Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.

Transcription

1 Journal of Business and Social Development Volume 6 Number 1, March 2018: ISSN: Penerbit UMT AN ANALYSIS OF PUSH AND PULL FACTORS MOTIVATING EXPATRIATE MIGRANTS TO CONTEMPLATE MALAYSIA AS THEIR SECOND HOME: A CONCEPTUAL PAPER (KAJIAN TERHADAP FAKTOR-FAKTOR TOLAKAN DAN TARIKAN YANG MENDORONG EKSPATRIAT MEMILIH MALAYSIA SEBAGAI RUMAH KEDUA: SATU KERTAS KONSEP) RAMYA RANEE KONNA SEGARAN* AND SOFRI YAHYA Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. *Corresponding author: rranee007@gmail.com Abstract: In recent times, the government has promoted Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program to attract foreigners of all background to choose Malaysia as their second home. The present study is intended to analyze the expatriate preferences to participate in MM2H. The objectives were to examine and find the relationship between push and pull factors associated with the intention of selecting Malaysia as the second home destination. The study also proposed to examine the moderating effect of the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable of interest. The proposed push factors that motivate them to leave their home country include high cost of living, social problems, ecological problems, health hazards, natural disasters and poor safety and security. On the contrary, the proposed pull factors that make Malaysia a suitable second home option include economic environment, tourist attractions, social and cultural environment, safety and security, political stability and relaxing retirement life. These push and pull factors were identified from a comprehensive literature review and expert opinions and the push and pull factors were conceptualized and a business research model was proposed. Suitable propositions were developed to test the cause and effect relationship between the push and pull factors on the intentions to consider Malaysia as a second home destination. Additionally, laws and regulations may serve as a proposed moderating variable for this investigation of the relationship between the push and pull factors on the intentions to consider Malaysia as a second home. Keywords: Expatriates, Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H), push and pull factors, expatriates motivation business model. Abstrak: Sejak kebelakangan ini, kerajaan telah mempromosikan program Malaysia Rumah Keduaku (MM2H) untuk menarik warga asing dari semua latar belakang untuk memilih Malaysia sebagai rumah kedua mereka. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis keutamaan ekspatriat untuk menyertai MM2H. Objektif kajian adalah untuk mengkaji dan mencari hubungan antara faktor-faktor tarikan dan tolakan yang dikaitkan dengan tujuan memilih Malaysia sebagai destinasi rumah kedua dan kajian ini juga mencadangkan untuk mengkaji kesan moderator antara pembolehubah bebas dan pembolehubah yang bersandar. Faktor-faktor tolakan yang dicadangkan mendorong mereka untuk meninggalkan negara mereka termasuk kos sara hidup yang tinggi, masalah sosial, masalah ekologi, isu-isu memudaratkan kesihatan, bencana alam dan faktor keselamatan yang lemah. Sebaliknya, faktor tarikan yang dicadangkan untuk ekspatriat menjadikan Malaysia sebagai pilihan rumah kedua yang sesuai termasuk persekitaran ekonomi yang stabil, tempat pelancongan yang menarik, aspek sosial dan budaya, keselamatan, kestabilan politik dan kehidupan persaraan yang selesa. Faktor-faktor tolakan dan tarikan ini telah dikenal pasti dari tinjauan literatur komprehensif dan pendapat daripada pakar dalam bidang kajian ini dan faktor-faktor ini telah dikonseptualisasikan lalu model penyelidikan perniagaan telah dicadangkan. Di samping itu, undang-undang dan peraturan dibentangkan sebagai moderator penyiasatan di antara faktor tolakan dan tarikan dalam menimbangkan Malaysia sebagai rumah kedua oleh ekspatriat. Kata kunci: Ekspatriat, Malaysia Rumah Keduaku (MM2H), faktor tolakan dan tarikan, model bisnes pendorong ekspatriat.

2 AN ANALYSIS OF PUSH AND PULL FACTORS MOTIVATING EXPATRIATE MIGRANTS 131 Introduction Lifestyle can be described as a way of life and has been evolving from time to time and across various regions. In the traditional era, people live and move close to their own localities, mainly due to the absence of technology and transportation. However due to the rapid development of transportation and technology and its accessibility, world tourism has gained importance in people s lives. This created an interest in the people to visit foreign locations, live abroad and it has even become a lifestyle today. Tourism is more than the traditional movement of people from one destination to another. It is not merely providing a site for entertainment and leisure, but also plays an acute role in many economies. This significant role can be measured in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) that has contributed towards development. There are several countries that gain a large proportion of their gross earnings mainly from tourism. Tourism can serve as a main sources of income for economic development, stimulate the development process, restore the cultural heritage and help to maintain international peace and understanding (United Nation, 2009). Second home ownership is taking tourism on a larger scale. Immigrants who travel abroad are fascinated by the new world and decide to make it as their second home country. Over the past few years, second home ownership has not received much academic attention due to disagreements over whether second home owners should be regarded as tourists or otherwise (Muller, 2006). Nevertheless, second home ownership increased between 1960s and 1970s especially in the European and Scandinavian countries. The reasons for this might be due to an increase in the wealth, income, mobility and the availability of long term tourism (Muller, 2006). Several researches examined this concept of second home ownership from a Western perspectives (Balkir & Kirkulak, 2007; Breuer, 2005; Casado-Diaz, Kaiser & Warnes, 2004; William, King & Warnes, 2000). The subject has also been studied from an Asian perspectives, but the focus and perspectives of the studies were varied and comparison between them cannot be performed. Ono (2008) and Wong & Musa (2014) studied the concept of second home ownership in Malaysia, where the former focused on Japanese nationals and retirees, while the latter examined retiree motivations from the perspectives of multiple nationalities. Howard (2008) and Kummaraka & Jutaporn (2011) explored Western retiree motivations to choose the country Thailand as their second home. The increasing pool of human migration has spurred the growth of international long term tourism (Williams et al., 1997; Williams, King, Warnes & Patterson, 2000). This had been investigated in Europe (Williams, King & Warnes, 1997), Japan (Jones, 2008; Miyazaki; 2008) and many other developed countries (United Nations, 2016). The results were similar in these studies where a strong positive relation was demonstrated between an increase in migration and growth of long term tourism. It was also significant that the ownership of second homes by this group of people has become a growing phenomenon and has likely been the result of such a move (Muller, 2002). In the context of this research, a second home is defined by the properties subject to certain conditions such as minimum length of occupancy and proof of possession of documents of the second residence (De Wilde, 1969). Basically, scholars were likely to agree that second home ownership is a reflection of the people s excessive capital and desire to move on to more encouraging nations. Based on the exposure and experience received from these nations, the move could be permanent. This is such a lucrative market segment which continues to inspire several nations due to the advantages and growth it brings. Inspired by the benefits of this programme, the Malaysian government launched the Silver Hair Programme in 1996 (Ono, 2008). This Silver Hair Programme was later renamed as the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Programme. The MM2H Programme basically allows overseas seniors aged 50 and above who satisfy certain criteria to stay in Malaysia with a multiple-entry social pass that stays valid for a period of 10 years. The

3 Ramya Ranee Konna Segaran and Sofri Yahya 132 MM2H Program underwent minor changes in terms of matter and custodianship. A significant milestone in 2002 occurred with the modification of the MM2H when high net worth individuals below the age of 50 were permitted to apply for the programme (Wong & Musa, 2014). Until now, official statistics indicate that over 32,737 foreign individuals have joined the programme. Nevertheless, this apparent success of a popular subject among immigrants of various nations has not been the subject of sufficient scholarly research and therefore, the curiosity motivated the present research. This study concentrates on the Malaysia My Second Home Programme because Malaysia is one of the preferred locations in South East Asia in terms of retirement. Malaysia is ranked sixth best place to retire in the Annual Global Retirement Index, compiled by the expert at International Living (IL), edging out the likes of Purtugal, Nicaragua and Spain (Forbes, 2017) and the survey conducted by the International Living magazine ranked Malaysia as the fourth nation in the 2012 Retirement Index after Ecuador, Panama and Mexico. MM2H Programme was also promoted with Malaysia being picked as one among the 18 best retirement destinations for Americans. This study was conducted by Kathleen Peddicord, the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group and the world s notable expert on overseas retirement. Malaysia gains a competitive edge due to the mention that it is Asia s Panama, a global hub for trade, business and culture with an affordable cost of living (New Straits Times, 2012). Retirees from various parts of the world react differently when they choose their immigration destination. An extensive literature review has indicated that expatriates are heterogeneous about how they react to internal and external stimuli for international migration. Destination countries undoubtedly have a strong bearing in the decision making process. There are two currents which underlie this decision of immigration. One can be called as the push factors which motivate a person to leave the home land while the other can be termed as the pull factors which the person perceives as encouraging and attractive for life. The push factors which motivate foreigners to leave a country can include high cost of living, health hazards, poor Table 1: MM2H Participant Approvals from Year No. of Participants Approved Total No. of Participants Approved (Accumalitive) Y-0-Y Change (%) Source: Ministry of Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia My Second Home Centre (2016)

