Assumption Journals
Not a member yet
3916 research outputs found
Sort by
HUMAN CLONING AND HUMAN RIGHTS: AN ETHICO-THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE
Get PDFEthical and theological debates concerning human cloning are getting more intense as cloning technology continues to develop. This has led to debates originating from both secular ethics and Christian theological perspectives. This paper aims to coordinate the debate according to these two perspectives. It will draw from the positions of Christian theology, the position of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the positions of scientific authorities. It will conclude by stressing the importance of regulating new technologies in a manner which recognizes the shared ethico-theological concerns for human dignity, rights, freedoms, and the moral growth of humanity
THE UNSYSTEMATIC SURVIVAL OF SYSTEMS: THE PARASITE, THE JOKER AND THE BRICOLEUR IN MICHEL SERRES AND CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS
Get PDFWith our increasing reliance on systems from information theory to economics, it is important to understand how systems are constructed, how they break down and how they preserve themselves. The philosopher Michel Serres in his work The Parasite showed how systems can never preserve their order in a pure manner; they always involve noise and lost signals. He explores this by employing the idea of parasitism from biology. But the problem remains of how systems maintain themselves in the face of parasitism. This paper will explore the concept of bricolage conceived by structural anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss in his seminal work The Savage Mind. This concept can be found within a single ambiguous quotation by Serres in The Parasite, but remains undeveloped. This article will therefore develop these connections between bricolage and parasitism, and show how bricolage is important to the adaptation of any system to change
Factors Impacting Male Students’ Behavioral Intentions to Purchase Mobile Reading Apps in Chengdu, China
Get PDFPurpose: This study aims to analyze the factors impacting male students’ behavioral intention to purchase mobile reading apps in Chengdu, China. The conceptual framework contains key variables which are perceived value, satisfaction, service quality, trust, social influence, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use. Research design, data, and methodology: The online and offline questionnaires were distributed to 500 male students, using judgmental, stratified random and convenience sampling methods. For the data analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model (SEM) were employed to test measurement and structural models. Additionally, validity, reliability and goodness of fits were assessed. Results: The results explicated that perceived value and service quality are the predictors of satisfaction towards trust and behavioral intention. Furthermore, behavioral intention is significantly influenced by social influence perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Nevertheless, perceived ease of use has no significant impact on perceived usefulness. Conclusion: Eight hypotheses were proven to fulfill research objectives. Software developers should pay attention to consumer needs and attract college students with high-quality content, make sure of the security of payment, focus on the applicability, and provide knowledge that meets the needs of college students
Editorial
Get PDFThe AU-GSB e-Journal is a semiannually international journal publishing the finest peer-reviewed social science articles across the entire spectrum of academic fields. The AU-GSB e-Journal has been indexed in TCI – Thai Journal Citation Index Centre (Tired 2).
This issue covers twenty articles. The first article titled “Impact of External Technology Exploitation, Acquisition, and Employee Autonomy on Innovation Performance” aims to evaluate the impact of external technology exploitation, acquisition, and employee autonomy on innovative performance toward organizational performance and was conducted in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The second article titled “The Parasocial Relationships Between Homosexual YouTubers and Their Followers That Affect Influencer Marketing” aims to examine the most important factor impacting the effectiveness of sponsored videos is the credibility of the influencer, and one of the drivers of this credibility is the parasocial relationship between the influencer and their followers.
The third article titled “Achieving Satisfaction and Loyalty of Teacher Training Major Students in Chuxiong, China” aims to investigate the factors influencing the satisfaction and loyalty of teacher training major students in Chuxiong Normal University.
The fourth article titled “Drivers of Attitudes toward Online Purchase Intention Among Residents of Taiyuan in China” aims to investigate the influencing factors of consumers’ attitudes towards online shopping and purchase intention in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.
The fifth articled titled “Learning Satisfaction of Online Art Education: A Case of Undergraduates in Public Colleges in Sichuan” aims to determine influencing factors of learning satisfaction of undergraduate students, majoring in online art education in public colleges in Sichuan Province, China.
The sixth article titled “Enhancing Online Learning with E-Guests: A Case Study of Postgraduate Design Students’ Behavioral Intention in Chongqing, China” aims to examine the factors influencing postgraduate design students’ behavioral intention to invite e-guests for online instruction in Chongqing, China.
The seventh article titled “The Assessment of Attitude and Behavioral Intention of E-Learning Among Art and Design Students of Chengdu Textile College in China” mainly studies the factors significantly impacting on perceived usefulness, attitude, and behavioral intention of e-learning in college education among art and design significant students at Chengdu Textile College of Sichuan Province in China.
The eighth article titled “Factors Impacting Male Students’ Behavioral Intentions to Purchase Mobile Reading Apps in Chengdu, China” aims to analyze the factors impacting male students’ behavioral intention to purchase mobile reading apps in Chengdu, China.
The ninth article titled “Students’ Continuous Intention to Use Online Learning for Art Education in Chongqing, China” aims to explore the factors influencing students’ continuous intention to use online learning for art education in Chongqing, China.
