Summary of economic doctoral thesis factors affecting the intention to buy houses of people in urban areas of vietnam

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NATIONAL ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY TRAN XUAN LUONG "Factors affecting the intention to buy houses of people in urban areas of Vietnam" Major: Real Estate

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

NATIONAL ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY

TRAN XUAN LUONG

"Factors affecting the intention to buy houses of

people in urban areas of Vietnam"

Major: Real Estate Business Administration

Code: 9340101

SUMMARY OF ECONOMIC DOCTORAL

THESIS

Hanoi, 2020

The work was completed at:

National Economics University

Instructors:

1 Assoc Prof Pham Van Linh

2 Prof Pham Lan Hương

1st reviewer: …………

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2nd reviewer:…………

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3rd reviewer:…………

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The dissertation will be reviewred in front of the State Council for Thesis Evaluation at……

The dissertation can be found at: National Library

Library of National Economics

University

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Vietnam is stepping up on the process of urbanization in the local area, the speed of

urbanization is shown by the growth rate over time of urban population and urban area

(Tran Minh Tung, 2019 ) The World Bank (WB, 2011) argues that urbanization in Vietnam

is closely related to five transition factors, namely administration, space, economy,

population and social welfare These transformations have drastically changed the physical

and non-physical appearance of urban areas The increase in density in new urban space

areas, often located on the suburban, is seen as a result of the urbanization process through

new urban area projects

Urbanization in Vietnam is happening at a very fast pace, with increasing population

pressure, and is putting the burden of housing problems on urban areas (Tran Ngoc Chinh,

2019) Cities in Vietnam are currently facing an imbalance between the availability of

housing and meeting real needs (JLL, 2020) Supply in high-end and luxury apartments is

currently quite high; According to JLL, the density of luxury apartments in Ho Chi Minh

City reaches 3 units per 1,000 people, nearly the same level as in BangKok, Thailand

Although the market supply is very large, according to information from the Ministry of

Construction, at the end of 2019, the real estate market (RE) still has a large inventory

(about 22,976 billion VND) This fact shows that the current supply of RE products in urban

areas in Vietnam has not reached the suitable customers

The calculation of JLL (2020) shows that, depending on the model, the basic facilities

and the location of the project, the price must be lower than $ 1,200 (approximately VND

27,000,000) per square meter will be considered affordable housing This is a high price

even compared to the average income per capita of Hanoi capital in 2019 at VND

120,000,000/person/year Therefore, the current RE market in Vietnam urban areas with

mostly middle and high-end apartments are only serving the middle class of society The

middle class, according to the definition of the World Bank (2015), is the person with a

living standard higher than USD15/ person/day, equivalent to VND 10.6

million/person/month if calculated at the exchange rate in early 2020 This object of

Vietnam is growing rapidly in recent years, accounting for 15% of the population in 2019

(approximately 14.4 million) and is estimated to reach 20%, 25% soon This is an important

role in economic development, boosting demand due to high consumption, contributing to

creating more jobs for society and helping the economy reduce its dependence on foreign

investment (Dang Hoang Hai Anh, 2020)

Although being a target customer of the Vietnam RE market, buying a house is always

one of the important things in human life (Felicia et al., 2014) Because buying a house is a

complex decision-making process, shown by the high cost, irregularity, risk, high

self-expression and significant differences in people's perceptions (Manivannan et al., 2014) )

Buying a house is also considered a long-term investment decision since it is the main point

affecting people's living standards from both macro and micro aspects (Paul et al., 2019)

The middle class is said to be aware and demanding of high quality products; so with an

important, high-value product like housing, it becomes even more cautious

According to state and local planning regulations, The real estate market in Vietnam's urban areas will include the main products of condominiums, villas, adjoining houses or penthouse and shophouse These are all high-value products, which have been located in the middle and high-end segment in the past period, making purchasing decisions more difficult The real estate market in urban areas of Vietnam is paradoxical when the supply is abundant, customers are available and increasing but the amount of inventory is still large The question is whether or not the sellers fully understand the buyers; know when the customer's purchase process is formed, influenced by what factors, what are the special factors that middle-class buyers require in housing supply In addition, the rapid urbanization process makes the law as well as institutional and administrative factors developed incompatibly, leading to a lot of housing disputes in the past period, which makes middle-class people become more cautious

Research on the house buying intention (BI) of domestic and foreign authors shows that there have been a number of studies of authors around the world on customers and types of houses or real estate However, in Vietnam, it is still very few and most are focusing on researching social housing or low-income housing - the source of real estate products is very few in Vietnam Thus, it can be seen that both theory and practice show the urgency of scientific studies, especially quantitative studies on housing buying behavior in urban areas of Vietnam to provide grant bases to investors as well as policy makers in reaching customers effectively This process begins with the intention of buying a house that matches the personal and psychological characteristics of the customer Because buying intention reflects consumers' beliefs related to the consumer behaviors chain is an individual motivation in awareness to promote efforts to conduct behaviors (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980)

In this context, the PhD student selected the topic "Factors affecting the intention to

buy houses of people in urban areas of Vietnam" to be the subject of the doctoral thesis In which, focusing on researching on house buying intention of middle class people in Vietnam - the target customers of the current urban real estate market Because of the different characteristics of housing products in urban areas, PhD student also plans to divide the product types into two groups, called private houses and apartments In which private houses are understood as villas, adjacent houses and shops An apartment is defined as an apartment or a penthouse And besides analyzing the factors affecting house buying intention of people in urban areas of Vietnam, the thesis will also compare the differences in buying intention between the two types of apartments and private houses of researched customers

2 Research questions

- What are the main factors influencing the intention to buy a house with the price range of VND 3-5 billion of the middle class customers in urban areas in Vietnam?

