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Article History

Received: 5 June 2025

Accepted: 16 February 2026

First Online: 25 February 2026

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Ethics Committee of the Business School at Macau University of Science and Technology, which serves as the institutional review board for research involving human participants (Approval No.: MSB 2026-04). Approval was obtained on 2 December 2024, before the commencement of participant recruitment and data collection. The approved protocol covered the recruitment of adult participants and the administration of a non-interventional questionnaire survey for academic research purposes. All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and applicable national regulations, and adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments.

: The informed consent process commenced on 5 December 2024, following ethical approval, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants before they participated in the study. Participants were provided with clear information about the study’s purpose, data collection and usage, and the protection of anonymity and confidentiality. Participation was voluntary, and participants were informed of their right to decline or withdraw at any time without penalty. Consent included permission for data analysis and the publication of aggregated, anonymized findings. This study involved a non-interventional questionnaire and posed minimal risk, and no minors or vulnerable individuals were included.