Belem Barbosa and Isabel Fonseca
Collaborative consumption emerges from social practices such as sharing, lending and gifting. It is becoming more common among consumers, boosted by the internet, which…
Abstract
Purpose
Collaborative consumption emerges from social practices such as sharing, lending and gifting. It is becoming more common among consumers, boosted by the internet, which facilitates the collaboration process with both strong and weak ties. This paper aims to examine collaborative consumer experience, delving into the factors that contribute to the adoption and the perceived benefits of this alternative form of consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 12 phenomenological interviews were conducted o explore the theme from an individual perspective, attested by the consumers’ narratives and experiences.
Findings
The results highlight collaborative consumption as being influenced by family practices, social relations and the current economic scenario. Also, noteworthy is the evidence that collaborative consumption enables consumers to select from a more diversified portfolio of products and services, especially the ones featured by the internet and social media. Consumers perceive financial, emotional, social, environmental and increased consumption benefits, depending on their practices of collaborative consumption, and also on their role as providers, consumers or exchangers.
Originality/value
Through the phenomenological approach, based on individual reports of experiences related to collaborative consumption, it was possible to highlight some aspects relevant to better understanding the behavior of collaborative consumers.
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Isabelle T. Szmigin, Deirdre Mary O'Loughlin, Morven McEachern, Kalipso Karantinou, Belem Barbosa, Grigorios Lamprinakos and María Eugenia Fernández-Moya
In the context of European consumers’ experiences of austerity, this study aims to advance current resilience theory in marketing through developing persistent resilience from a…
Abstract
Purpose
In the context of European consumers’ experiences of austerity, this study aims to advance current resilience theory in marketing through developing persistent resilience from a context of austerity influenced consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an interpretivist approach, 38 face to face, in-depth interviews were conducted with European consumers from Ireland, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece who were affected in some way by the global financial crisis.
Findings
Building upon limited conceptual and empirical investigations in social geography, the analysis identifies the themes of persistent stressors and temporal orientation as constants, alongside day-to-day coping, relating and pragmatism, consumer adjustment, repertoires of resistance and transformation as key elements of persistent resilience within the consumption context of austerity.
Research limitations/implications
The study addresses the limited theoretical and empirical focus on persistent resilience and austerity and directly contributes to consumer behaviour and marketing theory in understanding persistent resilience and its implications.
Practical implications
Changes to behaviours as a result of persistent resilience included reducing and stopping consumption, discount shopping, alternative consumption in the form of growing or making and mindful consumption through wastage reduction and re-use.
Social implications
The study highlights the significant social impact of austerity while also identifying positive outcomes for social relations among family, friends and the wider community.
Originality/value
This study develops and extends Golubchikov’s (2011) theory of persistent resilience through exploring European consumer responses to austerity, identifying key consumption characteristics relevant for marketing theory and practice.
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Belem Barbosa, Alireza Shabani Shojaei and Hugo Miranda
This study analyzes the impact of packaging-free practices in food retail stores, particularly supermarkets, on customer loyalty.
Abstract
Purpose
This study analyzes the impact of packaging-free practices in food retail stores, particularly supermarkets, on customer loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the literature on the impacts of sustainable practices and corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies on consumer behavior, this study defined a set of seven hypotheses that were tested using data collected from 447 consumers that regularly buy food products at supermarkets. The data were subjected to structural equation modeling using SmartPLS.
Findings
This study confirmed that packaging-free practices positively influence brand image, brand trust, satisfaction and customer loyalty. The expected positive impacts of brand image and satisfaction on customer loyalty were also confirmed. However, the expected impact of brand trust on customer loyalty was not confirmed.
Practical implications
This article demonstrates how a competitive sector can reap benefits from implementing sustainable practices in the operational domain, particularly by offering packaging-free products at the point of purchase. Thus, as recommended, general retail stores (e.g. supermarkets) gradually increase the stores' offering of packaging-free food products, as this practice has been shown to have positive impacts not only on brand image, but also on customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature on the effects of sustainable practices on customer loyalty, by focusing on a specific practice. Furthermore, this study contributes to the advancement of research on packaging-free practices in retail by developing a research framework and providing evidence on the direct and indirect effects of this specific practice on customer loyalty.
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José Ramón Saura, Daniel Palacios-Marqués and Belém Barbosa
Technological advances in the last decade have caused both business and economic sectors to seek for new ways to adapt their business models to a connected data-centric era…
Abstract
Purpose
Technological advances in the last decade have caused both business and economic sectors to seek for new ways to adapt their business models to a connected data-centric era. Family businesses have also been forced to leave behind traditional strategies rooted in family stimuli and ties and to adapt their actions in digital environments. In this context, this study aims to identify major online marketing strategies, business models and technology applications developed to date by family firms. Methodology: Upon a systematic literature review, we develop a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) under the homogeneity analysis of variance by means of alternating least squares (HOMALS) framework programmed in the R language. Based on the results, the analyzed contributions are visually analyzed in clusters.
