This paper mainly studies the influence of capital structure on firm's performance. This investigation has been performed on a sample of 36 Bangladeshi firms listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange during the period 2007-2012. We have used four performance measures; earnings per share (EPS), return on equity (ROE), return of asset (ROA) and Tobin's Q; as dependent variables and three capital structure ratios; short-term debt, long-term debt and total debt ratios; as independent variables. Using pooling panel data regression method, we found that EPS is significantly positively related to short-term debt while significantly negatively related to long-term debt. There is significant negative relation between ROA and capital structure. On the other hand, there is no statistically significant relation exists between capital structure and firm's performance as measured by ROE and Tobin's Q. Nonetheless, aside from the positive relation between EPS and STDTA, we can conclude that capital structure has negative impact on firm's performance which is consistent with the proposition of Pecking Order Theory.

This study is based on the influence of consumers’ health consciousness (HC), perceived knowledge (PK) and beliefs affecting the attitude and purchase intent (PI) of the consumers. The outcome of this study is obtained through an exclusive survey conducted on a randomly selected sample of 712 households who purchase liquid milk (LM) in the cities of Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh. A structured questionnaire is used to interview these participants to obtain data which are analysed employing descriptive statistics, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Structural Equation Modelling. The results of the analyses corroborate that consumers’ health consciousness has a positive impact on perceived knowledge, belief, and attitude, but not on purchase intent. In addition, belief affects both the attitude and PI positively. Although consumers’ perceived knowledge is too low to constitute their attitude towards LM, it has a positive, significant impact on the PI. The results also reveal that more than a third of the respondents consume LM several times per month, followed by more than a quarter of the sampled respondents who consume LM several times per week, and these consumption patterns have a positive and significant influence on the PI. Moreover, the monthly income of the family, age, and labelling preference are significantly correlated with PI.

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Until today, inadequate food supply, malnutrition, food adulteration, etc., are still the key concern in developing economies. In order to address these issues of food security crisis, and to stimulate a sustainable supply of liquid milk (LM), a consumer behavior model was created, in which consumers’ perceived knowledge, trust and risk were the major catalysts. To shed light on this context, the study examined the effect of consumers’ perceived knowledge (PK) on their perceived risk (PR) and trust (in information sources and in the product). Further, the influence of consumers’ perceived knowledge, risk, and trust on their attitude and purchase intention (PI) were investigated via an exclusive survey design. The survey was conducted in the urban area of Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh. The sample of 712 households was selected randomly and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed employing descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling. The results show that during a food security crisis, consumers’ perceived knowledge amplifies their perceived risk and their trust in information sources (ISs). During such a period, their perceived knowledge does not induce purchase intention but trust in ISs does. Again, consumers’ perceived risk leads to reduced trust in products, and hence in LM, but not reduced trust in ISs. Moreover, a paradoxical influence was found, where consumers’ perceived risks had no significant effect on the PI, meaning that they underestimate the risk of purchasing LM. The results also show that when explaining the purchase intention of LM, the effect of ‘trust in ISs’ was higher than that of their perceived ‘trust in the product (LM)’ and perceived knowledge.

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine the influence of consumers' perceived knowledge, knowledge discrepancy and confusion on the intention to purchase farmed fish (FF) via a survey design regarding perceptions, buying and consumption practices of urban households in Chittagong, Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachThe samples of 498 households were selected from a stratified cluster from the Chittagong city and were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The data have been analysed using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.FindingsThe results show that consumers' subjective knowledge (SK) is significant for purchase intention whereas objective knowledge (OK) is not. Again, consumers' SK, OK, knowledge discrepancy and confusion have no influence in forming consumers' attitude towards FF. However, consumers who overestimate their actual level of knowledge hold negative attitude towards FF and vice versa. Furthermore, consumers' OK affects their confusion inversely although it does not influence the purchase intention significantly.Practical implicationsIf the marketers can frame a more engaging means of communication and knowledge enhancement plan, consumers' attitude and purchase intention regarding FF will be signified.Originality/valueThis is the first study that fundamentally contributes to the scientific research in that it measures the knowledge discrepancy of consumers regarding FF. In addition, this study substantiates that low objective knowledge leads to confusing consumers at the time of purchasing. The effect of overestimating the level of knowledge as well as underestimating the level of knowledge in explaining the purchase intention of FF would be a supplementary addition.