- Is there a difference in the influence of factors on the intention to buy an apartment and the

intention to buy a private house with the same price of 3-5 billion VND of the middle class

customers in urban areas in Vietnam?

- What demographic characteristics differ between two middle-class customers who intend

to buy an apartment or a private house, at the same price of 3-5 billion VND in urban areas

of Vietnam?

3 Research purposes and missions

Research purposes:

The dissertation is aimed at assessing the influence of different factors on housing

buying intention in urban areas of Vietnam In particular: comparing the differences in the

influence of factors on the buying intention of middle-class customers for apartments and

private houses in urban areas Vietnam with prices ranging from VND 3 to 5 billion

Detail goals:

- Review theoretical schools and previous studies on houses/real estate buying

intention On that basis, determine the theoretical basis for the research of the thesis;

- Build a model to study the factors affecting intention to buy houses of people in

urban areas of Vietnam;

- Test the proposed research model with data collected from people with intention to

buy houses in Vietnam urban areas; in which divided into 02 groups: people with apartment

buying intention and people with private house buying intention;

- Make recommendations to consumers (homebuyers), developers and policy makers

in the design, construction and distribution of housing products in urban areas in accordance

with consumers' buying intention

4 Research subject and scope

4.1 Research subjects

The research object of the thesis is the factors affecting intention to buy houses of

people in urban areas of Vietnam a comparison of the different levels of influence between

apartment buyers and home buyers

4.2 Research scope

Scope of content:

- Research on house buying intention, the factors affecting house buying intention

and the characteristics of people in urban areas of Vietnam

- The thesis does not study other processes in the behavior of consumers buying

houses in Vietnam's urban areas such as: decision of buying houses; satisfaction after

buying etc

Scope of research method:

Assessing the influence of factors on house buying intention is analyzed from the

perspective of the house buyer, not from the perspective of the seller / broker or

construction investor or policy makers

Scope of space:

- The study focused on 02 groups of customers who are buyers of apartments and private houses:

+ People who have buying intentions considering one of the above apartments or private houses, up to the time of answering the survey questionnaire

+ Middle-class customers are those who own a relatively better financial position to actually make a choice of them (Linghi Li, 2010) Because the research objectives of this thesis are not aimed at examining the solvency issue (price factor) but want to compare the impact of factors on the intention of people on buying a house How the intention of the person who wants to buy the apartment is different from that of the person who wants to buy a private house when they have the same amount of money to choose to buy a house + The price of a private house or apartment that customers have intention to buy is in the range of 3-5 billion This price is chosen because according to the statistics of one of the big and reputable real estate information sites (batdongsan.com.vn), this is the price with the largest transaction volume in both types of apartment buildings and private house In addition, according to the evaluation of experts of the Real Estate Association of Vietnam,

in the last 3 years, the rate of absorption of residential real estate reached the highest rate, nearly 95% Notably, the absorption rate of apartments in the mid-end segment is the highest, over 97%

Scope of time:

- The thesis collects secondary data in the period of 2014 - 2018

- Primary data was collected in the period from June 2018 to June 2019

- Analysis and reporting data in the period 2019 - 2020

5 Summary of thesis

a / The research process of the dissertation consists of 12 basic steps: research problem (step 1); building theoretical basis (step 2); research model and questionnaire establishment (step 3); scale construction, pilot test, perfect scale (step 4,5,6,7,8,9); extensive investigation (step 10); information analysis (step 11), discussion and recommendations (step 12)

b / The dissertation's research methodology combines the deductive method and inductive method

c / Data collection method:

For secondary data: the method of collecting desk data

For primary data: in-depth interview method; expert method, test survey; Investigate by questionnaire

6 New contributions of the thesis

The thesis has contributions in both theoretically and practically, as follows:

- Contribution 1: Systematized theories about theoretical models related to human behavior, consumer behavior as well as intention to buy houses

- Contribution 2: Establishing an analytical model of factors affecting the intention to buy a house in urban areas in Vietnam in the price range of 3-5 billion VND of middle class customers based on the TPB model by Ajzen (2009, 2012) The model consists of 05 independent variables (attitudes, subjective norms, perception of behavior control, house position, legality), 05 control variables that are demographic characteristics of people

(gender, age, occupation, education level, family size) and 01 dependent variable (buying

intention)

