Boonlert Watjatrakul’s research while affiliated with Assumption University and other places

Purpose Personality traits and perceived value have been the focus for research in online learning adoption. However, there is a lack of understanding of how the effects of perceived value on online learning adoption vary according to the different personality traits and the levels of a personality trait. This study explores the moderating roles of the Big Five personality traits (i.e. neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and agreeableness) in the relationships between the perceived value (i.e. value for money, quality, emotional value, and social value) and intention to study online courses. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from university students. This study used the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method to measure the quality of the formative and reflective constructs and examine the moderating effects of the five personality traits in four models. The regression of intention to study online courses on the perceived value at the different levels of a personality trait was analyzed by the simple slope analysis approach. Findings The study found that particular personality traits moderate the relationships between the perceived value and intention to study online courses. Neuroticism and openness to experience have the moderating effects on the relationship between perceived value for money and intention to study online courses. Neuroticism is the only personality trait that moderates the effect of perceived emotional value on intention to study online courses. In addition, the different levels of a personality trait differentially moderate the effects of the perceived value on intention to study online courses. Originality/value This study is considered among the first research attempting to explore the moderating roles of the Big Five personality traits in the context of online learning adoption. It bridges the research gap in online learning literature and generalizes the impacts of perceived value on online learning adoption to the different personality traits and the levels of a personality trait. The results provide guidance for educational institutions to develop an effective online learning strategy by creating and communicating the right value propositions to the right group of students based on their personality traits.

Perceived values and neurotic personality have been used to explain online learning adoption. However, there is a lack of understanding of how neuroticism interact with perceived values resulting in online learning adoption. This study explores the moderating role of neuroticism in the relationships between perceived value (functional value, emotional value and social value) and adoption intention of online learning. The results show that neuroticism strengthens the positive effect of perceived emotional value on adoption intention of online learning. The adoption intention of online learning is higher for low neuroticism when perceived emotional value increases. Neuroticism does not moderate the effects of functional value and social value on adoption intention of online learning. This study fills the gap in online learning adoption literature by generalizing the effects of perceived values on online learning adoption to a specific personality trait. It also provides guidance for universities to shape their online learning strategy for neurotic students who are difficult to cope with new learning phenomenon. The paper discusses the study limitations and directions for future research.

Service customization enables users to custom-made services for their specific needs while service providers can use custom outputs to offer superior services for their users. Less attention, however, has been paid to what factors influence individuals to customize mobile service differently and how custom outputs affect their intentions to use the services. The article proposes a new framework to examine the effects of information seeking and user experience on service customization (service configuration and custom outputs) and the effect of the service customization on users' intentions to adopt mobile services through the three values of mobile services-utilitarian value, hedonic value, and social value. The application-to-person short messaging service (A2P SMS) is used as the domain of study. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used for data analysis. The results indicate that information-seeking and user experience regulate users' abilities to customize mobile services. Specifically, information seeking affects custom outputs while user experience affects service configuration. The results also show that custom outputs influence users' intentions to adopt mobile services through the perceived values of mobile services' utilitarian value, hedonic value, and social value. Hedonic value and social value have direct effects on mobile service adoption. This article broadens knowledge and understanding of mobile service adoption and provides guidance to service providers for effectively utilizing their customization strategies to enhance users' adoption of their services.

Purpose Individual differences and perceived values of technology have received much attention in technology adoption literature. However, there is a lack of understanding of their relationships and effects on online learning adoption. The study aims to investigate the effects of two important personality traits (i.e. openness to experience and neuroticism) and five perceived values (i.e. functional value, emotional value, social value, epistemic value and conditional value) on students’ intentions to adopt online learning. Design/methodology/approach A survey research method was used to collect information from university students. A sample size of 285 was used for data analysis. Structural equation modeling analysis using analysis of moment structure software was used to examine the construct reliability and validity, the model-fit indices and the causal relationships between latent constructs in the proposed framework. Findings The results show that neuroticism and openness to experience affect students’ intentions to adopt online learning through five perceived values of online learning. Particularly, students who are open to experience pay more attention to the quality of online learning. Students who are more neurotic avoid stress from learning in a situation that they are not familiar with. In addition, students tend to adopt online learning when they perceive online learning fulfills their emotional and social needs. Further discussions of the findings and implications for theory and practice are provided. Originality/value The study extends knowledge and understanding of online learning adoption associated with individual personality and perception of online learning’s values. It proposed a new framework to examine the effects of neuroticism, openness to experience and perceived values on online learning adoption. Universities might use the study results to plan and implement their online learning programs that will be considered valuable for students who have different personality traits.