The tenth article titled “Factors Impacting Satisfaction and Loyalty of Students: A Case Study of a Public University in Shanxi, China” aims to explore the influencing factors of student satisfaction and loyalty among students majoring in natural science at public universities in Shanxi Province.
The eleventh article titled “Key Factors of Satisfaction and Behavioral Intention of Outpatients to Use Healthcare Services in Chengdu, China” aims to investigate the factors that impact outpatients' satisfaction and behavioral intention to use healthcare services in hospitals in Chengdu, China.
The twelfth article titled “Factors Affecting Teacher Performance and Loyalty of National Training Program in Yunnan, China” aims to determine critical factors impacting teacher performance and loyalty in Yunnan, China. The conceptual framework presented cause-and-effect relationships between leadership, emotion, commitment, knowledge, climate, loyalty, and performance.
The thirteenth article titled “The College Students’ Behavioral Intention to Use Mobile Reading Apps in Sichuan, China” aims to investigate the college students’ behavioral intention to use mobile reading applications in Sichuan, China.
The fourteenth article titled “Assessing Behavioral Intention of Outbound Travelers’ Travel Bubbles Amid COVID-19 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia” aims to investigate the factors that influence the behavioral intention of outbound travelers to consider the travel bubbles amid COVID-19 in Phnom Penh.
The fifteenth article titled “Service Quality Aspects Influence on Student Satisfaction and Loyalty in Chongqing, China” aims to determine the factor affecting student satisfaction and student loyalty, which are faculty services, on-campus infrastructure, academic aspects, impact on university reputation, and access to university services.
The sixteenth article titled “Factors Influencing Consumer Satisfaction and Use Intention of B2C E-Commerce Platforms on Chengdu, China” explores the factors influencing the satisfaction and use intention of B2C e-commerce platforms among residents in Chengdu.
The seventeenth article titled “Getting Ready for Business Expansion: To Enhance Employee Motivation and Work Performance Through HR Management Practices, Emotional Intelligence and Initiating Organization Learning Culture: A Study of a Fintech Company in Myanmar” examines factors affecting of employees’ motivation and work performance in Myanmar.
The eighteenth article titled “How Do Undergraduate Students Adopt Online Learning in Chengdu, China During COVID-19?” examines the online learning adoption of college students in Chengdu, China based on based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT).
The nineteenth article titled “Factors Impacting Innovative Work Behavior of Employees at University in Yunnan, China” aims to explore the factors influencing psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior of college faculty in Yunnan Province.
The twentieth article titled “Sustainable Tourism Development: A Case Study of Western Island in China” aims to identify the impact of tourism development on the West Island from multiple dimensions, as well as the challenges that may be faced in the development process
Factors Influencing Online Hotel Booking Intention of Individual Tourists in Bangkok
Get PDFPurpose - The purpose of this research is to analyze the significant influence of price, privacy and security, online reviews, perceived value, trust toward online hotel booking intention. Design/Methodology/Approach – The research employs primary and secondary data collection methods to conduct an analysis among factors influencing online hotel booking intentions. The data was collected among 384 respondents traveling within two Airports of Thailand (AOT) located in Bangkok. This research referenced three theoretical frameworks from previous studies for conducting a new conceptual framework. Findings – This research is intended to investigate factors influencing online hotel booking intentions. Followed by the findings of this research represented price has a significant influence to perceived value. Privacy and security along with online reviews, which have relationships toward Trust. Lastly, perceived value and trust directly influence online hotel booking intentions. Research Limitations/Implications - The limitations of the research displayed several elements limit among factors influencing online hotel booking intention of individual tourists in Bangkok. The scope of this study focused only on booking intentions of tourists who are traveling individually. Moreover, this research focused on the arrival of tourists in Bangkok so it may not be applicable for different nations. Although, diversity of tourists and geographic categories would have different consideration points toward their decision to book the hotel. Originality/Value – This research focuses on significant factors influencing online hotel booking intentions.
 
Political Connections and Stock Returns: The Case of 2019 Thai General Election
Get PDFPolitical connections may increase the value of a company, its stock price, and consequently its stock returns. This study aims to assess the connection between political connections and stock returns in Thailand. The stock returns of companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and are included in the SET100 index were computed, and consequently incorporated into an event study in which the 2019 Thai general election serves as the event. The abnormal returns of companies connected with members of parliament elected under the first-past-the-post system do not differ from those of firms not connected around the election date but significantly differ when the results are officially announced. Those of companies connected with party-list members of parliament are slightly higher than those of firms not connected around the election but not different when the results are announced. They only differ when divided into the government and the opposition. Those of companies with connections to candidates for prime minister are significantly higher than those of companies without connections. This could suggest that connections with candidates for prime minister are more important for business operations than connections with members of parliament. The difference, however, dissipates after a few days, possibly due to political uncertainty after the election.
The Causal Relationship between Cryptocurrencies and Other Major World Economic Assets: A Granger Causality Test
Get PDFThis study examines the causal relationship between cryptocurrencies and other major world economic assets, such as gold, stocks, oil, and bonds, using both Granger causality and correlation analyses. The study focuses on the period between 2018 and 2022, using a vector autoregressive model (VAR) to analyze data on cryptocurrencies and other major world economic assets, which collectively represent over 90% of the market during the observed period. Results show that correlation clearly identifies causal interdependency between cryptocurrencies and other major world economic assets and that the variation in cryptocurrencies increasingly explains other major world economic assets. The results reveal that there is Granger causality between the cryptocurrencies (Tether, USD Coin, and Binance USD) and the other major world economic assets (BOND, SP500, and GOLD). Additionally, the study finds evidence that market inefficiency in the cryptocurrency market increased between 2018 and 2022. The findings suggest that the properties of the cryptocurrency market are highly dynamic and that researchers should be hesitant to generalize the market properties observed during idiosyncratic periods. The relevant information is swiftly reflected in asset prices when investors are more interested in a news event, increasing volatility. Strong evidence suggests that volatility spill overs increase sharply at this time. The structure of these markets frequently changes, and a large number of cryptocurrencies appear and disappear every day.
 
Examining the Influences of Satisfaction and Trust on the Behavioral Intentions of Customers Who Dined in Casual Dining Restaurants: A Mixed-Methods Approach
Get PDFThe restaurant business is very competitive, such that managers must identify appropriate components of their restaurant attributes to better satisfy the needs and wants of their customers. Studies have long investigated restaurant attributes but treated such attributes using a common factor analysis technique; these should be analyzed as components. This paper aims to demonstrate how researchers can conduct a mixed-methods study to investigate the effects of restaurant attributes on customer behaviors and how a component-based analysis method is used. A sequential unequal research design was undertaken, including three steps: (1) identifying a set of restaurant attributes from the restaurant literature (Step-1), (2) conducting a field study to propose a refined set of restaurant attributes that fit with the context of the study (Step-2), and (3) collecting survey data for further analysis with the Generalized Structured Component Analysis (GSCA) technique (Step-3). The results of Step-1 revealed 10 restaurant attributes entailing many components. The results of Step-2 revealed only seven attributes (food, price, services, atmosphere, facilities, cleanliness, and location), entailing different sets of components specific to each attribute. In Step-3, a conceptual model was developed, including three constructs treated as components: satisfaction (encapsulated all seven restaurant attributes), trust, and behavioral intentions. The results of Step-3 indicated that satisfaction was found to influence trust, while satisfaction and trust were found to influence behavioral intentions. In addition, the indirect effect of satisfaction on behavioral intentions through trust was indicated as only a partial mediator. Overall discussions suggest further studies that may adapt various methods to improve research quality. Thus, this paper offers a specific procedure for researchers who desire to conduct a mixed-methods research design through the context of the restaurant business and for those interested in using GSCA. Demonstrating the research processes employed is the primary contribution of this paper. This may be helpful for novices interested in replicating our steps in their specific study context
Behavioral Intention to Use E-learning: A Case Study of Apparel School Students at Chengdu Textile College in China
Get PDFPurpose: To create a student-centered art teaching model, e-learning is considered a new possibility to enhance the curriculum learning approach. Therefore, this research aimed to study significant factors of school of apparel students’ behavioral intention to utilize e-learning at Chengdu Textile College. The conceptual framework consists perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude, self-efficacy, performance expectancy, social influence and behavioral intention. Research design, data, and methodology: The researcher used a quantitative approach (n=488). Questionnaires were distributed to apparel school students in Chengdu Textile College. The research data was gathered through judgmental, quota and convenience sampling. The following statistical analysis was implemented through the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Model (SEM), including model fit, validity, and reliability of each construct. Results: Perceived ease of use has a significant effect on perceived usefulness and attitude. Perceived usefulness has a significant effect on attitude and behavioral intention. Furthermore, attitude, self-efficacy, performance expectancy and social influence significantly affect behavioral intention. Conclusion: The research makes recommendations for college education policymakers, college teaching quality supervision, and teacher to encourage the integration of e-learning into the fundamental teaching process and establish a modern digital and intelligent education environment in college education
Factors Affecting Students’ Continuous Intention to Use Online Art Education Software in Chengdu, China
Get PDFPurpose: This study aims to explore the analysis of factors influencing the continuous use of online art education software by private art education institutions in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. The conceptual framework is based on TAM, UTAUT, and IS success model, indicating the relationship between self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude, satisfaction, information quality, and continuous intention to use. Research design, data, and methodology: The researchers used quantitative methods (n=500) to distribute questionnaires to students at three private fine arts institutions. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a structural equation model (SEM) were used for data analysis, including model fitting, reliability, and validity of the structure. Results: The results indicate that satisfaction and attitude are significant factors affecting the continuous use intention of online art education software. Perceived ease of use has the most significant effect on perceived usefulness. Among them, the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use significantly affect the attitude. Furthermore, information quality significantly impacts students’ satisfaction with using online art education software. However, self-efficacy has no significant effect on perceived ease of use. Conclusions: Therefore, this study suggests that educators should create a more suitable learning platform for combining technology and art in the course design and teaching of online art education software