Influence of Behavioral Factors on Mobile Phone Usage among Fishermen: The Case of Pangkor Island Fishermen

Abstract

The swift evolution of mobile phone technology has benefited various groups within communities. Fishermen, as one of the important groups, particularly in terms of their role in ensuring the nation's food security, rely on mobile phones to conduct their fishing routines. While there is an abundance of studies that explore factors influencing mobile phone usage in various groups of communities, less interest has been placed on mobile phone usage among fishermen. This has driven the current study to its focal objective, which is to determine the behavioral factors that influence the usage of mobile phones among fishermen. This study is quantitative, and surveys a total of 250 registered fishermen from Pangkor Island -one of the main fishing areas in Perak. The results demonstrate that most of the fishermen use mobile phones for safety and communication purposes. In addition, due to a number of problems, fishermen are found to use advanced mobile phone applications such as 3G, Internet and GPS at a minimal level. Further analysis confirms that four behavioral factors, namely performance expectancy, effort expectancy, behavioral intention and social influence, have positive and significant correlations with mobile phone usage.

Behavioral Correlates of GPS Device Usage Among Small-Scale Fishers in Malaysia

“…Although some SSF fish commercially, a large majority work at a subsistence level where profits are just enough to support their fishing operations and basic personal and family expenses (Omar et al, 2012;Osman et al, 2014;Ramli et al, 2013;Shaffril et al, 2013). A majority of SSF are males, 40 years old and above, have more than 15 years' experience, earn below RM1,000 a month (roughly equal to US$250 a month), and spend between 15 and 20 days a month at sea (Bolong et al, 2014;Omar et al, 2012;Ramli et al, 2013;Shaffril et al, 2015). The majority of SSF use small fiber boats (boat made from fiber) or "sampan" (traditional wooden boats usually 22 feet long or smaller); use a lower boat engine capacity (40 horsepower or lower); rely on seines, fishing rods, portable traps, or rawai (local catching tool) as their main catching tools; conduct daily fishing trips (between 4 and 8 hr per day); and operate less than five nautical miles from shore.…”

Factors Affecting Small-Scale Fishermen’s Adaptation Toward the Impacts of Climate Change: Reflections From Malaysian Fishers

“…According to previous studies, there are several common characteristics of SSFM (Abu Samah, Hamdan, Abu Samah, Hamzah, & Shaffril, 2016;Bolong et al, 2013;Hamdan, Samah, Samah, Azril, & Shaffril, 2017;Mazuki, Omar, Bolong, Silva, & Hassan, 2013;Muhammad et al, 2012;Omar, Shaffril, Bolong, D'Silva, & Abu Hassan, 2012;Ramli, Omar, Bolong, Silva, & Azril, 2013;Shaffril, Hamzah, D'Silva, Abu Samah, & Abu Samah, 2017). The SSFM are categorized as Zone A fishermen and would usually conduct their fishing activities within the range of five nautical miles.…”

“…Most of these SSFM have acquired more than 20 years of experience fishing at sea (Abu Samah et al, 2016;Bolong et al, 2013;Hamdan et al, 2017;Mazuki et al, 2013;Ramli et al, 2013;Shaffril et al, 2017). They commonly relied on fishing-related activities to generate income and usually spent between 16 and 20 days a month on fishing (Abu Samah et al, 2016;Hamdan et al, 2017;Mazuki et al, 2013;Omar et al, 2014;Ramli et al, 2013;Shaffril et al, 2017).…”

YOUTHS’ SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD WITH INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES: TOWARD AN ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT QUALITY MODEL

“…In the youth context, this asset refers to help with new ideas, support and encouragement, help with problem-solving and family support (Bakeer et al, 2012). Findings from local studies by (Yassin et al, 2011;Ramli et al, 2013;Shaffril et al, 2011) have demonstrated that there is a solid social relationship between Malaysian youth and their friends, families and communities. This asset can facilitate economic activity and allow young entrepreneurs to be more effective in taking advantage of business opportunities (Abreu et al, 2010;Baregheh et al, 2009;Batjargal, 2003;Burt, 2009;Melia et al, 2010;Rubalcaba et al, 2010;Toivonen and Tuominen, 2009).…”