Summary of PhD thesis: Personal values in service consumption - An experimental study in Vietnam

The study must achieve specific objectives: adjust the scale of ''personal values'', then find what aspects of''personal values'' are relevant to the current market in Vietnam. Testing the concept of ''personal values'' as well asits aspects corresponding to the behavioral model in some typical service industries in Vietnam. Check the reliability of the research model used in testing ''personal values'' with service consumption behavior.

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

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Nguyen Thu Thuy

PERSONAL VALUES IN SERVICE

CONSUMPTION: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN

Professional advisor: Asso.Prof., PhD, NGUYEN DINH THO

PhD, TRIEU HONG CAM

At …, the day month year

This thesis can be found in library:

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Rokeach (1973) officially defined 'personal values' as a part of the broader concept 'human values' Sequently, a number of scientists have developed the concept of 'personal values' and built up many measurement systems based on Rokeach value scale (1973) The concept of ‘value’ was set by Rokeach (1973)

in relation to 'attitude' and 'behavior' Whereby, many scientists have also proposed a system of 'value – attitude – behavior' to study human behavior (specifically in consumption) The most typical one is the 'value – attitude – behavior' system of Homer and Kahle (1988)

The concept of 'personal values' and the system of 'value – attitude – behavior' have been studied and developed by many scientists around the world, resulting

in forming logically a chain of scale systems for 'personal values' The systems start from: The Rokeach Value system – RVS (Rokeach, 1973); The List of Values – LOV (Kahle, 1983); Schwartz Value Survey - SVS (Schwartz, 1990) Along with these measurement systems, many studies on social behavior and consumer behavior have been conducted in many countries around the world, including Vietnam

Therefore, the author identifies the research problem as 'Personal values in service consumption'; and determines the including contents: (i) adjusting the 'personal values' scale to adapt the research environment in Vietnam; (ii) testing the concept of 'personal values' corresponding to specific model of service consumption behavior in Vietnamese market These contents corresponds to 2 stages of the study

2 Objectives of the study

The study must achieve specific objectives:

1 Adjust the scale of 'personal values', then find what aspects of 'personal values' are relevant to the current market in Vietnam

2 Testing the concept of 'personal values' as well as its aspects corresponding

to the behavioral model in some typical service industries in Vietnam

3 Check the reliability of the research model used in testing 'personal values' with service consumption behavior

3 Research problem and scope of the study

- Research Problem: The concept of 'personal values', particularly the concept of 'personal values' with the decision to service consumption

- Scope of the study:

+ Selected subject: Vietnamese citizens

+ Spatial scope of the study: Vietnamese research market

+ Temporal scope of the study: From 2011 to 2017

3 The novelty and contribution of the study

3.1 The novelty of the research results

The novelty of the study can be listed specifically as follows:

1) Scale 'personal values': the current research results are relevant to Vietnamese research market and have scientific contribution in perfecting the studies on consumption behaviors in Vietnam

2) Testing the concept of 'personal values', corresponding to the behavioral model: Consumption behavior service model is a combination of two classic models of VAB (Value - Attitude - Behavior) and TRA (Theory

of Reasoned Action) to confirm the role of 'personal values' in the decision

to service consumption in Vietnam At this point, no research has been conducted yet

3) The behavioral model in this study is based on the concept of 'behavior' which was measured by observing directly the variables

3.2 The contribution of the research results

The study has resulted in a complete 'personal values' scale that is relevant

to the research field of service consumption in Vietnam Thus, the research results have the following specific contributions:

To researchers: 'personal values' may be one of the significant concepts that need to be considered in order to know what attracts consumers to a certain service By using the 'personal values' scale (adapted to Vietnamese market), they may consider the relationship between 'personal values' and the choice of service The research results may be used by consumption behavior researchers as a reference scale for the concept of 'personal values' in research models of various fields

To executives: The aspects of the 'personal values' scale are the basis for building marketing strategies, as well as business strategies in the service delivery

CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH MODEL

OF PERSONAL VALUES IN SERVICE CONSUMPTION

1.1 Literature review

1.1.1 The development of the concept of 'personal values' - human values

The concept of 'human values' (including 'personal values') was defined

by Rokeach as: ‘A value is an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct

or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.’ (Rokeach 1973, p.5) 'Personal values' was derived from Rokeach's concept of 'human value' and has the meanings as the five assumptions given by Rokeach (1973, p 3): 1) The total number of values that a person possesses is relatively small 2) All men everywhere possess the same values to different degrees 3) Values are organized into value systems

4) The antecedents of human values can be traced to culture, society and its institutions, and personality

5) The consequences of human values will be manifested in virtually all phenomena that social scientists might consider worth investigating and understanding

With these five assumptions, we can understand that the forming of an individual's 'personal values' (in 'human value') is based on his or her personality, habitat, beliefs (assumption 4) - is not due to economic conditions At the same time, 'personal values' are the desires in individual life (as defined by Rokeach) and are the same among individuals but do not have similar significances (assumption 2) Rokeach's assumptions show that the concept of 'personal values' exists in every human being, regardless of their living conditions (rich or poor in material and mental ) and can be measured (assumptions 1, 3 and 5)

From Rokeach's (1973) proposition of 'human value', and with five specific assumptions, the concept and scale of 'personal values' are developed as the following diagram (Figure 2.1):

Figure 2.1: The development of 'personal values'

According to the diagram above (Figure 2.1), the researcher made a statement that the process of forming and developing the scale of 'personal values' went through the following periods:

- The Rokeach Value system - RVS consists of two kinds: (i) instrumental values (18 observable variables): moral values and competence values; (ii) terminal values (18 observable variables): personal values and social values

- The List of Values - LOV scale (9 observable variables) is applied in the marketing field and is formulated by reducing the variables of the RVS

to 9 (Nguyen Xuan Lan et al., 2011, p.274) LOV was created before Zeithaml's theory of cognitive structures (1988)

- The Schwartz Value Survey - SVS (56 observable variables) consists of components derived from Rokeach's instrumental values and is a psychological scale (Nguyen Xuan Lan et al., 2011, p 273)

In addition, Yi, Hong & Yue (2012) have affirmed the relationship of scale systems: first of all is Rokeach’s with 18 observations of the value components obtained in Rokeach value system - RVS The LOV - Kahle value system is widely used because it is simple and easy to use; and this system is also based on Maslow, Rokeach and Feather theories

1.1.2 Assess some current 'personal values' scales

There are quite a number of scales for the concept of 'personal values' On

a general scale, there are: the Rokeach Value System - RVS (1973); Schwartz Value Survey- SVS (1990) On the scope of consumer analysis, there are: Vinson et al (1977); The List of Value - LOV of Kahle (1983); Values and

Lifestyles - VALS by Mitchell (1983) and Durgee Value System (1996) (Lages & Fernandes, 2005)

In Vietnam, the concept of 'personal values' which is used by scientists in studying service consumption behavior is measured by the SERPVAL scale

- a study by Thuy & Hau (2010, 2011), but has not put into the specific behavior model yet Although in the study by Mai & Svein (2015), 'personal values' have been placed in the relationship of 'value-behavior-attitude' - the VAB model, the field of study is not service consumption At the same time, when SERPVAL scale was used in Vietnamese research market, quite a number of observable variables were excluded from the measurement model Therefore, the author finds that there must be a complete scale to measure the concept of 'personal values' in the field of service consumption, and 'personal values' must be tested in specific service consumption behavior

1.2 The concept of 'personal values' in the behavioral model

1.2.1 'Personal values' in relation to 'attitudes' and 'behaviors'

Since the conceptualization, 'personal values' has been placed in relationships with 'attitudes' and 'behaviors' (Rokeach, 1973) In line with the development of the concept of 'personal values', Kahle successfully built the LOV scale - a list

of values, and set it in a specific consumption scope, along with the clear formation of the system of 'value - attitude - behavior '- VAB (Homer & Kahle, 1988)

The VAB - 'value - attitude - behavior' model shows that the 'personal values' will influence specific behaviors through mediating factors (attitude, intention

or motivation) (Vaske & Donnelly, 1999) Values may also have a direct impact

on behavior (Homer & Kahle, 1988)

