Quality assessment methods for index of community sustainability
Business Process Management Journal
ISSN: 1463-7154
Article publication date: 26 July 2018
Issue publication date: 11 October 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to design and test a user satisfaction model to evaluate the contribution of biodiesel production and consumption to the sustainability of a semi-urban community in the Cowichan Valley in British Columbia Canada. This case study is part of a larger research study whose purpose is to create a model for an index of sustainable community production and consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical approach selected was the national indices of consumer satisfaction models. The methodology was qualitative and quantitative, in-depth interviews were used to learn the opinion of active and non-active consumers of biodiesel. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed with specialized software for qualitative studies. A structural equation model, whose innovation is the inclusion of the sustainability variables, was designed and analyzed with statistical technique partial least squares.
Findings
The designed model and methodology were useful to identify the principal cause variables of consumer satisfaction of biodiesel in two types of users: active users and non-active users. The determination coefficient R2 of the latent variables satisfaction and loyalty for the prediction of biodiesel active users model is 0.82 and 0.72, respectively, while the result for the non-active users model is 0.90 for satisfaction and 0.73 for loyalty. Sustainable consumption at community level is statistically significant as a direct cause of the variable sustainability of the community for both models, and in turn the sustainability of the community variable has a significant impact on loyalty for the active users model.
Originality/value
This case study is part of a larger research study whose purpose is to create a model for an index of sustainable community production and consumption which will be measured longitudinally to detect changes in the sustainable consumption of the community members.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank EQUIDE (Instituto de Investigacion para el Desarrollo con Equidad) of Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México for funding this research and also the support from the research direction of Universidad Iberoamericana, Vancouver Island University, the Cowichan Biodiesel Co-op and the Cowichan Energy Alternatives. Besides EQUIDE, the authors would also like to thank MABRRI (Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute) for funding.
Citation
Lobato-Calleros, M.O., Fabila, K., Shaw, P. and Roberts, B. (2018), "Quality assessment methods for index of community sustainability", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 1339-1354. https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-02-2018-0042
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited