Browsing by Author "Silva, Susana C."
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- An experimental approach to analyzing gender, sex appeal and idealized bodies in advertisingPublication . Feitosa, Wilian; Silva, Susana C.; Lourenço, Carlos; Sunago, Noemi; Resende, Ligia
- Are perceived benefits of heated tobacco products consumption aiding smoking cessation?Publication . Martinho, Mafalda; Silva, Susana C.; Duarte, Paulo; Ferreira, Marisa R.Background: The tobacco industry has been facing several transformations, considering that technology has evolved and health concerns have increased. One way for this industry to meet the growing social and health concerns is to provide alternative solutions. Heated tobacco products (HTPs) were the solution found, but they nevertheless pose several challenges to regulators, companies, and consumers, since HTPs are advertised as a less harmful alternative to conventional cigarettes. Focus of the Article: This study aims to analyze smokers' perception of HTPs to provide insights for social marketing campaigns targeting behavioral change. Research questions: The main objectives of this research are: (1) to assess whether smokers and ex-smokers view HTPs as less harmful to health than traditional cigarettes; and (2) to determine to what extent HTPs can help increase the intention to quit smoking. Methods: This study explores smokers’ perception of HTPs consumption using a modified version of the Health Belief Model (HBM). A survey study involving 250 smokers and ex-smokers was conducted to test the conceptual model using PLS-Path modeling to validate the research hypotheses. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 27 and SmartPLS 3.3 programs. Results: The results suggest that the perceived benefits of heated tobacco consumption negatively influence the likelihood of quitting smoking. Therefore, HTPs do not work as auxiliary products with regard to the intention to quit smoking. In some cases, the effect is quite the opposite, as HTPs use increases tobacco consumption and dependence. Perceived susceptibility and perceived severity are not significant predictors of the decision to quit smoking. Research limitations: Future research could use a sample that includes only HTPs smokers and ex-smokers, analyze HTPs benefits and understand the primary motivation behind replacing conventional cigarettes with HTPs. Practical implications: Entities attempting to promote the reduction of tobacco consumption should equate HTPs to conventional tobacco and focus on campaigns targeting only HTPs smokers. Whenever studying perceptions on HTPs, it is important to consider smokers’ dependence on nicotine and the particularities of the devices used to consume HTPs. Importance to the Social Marketing Field: Considering the social relevance and growth of heated tobacco consumption, as well as the increase of the tobacco industry’s economic power, this research offers relevant insights into consumers’ perceptions toward HTPs.
- Consumer guilt proneness scale: assessing individual differences in responses to transgressive consumption situationsPublication . Martins, Carla C.; Silva, Susana C.; Radomska, Joanna; Hajdas, MonikaFeeling or anticipating guilt associated with consumption situations may lead consumers to adjust their behaviors to avoid those unpleasant feelings and better conform to their personal, moral, and social standards. The experience of guilt regarding a consumption situation is influenced by both contextual factors, including marketing communications, and personal traits, namely the individual's proneness to feel guilt related to consumption. While research has examined the influence of contextual variables on guilt, the individual predisposition to feel guilt associated with consumption has received little attention. Understanding individual consumer guilt proneness can assist managers in customizing strategies to diverse guilt responses: recognizing varying susceptibility to guilt enables personalized approaches across the consumer journey, fostering empathetic managerial actions. This understanding can significantly impact consumer satisfaction, loyalty, and the success of marketing strategies. This study conceptualizes and proposes a measure of consumer guilt proneness, the individual tendency to feel guilt regarding transgressive consumption situations. To define the conceptual domain, a literature review is complemented with a qualitative study. Five dimensions corresponding to sources of guilt (health, extravagance, social influence, misevaluation, and ethics and sustainability) create the initial pool of items. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses corroborate the five-factor measurement model. The final scale demonstrates adequate convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. Finally, the instrument is cross-culturally validated in three countries—Portugal, Poland, and Brazil—which not only strengthens the evidence of its validity and reliability but also lends credibility to its broader application in diverse cultural environments, particularly within Western cultures.
- Consumer vulnerability and well-being across contexts: Implications for international businessesPublication . Duarte, Paulo; Linardi, Marcelo Augusto; Domingues, Helena Sá; Silva, Susana C.This article assesses the relationship between consumer vulnerability (CV) and well-being (WB) by comparing the effects of ordinary (non-pandemic) and pandemic consumption contexts among Portuguese and Brazilian consumers. Data on pre-and post-pandemic perceived vulnerability and well-being from a cross-cultural sample of 397 consumers were analyzed through structural equations modelling using the PLS-Path. The results revealed an inverse relationship between CV and well-being, which worsened with the emergence of the pandemic. Refund Policies, Product Promotions and Purchase Ability are the dimensions of CV identified as the most affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, fear proved to mediate the effect of vulnerability on well-being partially. The findings allow us to conclude that the most disrupted CV dimensions during COVID-19 are Refund Policy (RP), Purchase Ability (PA), and Product Promotion (PP). Studies comparing consumer vulnerability in international contexts are scarce. By finding the most critical dimensions of CV during a pandemic crisis, this study provides novel insights for companies and public institutions when planning responses and strategies to future disruptive occurrences. The conclusions represent an original contribution by analysing and comparing consumers' vulnerability in an everyday consumption situation and an extreme situation deployed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Valuable insights for governments and policymakers are provided. Firms working in international markets can use the insights to adapt their business strategy as effects on well-being vary across cultures.
- Desenvolvimento de uma nova plataforma para venda de lanches saudáveis para escolas via E-Commerce em PortugalPublication . Queiroga, João; Silva, Susana C.; Feitosa, WilianO presente estudo visa o desenvolvimento de um novo serviço – lanches saudáveis em escolas, - no seio de um varejista alimentar online. Considerando as tendências deconsumo da alimentação infantil, uma resposta à oportunidade identificada: a oferta de lanches saudáveis, escolhidos pelos pais, ao gosto dos filhos e entregues pelo varejista naescola. Trata-se de um novo modelo de negócio de distribuição de lanches escolares. Para o desenvolvimento dessa proposta, a metodologia action research foi empregada, apartir da vivência em um dos maiores players do varejo em Portugal. Por meio de simulações, obteve-se uma proposta de uma plataforma online, considerando o modelo B2B2C, com cardápio e uma proposta de go to market, com lançamento e abordagem comercial. O lançamento previsto foi abortado pelos desdobramentos do COVID-19 no ambiente escolar.
- Desenvolvimento de uma plataforma e-commerce para venda de lanches saudáveis a escolas em PortugalPublication . Queiroga, João; Silva, Susana C.O presente estudo visa ao desenvolvimento de um novo serviço – lanches saudáveis em escolas – por parte de um retalhista alimentar online. Considerando as tendências de consumo da alimentação infantil, a resposta à oportunidade identificada diz respeito à oferta de lanches saudáveis, escolhidos pelos pais, mas também ao gosto dos filhos, e entregues pelo retalhista na escola. Trata-se de um novo modelo de negócio de distribuição de lanches escolares. Para o desenvolvimento da proposta, a metodologia action research foi empregada mediante a vivência em um dos maiores players de retalho alimentar em Portugal. Por meio de simulações, desenvolveu-se uma proposta de plataforma online, considerando o modelo B2B2C, com o cardápio estabelecido e uma proposta de go to market, com lançamento e abordagem comercial. O lançamento previsto foi, todavia, adiado, em vista do impacto da pandemia no ambiente escolar.
- Digital influencers: catalysts for customer engagement and purchase intentionPublication . Hani, Ghamama; Haider, Syed Waqar; Raza, Aamir; Silva, Susana C.; Dias, Joana CarmoSocial Media Influencer (SMI) marketing represents a contemporary addition to the arsenal of digital advertising tools. Digital Content Creators are individuals who regularly share a variety of content, including visuals, audio recordings, and updates, across multiple social media platforms to shape consumers' perceptions of a brand and its products. The focus of this study is to examine how the credibility aspects of social media influencers (expertise, attractiveness, and trustworthiness) influence purchase intention and brand intimacy while also considering the mediating role of consumer engagement. This study used a quantitative, cross-sectional design with convenience sampling targeting social media-active individuals. Data were collected via a questionnaire distributed through email and social media, selecting participants who followed influencers. To gather data, 250 participants were engaged in an online questionnaire distributed via Google Forms. The findings indicate that the credibility dimensions of SMIs, particularly their attractiveness and trustworthiness, positively influence brand intimacy and purchase intention. Furthermore, consumer engagement serves as a critical mediator, connecting the authenticity of social media influencers with purchase intention and brand intimacy. In line with these results, it becomes evident that consumer engagement indirectly influences influencer credibility (trustworthiness and attractiveness), purchase intention, and brand intimacy. Notably, expertise does not exert any discernible impact on either brand intimacy or purchase intention. This study's outcomes provide valuable insights for marketing managers, underscoring the significance of partnering with influencers who possess a high level of trust within their respective marketing niches.
- Do goal orientations really influence performance?Publication . Sousa, Carlos M.; Coelho, Filipe; Silva, Susana C.Purpose: The creativity of retail employees seems to be of the utmost importance for ensuring the performance of organizations in service settings. This paper contributes to the existing theory by investigating the direct and indirect effects of goal orientations on the creativity and performance of retail employees. The authors propose a framework depicting the relationships between goal orientations and employee creativity and performance, including the intervening effects of self-efficacy and customer orientation. Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted with retail frontline employees of a large retail bank in Portugal. The sample consists of 267 valid responses. Structural equations are used by applying the maximum likelihood method to test the conceptual framework. Findings: Results are broadly supportive of the hypotheses. Learning orientation is, directly and indirectly, related to creativity, but only indirectly to performance. As to performance orientation, it is indirectly related to creativity through self-efficacy and customer orientation, and directly as well as indirectly, to performance. The authors investigate the extent to which the effects of goal orientations on creativity and performance are mediated by self-regulatory mechanisms, namely self-efficacy, and customer orientation. Originality/value: The results recognize that learning and performance goals are neither mutually exclusive nor contradictory, which collide with past empirical evidence showing that learning goals are generally associated with more favorable outcomes and performance goals with more negative or equivocal ones. These outcomes underscore the need and relevance for managers to foster both goal orientations to promote the creativity and performance of retail employees, representing a particularly salient issue in retail businesses characterized by significant interpersonal interactions.
- Doing the right thing or doing things right: what is better for a successful manufacturing reshoring?Publication . Boffelli, Albachiara; Fratocchi, Luciano; Kalchschmidt, Matteo; Silva, Susana C.The article concerns the revision of earlier decisions to offshore production activities (so called “relocation of second degree”); more specifically it is focused on the “reshoring” (also referred as “relocation to the home country”, “back-reshoring” or “back-shoring”). The research aims are to investigate what types of mistakes occur along the decision-making and implementation process and how they affect the outcome, in terms of success or failure, of a relocation strategy. A multiple case study involving four companies in the fashion industry from Portugal and Italy was conducted. The cross-case analysis allowed to differentiate decision-making mistakes from implementation ones and to assess differences and similarities among the cases in terms of content of the relocation, drivers and outcomes. The research contributes to previous literature on reshoring by bringing evidence of different types of mistakes to be considered, thus requiring further conceptualization of the reshoring process. Managers and entrepreneurs should consider the importance of doing the things right also during the implementation, too often underestimated. The present article is the first one in the reshoring literature bringing evidence of cases of failure in the relocation decisions and discriminating among different kinds of mistakes.
- Don’t tell me stories – the narratives of retirement and their relation with brand associationsPublication . Hajdas, Monika; Radomska, Joanna; Szpulak, Aleksandra; Silva, Susana C.Purpose: The concept of cultural branding based on various narratives has been established in the marketing literature, but there is a lack of studies linking this concept with brand-related effects. The aim of this paper is to explore and explain the possible relationships between various brand narratives based on the changing meaning of retirement and brand associations. Design/methodology/approach: An experimental design was used to test the proposed conceptual model and examine the impact of brand narrative on brand associations. Data were collected using an online survey from a random group of 432 respondents and analyzed using MANOVA. Findings: Our research did not confirm that in the case of financial products, brand narratives represented by distinctive retirement cultural codes had an impact on brand associations. Partial relation was found only for brand personality. Originality: This is the first study that explores brand narratives’ based on cultural codes relations with brand associations.