- Contribution 3: Contribution 3: Comparison of the differences in the influence of

factors on buying intentions of middle-class customers for apartments and houses in urban

areas in Vietnam with prices ranging from 3- 5 billion

- Contribution 4: Affirm the difference in the intention to buy an apartment or private

house with the price of 3-5 billion VND of middle-class customers with different

demographic characteristics

- Contribution 5: Propose a number of suggestions to consumers, investors and policy

makers on home or apartment products at VND 3-5 billion in urban areas of Vietnam These

suggestions may help:

+ Home buyers, brokerage consultants to have references to find themselves a private

house or apartment at VND 3-5 billion, suitable to their requirements

+ Investors to build houses based on research results to make timely and effective

investment decisions

+ State agencies to adopt appropriate guidelines and policies and approve investment

projects on housing construction, aiming at the right target, using effectively, minimizing

the phenomenon of "ghost town" causing losses for national resources, avoid wasting risks

and social consequences

CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH AND AND RESEARCH

MODEL 1.1 Consumer behavior

Walters (1974: 7) defines consumer behavior as “the process by which individuals

decide what, what, when, where, how and from whom to purchase goods and services”

Mowen (1993: 6) provides another definition by explaining consumer behavior as

“studying the units of purchase and the exchange processes involved in the acquisition,

consumption and disposal of goods, services, experiences and ideas ” This definition

focuses on the purchases of entities that include not only individuals but also groups that

purchase products or services

Schiffman & Kanuk (1997: 648) define consumer behavior as "The behavior

consumers display when searching, buying, using, reviewing and disposing products,

services and ideas" Schiffman & Kanuk (1997: 6-7) clarify the definition by explaining that

consumer behavior studies how individuals make decisions to use their available resources

(time, money, effort) on consumption-related items It includes research about what, why,

when, where, and how often they buy and how they use the product In addition, it includes

all the behaviors consumers exhibit in finding, buying, using, evaluating and disposing of

products and services they expect will satisfy their needs Also according to Schiffman &

Kanuk (1997: 6-7), two different types of consumers can be distinguished as individual and

group consumers Individual consumers who purchase products and services for personal or

household use or as a gift to someone else Personal consumer purchases are ultimately for personal consumption On the other hand, group consumers buy products and services to run an organization, including for-profit and non-profit organizations or governmental organizations and institutions

Engel's definition of consumer behavior, Blackwell & Miniard (1990:G4), states that

“actions are directly related to the acquisition, consumption and handling of products and services, including decision processes before and after these actions” More recent descriptions or definitions (which are not substantially different from above) can be found in Arnould, Price & Zinkhan (2002:5) and Peter & Olson (2002:6)

Consumer behavior is also defined as how individuals, groups and organizations select, purchase, use and discard goods, services, ideas or experiences in order to meet their needs (Kotler & Keller, 2009: 9; Solomon, 2009: 7)

A broader and “more complete” definition of consumer behavior is “the totality of consumers' decisions with respect to the acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, activities, experiences, people, and ideas by (human) decision-making units over time."(Hoyer & Macinnis, 2010: 3)

Schiffman, Hansen & Kanuk (2012: 5) argue that “consumer behavior is about finding, buying, using, reviewing and rejecting products and services that they hope will meet the needs of people ”

1.2 Consumer behavior and housing products

Several studies have discussed homebuyers' buying choices and have determined that homebuyers should be referred to as consumers in certain consumer activities such as choosing, buying and using home products (Fierro et al., 2009; Hoang & Yi, 2010; Opoku

& Abdul-Muhmin, 2010)

Housing selection aims to maximize benefits in housing use, in the context of housing

as a durable commodity of individuals and households ( Koklic and Vida, 2009; 2011) Meanwhile, from a behavioral economics perspective, housing choice is seen as a problem-solving process with behavioral orientation, values-focused (Collen and Hoekstra, 2001; Jansen, 2014) and influenced by psychological factors with many different biases (Gibb, 2009)

In the decision-making process, individuals need to consider different goals, for example the individual makes a conscious effort to make a correct choice, maximizing benefits on a experiences of minimizing negative emotions (Bettman et al., 1998) However, individuals strive to achieve certain goals and values when solving their problems The problem-solving process takes place in a series of well-analyzed phases, although a particular problem may repeat complicatedly Collen and Hoekstra (2001) together with the research team of Jansen et al (2011) have reviewed the document and conceptualized stages

of the problem solving process such as: (1) Problem perception; (2) Clearly identify the problem; (3) Design and testing; (4) Selection; (5) Consideration of commitments; (6) Action; and (7) Feedback

Interestingly enough, house buying decision making is often influenced by the people involved At the household level, family members have an influence on home buying

decisions (Levy and Kwai-Choi Lee, 2004) In addition, the activity of choosing / buying a

house is considered an inherently social activity and each decision-maker is influenced by

emotional and other psychological factors Therefore, the decision-making process includes

things such as: setting goals, discussing and negotiating family needs about housing,

consulting with intermediaries, forecasting changes in housing issues (housing features and

market trends) according to Levy et al (2008)

