Aim/Purpose: Social networking sites (SNS) have become essential platforms not only for socializing, but also for conducting business operations such as buying and selling. Therefore, it is important to examine the factors that influence customers' intention to purchase on these platforms. In the post-pandemic period, advancements in technology and the increasing use of social networking sites have led to a surge in shopping on social media platforms. This research study aimed to investigate the determinants of the intention to purchase products and services on SNS during the post-pandemic period. Social media has become an indispensable technology in daily life, with Facebook emerging as a dominant platform for exploring, comparing, buying, and selling products and services anytime, anywhere. 

Contribution/Impact on Society: Enjoyment was more important than Ease of Use for social media users when shopping online. Social Influence and Word-of-Mouth did not effectively encourage social media users to make purchases on social networking sites. In addition, Trust was not necessary, especially for users with online shopping experience. Sellers on SNS platforms should recognize that customers favor buying products and services on these platforms because of their ease of use and adaptability. These platforms help users discover the products and services that they may need, and customers find the purchasing process straightforward to learn. Online retailers should develop a simple and transparent purchasing process, making product details, price comparisons, order placement, payment options, and shipping methods easily accessible and user-friendly. This study's findings indicate that Perceived Enjoyment influenced purchase intention more than Perceived Ease of Use. Therefore, e-retailers should prioritize creating engaging and enjoyable content rather than focusing solely on simplifying the purchasing process.

Accepted for publication in Human Behavior, Development and Society, ISSN: 2651-1762.

Project: Social Driven Market Tenets (SDMT)

This study aims to formulate a new theoretical concept based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Trust Transfer Theory (TTT) in the e-learning context by using 498 datasets collected from randomly selected Myanmar and Vietnamese university students via an online survey. In this study, a deductive reasoning quantitative research approach was applied, utilizing exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM). According to the analysis results, perceived usefulness, trust in the university, and trust in e-learning significantly affect behavioral intention, but the effect of perceived ease of use is statistically insignificant. Perceived ease of use has a significant effect on perceived usefulness. Furthermore, major factors of TAM, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, have a significant effect on trust in the university and trust in e-learning, respectively. The findings of this study reveal that university trust can transform into e-learning trust. In addition, academic level significantly moderates the direct effects of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust in the university, and trust in e-learning on behavioral intention. The emergence of this new theoretical concept extends not only the e-learning literature but also provides insights for educational institutions.

Accepted for publication in "Asia Pacific Journal of Educators and Education"

Project: E-learning Transformation Key Models for Management (ETKMM)

E-learning has become the new normal learning method in the post-pandemic period around the globe, including Myanmar. The present study aimed to examine the satisfaction of Myanmar university students with the new normal learning method. This study’s design utilized an inductive quantitative approach, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the data. The data was collected from 262 Myanmar students who were studying locally and abroad. The results of the study indicated that e-learning trust was more critical than e-learning effectiveness, while e-learning system quality is insignificant for e-learning satisfaction. In addition, e-learning trust and effectiveness were mediating variables between e-learning system quality and e-learning satisfaction. The study delivers valuable insight for educators and facilitators of universities to enhance students' satisfaction with new normal learning methods. 

Published in Human Behavior, Development and Society, Vol. 25, No. 3, ISSN: 2651-1762.

Project: E-learning Transformation Key Models for Management (ETKMM)

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This paper aims to examine the roles of system and social perspectives for trust building in the mobile banking context  and the moderating effects of demographic groups on direct effects on trust. The study investigates system perspectives (system quality and system usefulness), social perspectives (social influence and word-of-mouth), and moderators (gender, age, and education) as an exploratory study. This study employed deductive reasoning quantitative research approach by using 294 datasets. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to calculate the factors' validity and reliability. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique was employed to estimate direct effects, indirect effects, and moderator effects. The findings reveal that system quality, system usefulness, and word-of-mouth affect trust, while social influence has an insignificant effect on trust. Besides, system quality has a significant effect on system usefulness, and social influence has a significant effect on word-of-mouth, respectively. Also, education level is significantly moderating the direct effect of word-of-mouth and trust. This research extends the understanding of the system and social perspectives that influence trust and might be a barrier to mobile banking adoption in Myanmar. Also, the findings of this research will assist private banks in recognizing the behavior patterns of customers so that they can create a proper system-social strategy to boost the confidence of customers about mobile banking and fulfill the knowledge gap regarding system and social aspects.

