Journal of Contemporary Issues and Thought

The Relationship between the Oil Price, Gold Price, and the Stock Market in Malaysia during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Hanita Hashim — 2024-09-16

Due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the worldwide financial and economic sectors, investors have been opting for safer, low-risk assets like gold and crude oil during periods of instability. This study aims to investigate the relationship between the stock market, gold price, and crude oil price using the quantile regression method. The study focused on examining the parameters of the stock price index within deciles 0.1-0.9, based on daily data from March 18th, 2020, to March 30th, 2022. The findings indicated that the relationship between gold prices and the stock market was generally insignificant during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a negative and significant correlation between crude oil prices and the stock market was observed in deciles 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9. Hence, the impact of these variables on the returns of the stock market should be taken into account by investors and policymakers.

Understanding Wellness Tourists' Behavioral Intentions: Factors Shaping Visits to Underdeveloped Mountain Regions in China

Qian Li — 2024-09-25

This study examines the factors impacting wellness tourist's behavioral intention in underdeveloped mountain areas in China. The model extends the theory of planned behavior, considering attitudes towards wellness tourism, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control as central factors, and additionally incorporates health consciousness level and prior knowledge of wellness. Data were randomly collected from 224 residents of Xi'an, Chengdu, and Wuhan cities in China, using a questionnaire survey and analyzed through structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that attitudes towards tourism, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and prior knowledge of wellness positively impact wellness tourist's behavioral intention in underdeveloped areas, while health consciousness level has no significant impact. Together, these five variables explain 48 percent of the variance in the dependent variable. This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by identifying the factors influencing wellness tourism behavior in underdeveloped regions, offering insights for policymakers and marketers to better understand and promote wellness tourism in these types of areas.

Organisation’s Support Influences the Acceptance and Use of E-Learning among Academic Staff of Higher Learning Institution in Sabah

Kee Y Sabariah Kee Mohd Yussof — 2024-12-17

E-learning refers to the use of electronic media, digital technology tools such as laptop, smart phone, and interactive Tv in teaching and learning process. Nowadays, it is undeniable that most higher learning institutions choose to implement E-learning in their education system which it becomes the alternative to the traditional learning method in teaching. Through the implementation, education institutions have the potential in establishing more open and flexible teaching and learning environment. However, to drive the a wholistic implementation of E-learning in higher learning institutions, the aspect of organisational support in terms of technicality and infrastructure facilities should be prioritised so that all parties especially the academic staffs can easily adapt and use it. Therefore, this pilot study is aimed to study the level of E-learning usage through the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Used of Technology (UTAUT) Model and the influence of organisational support on the E-learning implementation among academic staff in Sabah. The findings of simple regression analysis showed the influence of organisational support at 66 percents on the implementation of E-learning among the academic staffs, with the model’s contribution (R2=.44, k=.00). the findings found that organisational support is the significant factor in influencing the acceptance and implementation process of E-learning among the academic staffs of higher learning institutions in Sabah. Thus, this study proposes each learning institutions in Sabah to increase the organisational support especially in technicality and infrastructure to empower E-learning platforms in future.