1.3 Human behavior model

According to Kotler (in Gould, 1979: 33), the extremely difficult task is to discover

why people buy because they are influenced by many factors One reason is that people are

greatly influenced by their mentality, which ultimately leads to the decision to make a

public purchase

Runyon & Stewart (19B7: 694-695) explains the theory of human behavior by saying

that it represents beliefs related to human nature as well as the cause of their behavior

Therefore, people can be viewed from many perspectives For example, if people are

viewed from an economic perspective, marketers can try to influence them with incentives

However, from a social theory perspective, marketers can try to influence people by calling

for group norms, reference groups and values

According to Runyon & Stewart (1987: 695), when discussing human behavioral

models, it is important to note that the proposed models are considered to be an incomplete

description of people, in which the Different models may be suitable for different marketing

situations However, the above attitudes and models of human behavior have provided

valuable input on consumer behavior, as they strive to provide insights into why people -

consumers make reasonable buying decisions

To better understand human behavior, four models will be discussed with marketing

applications based on Kotler's findings (in Gould, 1979: 34-46) The models of human

behavior discussed below are: the Marshal economic model, the Veblenian psychosocial

model, the Pavlovian learning model, and the Freudian psychoanalysis model In addition to

these four models, Maslow's need hierarchy theory discussed the importance of

understanding the impact of needs and motives on consumer behavior

1.4 Consumer behavior model

The discussion of human behavior models in section 1.3 shows efforts to explain

human behavior as well as its effect on consumer behavior The models take a very narrow

approach in terms of their interpretation of the person's behavior and its impact on consumer

behavior They focus on only a small set of possible behavioral effects, such as the Marshal

model, only on the influence of financial resources on behavior

The shortcomings of human behavior models led to more complex models of

consumer behavior appearing in the early 1960s According to Runyon & Stewart (1987:

698), consumer behavioral models, in contrast to human behavioral models, attempt to

describe and systematize the entire purchasing process, thus providing a guide for further

learning and research on consumer behavior

Section 1.4 will focus on the definition of consumer behavior patterns, their purposes

and advantages and ultimately discuss some of the patterns of consumer behavior along

with their importance in understanding consumer behavior These models include: the Bettman information-processing model, the Nicosian model, the Howard Sheth model, the Howard model, the Engel-Blackwell-Miniard (EBM) model, the Theory of Rational Action (TRA), and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

1.5 Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and house buying intention

1.5.1 TPB model studies on house buying intention

Research by Chung et al (2018) has mentioned quite a few different authors' approaches to buying intention Buying intention is defined as the probability that a customer is willing to buy a product in the near future (Wu et al., 2011) According to Sidi and Sharipah (2011), a buying intention is considered a subjective judgment by the customers it reflects after the customer evaluates whether to buy a product or service A buying intention is also defined as a situation in which a customer is willing to deal with a seller and may come to consideration of purchasing some products or service (Dodds et al., 1991) The higher buying intention, the higher customer's willingness to buy a product or service (Schuler and Adair, 2003; Chiew et al., 2014) Studies have also shown that the clients are more likely to convert their intentions into actual buying behavior (Zawawi et al, 2004) Chung et al mentioned that buying intention is the dependent variable predicted by

an independent variable such as attitude, cognitive behavior control and subjective norms (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980; Ajzen, 1991)

In the study of Julius et al (2016) also reviewed some concepts of buying intention and house buying intention of different authors Wu and Teng (2011) identify buying intention

as potential customers in the plan to purchase a particular product or service in the future Interestingly, both buying intention and buying decision are at two different stages in consumer behavior theory however there is a significant link between both phases, especially the association related to house purchase (Ajzen, 1991; Han and Kim, 2010; Kunshan and Yiman, 2011) According to Ajzen (1991), intention is considered to include the motivating factors that lead to a particular behavior in which intention implies how much effort a person performed for the act to happen In other words, a person with a high buying intention is more likely to buy Hence, Julius et al (2016) defined home buying intent in their study as how consumers are willing to buy a home in the near future This is a definition consistent with the definition of Ajzen (1991)

Mohamad et al (2013) mentioned that in research on real estate market development

in Malaysia, buying intention can be defined as the plan to buy a particular good or service

in the future It can also be defined as a consumer's attitude toward a product referring to its beliefs, feelings, and intentions to buy Plabdaeng (2010) says that making buying decisions

is one of the activities that people do all the time People actually make decisions about many things According to Sidin, Zawawi, Wong, Busu, & Hamzah, (2004), family members will have different roles in making purchasing decisions Sometimes, the decision maker may not be the one with the purchasing power to buy the product (Mansumitchai, 2002)

Author Tawfik in the 2014, 2015 (a, b, c) publications also mentioned, intention is a sign of one's willingness to act and it is the immediate premise of behavior Because Intention is the dependent variable predicted by an independent variable namely Attitude, Subjective Norm and Cognitive Behavior Control Intention changes over time and as the interval increases, the correlation between intention and action decreases (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Han and Kim., 2010; Kim and Han, 2010) Davis et al (1989) and Taylor & Todd (1995) found in their studies that intention is a strong predictor of behavior

Therefore, the buying intention is the premise of the buying decision (Phungwong 2010)

In Tech's (2013) study on the intention to buy a greenhouse in Malaysia, the author

also pointed out that intentions are subjective assessments of how individuals will behave in

the future, which provide a connection between individuals and products purchased (Kim &

Littrell, 1999; Madden et al., 1992) The power of intention as an alternative measure for

future behavior has been demonstrated in previous studies (Morwitz etal., 2007; Chan &

Lau, 2000) Among the theories used to explain the buying intention, the Theory of Planned

Behavior (TPB) - an extension of Theory of Reasonable Action (TRA), has been shown to

provide a framework for identify predictors of the intention to buy a particular product

(Ajzen & Madden, 1986; Han et al., 2010) To determine the buying intention of home

buyers, it is necessary to know their attitudes

Research by Nguyen Thi Tung Phuong (2018) mentions the concept of "apartment

choice" In the original sense, "choice" is an opportunity, right and power to choose, while

"decision" is to reach a conclusion or resolution after consideration and does not imply the

existence of alternatives “Decisions” are influenced by the analysis of facts and

information Choosing can range from low-impact to high-impact However, unlike choice,

decisions are made based on facts, not on different beliefs and perspectives Even so, a

decision can also be part of a choice

In Vietnam, the study of apartment buying intentions is important for real estate marketing

and modern urban development Because consumers 'house buying” behavior is so complex,

it is difficult to have a single model or theory that fully explains consumers' decisions to buy

an apartment The process of forming an apartment purchase intention is a complicated

process, so it is not possible to fully and accurately explain all the factors that affect the

intention to buy an apartment of people living in the urban area Buying a house to live in is

one of the most important economic decisions made by people of all income classes, so the

buyer is often required to gather and synthesize a lot of information about the features,

quality, facilities, design, price and surroundings (Le Va Xi, 2017)

1.5.2 TPB studies on factors affecting the intention to buy a house

There are many studies on house buying intention and the factors that affect it A

recent study by Sridharan (2020) shows that the reason for buying a house is the pride in

owning property instead of renting someone else's, having no landlord and tax benefits

Wijayaningtyas et al (2019) study the behavioral control awareness factors of the Y

generation (millennials) for environmentally friendly buying intention Anlan Liu (2019)

has a study of the impact of children on the household's willingness to buy a house In

addition, the factors of family annual income and ownership of private cars have a negative

effect, while the effect of an individual's age and educational level on buying intention is

insufficient

Lin et al (2018) studied the green housing buying intention among young Chinese on

the basis of an extended theory of planned behavior (Theory of Planned Behavior - TPB)

Incentives from the Government are considered the most important factor, followed by the

attitude towards behavior and subjective norms of consumers Cognitive behavioral control

is a factor that does not affect the green housing buying intention of young consumers In

addition, subjective knowledge has an indirect effect through attitude toward behavior

Attention to the environment also creates an indirect effect through attitudes toward

behavior and subjective norms on the corresponding buying intention Therefore, the government is implied to play an important role in promoting green housing at this stage Chung et al (2018) studied the factors affecting buying intention of land assets in Greater Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia The results have shown that there are positive relationships between attitudes, subjective norms, perceptions of behavioral control and finance to buying intention of land assets, while location and living space are not showing a similar relationship in the land market in Greater KL

Mal et al (2018) studied the effect of feng shui factors on buying intention of the Chinese people (Malaysian Chinese - Chinese originating from Malaysia) According to the views on feng shui, potential buyers believe that feng shui arrangements can affect luck and property A survey questionnaire based on 24 criteria for feng shui was designed to use data collection from two different locations, namely Kuala Lumpur and Sandakan Demographic factors collected are gender, age, income, home owners, house buyers intention of buying or not, buying a house to stay or to invest The characteristics of the house studied in addition

to feng shui are: location, house price, security, transportation system, public utilities, development potential and resale potential

Houses in Sabah are built by investors based on economic factors rather than on the interests of consumers (Julius, 2016) Therefore, this study aims to understand consumer behavior towards house buying by using The Theory of Buyer Behavior Model with Perception and Output Perception includes housing attributes such as house characteristics, living space, distance and environment The output refers to the intention of buying The exogenous variables of the model is the superstition about numbers, superstition about ghosts, brand owners and financial investors The goal of this study is to examine the influence of these factors on buying intention Based on the responses of 235 working adults, the findings indicate that house, financial, distance, environmental characteristics and superstition about numbers have a significantly positive relationship with house buying intention

Demographic criteria play an important role in determining people's characteristics (Fernando, 2016) Factors affecting buying intention were identified as housing characteristics, individual living space, finances, location and demographics Demographics

were collected based on 07 criteria of age, religion, marital status, household size,

occupation, and income.

In 2019, Mydhili et al Gathered a number of studies on the factors affecting the purchase of BDS There are a number of studies on house buying intention such as Mostofa (2016), Al-Nahdi (2015) and Tawfik (2015) Research by Mostofa et al investigated potential market factors in the attitude of real estate buyers in Bangladesh to identify opportunities for investors and traders in Realty The research of Al-Nahdi et al focused on behavioral factors affecting Saudi Arabia's real estate purchase and aimed to see how real

estate buying intention is affected by attitude, how location, living space, public services,

and reference groups are In 2015, Tawfik's doctoral thesis studied the effects of a number

of variables in the role of independent variables (attitudes, subjective norms, perception of

behavior control ) and the role of moderator variables (location, public services) to the

dependent variable is the intention to purchase real estate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia In

addition, demographic characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, family size,

citizenship, education, occupation, and monthly income are also control variables taken into

research The theoretical basis of Tawfik's research is based on the Theory of Reasoned

Action (TRA) and TPB theory

Karunarathne et al (2015) argue that most housing market models are based on

rational choice and behavior optimization, but do not take into account observed behavior in

the housing market Therefore, two structures were identified, namely the self image and

the influence of the reference group

The purpose of Polek's announcement (2014) is to study the importance of different

reference groups - Group References - affecting house buying intention for families living in

Thailand because houses are durable properties at high prices compared to The income of

the people of this country The study applied Ajzen's famous theory of TPB (1991)

Mohamad et al (2013) considered that there are a number of factors that determine the

movement of the real estate market From the results of the analysis, the influencing factors

have a significant relationship with real estate buying intention in Setia Alam, which are

personal characteristics, knowledge, social class and reference group

The study measures the intention to buy green and sustainable housing in Malaysia

using an extended theory of behavioral models under the TPB plan (Teck Hong Tan, 2013)

Results obtained showed that attitudes towards green houses, cognitive behavioral control

and perceived identity (Perceived self-identity) have a positive impact on behavioral

intention to buy that house

In Vietnam, there are a number of authors studying this content Typically, Le Va Xi

(2017) on the topic "Factors affecting the intention of Vietnamese consumers to buy

apartments in medium-sized cities: A study in Hai Phong City" The author has focused on

understanding 4 main groups of factors: cultural changes; land issues for urban housing

development; urbanization and population pressures; and finally the factors that provide

value to the residents of the apartments - the value of condos - including the quality of

construction design, services, environment and prices

The research of Nguyen Thi Tung Phuong in 2018 is about choosing apartments in

urban areas in Hanoi city The study showed two factors that influence the choice of buying

apartments in urban areas of Hanoi city, namely "family phase" and "lifestyle" In addition,

control variables added include: age, gender, occupation, income, purchase price per square

meter of the apartment

In addition, there are a number of studies by Vietnamese authors about house buying

decisions As researched by Truong Thanh Hiep and colleagues in 2018 on the impact of

fear of losses on homebuyer behavior The Doctoral thesis and the publications of Nguyen

Tuan Anh et al (2017; 2018a, b, c) studied the impact of financial and non-financial factors

on the choice of buying affordable housing (social housing) and low-cost commercial

housing

1.6 Research gap of the thesis

1.6.1 Some conclusions about the research review

Previous studies in the country and abroad presented above have helped the PhD student have a relatively general view of the factors affecting house buying intention or real estate buying intention (collectively referred to as house buying intention) A summary of these factors is presented in Appendix 01 of the thesis From the contents reviewed, the PhD student draws some conclusions as follows:

- Most of the research on house buying intention and factors affecting the intention to buy a house is currently by foreign authors The main model used in the studies is TPB

- The works have brought a lot of different factors to study the impact on buying intention of consumers But together, these factors are divided into three main groups:

• The first group contains the factors in the basic model of TPB: Attitude, Subjective

Norms, and perception of behavior control These factors have also been further developed

or transformed by some studies: Self image (in reality, in imagination); Influence

(information type, standard type) ; Knowledge (Subjective Knowledge); Personality etc

These factors often act as independent variables affecting buying intention But there is also research (Lin et al., 2018) that these variables also act as intermediaries when previously influenced by a number of other factors

• The second group includes factors that belong to the property (or real estate):

Ownership / Legal procedure; Location ; Price; Finance / Development potential / Potential for resale; Environment; Living space (private); Public services (public utilities); Transportation system; Feng Shui; Superstition (numbers, ghosts) etc These factors mostly play an independent variable affecting purchasing intention However, in some studies of

Tawfik (2014, 2015), there are a number of variables (location, public services) that play a

role in regulating the relationship between the independent and dependent variables

• The third group is the list of buyers' personal/demographic characteristics: gender;

age; job; field of work; work status; marital status; monthly income; educational background; number of family members; environmental concern; social class; personal characteristics; religion; nationality; civil rights; current type of housing; whether he/she owning a car, etc These are the factors that always play the role of control variables Only

the citizenship factor in Tawfik's study (2015b) was analyzed as a moderator variable on the relationship between the dependent and independent variables

• The fourth group is other factors such as investors (brand, prestige), government

incentives, urbanization, culture etc. These variables often play the role of independent variables

1.6.2 Research gap

Based on the conclusions of the research situation, the PhD student determines the gap for the thesis as follow:

- First, the gap about the research object:

+ Housing in urban areas has a price of 3-5 billion VND The dissertation studies a group of people with house buying intention in urban areas at a price of 3-5 billion VND to be able to control factors of price and income

+ Home buyers are middle class Corresponding to the ability to buy houses at prices from 3

to 5 billion, according to experts, buyers are usually middle-class people According to the

concept of World Bank (2015), the global middle class is defined as those with a living

standard higher than 15 USD / person / day, equivalent to 10.6 million VND / person /

month (exchange rate in 2020)

- Second, the gaps in influencing factors: the study focuses on evaluating two main

factors, which are location and legality, in comparison with the three basic factors of the

TPB model, which are attitude, subjective norms, and perception of behavioral control

- Third, the gap of analytical content: the dissertation analyzes the difference in the

influence level of factors on the intention to buy two types of housing in urban areas,

namely apartments and private houses The identified influencing factors include 03 factors

in the TPB model: attitude, subjective standards, and perception of behavior control; along

with 02 factors have been established as in the content gaps as legal status and location But

there are two main types of housing in urban areas, which are apartments and private

houses, so the impact of these factors on the two groups of customers who intend to buy

these two types of houses will also be different Therefore, the thesis will focus on

clarifying this difference

- Last, the gaps in research space and time: housing research in urban areas of

Vietnam was conducted during the period from 2016 to 2020, collected primary data in

2019-2020 and Reported results in 2020

CHAPTER 2 HYPOTHESIS AND RESEARCH METHODS

2.1 Overview of the study area

2.1.1 Vietnam urban area

Circular 34/2009 / TT-BXD dated September 30, 2009 of the Ministry of Construction detailing a number of contents of Decree 42/2009 / ND-CP, dated May 7, 2009

of the Government on the for type of urban area, "Vietnamese urban centers are urban centers, including cities, towns and townships recognized by decision-making authorities in Vietnam" Although districts and communes in Vietnam are the administrative level in rural areas, in special cases, if the size and the nature of urbanization are met, the district can be recognized as urban, such as Prime Minister decided to recognize Phu Quoc island district

as a grade II urban area, the Ministry of Construction decided to recognize the expanded Tinh Gia town area of Tinh Gia district (Thanh Hoa province) as grade III urban area (the entire district Tinh Gia is a grade IV urban area, Duy Tien district (Ha Nam) or Tinh Bien district (An Giang) is a grade IV urban area Some communes in Vietnam that are district towns preparing to be upgraded to towns may also be recognized as Grade V urban area by the provincial government

2.1.2 Housing in urban areas

Article 3, Housing Law No 65/2014 / QH13 of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam provides the following concepts:

- House is a construction work for the purpose of staying and serving daily needs of

households and individuals

- Private house is a type of house that is defined on a separate parcel of land under

the lawful use rights of organizations, households and individuals, including villas, attached houses and independent houses

- Apartment building is a building with 2 or more floors, with many apartments,

common aisles, stairs, a private area, a shared area and a system of infrastructure works used for families, individuals and organizations, including apartments built for residential purposes and apartments built for mixed use purposes containing residential and business purposes

2.1.3 Characteristics of housing in urban areas

As mentioned above, houses in urban areas of Vietnam is also a type of real estate Therefore, they have the basic characteristics such as immovability, lifetime, additional costs, products and services, and future value Besides, according to the Hoang Van Cuong (2017), real estate in general and houses in particular have the following characteristics: Position stability; Sustainability; Individuality and Scarcity; Value; Adaptability; Mutual influence; Habits, Tastes and Psychology; Government of State laws and policies

For 02 types of houses selected for research in the thesis, which are "apartments" and

"private houses", there are a number of distinctive features to mention such as house purchase price, apartment value, payment , access to credit, house ownership certificate, use right, living standards, location if the there is similarity in price, utilities, living space,

atmosphere, vision, security, buyers

2.2 Scale of factors

2.2.1 Buy Intention Factor

The intention to buy a house in Vietnamese urban areas is the level of consumer willingness

to choose and buy one of two typical housing types, Apartment or Private House in urban

areas of Vietnam with the main purpose of living and able to serve other needs that are not

prohibited by law such as trading (buying for resale) renting, giving, etc

2.2.2 The Attitude Factor

Attitude refers to the extent to which a person has a favorable or negative rating relative to

an object, person or event (Robbins et al., 2015) It consists of three components:

perception, emotion and behavior Studies have shown that there is a significant impact

between attitudes and intention to buy a house (Kamal et al., 2016; Al-Nahdi et al., 2015;

Phungwong, 2010; Chung et al., 2018)

2.2.3 Subjective Norms Factor

Subjective norms are the normative beliefs of an individual influenced by others such as

family members who think an individual should perform a particular behavior (Rivis and

Sheeran, 2003) Many studies show that the reference group has a strong positive effect on

buying intention (Panthura, 2011; Numraktrakul et al., 2012; Razak et al., 2013) For people

planning to buy a house, their reference group is usually family and close friends with real

estate knowledge

2.2.4 Perception of behavior control factor

Perception of behavior control is defined as the degree to which the person controls internal

and external factors that facilitate or prevent the behavior (Han and Kim, 2010) This factor

has been shown by a number of studies to have a positive effect on behavioral intentions