Purpose – Competitive pressure and declining incomes in higher education have propelled many universities to increase the number of students admitted as a means of increasing their income, while the admitted students are regarded as “customers.” The purpose of this paper is to examine students’ beliefs regarding outcomes of the adoption of the student-as-customer concept and the interaction effects of these outcomes and the social influence on students’ attitudes toward acceptance of the student-as-customer concept and their intentions to study at universities adopting this concept. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual model was developed to investigate the interaction effects of the five outcomes of the student-as-customer concept's adoption – the universities’ aim toward student satisfaction, the instructors’ neglect of teaching, the impairment of instructor-student relationship, the ease of course achievement, and the improvement of universities’ service quality and social influence on the students’ attitudes toward acceptance of the student-as-customer concept, and their intentions to study at universities adopting this concept. Survey questionnaires were used to collect data from students studying at a large private university inclining to adopt the student-as-customer concept. The structural equation modeling technique was utilized for testing the proposed model. Findings – The results indicate that students believe that the universities’ adoption of the student-as-customer concept will lead to improvement of the universities’ service quality and the degradation of educational quality in terms of the instructors’ neglect of teaching, the impairment of instructor-student relationship, and the ease of course achievement. The improvement of service quality has a positive effect on the students’ attitudes toward acceptance of the student-as-customer concept and their intentions to study at universities adopting this concept. The students’ beliefs toward the degradation of educational quality, on the other hand, have indirect and negative effects on the students’ intentions to study at universities adopting the concept. Interestingly, the effect of social influence on students’ intentions to study at universities adopting the concept is greater than the effects of students’ beliefs toward outcomes of the concept. Originality/value – This study is among the first research to empirically investigate the factors affecting students’ attitudes toward acceptance of the student-as-customer concept and their intentions to study at universities adopting this concept. The paper fills the gap in the higher education literature and provides guidance for universities to consider and prepare for the consequences of the concept's adoption associated with the number of students who intend to study at their universities.

Purpose – Most firms select their information technology outsourcing (ITO) vendors based on the two methods of the weighted-criteria evaluation technique – the “qualification score plus the lowest bid price for the highest price score (QS-LBHPS)” and the “qualification score plus the average bid price for the middle price score (QS-ABMPS).” This paper aims to understand whether these two methods provide the same or different results of vendor selection and how the proportional weights of a vendor's qualification and bid price affect the vendor selection results under the two methods. Design/methodology/approach –In total, 1,000 experimental tests were carried out using the developed spreadsheet template to examine vendor selection results of the two methods (QS-LBHPS and QS-ABMPS) and compare the vendor selection results under three conditions of vendors’ qualification and price weights. A correspondence analysis was also used to determine the proximal relationships among the selection results of the weighted criteria technique under the comparable methods. Findings – The results indicate that, when using the two methods of the weighted criteria technique for a vendor selection, the selection results are significantly correspondent. In addition, the proportions of qualification and price weights affect the selection results under the two methods. The different proportions of qualification and price weights under the two methods yield the same selection results rather than different results. Originality/value – This study fills the gap in ITO literatures concerning the vendor selection strategy. No empirical studies have been undertaken to compare the results of vendor selection under the two methods of the weighted-criteria evaluation technique. The findings enable a firm's selection team to apply the weighted-criteria evaluation technique effectively and realize that vendor selection results are altered based on the predefined proportions of qualification and price weights.

Purpose – This empirical study aims to understand the interrelationship among the key technology adoption factors including social influence, individual existing knowledge, and individual perceptions of technology (i.e. usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment) and their effects on individual intention to use a free voluntary service. Design/methodology/approach – The survey method is employed to collect data from universities offering the free mobile messaging service. A structural equation modeling analysis technique is used to analyze data reliability and validity in the measurement model and examine causal relationships among the constructs in the structural model. Findings – The results show that social influence affects individual knowledge and perceptions of the service (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment) and successively influences the individual intention to use the free voluntary service. This study indicates that the intrinsic value of perceived enjoyment has a greater impact than the extrinsic value of perceived usefulness in terms of its effect on individual intention to use a free voluntary service. In addition, the effect of perceived usefulness of alternative systems should be taken into account when using perceived usefulness from the technology acceptance model to predict individual's technology adoption decisions under the free voluntary setting. Originality/value – This study fills the gap in the technology adoption literatures regarding the free voluntary service adoption based on social influence, individual knowledge, and individual perceptions of technology. It assists academics to understand the drivers of technology acceptance under the free voluntary setting and provides guidance for organizations to increase users' acceptability of their free voluntary services.

Even after 40 years of philosophical discussions about whether “customer” terminology is appropriate in the context of education, health care, religion, government, and other social institutions, virtually no research has been conducted to identify actual public attitudes on the subject. Thus, a large-scale, five-country study was conducted to examine the question: Should patients, students, news media readers/viewers/listeners, political constituents, and members of religious organizations be treated as “customers”? In addition to collecting and analyzing quantitative responses, the study explored the reasoning behind respondents' attitudes, provided benchmark data for future research, and highlighted critical implications for both public and private policy.

Educational institutions deploy email and short message service (SMS) to maintain efficient communication with their students. This research examines factors influencing students’ attitudes toward using SMS and email, and compares the differences in the proposed factors between email and SMS. The results show that information richness and mobility affect students’ perceived utility of email and SMS while information privacy and perceived utility affect the students’ attitudes toward using email and SMS. Social pressure has found no impact on the research model. Students also perceive that email provides rich information and utility higher than SMS but SMS possesses mobility more than email. In addition, students have attitudes toward using email more than SMS to maintain communication with their institutions. The paper concludes with a discussion of findings, implications and limitations.