Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2021-01-27"
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- Strategies to change eating behaviours in food delivery applicationsPublication . Cruz, Ana Sofia Cabral Silva da; Fernandes, Daniel Von Der HeydeObesity and overweight are problems that are more and more present in today’s society. In order to overcome these issues, it is important to change consumers’ eating behaviours. There has been a lot of research around this subject in order to find the most effective strategy to change these behaviours in different contexts (eating at a restaurant, grocery shopping, among others). However, the food delivery applications are a quite recent market that has not been studied for this purpose. The implementation of nudges is a strategy that has been deeply studied to change undesirable eating behaviours. As such, this dissertation considers two types of nudges – cognitively oriented and affectively oriented – and price changes as possible strategies to implement in food delivery applications. As an extra analysis, it is also studied whether demographics and personal factors influence how effective each strategy is. Even though the results suggested that the most effective strategy is changing the price, followed by implementing a cognitively oriented nudge and, lastly, an affectively oriented one, the analysis did not have any statistical power. It is also clear that demographics, namely gender, and personal factor such as self-control and the habit of reading labels of food products have a role on the efficacy of these strategies.
- The impact of Reduced-Sugar labels on consumers´ perceptions and purchase intentions when choosing for themselves and for othersPublication . Coutinho, Maria Luísa de Tavares e Távora Pereira; Braga, João Pedro Niza JacintoOver the years, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of making healthier purchase decisions and the use of nutrition labels, such as Reduced-Sugar, aims to ease healthy choices. However, the presence of such labels can lead to wrong inferences of other product attributes, thus influencing consumers’ buying decisions. This dissertation examines consumers’ perceptions of healthiness and tastiness towards Reduced-Sugar labels and investigates its effect from the perspective of utilitarian and hedonic products. Moreover, it accounts for the potential effect of decision targets (i.e., choosing products for own consumption or for others) on preferences and purchase intentions for products with Reduced-Sugar labels. Also, the role of anticipatory guilt was considered, as perchance affecting consumers’ decisions when choosing for themselves and for others. The study comprised one online survey, where participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (choosing for themselves or for others). The results revealed that consumers associate Reduced-Sugar labels with healthier and less tasty products. Furthermore, findings indicate that depending on the level of self-health awareness, the presence of labels affects consumers’ preferences and purchase intentions, and this effect is moderated by decision targets (self-other differences). It was also found that the level of anticipatory guilt triggered by engaging in products with Reduced-Sugar labels is less for consumers choosing for others than for themselves, and this effect is stronger in hedonic products.
- The effectiveness of adding commodities to a multi-asset portfolioPublication . Galhardas, Carlota Rendeiro; Karehnke, PaulCommodity investment is fundamentally motivated by a desire to improve the performance of portfolios composed of stocks and bonds. Throughout this paper we analyze the out-of-sample performance effects derived from including commodities in a stock-bond portfolio for seven distinct asset allocation models – equally and strategically weighted portfolios, risk-parity, reward-to-risk timing, as well as, minimum-variance, mean-variance, and Black-Litterman. We analyze seven commodity groups and consider two distinct investor profiles, while constructing portfolios in which commodities are picked in a consistent standard format, and portfolios in which commodities are dynamically picked and adjusted every month. Precious metals emerge from our static portfolio allocation analysis as the commodity group with the clearest and most significant portfolio benefits. Concurrently, dynamic portfolio allocation yields very appealing returns, performing well in terms of risk-return tradeoff measures, while delivering more consistent results across asset allocation models when compared to static allocation. Portfolio gains remain highly linked to the macroeconomic environment, demonstrating that investments in industrial metals generate considerable improvements for favorable subperiods of stability and growth, whereas precious metals are particularly beneficial in the face of unstable subperiods.
- Outcome-based contracting metrics targets and incentives : the case of portuguese social impact bondsPublication . Anselmo, Francisco Martinho Bragança Catarino; Longo, FrancescoOver the past decade, Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) emerged as an innovative outcome-based financing solution for social programs. Despite the general benefits associated with the mechanism, there are concerns regarding the appropriate metrics and evaluation methods to use. The analysis has considered two major aspects which may affect SIB success and diffusion: the definition of outcome metrics and its underlying incentives. To shed some light on these issues, six contracts were considered and discussed based on interviews with key stakeholders, providing an analysis of the challenges in the implementation of outcome-based mechanisms, mostly SIBs, in Portugal. The main findings highlight: (1) the need to develop further incentives for all stakeholders through more sophisticated metrics; (2) to decrease the administrative complexity of outcome reporting processes; and (3) to formally structure a potential integration of the intervention's methodologies and insights into public policy, supported by more robust evaluations. Overall, the dissertation confirms the main advantages and struggles faced by practitioners worldwide, with additional operational challenges resulting from the unique nature of the Portuguese SIB ecosystem. In particular, the existing constraints associated with the use of European Funds by the public outcome payer.
- How to increase value creation under high regulation : portuguese regulated energy marketPublication . Ponte, Miguel Santos de Almeida Grosso da; Elnayal, Omar Salaheldin Ahmed NabihCompetition between firms is a highly regarded topic in strategic management. There is so much that firms can do to increase their welfare and position in the market. If the market has a large amount of players, then competition is fierce, leading to a low potential for profitability. Companies must keep up with high competition and demand standards from customers. On the other side, one may assume that monopolists operate with full freedom and high profits, however there are external pressures that might even crush the monopolist freedom. This thesis covers the energy supplier of the regulated market in Portugal – SU ELETRICIDADE – which is the monopolist in that market, operating for more than 20 years. However, ERSE, the regulator, imposes serious limitations to its operations and the ability to grow large enough to compete with the liberalized market. This thesis shall focus on raising initiatives that could increase the ability of a regulated firm to create value. Desk research took a big role in gathering information to position the firm in the market, leading to overwhelming limitations. An online survey leads to the realization of a gap in the market related to smart technologies, which might stand as an opportunity for this firm’s value creation. During the course of this analysis, several topics on strategic management have proved to be crucial for a proposition that defies the heavy weight of regulation. The end goal is to establish this firm’s importance and value for consumers and remaining stakeholders.
- A influência das ações de responsabilidade social na perceção do valor da marca pelos seus consumidores : estudo de caso : a marca Lidl PortugalPublication . Diniz, Mariana Fernandes; Brandão, Nuno Manuel Coelho de GoulartAtualmente, é cada vez mais difícil para as marcas apresentarem características diferenciadoras da sua concorrência. Contudo, esse é um fator determinante para que alcancem um lugar na mente dos consumidores. Tornou-se fundamental potenciar o valor da marca, ou brand equity, que se traduz nas associações positivas que os clientes criam em volta de uma marca. O brand equity surge, portanto, como um conjunto de atributos que compõem a valorização da marca, que irão influenciar a decisão de compra do consumidor. As estratégias de responsabilidade social podem surgir como determinantes diferenciadores que fornecem à marca um posicionamento e contribuem positivamente para a sua reputação, junto dos seus consumidores. A presente investigação tem com principal objetivo aferir se as ações de responsabilidade social da marca Lidl Portugal influenciam a perceção do valor da marca, por parte dos seus clientes. As principais conclusões retiradas na presente investigação permitem validar as hipóteses em estudo. Mais precisamente, foi possível verificar que as ações de responsabilidade social influenciam a forma como os consumidores do Lidl Portugal percecionam o valor da marca, e que existe uma forte aposta por parte da empresa na implementação destas iniciativas. Assim, conclui-se que a marca reúne as condições necessárias para assegurar a vantagem competitiva e alcançar o sucesso no mercado.
- Empowering human behavior research : the case of iMotionsPublication . Colazingari, Ottavio; Rajsingh, PeterOver the past few years, neuromarketing has caught the attention of businesses and academics as a revolutionary market research tool. Technology innovations, as well as an urging need to understand consumer behavior, have led to the introduction of digital devices such as biosensors to study human and consumer behavior. Suddenly, understanding the unconscious processes that underlie our actions and decisions is at an arm’s reach. Nonetheless, companies and academic institutions often lack the technology and expertise to conduct such experiments on their own. This need was identified by iMotions, positioning its platform as a comprehensive tool to study human behavior. For this reason, a teaching case about the company iMotions was developed. The purpose of this teaching case is to illustrate how the start-up overcame the challenges it was posed to in the beginning. Particular focus is devoted to the key success factors that led to iMotions’ success. Thus, the case demonstrates how the start-up changed over the years and how it ultimately reached profitability. In the end, the results obtained are demonstrated, and a glimpse into the future of the company – and the industry – is provided. This case exemplifies how a start-up operating in a high-paced technological environment can respond to threats by reconfiguring its business model, value proposition and some key elements of its product. It also shows the importance of an articulated partner ecosystem, a structured customer support, and a platform that responds to the market’s need.
- Are ventures better off with a CVC lead investor? Evidence from IPOs of VC-backed startupsPublication . Gonçalves, Duarte Manuel Cruz; Shuwaikh, Fátima HussienThe importance of the Venture Capital industry has been growing exponentially due to its impact on the economy, leading to trillions in revenues and millions in jobs created. Although its relevancy, the influence of the two main types of VCs on their backed startups has been understudied. This dissertation focuses on the value added by CVCs to the firms present on their portfolio, by comparing its IPO valuation with its IVC peers. In order to come up with significant results for this analysis, a sample of 719 VC-backed ventures, where 66 were CVC-backed, was extracted from Thomson Reuters. The empirical analysis focuses on the Propensity Score Matching approach, pairing ventures based on their probability of being funded by a corporate investor, and consequently, interpret the results derived from the valuation multiple ratios between the “nearest neighbors”. The results obtained showed that, startups which have an established corporation as their lead investor are able to achieve higher valuations at their IPO vis-à-vis its IVC-backed competitors. Moreover, it has been proven that the CVC-backed ventures outperformance is mainly driven by startups which hold a strategic fit with their investor, with higher strategic overlaps being translated into more significant valuations. This thesis contributes to the enrichment of the Industry’s literacy while also easing entrepreneurs’ decisions when choosing a funding partner.
- The impact of portuguese consumers´emotional state in their tendency to engage in exploratory buying behavior and to purchase innovative productsPublication . Pereira, Beatriz de Ferreira Pimenta Mouta e; Fernandes, Daniel Von Der HeydeOver time, the study of emotions has shown the great effect they have on the way individuals think, judge and consequently act, influencing their behavior. As consumers, their decision-making process also varies according to the choice to be made. And, in such a competitive world where companies differentiate themselves by innovation, what impact will their emotional state have on their final purchasing decision when faced with innovative goods? This dissertation aims to analyze the impact of the Portuguese consumers´ emotional state at the moment of the buying decision on their tendency to get involved on exploratory behaviors as well as on their final decision. The key results show that being in a positive mood increases the probability of consumers getting involved in an exploratory buying behavior and yet, the more they like to shop around and look at displays, the greater the tendency to buy innovative products. Furthermore, it has been concluded that those individuals who feel more cautious about trying new products are less likely to buy innovative products. This is due to the risk involved, namely possible losses of money and time, if expectations do not correspond to reality. In order to overcome this obstacle of the buyers, strategies that Managers can adopt to decrease these risks are also discussed, in order to potentialize their sales, and consequently, the firm's results.
- The impact of level 5 shared autonomous vehicles on suburbanization in MunichPublication . Lorentz, Yannick; Rajsingh, PeterShared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) with an autonomy level of 5 (full automation) are able to provide a combination of taxi-services and conventional car-sharing. The research presented in this dissertation focuses on understanding the perception of Munich residents towards the phenomenon of suburbanization by the introduction of SAVs. The results show that the introduction of SAVs with autonomy level 5 will still take a couple of years. The focus should now be on use cases for level 4 autonomous robo-buses, which are able to link not so well-connected localities to the public transportation system of Munich. The survey showed that (1) a decrease in fuel costs was the leading factor why Munich citizens would move out the city. Insights from literature about previous suburbanization as well as from expert and consumer interviews revealed that suburbanization in Munich will be driven by desire for (2) an increase in comfort,(3) a decrease in travel time and (4) a decrease in travel cost. The results from Munich were not applicable to other cities. Finally, SAVs will impact where citizens will be living in the future. Predicting an exact course of suburbanization in Munich was not possible. This newly generated knowledge is intended to serve as initial preliminary information for urban design and planning institutions.