Published in Thailand and the World Economy, Vol. 42, No. 2, 2024, P-ISSN: 2630-0931, E-ISSN: 2651-0529.

Project: Digitally Integrated and Organized Research (DIOR)

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This paper aims to study the factors affecting the intention to use a mobile wallet of the private bank in Myanmar based on the bank and customer factors. The consequences of service quality and bank reputation among the bank customers were examined in this study. The investigation of the role of word-of-mouth of the mobile wallet adoption is another objective of the study. The research hypotheses were examined using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique from data collected from 250 customers of Kanbawza (KBZ) Bank.The analysis results indicated that the word-of-mouth was found to be the major factor affecting the intention to use the mobile wallet of the private bank, followed by trust. The study also confirmed that service quality is an antecedent of bank reputation, trust and word-of-mouth. The bank reputation has a positive significant effect on the word-of-mouth, however, there is no significant impact on trust. Marketing managers and business development managers of private banks should pay more attention to improve the service quality to develop the bank reputation, trust and positive word-of- mouth which will lead to acquiring more mobile wallet users.

Published in International Journal of Management Studies (IJMS), Vol. 30, No.2, 2023, Print ISSN 2232-1608; E-ISSN 2180-2467.

Project: Digitally Integrated and Organized Research (DIOR)

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This study explores the antecedents of customers’ behavioral intention to purchase on the social media platform. In addition, the T.E.A concept, the group of consequences of positive recommendation (PR), is developed by amalgamating trust (T), easiness (E), and amusement (A). The data was collected from random 260 social media users from Myanmar. Both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were employed to examine the observed variables, and structural equational modeling (SEM) techniques were used to estimate the hypotheses in AMOS software. The results disclose that the T.E.A concept is fully mediating between positive recommendation and customers’ purchase intention. This study gives clear direction for future research studies, notably, in the online shopping context by providing the T.E.A concept. The retailers on social media to develop effective marketing strategies based on T.E.A concept to attract more customers especially from South East Asian countries. The vivid limitation of this study is focusing on only the positive recommendation as an antecedent of the T.E.A concept and the findings of this study implicate both theoretically or practically the future research studies about customers’ behavior in the online shopping context.

Published in The South East Asian Journal of Management, Vol. 16, No. 2, 2022, Print ISSN 1978-1989; E-ISSN 2355-6641.

DOI: 10.21002/seam.v16i2.1101 

Project: Social Driven Market Tenets (SDMT)

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This paper attempts to construct a theoretical model for amending the impairment of bank reputation and extend the knowledge for policymakers and managers of private banks regarding the essential factors to consider in building a more substantial bank reputation, particularly during the irregular period in banking sector. The quantitative research approach was employed, and randomly selected 350 private bank customers participated in this study. The questionnaire items were analyzed using partially exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and partially confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The hypotheses were estimated and examined using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. According to the results, structural assurance (β=0.738, p<0.001) and financial assurance (β=0.367, p<0.001) had a significant positive effect on service quality. Moreover, service quality positively affected perceived value (β=0.520, p<0.001), communal influence (β=0.765, p<0.001), and bank reputation (β=0.592, p<0.001). Further, perceived value (β=0.284, p<0.05) and communal influence (β=0.122, p<0.05) with regard to private banks all evidenced a positive direct effect on bank reputation. Therefore, this study statically confirmed the roles of structural and financial assurance in improving service quality and service quality outcomes (perceived value and communal influence), leading to a more incredible bank reputation.

Published in Asia Social Issues, Vol. 15, No. 5, 2022, E-ISSN 2774-0315.

DOI: 10.48048/asi.2022.255013

Project: Digitally Integrated and Organized Research (DIOR)

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This paper attempts to identify essential factors for developing private bank trust, especially in Myanmar. In this study, the research model is based on two concepts, customers’ experience (service quality, customer satisfaction, bank reputation) and social behavior (social pressure, positive recommendation, traditional indifference). A quantitative research approach is used and a total of 308 customers of private banks in Myanmar participated in this research. Partially exploratory factor analysis (EFA), partially confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques are employed to analyze the collected data and formulate the results. The findings indicated that service quality is a crucial antecedent and has positive direct effects on social pressure, customer satisfaction, bank reputation, and bank trust. The results also confirmed that bank trust is positively influenced by bank reputation and positive recommendation. Further, traditional indifference has an insignificant direct effect on bank trust and customer satisfaction. An emergence of finalized research model based on the findings and results of this study is one of the contributions for future studies in similar context. In addition, this study extends the knowledge and insight for not only old private banks but also newly established private banks in Myanmar to improve and maintain their customers’ trust.

Published in Thailand and the World Economy, Vol. 39, No. 3, 2021, P-ISSN: 2630-0931, E-ISSN: 2651-0529.

Project: Digitally Integrated and Organized Research (DIOR)

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The research attempts to conjecture the prerequisites of perceived qualities of information system (IS) such as mobile banking (MB). The quantitative research was conducted and a total of 577 MB users of private commercial banks in Myanmar participated in the research. The results of the hypotheses were formulated by using partly exploratory factor analysis (EFA), partly confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. The findings expose that device quality is an independent factor, and an antecedent of user interface design quality and system quality. The research also discloses that user interface design quality is a prerequisite of system quality and information quality. In the research, system quality and information quality are key factors affecting customers’ intention to adopt MB. Further, the results confirm that system quality has a statistically significant effect on information quality. However, the effect of device quality on information quality is insignificant. It is expected that the research gives valuable insights for not only bank managers but also software engineers who are going to develop MB systems.

Published in Journal of ASEAN Studies (JAS), Vol. 9, No. 1, 2021, P-ISSN : 2338-1361; E-ISSN : 2338-1353.

DOI: 10.21512/jas.v9i1.6899

Project: Digitally Integrated and Organized Research (DIOR)

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This research study focuses on the factors affecting customer trust in mobile financial services (MFS) in Myanmar by developing a research model that incorporates six different factors: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social pressure, enabling conditions, service quality, and satisfaction. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were employed to analyse the data. Subsequently, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilised to examine hypotheses. An analysis was performed on the survey data collected from 250 mobile phone users who are likely to use or currently using MFS in Myanmar. The results indicate that trust in MFS is significantly influenced by enabling conditions, service quality and satisfaction. The study also found that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and social pressure have statistically insignificant effects on trust-building in the MFS context. A finalised trust-development theoretical research model was formulated and proposed for utilisation in the investigation of customers’ trust in future research within a similar context. The findings of this study are beneficial and valuable for Mobile Financial Services Providers (MFSP) in the ASEAN countries, enabling them to create suitable marketing strategies, business approaches and service infrastructures regarding their customers, thereby developing customer trust. The conclusion is limited to the mobile financial services sector in Myanmar, and the opinions of non-adopters and rejectors are excluded.

Published in The South East Asian Journal of Management, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2020, Print ISSN 1978-1989; E-ISSN 2355-6641.

DOI: 10.21002/seam.v14i2.12345

Project: Digitally Integrated and Organized Research (DIOR)

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Mobile wallet is becoming an innovative financial product in the globe and is well expanding quickly into developing countries. This empirical study proposes a comprehensive research model in an amalgamated way consisting of beliefs, social, quality, and trust aspects, to fill up the gaps of previous research studies in similar contexts. The quantitative research is employed to investigate six factors with behavioral intention to use a mobile wallet. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique was applied to analyze data and formulate the results. Survey data were collected from 234 potential mobile wallet users in Myanmar. The results of the study indicated that trust and perceived usefulness factors are significantly influencing behavior intention to use a mobile wallet in Myanmar. But service quality, user satisfaction, facilitating conditions, and social influence are statistically insignificant. The result of this study can be utilized by user acquisition managers, marketing managers, and business development managers to formulate the strategies and approaches for positioning their mobile wallet among a suitable user base, thereby acquiring more mobile wallet users.

This research paper aims to identify factors influencing intention to reuse mobile banking (MB) services, with a special focus on customers of private banks in Myanmar. Continuous using of MB services has been a critical goal for private banks. The research model used in this study is an integrated model that incorporate the six factors namely, social influence, word-of-mouth (WOM), trust, system quality, user satisfaction and perceived efficacy on its influence on behavior of customers to reuse MB. In this study, social influence, word-of-mouth, user satisfaction trio factors are first time introduced in MB context. Analyzing survey data from 275 MB users of private banks in Myanmar revealed critical findings. Structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to analyze the data and test hypotheses. This study empirically concluded that intention of customers to reuse mobile banking services was significantly influenced by social influence, user satisfaction and perceived efficacy. However, the effects of WOM, trust and system quality on reuse of mobile banking were insignificant. Furthermore, the paper concluded with other findings, theoretical implications, discussion on results, limitations and future research for the private banking sector of Myanmar.

The number of mobile users in Myanmar is rapidly growing since four main mobile operators (MPT, Telenor, Ooredoo, MyTel) launched distributing SIM card in lowest rate compare to past a few years ago. With the reforming of national economic policy, private banks sectors are growing and expending its services including mobile banking (MB). There is lack of research studies regarding MB service in Myanmar due to there is no maturity in MB context. Therefore, a conceptual framework will be proposed to investigates risks, net benefits, customer satisfaction and quality of MB service such as system quality, information quality and service quality are the factors influence on users intention to use MB. Trust factor is also considered as necessary factor to determine the intention to use MB service.

With over a billion mobile devices in use worldwide and nearly half a billion mobile applications on offer, software developers must make choices between developing one or more versions of native, hybrid or mobile web applications. This paper compares development approaches across these three options and compiles a set of criteria on platforms and devices that can be used in critical development decisions. Key issues for each application development approach are discussed, and a comparative analysis highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

A social networking website is a social structure build-up of individuals or organizations called “nodes”, which are connected by one or more specific types of mutuality, such as friendship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike relationships of beliefs, knowledge, prestige and information. This article focuses on social networking websites and their impact on business. It aims to identify opportunities and ways to be effective as promoters of businesses to internet users all over the world, 24 hours and 7 days, creating unlimited possibilities for advertising potential. This article reviews the best social networking websites currently used as well as examples of ways in which business can use these types of websites to expand their target markets. This article also gives insight about the threats and challenges associated with social networking websites, as well as things for businesses to watch out for if they determine to use these types of websites. Social networking websites will continue to shape the ways in which businesses collaborate and communicate, both inside and outside of enterprise.

This article is a review of Top Blogging Platforms and aims to find out the reasons that made them successful blogging platforms and taking the top places among other blogging platforms. There are many competing blogging platforms on the market and a survey of top 2500 blogs by their usage of blogging platforms, the results indicated the design & customization, social media sharing, ease of use, community, cost, installation, functionality, features, e-commerce, languages, publishing method and support of those blogging platforms were positively related to usage. There is also detailed comparison was conducted in their general features and functionalities. The intention of this article is to provide insights for people to choose better blogging platform to make blog.