Educational Tourism: A Behavioral and Perceptual Analysis of Chinese Students in Malaysian Public Universities

ABSTRACT

This study embarks on an exhaustive exploration of these determinants, leveraging the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to decipher their interaction and overall impact on educational tourism. The research examines a variety of psychological variables, Attitudes, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioral Control, Resource Availability, Self-Esteem Motivation, Novelty Seeking, Perceived Value, and Opportunity Cost, focusing on their modulation by Resource Availability and Novelty Seeking. A structured closed-ended questionnaire serves as the research instrument, obtaining responses from 376 participants over a period of three months. The collected data is meticulously analyzed using the Smart PLS tool. The results illuminate considerable direct and indirect relationships between these factors and their consequent effect on educational tourism. Specifically, Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control significantly influence Resource Availability, Self-Esteem Motivation, and Novelty Seeking. In turn, Resource Availability and Novelty Seeking exert a positive effect on educational tourism, while Self-Esteem Motivation shows a minor positive correlation. Perceived Value and Opportunity Cost also play an instrumental moderating role. Although perceived value positively modulates the influence of resource availability, counterintuitively, it exerts a negative moderating effect on novelty seeking. Opportunity Cost presents mixed moderation results. The study concludes by highlighting potential future research directions.

摘要

本研究利用计划行为理论（TPB）深入探讨了教育旅游的影响因素，解析了这些因素的相互作用及其对教育旅游的总体影响。研究考察了多种心理变量，包括态度、主观规范、感知行为控制、资源可用性、自尊动机、新奇寻求、感知价值和机会成本，并着重分析了资源可用性和新奇寻求如何调节这些变量。研究采用结构化封闭式问卷作为研究工具，在三个月的时间里收集了376位参与者的反馈。通过Smart PLS工具对收集到的数据进行了细致分析。结果显示这些因素之间存在显著的直接和间接关系，及其对教育旅游的影响。具体而言，态度、主观规范和感知行为控制显著影响资源可用性、自尊动机和新奇寻求。反过来，资源可用性和新奇寻求对教育旅游产生正面影响，而自尊动机显示出轻微的正相关。感知价值和机会成本也扮演了重要的调节角色。尽管感知价值正向调节资源可用性的影响，但它对新奇寻求的调节效应却出人意料地是负面的。机会成本展现了混合的调节结果。本研究对于教育旅游的学术论述，特别是行为和感知因素方面，提供了重要贡献。此外，研究结果为政策制定者和大学管理者制定有效的教育旅游策略提供了可行的见解。研究最后强调了未来研究方向的潜力，并倡导更广泛的地理和人口范围的研究。

KEYWORDS:

• Educational tourism
• Chinese students
• public universities
• Malaysia
• Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)

关键词:

• 教育旅游
• 中国学生
• 公立大学
• 马来西亚
• 计划行为理论(TPB)

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Universiti Sains Malaysia and Prince Sultan University Saudi Arabia for their support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jia Xinlin

Jia Xinlin is a Ph.D. student in the School of Management at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. His area of interest is tourism development in China and other countries as well (E-mail: [email protected]).

Khairul Anuar Mohammad Shah

Khairul Anuar Mohammad Shah is Senior Lecturer in the School of Management at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. His research area is consumer behavior, international marketing and international business (E-mail: [email protected]).

Li Wenting

Li Wenting is pursuing her Ph.D. in the Graduate School of Business at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. She is interested in the area of green management (E-mail: [email protected]).

Meng Na

Meng Na is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the Graduate School of Business at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. Her research interests are in the areas of marketing and consumer behavior (E-mail: [email protected]).

Syed Shah Alam

Syed Shah Alam is Associate Professor in Marketing in the College of Business Administration at Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has published more than 100 articles in reputed journals. He has been listed top 2% scientist by Stanford University, USA (E-mail: [email protected]).