This study is about discoveries of the religious factor and its influence towards purchase intention of organic food in Malaysia. Each religion teaches its followers to consume healthy food in their daily lives. Organic food is commonly known for its healthier content without the use of pesticides, herbicides, inorganic fertilizers, antibiotics and growth hormones. To a certain extent organic food is directly related to Halal, a preconditioned to the Muslim to consume certain permitted foods and preparation, consistent with the Shariah requirements. However, not every consumer view such circumstances as important though being encouraged by their religion to consume such food in a way promoted by the organic foods. The research aims to identify the religious factor and its impact towards the customer purchase intention in Malaysia. The findings of the study indicated that religious factor was found to have less impact on customer purchase intention of organic food. This is because the consumers could be looking on other vast factors such as perceived value and health consciousness in deciding to purchase organic food products. They may perceive that the existing conventional foods are perfectly matched with organic food and the consumers are fully confident that the foods are prepared in a way permitted by their religion. The result has shown some differences with the previous literature which described that religious factor plays one of the most influential roles in shaping food choice in certain countries of the world. Hence, this study is expected to provide understanding to both the industry players as well as academicians on the factors that influence Malaysian customer purchase intention towards organic food products as such phenomena might be different from
This study aims to determine the level of product quality based on the eight quality dimensions framework and the relationship towards the buyer purchase behaviour. For a good understanding of the study, a case study on Malaysia's national motorcycle/scooter manufacturer has been used by considering the lack of theoretical studies being conducted on the sales of motorcycle/scooter products. In this study, the result shows the level of customer perceptions has no significant impact on the customer purchase decision. The customers are looking at other elements beyond quality perceptions on their purchase decision and only they themselves understand what they are actually looking for. Buyers may not rely on the perceptions of quality alone in deriving intention to purchase or not to purchase any motorcycle/scooter product. Another possible reason is the introduction of beneficial impact as a mediator between product quality and purchase intention (indirect effect) as suggested by past researches which could increase the importance of perceived quality in the study relationships. Future research should focus on a similar study of product quality and purchase intention to the Yamaha and Honda brand for being the closest competitors to Modenas in the market. It is expected that, from the findings of the study of both brands, it could lead to a clearer picture on the relationship that exist between product quality and buyer purchase behaviour.
Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) is a gap-graded asphalt mixture that depends on the stone-to-stone contact to provide its load carrying capacity against rutting. However, binder draindown is a problem for SMA mixtures, due to its intentional high binder content. This paper details the performance evaluation of two different cellulose fibres used in SMA14 mix; synthetic fibre (Viatop66) and natural fibre (Kenaf) to prevent binder drainage. The cellulose fibres, 0.3 percent by weight of the mixture, were uniformly combined with the dried aggregate before the asphalt cement was added during mixing process. Laboratory specimens were prepared using 50 blows of the Marshall hammer per side. The Optimum Binder Content (OBC) for the SMA14 mix with Viatop66 was found to be 6.1 percent, while the OBC for the SMA14 mix with Kenaf was found to be 5.9 percent. Rut depth obtained for SMA14 mix Kenaf was lower (1.6 mm) compared with SMA14 mix with Viatop66 (1.8 mm). The tensile strength ratio recorded for both mixes are greater than 80 percent, indicating adequate stripping resistance. The fibres were found to interact well with other substances in the SMA14 mix using the Environment Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM). This indicates that the natural fibre could efficiently retain the binder in the mix. Therefore, natural fibre (Kenaf) could be an alternative material to replace the synthetic fibre for the SMA14 mixture.
In the past decade, porous asphalt pavements have gained popularity as a stormwater best management practice because this unique asphalt can reduce spray and splash in wet weather, consequently reducing hydroplaning and increasing visibility. However, despite porous asphalt benefits, there are still some weaknesses, such as short service life than dense-graded asphalt due to its lower durability and strength. Coal ash is one of the most abundant industrial wastes and may be harmful to living things and human life if disposed of wrongly. The combustion of coal in the furnace in the power plant produces coal ash, consisting of fly ash and bottom ash. Hence, in this research, utilizing fly ash (class F) and dry bottom ash as a replacement of mineral filler to reduce the drainage value and improve the strength of porous asphalt mix was investigated. Laboratory specimens were prepared using 50 blows of Marshall Hammer per side by the Marshall mix design method. The bituminous binder used was performance grade PG 76, which complies with AASHTO Standard M320-02. The percentage of binder content in the range of 4.0% - 6.0% in increments of 0.5% was used to determine the Design Binder Content (DBC). The mix with both ashes was found to be 5 per cent of DBC. The DBC value for both mixtures was then used to evaluate the mixtures’ performance, which went through a binder drainage test, and rutting test. The performance results were then compared with the control porous asphalt mix using mineral filler. The control mixture and both modified mixtures show drain down values of 0.3%, 0.262%, and 0.167%, respectively. The replacement of both materials into the control mixture indicates that fly ash and bottom ash could increase the binder’s heat resistance and efficiently retain the binder in the modified mixtures. Meanwhile, after the completion of 8000 cycles in the rutting test, it could be seen that the rut depth measured for the mix with mineral filler was 1.6mm, 1.93mm for the mix with fly ash, and 2.04mm for the mix with bottom ash. The bottom ash mix’s higher rut depth value is likely due to the bottom ash characteristic with higher unburned carbon content, thus decreasing the strength mix. It is concluded that an investigation between both ashes in porous asphalt has the potential for the road industry in the future, leading to sustainable highway development.
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