CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

Methodology of the research will be discussed in this chapter. Research design,

population, sample, research instrument, data collection and data analysis will be described in

the first part of the chapter. After that, descriptive approach, statistical method, pearson

correlation test will be described in the second part of this chapter. At the end of the chapter

the conclusion of the chapter will be stated.

3.2 Research Design

Quantitative method will be used in this research to get all the required information by

conducting surveys with the respondents. Because, it is possible to conduct the research for

locating and obtaining correct data about customer consciousness and its relationship with

brand loyalty.

Therefore, it indicates that, a list of questions is used to get data from the respective

respondents who have joined in this study by using quantitative method. Additionally,

quantitative data can be measured by measurement system and tools which includes

questionnaires and sample size (Bell & Emma, 2007).

3.3 Population and Sample

3.3.1 Population

In this research, the targeted population are the students of University Malaysia Sarawak

(UNIMAS), located in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia. UNIMAS has 17,628 people
including postgraduate, undergraduate, PHD, preuniversity, local and international students

and staffs. Questionnaire method will be used to gather all the information for analyzing the

relationship of customerconsciousness towards brand loyalty between Malaysian and

International students. However, 200 respondents are targeted to conduct this research from the

population of UNIMAS.

3.3.2 Sample

A sample is a subset of a larger population in which respondents were selected from

this large population for the research purpose (Babin et al., 2013). Population can be divided

into different segments through a sampling process to draw conclusions about unknown

characteristic of population for the samples.

3.3.3 Sample size

Sampling unit for this research corresponds to people who consider themselves as eco-

tourists. According to Gates and McDaniel (2005), the sample size from 30 to 500 is ideal for

most research. Osbome and Costello (2004) state that adequacy of sample size is evaluated

based on the following scale: 50-very poor,

100-poor, 200-fair, and 300-good. For conducting the research, 100 Malaysian and

100 International current students are targeted from UNIMAS. Besides, for determining the

sample size as a finite population, Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table will be used in this study.

The table is shown below.

 Figure 3.0: Table for determine sample Size for Finite Population

Adapted from Source: Krejie and Morgan (1970)

3.3.4 Sampling Technique

Sampling technique is the method that was used in drawing the sample from population

to make the conclusion regarding the population. There are two type of sampling technique

which is usually used for the research purpose- probability sampling and non-probability

sampling. In this study, non-probability sampling technique will be used and applied.

According to Malhotra and Birks (2007), this sampling provides a good overview of the studied

population as some units of the population have more possibilities to be chosen than others for

the research (Bryman & Bell, 2011).

3.4 Data collection method

Primary data will be collected to conduct the study.

3.4.1 Primary Data

According to Claire and Sarah (2013), primary data is the data collection for the

problem of the research done in a focus group. As this study is conducted based on quantitative

data collection, questionnaires about the relationship of customerconsciousness towards brand

loyalty between Malaysian and International students, especially in UNIMAS.

3.5 Research Instrument

A set of close-end questionnaire had been used as research instrument for this study.

Structured questionnaire is subsequently developed in English languages only with the

inclusion of both Malaysian and international student respondents. In this study, majority of

the items in the questionnaire were from pre-existing questionnaires and little modification is

applied towards the items in the questionnaire (Harrison & Hartley, 2009).

This questionnaire comprised several parts and being divided into 3 sections from

Section A to Section C. All sections are required to be filled by respondents.

• Section A: Demographic Profile

• Section B: Conscious customer’s characteristics

• Section C: Brand Loyalty

Likert Scales is used to measure the degree of importance in Section C in the

questionnaire. The responses were weighted from 1 to 5 with higher values indicating greater

agreement (Kamri & Radam, 2013). The level of importance is based on the following score:
 Scale Level of Importance

1 Strongly Disagree

2 Disagree

3 Neutral

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

Table 3.0: Likert Scale

Likert Scale is adapted from: Kamri and Radam (2013).

3.6 Pre-Test

The questionnaire needs to be pre-tested before the real process of collecting data can

be implemented. The purpose of having pre-test is to test the level of reliability for each

question. Revision of question needs to be done in case there is any confusion or misleading

meaning in the question until the Cronbach’s Alpha test reaches the minimum qualification

(α=0.7).

3.7 Data Analysis

After collecting raw material from the questionnaire survey, this research utilizes SPSS

17.0 program (Statistical Package for Social Science) for Windows Students Version to process

the results as cognitive learning theory, and theory of reasoned action involved a large number

of measurement variables. The following are the statistical tools which were used:
 3.7.1 Descriptive Analysis

The data that which had been collected will analyze based on the descriptive statistics

analysis. Descriptive analysis enables this study to use percentage analysis responses to each

variable distributed and enable to know more about the results. The data which collected was

converted into table to get more powerful and accurate predictions.

3.7.2 Statistical Analysis

Data analysis processes in survey research is usually done using computer programs

due to the large amount of data involved. Many software programs like SPSS, Excel, SAS,

STATPAK and SYSTAT are available for quantitative data analysis (Creswell, 2009). SPSS is

the most widely used software program for the analysis of survey data, as it offers a wide range

of data analysis products from data collection, analysis and modelling to report presentation.

Thus, SPSS v20.0 was chosen for this study.

3.7.3 Reliability Test

Reliability refers to the degree to which data collection method or methods will yield

consistent findings, similar observations would be made, or conclusions reached by other

researchers or there is transparency in how sense was made from the raw data. Cronbach's

alpha, developed in 1951 is most useful tool to measures reliability. Based on this method, to

have reliability, Cronbach’s alpha should exceed

0.7.
 3.7.4 Pearson Correlation

In this study, Pearson’s Correlation analysis is used to find out the specific hypothesis

about whether the selected variables which is the relationship of customer-consciousness

towards brand loyalty between Malaysian and International students. Therefore, Pearson’s

Correlation analysis is used to achieve the purpose in this study.

3.7.5 Hypotheses Testing

A hypothesis can be defined as a logically conjectured relationship between two or more

variable expressed in the form of a testable statement (Sekaran, 2000). By testing the

hypotheses and confirming the conjectured relationships, it is expected the solution can be

found to correct the problem encountered.

3.7.5.1 Linear Regression

A regression analysis is a statistical method used to estimate the strength of a

relationship between one or more dependent variable and one or more independent variables.

More specifically, regression analysis helps one understand how the typical value of the

dependent variable changes when any one of the independent variables is varied while the other

independent variables are held fixed. In this study, linear regression is used to test whether

there are significant relationships between the respondents’ behavior on making decision

towards ecotourism destination choice and the current two motivational factors (push

motivation and pull motivation).

 3.7.5.2 One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests differences in means. One-way analysis of

variance is employed in this research to test the differences in respondents’ demographic

factors and consciousness. This is to determine whether there are any statistically differences

between the treatment names. Here, treatment refers to the different level of independent

variables.

3.7.5.3 Correlation Coefficient

Correlation analysis involves measuring the strength of the relationship between two

variables, the dependent variable (Y) and the independent variable (X). A positive correlation

reflects a tendency for high value in one variable to be associated with a high value in the

second. On the other hand, a negative correlation reflects an association between a high value

in one variable and a low value in the second variable. In this research, correlation coefficient

is carried to determine the relationship of customer consciousness towards brand loyalty.