Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2021-10-20"
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- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on brand equity dimensions and consumers’ purchase behaviors of video game brands : examining the moderation role of type of gaming for which the brand is most usedPublication . Figueiredo, Francisco Mateus Guerra Cabral; Estarreja, MariaThis study intends to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted certain brand equity dimensions: brand awareness, brand image, perceived quality and brand loyalty, and consumers’ purchase behaviors: purchase intention and willingness to pay of video game brands in specific, as they are a part of an industry that is now more popular than ever, and such popularity rose even more with the ongoing pandemic. Additionally, this study also examines the brand being most used for single-player or multi-player type of gaming as the potential moderator role. Results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic brought a significant positive impact to all the brand equity dimensions apart of the study and to purchase intention and willingness to pay (above) regarding consumers’ purchase behavior. Apart of consumers’ purchase behavior is also willingness to pay (below), which did not suffer a significant impact with the pandemic. The results also show that the moderation effect of the video-game brand being most used for single-player or multi-player type of gaming is nonexistent. This study provides valuable insights into how the pandemic has affected brand equity dimensions and consumers’ purchase behaviors of brands, and into how such marketing concepts can more often be studied regarding video game brands.
- Visual art and participatory culture : the case of Château Nour in BrusselsPublication . Saccani, Marta; Hanenberg, Peter HeinrichTaking into account the migration crisis Europe has been facing, analysing and developing methods of active and positive inclusion to foster integration is necessary for Europe to remain a democratic and inclusive place. This research proposes an analysis of how cultural non-profit associations through artistic practices are in constant dialogue with the communities and spaces around them. Central to the research is the concept of art democratization, which is explored in the sense of need for inclusion. The artistic object itself must stop being an ‘enclaved commodity’ (Appadurai 2013) and its ‘symbolic power’ (Appadurai 2013) has to change in a more comprehensive way. As a case study, Brussel-based artistic space Chateau Nour is analysed. Among the non-profit associations Chateau Nour hosts, Rectangle and the social activities it engages in are taken into consideration as a key study, thanks to the work experience made during my internship from 01/09/2019 to 31/12/2019. By exploring the conceptual field of relational and participatory cultural practices, this research discusses the notion of the image and its role in the public space to understand if this medium can be considered as relational. This concept, which symbolises a consistent part of the artistic field, is chosen as a tool of investigation because of how it is critically utilized by the non-profit association Rectangle, where I did my internship. Since its creation, Rectangle has challenged the use of the image, of advertising language and of how its apparatus is displayed in the public space. Rectangle, in fact, focuses on projects consisting in posters showed on publicly exposed billboards or on the vitrine of Chateau Nour. In this way the artistic show is not anymore a privileged spot or a privileged moment. If the power of the image is considered, these types of action have social implications of involvement and inclusivity which could be particularly important in socially problematic neighbourhoods.
- Nonmarket strategies in cross-border mergers and acquisitions process and performance : the case of a telecommunication multinationalPublication . Eller, Konstantin Victor Willy; Wójcik, PiotrLiterature rarely examines the effects of nonmarket strategies on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMA) performance. This dissertation addresses the gap by analyzing how and why nonmarket strategies are used and affect CBMA performance. Based upon a single case study, six semi-structured interviews and additional sources were analyzed. The study identifies nonmarket strategies which the case company uses aiming to obtain organizational legitimacy from various stakeholders. This research reveals that the effects of nonmarket strategies on the case company’s CBMA performance vary across specific nonmarket activities. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as the first subcategory of nonmarket strategies, positively affects CBMA performance, while the effects of Corporate Political Activity (CPA), the second subcategory, depend on the specific activity used. The CPAs lobbyism and financial campaign contributions positively affect CBMA performance, whereas hiring former politicians has no effects on CBMA performance. Another insight is that an integration of CSR and CPA positively impacts CBMA performance. This dissertation identifies obtained organizational legitimacy of various stakeholders as the mechanism bridging nonmarket strategies and CBMA performance. Social Reputation and a population’s CPA acceptance are revealed as factors affecting the effectiveness of CSR and CPA in CBMA, respectively. This study contributes to the literature by providing new insights regarding the effects of nonmarket strategies on CBMA performance, the underlying mechanism, and factors impacting the effectiveness of nonmarket strategies in CBMA. Additionally, it confirms research implying positive effects of the integration of CSR and CPA on organizational performance and extends this research to CBMA.
- The relationship between profitability ratios and market reactions to M&A announcementsPublication . Machado, Pedro Afonso Gonçalves Alvelas; Iskandar, SamerIn this dissertation, we examine the relationship between profitability ratios and abnormal returns around mergers and acquisitions’ announcements, using a sample of 341 transactions completed in the United States between 2010 and 2019. We aimed to investigate the targets and the acquirers, not only observing the investors’ reactions to the profitability levels of the opposite firm but also by noticing if there is any relationship with the direct comparison between both companies. The results show that there is no significant relationship between the acquirers’ cumulative abnormal returns and the targets’ profitability indicators except the GPM. Moreover, when we change the explanatory variable to the difference between profitability levels of both participants in the transaction there is no significant relationship whatsoever. On the other hand, the targets’ cumulative abnormal returns show a significant relationship with the acquirers’ NPM, GPM and ROA and when we change the explanatory variable, as previously mentioned, the EPS also becomes a significant measure.
- Corporate investments in bitcoin and their impact on cryptocurrency’s abnormal returns and volatilityPublication . Livrieri, Massimo; Cerqueiro, Geraldo Manuel Alves
- Demand forecasting for perishable products : a consumer behaviour perspectivePublication . Vonlaufen, Matteo Samuele Andrea; Clavijo, HenryDemand for fresh and healthy products has increased significantly in recent years. Such products are categorized as perishable and are easily thrown away when not sold. Despite improvements in technology, demand forecasting at the food retailer level is still based on traditional practices, providing unsatisfying results and leading to consequent food waste. The aim of this study is to provide, through a quantitative survey, insights regarding the effects of consumer behaviours in demand forecasting for perishable products. The research analyses how consumer food waste sensibility and awareness affect the propensity to shop substitutes, their response to products’ appearance, the expiration label system, and how the size and frequency of grocery shopping affect the propensity to buy substitutes. The results showed an overall awareness and willingness to act with regard to food wasterelated problems. The need for more awareness of products about to be wasted in-store was present as well as consumers' propensity to buy similar products when the preferred product was not present on the shelves. Less food waste sensible consumers were less willing to substitute compared to consumers that were more sensible to food waste. Consumers' misconception concerning labels’ standards was found and no differences regarding how long products were kept past the expiration date, between more and less label standard knowledgeable consumers was discovered. Products are kept by both groups for a shorter period compared to what experts suggest. Lastly, consumers that only shop for themselves, showed a lower propensity to buy substitutes.
- Machine learning methods for predicting stock returns from financial and microeconomic variablesPublication . Branco, Miguel Pereira Teixeira Mano; Pekar, ViktorThis report analyses the ability of machine learning algorithms to predict next quarter stock returns based on macroeconomic features and financial, company-specific variables, by benchmarking achieved results in terms of root mean squared error against the expected return baseline that outputs as a prediction of period t return, the average of returns until t-1. The deployed study compares the performance of Random Forest, Support Vector Regression, Lasso Regression and Multi-layer perceptron regressor in modelling the predictive issue considered and analysis whether specific industries are better suited for prediction purposes. The achieved results show that there are no major differences in performance across models in terms of root mean squared error, but that Lasso regression fails to properly model the problem as it deploys the same prediction regardless of the values in the set of predictive features. Furthermore, on an industry level, the analysis shows that some industries are more prone to prediction, with the Health Care and Semiconductors sector displaying the worst results. What is more, considering the selected features, the models showed better performance levels either when the entire set of features was used, suggesting that reducing the number of features was not helpful for the model to deploy its predictions, or when principal component analysis was used. The results from the RF show that macroeconomic variables are, overall, more important than company-specific ones to predict next quarter’s returns, which may be at the basis of the similar performance across some of the industries and of the models.
- Don’t blame the children. Why inverted and horizontal liability for antitrust infringements should be rejectedPublication . Peres, Catarina VieiraThis article analyses some new questions that have emerged as a result of the transposition of the single economic unit doctrine to the realm of private enforcement. The doctrine, originally developed in the context of public enforcement of EU competition law, allows liability to be attributed to parent companies for infringements committed by their subsidiaries, thereby disregarding the corporate separateness of the legal entities involved in order to reflect their economic unity in the market. As antitrust damages become more common throughout Europe, the single economic unit doctrine requires further clarification. In particular, it is not evident whether the doctrine may also apply in an inverted or horizontal manner: whether subsidiaries might be held liable for antitrust infringements committed by their parent companies or whether companies might be held liable for antitrust infringements committed by other entities controlled by the same parent company. This question has led to divergent decisions by national courts throughout Europe. This article rejects the idea of group company liability for antitrust infringements and argues against the automatic recognition of horizontal or inverted liability, which is believed to amount to a violation of general principles of EU law and which cannot be justified on grounds of deterrence, nor on the principle of effectiveness.
- The future of work environment : the impact of artificial intelligence in the employee’s levels of psychological safetyPublication . Bandeira, Tomás de Ornelas Marques; Almeida, Ana Filipa Martinho deWith the rise of automation, observed already in cars and factories, the next step becomes working side-by-side with us humans amongst our working environments. This research focuses on the potential future of workplaces where humans work alongside AI, and how impactful these changes can be on the employees’ psychological safety (PS) at the company they work at. It reviews different aspects in terms of how people perceive both humans and AI in terms of social and intellectual traits and how impactful these perceptions can be to their PS levels. This study exposes participants to four different scenarios that consist in the addition of a new individual to their workplace. Each scenario differs from the other based upon two aspects: the type of entity that is added to the workplace (Human vs. AI); the position of the entity relative to the employee at the company (Colleague vs. Leader). The results suggest that although there is no direct significant difference on psychological safety between both types of entities, there is an indirect influence as different perceptions of these entities have an impact on PS. On the other hand, the position of the entity towards the self also has no significant impact, however, leadership has an impact on PS irrespectively of the type of entity. The findings are discussed and new research questions raised.
- Clinical validation of the nanda-i “caregiver role strain” nursing diagnosis in the context of palliative carePublication . Lourenço, Tânia Marlene Gonçalves; Abreu-Figueiredo, Rita Maria de Sousa; Sá, Luís OctávioObjective: to clinically validate the defining characteristics of the “Caregiver Role Strain” Nursing diagnosis for caregivers of people in a palliative care situation. Method: a cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive and analytical study. It was developed based on Fehring’s Clinical Validation Model and on the diagnostic accuracy measures (sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and Receiver Operating Characteristic curve). The data collection instrument used was a form, applied in 2017 by two nurses to a sample of 111 caregivers of people in a palliative care situation, in Portugal. The caregivers were divided into two groups (with and without the diagnosis), being identified by the simultaneity of three criteria, namely: Zarit Burden Interview values greater than 56; agreement of two nurses about the diagnosis; and caregiver’s perception of the presence of signs and symptoms. The defining characteristics were classified as major, secondary and irrelevant, according to the models used. Results: the prevalence of diagnosis was 42.3%. Of the 29 characteristics subjected to the validation process, 9 were considered major, 13 secondary and 7 irrelevant. Ineffective coping, depressive mood, frustration, worsening of previous diseases, stress and fatigue were the characteristics which proved to be more associated with the diagnosis in both analyses. The overall score of the diagnosis was 0.68. Conclusion: the study results contribute to the improvement of the diagnosis, making it more accurate. In addition, they enable better clinical decision in Nursing, allowing nurses to make a diagnostic judgment supported by scientific evidence.
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