(Han and Kim, 2010; Teo and Lee, 2010; Omar et al., 2012) as well as buying a house

(Phungwong , 2010; Chung et al., 2018) However, Al-Nahdi et al (2015), Tawfik et al

(2014, 2015, 2015abc) found that perception of behavior control has no effect on customers

who intend to buy real estate

2.2.5 Location factor

Location is a factor related to accessibility to shopping malls or retailers, public transport,

schools, hospitals or close to work as it is not only convenient but also effective to work and

sending children to school According to many studies, this factor has a positive impact on

buying intentions of consumers (Nasar and Manoj, 2015; Fernandez, 2017; Abdullah et al,

2012; Al-Nahdi et al, 2015; Tawfik, 2014, 2015)

2.2.6 Legal factors

The legality of the house relates to the law, to ensure the legal implementation of sale or

transactions, limit risks, as well as to protect their rights Some early studies reinforcing the

positive relationship between legal factors and intention to buy houses include Ranthilaka

(2010), Sridharan (2020), Dang Hung Vo (2018)

2.2.7 Demographic characteristics of house buyers

Buyers’ demographics are the internal factors involved in decision making (Mateja & Irena,

2009) Demographic characteristics include individual factors by gender, age, educational

status, marital status, career, number of family members, children and real estate To suit the

thesis, the demographic characteristics selected for analysis include: gender, age, main

occupation, education level, family size

From the determination in the above factors, the scale is inherited and built including:

From the determination in the above factors, the scale is inherited and built

including:

Scale of intention Source

I will probably buy this type of house Sridharan (2020); Wijayaningtyas

et al (2019); Anlan Liu (2019); Lin et la (2018); Chung et al (2018); Julius (2016); Tawfik (2014; 2015; 2015abc); Karunarathne (2015); Polek (2014); Mohamad (2013); Teck (2013)

I will try to buy this type of house

I want to buy this type of house

I make plans to buy this type of house

I intend to buy this type of house in the future

I will continue to buy this type of house in the future

Buying this type of house is a beneficial decision Mydhili (2019); Chung et al

2018); Karunarathne (2015); Tawfik (2014; 2015; 2015abc); Polek (2014); Teck (2013)

Buying this type of house is a good decision Buying this type of house is a wise decision Buying this type of house is an admirable decision

Subjective norms scale Source

My family thinks that I should choose to buy this type of house

Chung et al (2018); Karunarathne (2015); Tawfik (2014; 2015; 2015abc)

My family wants me to choose to buy this type of house

My family agrees to let me choose this type of home

My family thinks that choosing this type of house

is a wise decision

Cognitive behavioral control scale Source

I have enough opportunities to make a decision to buy this type of house

Chung et al (2018); Karunarathne (2015); Tawfik (2014; 2015; 2015abc); Polek (2014); Mohamad (2013); Teck (2013)

I have enough time to make a decision to buy this type of house

I have enough money to buy this type of house

I have enough knowledge and skills about this type of house to make my own buying decision

I complete control over this type of house

Scale of intention Source

The location of this type of house near public

transport is important

Mydhili (2019); Chung et al

(2018); Fernando (2016); Julius (2016); Tawfik (2014; 2015;

2015abc); Mimoza (2013)

The location of this type of house near

workplace is important

The location of this type of house near school

is important

The location of this type of house near

shopping centers is important

The location of this type of house near

amusement parks is important

The location of this type of house near

relatives, friends is important

The location of this type of house near

grocery / retail stores is important

Ensuring immediate and full use of

infrastructure and utilities of this type of

house is important

Sridharan (2020); Ranthilaka (2010); Law on housing 2014;

Circulars 31/2016/TT-BXD;

Circulars 10/2013/TT-BXD;

Author and experts proposal

(2020)

Ensuring the freedom of living, repairing and

renovating this type of house is important

Ensuring long-term ownership of this type of

house is important

Ensuring no dispute over the usable space of

this type of home is important

Ensuring multi-purpose use rights for this

type of house (for living, for sale, for rent,

etc.) is important

Ensuring the completeness and legality of

legal documents for this type of house

(construction permit, sale contract, land use

rights certificate / house ownership

certificate, etc.) is important

2.3 Research model and hypothesis

areas in Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam

- H5: Legality has a positive effect on house buying intention in urban areas in Vietnam

Figure 1 Model of research on factors influence the intention of people to buy houses in urban areas in Vietnam

Source: Ajen (1991, 2012) and author (2019)

_

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODS

3.1 Research design

The thesis is designed to research the questioning and research objectives of factors affecting the intention to buy houses of people in urban areas of Vietnam In the overall process, financial research works have been done for different target groups such as homebuyers, developers, and policy makers

3.2 Research methods

- The research approach of the thesis consists of a combination of deductive and inductive methods

- Data collection methods:

+ Secondary data was collected through sources of conferences, topics, thesis, research works, books, newspapers, internet domestically and internationally

+ Primary data was collected through methods: in-depth interviews, surveys by questionnaires

- Data analysis method: