ABAC Journal

Editorial

Absorn Meesing — 2025-06-12

Systematic Literature Review: The Use of SEM in Business and Social Sciences – Insights from ABAC Journal 2021–2024

Kittipong Napontun — 2025-05-23

Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is a crucial analytical instrument in business and social sciences, allowing researchers to examine intricate correlations between observable and latent variables while reducing measurement errors. This study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) of SEM-related research published in the ABAC Journal from 2021 to 2024. The review classifies research articles according to their application domains, estimating techniques, software utilization, theoretical frameworks, and geographical study sites. Research indicates that SEM is mostly employed in marketing, management, travel and tourism, finance, human resource management, education, accounting, and economics. Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) is the predominant method, followed by Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Integrated Generalized Structured Component Analysis (IGSCA). AMOS and SmartPLS are identified as the favored SEM software. The research underscores the growing utilization of hybrid SEM methodologies, which combine factor-based and component-based models to enhance analytical flexibility. These findings offer significant insights for researchers and practitioners, assisting them in choosing suitable SEM approaches according to research aims and data attributes. Future research should investigate the use of IGSCA and conduct comparative assessments of various SEM estimate techniques across varied data situations to improve methodological progress in business and social science research.

Bibliometric Analysis of Accounting and Corporate Sustainability Research: Trends and Insights

Nader Aljawarneh — 2025-05-24

This study aims to identify prominent current and future trends within the realm of accounting and corporate sustainability, drawing from the Web of Science database and focusing on publications from 2014 to 2023. Additionally, this literature review seeks to highlight pivotal concepts and establish a foundation for future research in accounting and corporate sustainability through bibliometric analysis. The investigation identifies key popular keywords, influential authors, highly cited journals, and the countries with the greatest impact in the field. Utilizing the VOSviewer tool, the study analyzes data regarding keyword relationships and their geographical distribution. Overall, 1,574 publications collected from the Web of Science are designated. The discoveries emphasize the substantial scholarly attention directed towards topics in accounting and corporate sustainability, highlighting the current theoretical understanding of the profound transformation in sustainable accounting practices and corporate social responsibility. This reflects the dynamic and coordinated nature of the green ecosystem.

Sustainable Restaurant Practices: Impact on Consumer Behavior across Demographics

Siriporn Khetjenkarn — 2025-05-24

This study investigates the impact of green practices on a restaurant’s ecological image and customers’ intentions to revisit, considering demographic and behavioral factors such as gender, age, family size, and willingness to pay more. The findings revealed that green practices significantly influence customers’ perceptions of a restaurant’s ecological image and their intentions to revisit. The study also uncovered differences in these perceptions and behaviors across various demographic groups and levels of willingness to pay. The findings suggest that green restaurants can enhance customer support by implementing environmentally friendly programs, promoting environmental awards, engaging customers through various communication channels, and offering premium-priced items (without exceeding reasonable limits) to boost profitability while fostering loyalty.

PM2.5 Pollution, Retail Trading, and Stock Market Returns

Anya Khanthavit — 2025-05-24

PM_2.5 is a dangerous airborne pollutant. Its induced health and economic losses affect investors and stock markets worldwide. This study applies mediation analyses to examine the relationship of Bangkok’s PM_2.5 pollution with Thai stock market returns, where retail trading serves as a mediator. Investors are unaware of the actual PM_2.5 level, therefore, the PM_2.5 level is a perceived level, not an actual level. Perception is measured by Google’s relative search volume index on “PM 2.5”. It is decomposed into correct perception (actual PM_2.5 level) and misperception (regression residual of the full perception on the correct perception). Using a daily sample from August 1, 2016, to December 28, 2023, the generalized method of moments regression uncovered a negative and significant relationship. The main contributor was found to be the mediating effect of retail net buying volume induced by misperception. Further investigation suggests that this relationship is consistent with the noise-trader-risk explanation.

Elements Affecting Thai Tourists’ Intentions to Make the Decision to Choose Cruise Tourism

Tanapon Rungroueng — 2025-06-11

As the cruise industry expands into emerging markets such as Thailand, understanding the decision-making processes of cruise-inexperienced consumers becomes increasingly important. These consumers represent a large untapped market segment whose behavioral patterns potentially differ fundamentally from experienced travelers. This study investigates the psychological mechanisms influencing Thai tourists’ intentions to choose cruise tourism, particularly among first-time travelers who lack prior experience. Drawing upon the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and extending it through frameworks such as Affective Forecasting and Construal Level Theory, this research introduces new constructs including onboard activity anticipation and experiential risk realism. Using multi-group Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the study compares responses from cruise-experienced (n = 174) and cruise-inexperienced (n = 200) participants. Key findings reveal that novelty does not directly predict intention but acts as an affective primer, while onboard activities significantly shape behavioral intentions, especially among experienced travelers. Perceived risk also demonstrates experiential divergence—abstract and negligible among novices, but specific and influential among experienced participants. The results suggest that intention formation in tourism is moderated by experience and shaped by simulated cognition rather than memory. This highlights the need to refine behavioral tourism models and tailor marketing strategies to consumers’ experiential backgrounds.

Book Review -Nature, Culture, and Inequality

Radha Sirianukul — 2025-06-12