In Vietnam, the concept of 'personal values' was introduced by Thuy & Hau (2010, 2011) to the system of 'personal values - satisfaction - loyalty' Meanwhile, the study by Vu Van Hiep & Nguyen Thu Thuy (2015) which was conducted with a behavioral model demonstrated the 'value-attitude-behavior' relationship in dormitory choice decision of students All conducted studies have used the SERPVAL scale developed by Lages & Fernandes (2005)

The study uses a model of relationship between the three factors in 'personal values - attitude - behavior' system as the basis to build up its research model

Figure 1.1: Theoretical model – VAB

Researchers found that the theoretical model (Figure 1.1) had two variables (attitudes and behaviors) similar to a cognitive behavioral model - Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Figure 1.2)

Figure 1.2: Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)

(Source: Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980)

1.2.2 A research model for testing the aspects of 'personal values' in Vietnam

In order to test the aspects of 'personal values' in service consumption in Vietnamese market, the researcher chose the theory model of VAB – 'personal values - attitude - behavior' But the researcher also revised the objective of the study: testing the aspects of 'personal values' in different environments (sectors) of service consumption in Vietnam, specifically the relationship with the other two elements (attitude and behavior) Then the researcher considered that the TRA model is quite appropriate because it has been used by scholars in studying consumption behavior in many markets as well as many different fields At the same time, the TRA model also shows the other two concepts ('attitude' and 'behavior') in 'personal values-attitude-behavior' system, and the model has already had a scale system for hidden and simple variables when analyzing data In addition, Mai & Svein (2015) also refered to the combination of VAB and TPB models (Ajzen's planned behavior) – which were developed from the TRA model by adding 'behavioral control' variable when analyzing the impact of 'personal values'

on behavior The combination of the concept 'personal values' and the behavioral model was used by Sheng et al (2017) in the study of holiday behavior among Australian students Sheng et al built the model based on how 'personal values' affects variables in Ajzen's TPB model At this point, the researcher found evidences to prove that the impact of personal values

on the behavioral model was the TPB model And there was no impact of personal values on the TRA model (Reasoned Action)

Thus, the researcher decided to combine the VAB model (Personal Values

- Behavior – Attitudes) and the TRA model (Reasoned Action) in the process

of testing the aspects of 'personal values' on consumption behaviors in Vietnamese market It means building a causal relationship between the concept of 'personal values' and its impact on 'attitude' on two grounds: (i) the theoretical model of the study has defined the causal relationship between 'personal values' and 'attitude' of consumers; (ii) Yuanfeng & Randall (2012) used the behavioral model in studying the small-scale shopping behavior in China and Thailand, taking into account the impact of 'personal values' and 'attitude' of customers The research model is specifically shown in Figure 1.3:

Figure 1.3: Research model of personal values in service

consumption in Vietnam

CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODS 2.1 Research process

To achieve the objectives, the study was conducted in two phases:

- Phase 1: to adjust the scale

- Phase 2: to test the scale with behavioral model

2.1.1 The necessity for two phases in the study

The research needs to be conducted in two phases because:

1) Currently in Vietnam, in many studies of 'personal values' in service consumption, scientists are using the SERPVAL scale - the Service Personal Values (Lages & Fernandes, 2005) Lages & Fernandes (2005) have confirmed that the SERPVAL scale is a scale that reflects the notion

of 'personal values' in the service field But the author approached the SERPVAL scale through Zeithaml string theory (1988) Meanwhile, a List

of values - LOV of Kahle (1983) were approached through the theory of Maslow's hierarchy of needs (1943) ( William & Richard, 1999) This shows that SERPVAL scale reflects only 'personal values' in the narrow range of consumers - consumers of services

Indeed, when building SERPVAL scale, Lages & Fernandes conducted direct surveys of customers who were using the service mobile networks in Portugal Maybe that’s why when Thuy & Houston (2010, 2011) used SERPVAL in research for various types of services in Vietnam, this scale showed the inconsistencies (many observable variables were excluded from the measurement model after analyzing data) Thus there must be a more appropriate scale to measure the concept of 'personal values' in researching about consumer service

That is why the author finds that it’s necessary to have Phase 1 - to adjust the existing 'personal values' scale

2) When the 'personal values' scale has been adjusted to fit the research environment, it is necessary to include it in the consumer behavior model

to test the compatibility of the new scale, and to test the impact of scale’s aspects to consumption behavior That is the second phase of the study

2.1.2 Research process of the study

To complete the research and achieve the objectives, the research was conducted with two studies corresponding to two phases: Phase 1: adjusting the 'personal values' scale to fit the research environment in Vietnam Phase

2: testing the 'personal values' scale with the consumer behavior model in different service fields in Vietnam

On the basis of well-defined that the study needs to be conducted in two phases associated with two studies, and also based on the process of developing and evaluating the scale of Gilbert & Churchill (1979) and Nguyen Dinh Tho (2011), the author built a more detailed research process that was appropriate for current research Specifically (Figure 1):

Figure 1: Research process of the study 2.2.2 The process of conducting research in phase 1

While conducting the study, the author refered to the Lages & Fernandes (2005) methods used to create the SERPVAL scale – personal value in service Thus, the 'personal values' scale was defined by the researcher as a second-order scale - similar to the SERPVAL scale of Lages & Fernandes (2005) (SERPVAL scale generation is the basis reference of the researcher)

Sampling method

According to the whole research process (Figure 1), the first phase consists of two steps:

Qualitative research: The researcher established two discussion groups

Group 1: - The exploration group: The objective of the group is to discuss the definition of 'personal values' in service consumption and to identify the factors that make up 'personal values', also to build the scale for the concept Interviewees are people from all walks of life, so that there are many opinions from different perspectives Thus, the researcher selected the objects as teachers, office workers, managers, general laborers, small business operators

Group 2 - control group: The objective of the group is to test the results

of group 1 discussions and to adjust

Interviewees are teachers who are colleagues of the researcher They are experienced university lecturers, so they are able to understand and identify the problem of the research

Quantitative research: - The objective is to have a 'personal values' scale

that has been adjusted to fit Vietnamese environment through market data Observed objects are Vietnamese people between the ages of 25 and 60 (people who are in working age, have career orientation, have full capacity

of behavior, have enough ability to feel about life and themselves) Sampling period is the end of 2013

Data processing methods

Data analysis steps in quantitative studies: (i) Exploratory factor analysis

- EFA; (ii) reliability testing; (iii) Confirmatory factor analysis - CFA

2.2.3 The process of conducting research in phase 2

The behavioral model used in the research is a combination of two theoretical models of Personal Values – Attitudes – Behavior (VAB) and TRA (Theory of Reasoned Action) The consumer domain was identified as service consumption (Figure 1.3)

Hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: The adjusted 'personal values' scale that consists of

5 components and 15 observational variables are preserved through data analysis process (Cronbach Alpha - EFA - CFA)

Hypothesis 2: The aspects of the concept of 'personal values' that

exist in the testing model are statistically significant ('personal values' impacts on 'attitudes toward behavior')

Hypothesis 3: Variables in research model about the consumption

service behavior have a causal relationship (the non-zero path coefficient is significant)

The researcher expect these three hypotheses to be supported by market data

Sampling method

Researchers select three service sectors to test the 'personal values' scale They are tourism service, passenger transport service and fitness service Particular observed objects are:

Observation representative for tourism services: domestic tourists to

Nha Trang Sampling period is on the holiday of 30 April - 1 May, 2015

Observation representative for passenger transport service: are rail

passengers and airline passengers (from Nha Trang to Hanoi and from HCM City to Hanoi) Sampling period is from March to May 2015

Observation representative for fitness service: are the guests at the

gymnasium in Nha Trang city The sampling period is May 2017

Data processing methods

Data analysis with statistical tools:

+ Cronbach Alpha Factor

+ Exploratory Factor analysis - EFA

+ Confirmatory Factor analysis - CFA

+ Structural Equation Model - SEM