4 AN ANALYSIS OF PUSH AND PULL FACTORS MOTIVATING EXPATRIATE MIGRANTS 133 health care, social problems, natural disaster, ecological problem and poor safety and security. The factors which pull people towards Malaysia were a secure economic environment, a safer atmosphere, political security, future prospects, better healthcare, standard of living as well as peaceful and comfortable locations. These were the preferred factors to spend the retirement period after the struggles of much hard work in their main land nations. The possible push and pull factors were identified from critical review of literature and expert opinions and will be employed in the pilot study in this research. One of the strong pull factors for the migration would be the ability to purchase and own a home in the second home nation. Some countries have imposed rules and regulations to limit or prevent property investment by foreigners. This is vital and hence, the expat searches for a country that gives good facilities and legal rights for a foreigner to purchase one or more properties. The second home ownership market in Malaysia has noteworthy potential to enhance property development, economic growth in addition to the tourist industry. The government of Malaysia has been aspiring to gain economic benefits from the second home practices mainly by the introduction of the MM2H Programme (Wee, 2006). Table 1 shows the number of approvals that was granted from on the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Programme. The number of participants in the MM2H Programme was found to gradually increase from 2002 to 2005 but it dropped between 2006 and The number of participants slightly increased in the next two consecutive years, but again it fell in The demand of staying in Malaysia gradually increased once again between 2011 until Although, the trend of the number of participants seeking MM2H approval had been with crests and troughs, the demand has been steadily falling since 2013 onwards. However, this is a major cause of concern for the government initiative which is the MM2H Programme and it also indirectly affects the revenue of the country. The Ministry of Tourism in Malaysia plays a major role in increasing the revenue through the short-term and long-term tourists and those under the MM2H Programme. Not surprisingly, the revenue generated or the foreigners settling down in Malaysia did not choose the states in Malaysia uniformly. There were very selective towards particular states based on the development index, environment, and tourist attractions and so on. Table 2 shows the transaction volume of foreigners Table 2: Volume of foreigner transaction according to the states ( ) State Transaction Volume Percentage (%) Johor 1, Kedah Kuala Lumpur 5, Melaka Negeri Sembilan Pahang Perak Pulau Pinang 1, Sabah Sarawak Selangor 2, Terengganu WP Labuan WP Putrajaya Total 13, Source: NAPIC, Valuation and Property Service Department, Ministry of Finance (2013)

5 Ramya Ranee Konna Segaran and Sofri Yahya 134 classified by the various states in Malaysia for a period of 10 years from 2002 to The capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur was found to have the highest transaction volume at 43.62%, followed by Selangor, Johor and Pulau Pinang. Conversely, the other states such as Perak, Pahang, WP Labuan, WP Putrajaya and Terengganu had a very low transaction volume around merely 1.00%. The MM2H Programme has been highly successful in Malaysia, compared to the other countries mainly due to the negligible restrictions in purchasing a property in Malaysia by the foreigners. Only selected states in Malaysia contributed to the transaction volume of foreigners and expatriates. Strikingly, foreigners purchasing properties in Malaysia highly favored only one type of residential unit which is the condominium apartments. All the other types of residential units such as semidetached houses, terraced houses and so on were least favored by the foreigners as shown in Table 3. The MM2H Programme s directive for house purchases was the main expected outcome towards second homes from foreign countries. Malaysia needs to be cautious of the strategic plans and objectives as it has to compete with the neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Indonesia and Philippines which are rising fast as well. In order to maintain its competitive positioning, the Swhengtee Property World Tour introduced Malaysia s true potentiality as a property investment destination in Southeast Asia. This was also supported by an international property specialist from International Real Estate Investors (REI) Club (2013) who has noted that the authorities from Iskandar, Greater Kuala Lumpur (KL), Penang and Kota Kinabalu have been trying their greatest to secure overseas ventures. By these means, Malaysia has already shown to the world that it is the best choice for property and investment especially in terms of its open policy by inviting foreigners to share the economic growth as well as to maintain the growth of the country. Nevertheless, Malaysia has plans to transform Greater KL into one of the best 20 liveable metropolis internationally with tremendous economic growth. It is also worth to note that the International Real Estate Investors (REI) Club (2013) along with Germany and Japan have identified Greater KL as the finest investment prospect in Southeast Asia. The pentup demand has been strong in the property market of Malaysia and it is on its way to become one of the most active in Southeast Asia with the prices soaring upwards. As prices increase higher and higher, the economy and extension of the real estate market is sure to boom in the near future. This makes it necessary for the government to provide better policies and incentives to enhance Table 3: Transaction volume by the type of residential units ( ) Types of Residential Transaction Volume Percentage (%) 1-1 ½ storey semi-detached ½ storey terraced ½ storey semi-detached ½ storey semi-terraced 1, Cluster house Condominium apartment 8, Detached Townhouse Vacant plot Flat Others Total 13, Source: NAPIC, Valuation and Property Service Department, Ministry of Finance (2013)

6 AN ANALYSIS OF PUSH AND PULL FACTORS MOTIVATING EXPATRIATE MIGRANTS 135 the status of Malaysia to become a world class city in a short span of time. Problem Statement and GAP Analysis Since the year when the MM2H launched in 2002, the MM2H scheme seems to enjoy a modest volume of success, having in the meantime undergone further fine-tuning and changes in anticipation of drawing even more applicants to the programme. Historically, the government of Malaysia offered a Silver Hair Programme in 1996, which estimated to attract around 100,000 expatriates to settle in Malaysia by The Ministry of Tourism has reviewed and restructured the rules, conditions, policies and also the restrictions of the MM2H Programme (previously known as Silver Hair Programme). Hitherto, the statistics of Malaysia My Second Home (2016) reveals that only 32,737 participants have been approved under MM2H. The expected numbers were not achieved by the MM2H Programme and it has only enjoyed a moderate level of success since its inception in The potential problems may arise is firstly due to deficiencies in marketing strategies; Malaysia may be said to be lacking in terms of intense destination branding strategies. As there is close competition between the countries in Southeast Asia with similar programmes as MM2H, effective marketing strategies and plan is deemed essential and plays as a first tool in creating brand awareness globally. Secondly, the information gaps between the government agencies and private enterprises have to be improved. The miscommunication of information-sharing leads to information lapses, mainly in keeping the private agencies informed of the latest developments and implementation of MM2H Programme. Collaboration between the government agencies and key players in private enterprise is crucial in order to craft a better marketing and branding strategy which leads to a mutual sharing of information and strategy. Notwithstanding, it is worthy to figure out the principal intentions and the pull factors of the expatriates to join the MM2H Programme; these ideas will help to improve the policies and procedures to improve the quality of the MM2H Programme. The MM2H Programme has made significant impact in the property market of Malaysia. The property market is opened to immigrants, foreigners, retirees and businesses as well as leisure travellers. Therefore, the MM2H programme highly encourages the immigrants and the local developers to invest in Malaysia property market alike. According to Davinson (2013), 83% of the expatriates (including the MM2H participants) spent an average of RM830,000 on property in Malaysia. With the success of foreign investment and foreign interest in Malaysia property, Malaysia is globally recognized and MM2H Programme will be promoted, with the initiative of Malaysian government to exempt Foreign Investment of Committee (FIC) rules on MM2H participants and also to introduce other initiatives to attract more foreigners to come to Malaysia (Saidon, 2006). Some of the challenges and issues identified are from the aspect of design and construction of home. It was noted that very limited property development schemes were specially planned to fit the demand profile of potential buyers in the MM2H category. Most numbers of property developer design houses to cater primarily to the group of local buyers demands and with the bulk of MM2H participants entering the real estate market as coincidental overlap purchasers of existent property designed to the local market demand. The potential settler of MM2H participants may vary greatly in needs and requirements, factors of personal preferences and selections play high influence on the decision of MM2H participants to choose their ideal home in Malaysia. It is recommended that the government of Malaysia should offer policies and procedures in guiding the property purchase in order to be able to reap the higher benefits. As a matter of fact the law and policies show the existence of gaps and forms issues, the Malaysian government has done a great improvement to legalise and lessen many procedural requirements and criteria for the

7 Ramya Ranee Konna Segaran and Sofri Yahya 136 MM2H Programme, in support of efforts to make the programme more successful and to attract a larger pool of qualified applicants internationally. These include several landmarks lowering of the criteria pertaining to property values available for purchase by foreigners as well as duration of stay permitted on visas issued to programme participants. Nevertheless, there is still areas of improvement, for instance, one of the approval requirements for MM2H's application is reserve high liquid cash for the successful applicant process, in contrast, certain participant possess high-value properties instead of liquid cash. Perhaps there is a need for a rule change on this matter where property in lieu of cash is allowed as collateral in the MM2H application process. Furthermore, one of the other challenges currently facing by MM2H scheme is with the data management system; a better data management system and databank are needed as successful participant of the scheme is hard to retrace and if information gaps exist, additionally databank would allow the relevant agencies and authorities to track developing trends in settlements and could be used as a benchmark for continuous improvements near future. People move from one area to another area as a response to the socioeconomic changes within the country. Cross-national migration also leads to social changes within the nation. These changes are evident from the social structure and economic affairs of the local people. Similarly, this MM2H Programme also would bring about positive and negative effects to the participants and the local community and this should be clearly studied and ideal capacity of expatriates should be welcomed in the nation. On the positive side, expatriates help to improve the business performance and foreign direct investments (FDI) and developing good inter-country relations. Expatriates also enable knowledge transfer and improve business relations to dominate the international market (Marja, 2005). Working with an expatriate could be a motivation for the local employees and it also helps to improve the relationship between headquarters of organizations situated at offshore locations (Mendenhall, 2007). Contrarily, expatriates experience the cross cultural adjustment during his or her stay in the host country. Language barrier is one of the potential demotivating factors that discourage the prospective expatriates to participate on MM2H programme. The appointment of a locallybased representative or dedicated administrative agency conversant in the native language of the participants would go a long way to facilitate the sale and purchase of property and assist in many procedures and details associated with settlement in a foreign country. An additional concern is the fact that the MM2H Programme does not foresee the main push and pull factors triggering the intention of foreigners to participate in this programme in either developed or developing countries. The predominant factor for this move was found to be satisfaction in residential expectations (McHugh, Gober & Reid, 1990; Oh, 2003; Reschovsky, 1990; Sinai, 2001). Maximum expatriates purchased second homes for the purpose of retirement, investment or enjoyment. The location of the researches were mostly in European countries as they were the predominant countries to introduce this second home practice. Hence, naturally Asian counties conducted fewer studies compared to European counties as second home industry was still at a premature stage (The Star Online, 2016). Most studies merely focused on the impact of second home and the pull factors. There were rarely any studies which took into account both the push and the pull factors associated with the second home programme. MM2H Programme has an advanced standing as it has been voted as the Best Retirement Destinations in Southeast Asia and ranked at number 18 in the world (NSTP, 2012). But in order to improve the benefits from this programme, this research helps to analyse the push and the pull factors influencing the intentions and the expectations of migrants in the MM2H Programme. It is important for the government of Malaysia and the relevant agencies to identify the chief pull factors for attracting MM2H participants. It is also necessary to determine the satisfaction

8 AN ANALYSIS OF PUSH AND PULL FACTORS MOTIVATING EXPATRIATE MIGRANTS 137 level of the existing MM2H participants so that the shortcomings can be identified for further improvement. This proposed research mainly identifies four key research gaps, to begin with; there was insufficient research on the second home program in Asian countries. The present research enhances the relevant literature on most of the key areas with respect to the second home programme like the ultimate benefits and the cultural similarities and dissimilarities. Secondly, the problem identified was that in spite of mass advertisements, the overall number of participants in the MM2H Program was not encouraging. Challenges and issues in terms of branding and marketing, design and construction of property, financial matters, government policies, regulations and procedures were identified as the main hindrance for this programme. Frequent changes in the rules and regulations also lead to confusion among the participants. This research helps to revive on the policies and procedures in the MM2H Program. Thirdly, there were hardly any studies on supporting the MM2H Program. Hence, this research also attempts to deliver responses on the awareness level of the Malaysia My Second Home Program (MM2H) in different continents across the world. The study also moves to determine the factors influencing this migration. Lastly, the present study was undertaken to investigate the push and pull factors influencing the intention to consider the MM2H Program as their second home program. The push and pull factors of the expatriates with the stimulation of external factors such as government policies and procedures, laws and regulations of the host country as well as the cultural similarities, dissimilarities and the ultimate benefits of the migration were explored in detail. The primary objectives of this proposed research were: 1. To investigate the task force which is influences the expatriates on the attraction of the MM2H Program. 2. To determine the intentions of the expatriates residing in Malaysia on their inclination towards the MM2H Program. 3. To analyse the push and pull factors that influence the plan to consider Malaysia as their second home destination. Significance of the Study This research project strives to make major contributions to both management theories and practical applications to the Second Home programme not only in Malaysia but also in Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The present study is a pioneering research work to identify the preferences of the expatriates to consider Malaysia as their second home and a pioneering research work on MM2H Program. The motivation factors for the expatriates to consider their migration to Malaysia can be completely explored by the present research. The target population for the current research included respondents from Asia, Europe, America and Australia as per the statistics. The findings of this research bring additional knowledge to the body of literature as well as to enhance the policies and procedures of Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) Program. It also serves to understand the factors influencing the second home and ownership motivations in Malaysia. By focusing on the important influencing factors, it is hoped that the number of MM2H program participants can increase multi-fold in the near future. The success of the MM2H programme can help to boost the local economy in terms of increased foreign direct investment (FDI), cash flow and spending in Malaysia, thereby increasing the economy of the nation. The tourism industry benefits from this research as the second home participants can travel as often as they like throughout their valid period of stay in Malaysia. Furthermore, bilateral ties between Malaysia and the participating countries are likely to improve as more and more participants choose Malaysia as their second home. This will bring about cultural harmony, exposure to various living styles, food habits and understanding. From a practical perspective, it provides information to policy

9 Ramya Ranee Konna Segaran and Sofri Yahya 138 makers and marketers to improve the different dimensions of this programme. The government initiatives such as MM2H gains useful insights from this proposed study by focusing on the significant motivators of second home ownership and this could be directed towards the branding and promotion of this program so that it reaches effectively to the masses. Last but not the least, the study also generally contributes to the academic literature by analyzing the push and pull factors that motivate the choices of second home destinations. This study might contribute to the understanding of how different factors of adjustment influence the success or failure of expatriate, international migration and settlements. This study also presents a contribution to the research of expatriates in developing economies which received inadequately little attention so far. Finally, this in-depth quantitative study provides new knowledge and a rich source of ideas encourages the future researchers to further investigate selfinitiated expatriates adjustment, particularly on the international scale for migration and desire for settlement in host country. Literature Review Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) is a special programme launched by the government of Malaysia to encourage foreigners to live, stay or retire in the country. This indirectly encourages investment in property for their stay in the region. A total of 2,211 participants were approved in the year Strikingly, it can be seen that majority of the participants were from Republic of China with 719 participants. The second home program has been defined by many researchers differently hence there is no conclusive decision on it (Hall & Muller, 2004; Pitkanen, 2008). An individual participating in a second home program always entered this arrangement either on a temporary or on a semi-permanent basis to spend their time or own a property in another country (King, Warners & Williams, 2000). As years passed by, the causes for buying a second home has changed drastically from the concept of owning a property in a different country to reasons such as switch in their career, residential conditions or changes in personal and social conditions (Warnes, 2009). Second homes were described as detached homes that were privately owned by a single family for the purpose of recreation and other uses (Marjavaara, 2009). Hence, in general, researchers termed second home intentions as the decision of an individual to migrate to a different country on a long term basis, whereas this home acts as a residence for the individual who comes from the foreign country (McIntyre, 2006). The second home decisions are made by people who wish to relocate to a different region in the world for various factors. In general, all the motivating factors can be divided into push and pull factors where the underlying concept of motivation can be needed. Lee (1966) and Dann (1977) proposed the push and pull motivation theory which determined the factors that were involved in migration. There are different ways to describe the push and pull factors. One such method is where an individual travels to a particular destiny as they were pushed by their internal desires and at the same time pulled by external forces (Uysal & Hagan, 1993; Uysal, Li & Sirakaya-Turk, 2008). Another method to describe is that the push factors were those that motivate the travelers to leave the home country whereas the pull factors were the factors that attract the travelers to travel to a particular destination country. The concept of push and pull theory of migration has been quite popular in tourism literatures and it has gained the interest of scholars widely (Baloglu & Uysal, 1996; Dann, 1977; Yoon & Uysal, 2005). There exist numerous push and pull factors that influence an individual to travel and migrate to another country. Usually single pull factors do not support this decision-making process. Decisions are influenced by multiple pull factors especially when they synchronize well with the push factors of the home country (Dann, 1977; Klenosky, 2002). It is essential to recognize the push factors so that second home retirement destination developers can improve their competitiveness by handling the problems

10 AN ANALYSIS OF PUSH AND PULL FACTORS MOTIVATING EXPATRIATE MIGRANTS 139 that drive the retirees away from their country of residence; thus push and pull factors can be well utilized through the development of the second home destinations programs. Nowadays, migration is a common occurrence. People move from one area to another area as a response to the socioeconomic changes within the country. Cross-national immigration can be argumentative as it causes social changes within the nation and these changes can be clearly seen in terms of social structure and economic affairs of the local people. Malaysia will experience positive and negative impacts from this MM2H Program. Hence, there should be a clear quota and appropriate screening before the approval of participants under this program. This will protect the host country from any unwanted issues and enhance the security measures. Although MM2H can bring in several benefits to the nation and the people, undoubtedly; it also carries with it some negative impacts. One main impact is the deprivation of job opportunities for Malaysians (Shephard, 1996). However, the positives outweigh the negatives and hence this MM2H Program must be improvised with wellmeaning procedures and policies to improve Malaysia s position as the preferred second home destination. Theoretical Framework Various scholars have attempted to capture the dynamics of migration in the form of business models. Push-Pull Model (Lee, 1966) and it is noteworthy to discuss the concepts in detail. Push-Pull Model (Lee, 1966) The Push-Pull Model has its roots in Ravenstein (1889) who found that migrants often move from places of lesser opportunities to places with higher levels of opportunities and economic circumstances. This phenomenon was termed as the law of migration. Lee (1966) borrowed the Push-Pull Model to explain the later-life migration. It was postulated that there were four central factors in the push and pull migration process which are factors relating to geographical origin, factors relating to geographical destination, intervening obstacles and personal factors. For every origin and destination location, there exist a set of positive and negative factors influencing migration the set of intervening obstacles may have varying impacts on the person, depending on personal factors. Push factors are the factors which force a person to move or migrate. Push factors can be stated as the conditions that can drive people to leave their homes. For instance, wars in the home country serves as the leading push factor as well as below average primitive conditions, desertification, famine or drought, political fear or persecution, poor medical care, loss of wealth, natural disasters, political or religious oppression climate changes, lack of jobs or simply poverty. Push motivations are those where people push themselves towards their goals or to achieve something such as the desire to escape, rest and relaxation, prestige, health and fitness, adventure and social interaction. But, with push motivations, it can be easy to get discouraged when any obstacles are present in the path of achievements. Push motivation acts as a willpower and people s willpower is only as strong as the desire behind the willpower (Chang, et al. 2014). On the contrary, pull factors are exactly the opposite of push factors; these are the factors that attract people to a certain location. Pull factors are factors in the target country which encourage people to move; these include peace and safety, a chance of a better job, better education, social security, a better standard of living in general as well as political and religious freedom. Migration can be defined as a form of relocation diffusion (the spread of ideas, innovations, behaviors from one place to another) involving permanent move to a new location. The reasons that people migrate would be due to push and pull factors. Push and pull factors are forces that can either induce people to move to a new location or oblige them to leave old residences; they can be based on economic, political, cultural

11 Ramya Ranee Konna Segaran and Sofri Yahya 140 Figure 1: Push and pull theory (Everret Lee, 1966) and environmentally situations. Pull motivation includes both tangible factors such as beaches, recreation facilities, and cultural attractions, and intangible factors such as traveler's perceptions and expectation such as novelty, benefit expectation and marketing image. Pull motivation can be seen as the strong desire to achieve a goal. Therefore, pull motivation is said to be stronger than push motivation in most cases. It is easier to be drawn to something rather than to push yourself off something you desire. It can also be an alternative force when compared to any negative force. Pull motivation can be an attracting desire when negative influences come into the picture. The Push-Pull Model has been widely adopted by scholars and academic alike (Sunil, Rojas & Bradley, 2007; Balkir & Kirkulak, 2009). Figure 1 summarizes the Lee s (1966) push-pull theory in a graphic form. The theory classifies the migrating factors into 3 categories namely the positive, negative and neutral. Then, the model further classifies them into either Origin or Destination. Each combination of neutrality (+ve/-ve/0) and location (origin/ Figure 2: Expatriates Motivation Business Model (EMBM)

12 AN ANALYSIS OF PUSH AND PULL FACTORS MOTIVATING EXPATRIATE MIGRANTS 141 destination) means a very definite role in migration. If it is positive and it is in the destination, such factor must be a pulling factor attracting migrants. If it is negative and it is in the origin then it is a push factor for migration. This model provides us with a very powerful tool to predict trends of migration (Lee, 1966). Proposed Conceptual Model The Expatriates Motivation Business Model (EMBM) was developed based on the extensive review of literature as well as the management theory presented in the previous sections. The factors that influence the intentions to consider Malaysia as a second home have been divided into two parts, the push and the pull factors. The possible push factors for expatriates leaving the home country may be high cost of living, social problems, ecological problems, health hazards, natural disasters and poor safety and security. Whereas the possible pull factors that makes Malaysia as an attractive destination are the economic environment, tourist attractions, social and cultural environment, safety and security, political stability and the relaxing retirement life. The role of law and regulation has a moderating effect on the relationship between the mentioned factors as included in the business model in Figure 2. Based on critical review of literature, pushpull model and the theoretical framework, the following propositions were framed. PROPOSITION 1: Proposition 1 is developed to test the positive relationship between the pull factors and the intention of expatriates to consider Malaysia as a second home. The sub proposition 1a to 1f has been listed below: 1a) There is a positive relationship between economic environment of Malaysia and the intention of expatriates to consider Malaysia as a second home. 1b) There is a positive relationship between attraction in Malaysia and the intention of expatriates to consider Malaysia as a second home. 1c) There is a positive relationship between social and cultural environment of Malaysia and the intention of expatriates to consider Malaysia as a second home. 1d) There is a positive relationship between safety and security of Malaysia and the intention of expatriates to consider Malaysia as a second home. 1e) There is a positive relationship between political stability of Malaysia and the intention of expatriates to consider Malaysia as a second home. 1f) There is a positive relationship between retirement life in Malaysia and the intention of expatriates to consider Malaysia as a second home. PROPOSITION 2 Proposition 2 is developed to test the positive relationship between the push factors and the intention of expatriates to leave their home country. The sub proposition 2a to 2f has been listed below: 2a) There is a positive relationship between high cost of living and reason for expatriates to leave their home country. 2b) There is a positive relationship between social problems and reason for expatriates to leave their home country. 2c) There is a positive relationship between ecological problems and reason for expatriates to leave their home country. 2d) There is a positive relationship between health hazards and reason for expatriates to leave their home country. 2e) There is a positive relationship between natural disasters and reason for expatriates to leave their home country. 2f) There is a positive relationship poor safety and security and reason for expatriates to leave their home country.

13 Ramya Ranee Konna Segaran and Sofri Yahya 142 PROPOSITION 3 Proposition 3 is developed to test the moderating effects of MM2H law and regulation towards the intention of expatriates to choose Malaysia as their second home. 3a) MM2H law and regulation moderating the relationship between push and pull factors and the intention of expatriates to participate in MM2H. Research Design The most suitable proposed research design to achieve the objectives of this research would be descriptive research. The initiated research explores the push and pull factors influencing the expatriates to consider participating in Malaysia My Second Home Programme. The quantitative research methodology entails the collation of necessary cross-sectional data using questionnaire surveys in order to determine the causal direction and discover the existence of a causal relationship between the push and pull factors and the intention to consider Malaysia as a second home. Both self-administered and electronic questionnaires proposed to be used, whereby the self-administered questionnaires will be distributed at places where expatriates can often be found, and the electronic questionnaire will be sent via Internet to reach the respondents staying in different state and region. About 500 sample size is expected to obtain from the survey by using the convenience sampling and judgmental sampling method which the respondents are expatriates who aged 21 years old and above and have yet to make Malaysia as their second home, regardless of the location they currently reside. Residents aged 20 years old and below are excluded from the survey as the sensor of response may not be reliable. Conclusion This research intended to analyze the intention of the expatriates to consider Malaysia as their second home. The objective of this study is to analyse the relationship between the push and pull factors associated with the intention of expatriates considering Malaysia as their second home. Additionally, the study also aimed to investigate the moderating effect on the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable of interest. Statistical data revealed that Asian countries dominated the Malaysia My Second Home Programme (MM2H) followed by Europe, America and Australia. The proposed target population for this proposed research include the expatriates from these four continents of the world who are staying in Malaysia without participating in MM2H. The findings of this study will draw useful insights especially for the development of government policies and in terms of designing effective branding and marketing strategies. The policy makers can focus more on promoting the positive and significant factors influencing the intentions to consider Malaysia as their second home among the expatriates. By liberalizing the policies and formalities, it is hoped that the number of MM2H program participant can be increased by many folds in the near future. The success of the MM2H will then help to boost local economy in terms of increased foreign direct investment, cash flow, brain-gain, technology transfer, purchasing power of the country and contribution to GDP. Tourism industry will also benefit as the second home participants can travel as often as they like throughout, their valid period of stay in Malaysia. Besides cordial bilateral ties between Malaysia and the other countries will be strengthened. Effective marketing programs that focusing on promoting the significance on the push and pull factors such as environment factors and the natural disaster in their country can help to differentiate Malaysia from the intense competition posed by its neighboring countries. Finally, the findings of this proposed research will deliver additional knowledge and help to understand the important factors influencing the second home development and ownership in Malaysia. Government initiatives such as MM2H may gain more insights from this study by focusing on the significant motivators of the second home ownership.

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