnean Joungtrakul

Book Review

Year: 2020, Volume 20 Number 3

Page: 198-200