Design/methodology/approach
Upon a systematic literature review, we develop an MCA under the HOMALS framework programmed in the R language. Based on the results, the analyzed contributions are visually analyzed in clusters.
Findings
Relevant indicators are identified for the successful development of digital family businesses classified in the following three categories: (1) digital business models, (2) digital marketing techniques and (3) technology applications. The first category consists of four digital business models: mobile marketing, e-commerce, cost per click, cost per mile and cost per acquisition. The second category includes six digital marketing techniques: search marketing (search engine optimization and search engine marketing (SEM) strategies), social media marketing, social ads, social selling, websites and online reputation optimization. Finally, the third category consists of the following aspects: digital innovation, digital tools, innovative marketing, knowledge discovery and online decision making. In addition, five research propositions are developed for further discussion and future research.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to cover this research topic applying the emerging programming language R for the development of an MCA under the HOMALS framework.
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Daniel Barbosa Cabral, Milton Cordeiro Farias Filho and Carlos André Corrêa de Mattos
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence the facilities management (FM) in construction sites in the Brazilian Amazon.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence the facilities management (FM) in construction sites in the Brazilian Amazon.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used structured questionnaires, with the participation of 136 facilities professionals in construction sites in the Brazilian Amazon. These sites were selected with help of 17 facilities managers. The survey achieved a total response rate of 76.5 per cent. The factorial analysis was performed after checking the adequacy of the sample to the technique. The results allowed the continuation of data processing and the use of exploratory factorial analysis to summarize the variables and identify the influencing factors.
Findings
The results indicated five factors that influence the FM on construction sites in the Brazilian Amazon, namely: negotiation with local entities; weather; local suppliers; manpower; and logistical infrastructure. With the proper understanding of these factors, facilities professionals could plan actions to minimize negative impacts over the FM on construction sites.
Research limitations/implications
The influence of factors on FM was studied from the professionals’ viewpoint. It is possible that there are other perspectives or other influencing factors. However, this work is limited to the analysis of the variables that make up the five dimensions presented.
Practical implications
Organizations and FM professionals might be interested in the results of this research to enhance the FM performance on the construction sites existed and to plan the implementation of the FM on upcoming construction sites.
Originality/value
This paper is the first large research about FM in construction sites conducted in the Brazilian Amazon and serve as a basis to other research works that promote the development of FM in Brazil.
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This chapter deals with different perspectives and structural transformations between capitalist society and indigenous ways of life. I approach the A’uwẽ-Xavante myth of the…
Abstract
This chapter deals with different perspectives and structural transformations between capitalist society and indigenous ways of life. I approach the A’uwẽ-Xavante myth of the theft of the jaguar’s fire, one of many versions of the story of the bird-nester, which Lévi-Strauss interprets as the acquisition of culture through cooking technique. I compare it with Proudhon’s study on property as the theft of collective force which he treats as the groundwork of the manufacturing process in capitalist society. This highlights the difference between Proudhon’s ideal mutualism, based on free access to means of production and polytechnic education, and the A’uwẽ-Xavante’s acquisition of power and its technical reproduction. Proudhon’s mutualism envisages auto-organization of collective force in cooperative work favoring its collective appropriation by the workers; while in the A’uwẽ-Xavante way of life, there is an off-centered collective force from which technical acquisition is redistributed. In common with Proudhon’s ideal labor mutualism, A’uwẽ-Xavante’s ways welcome outsiders to their means of production of people; but unlike Proudhon’s, this welcome is not for free: they have to prove their generosity and personal commitment to the game.
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Wilson Aparecido Costa de Amorim, Marcus Vinicius Gonçalves da Cruz, Amyra Moyzes Sarsur and André Luiz Fischer
The purpose of this work is to comparatively study human resources management (HRM) areas in Brazil, at the national level, analyzing how companies considered labor market and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this work is to comparatively study human resources management (HRM) areas in Brazil, at the national level, analyzing how companies considered labor market and labor relations aspects when building their strategies and when configuring people management models in place in the country (2014–2019), based on local conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The subject was approached through qualitative analysis, encompassing document survey, systematic literature review, specialists' panel discussions, eight focus groups (43 human resources [HR] managers), interviews (16 union members), applying institutional approach to people management.
Findings
In regards to labor market and unions, HR areas faced different conditions across Brazilian regions. They have dealt with those influences on their strategic and quotidian decisions in an unstructured fashion. HR areas remain constructed as traditional, adjuvant and far from strategic level. In the institutionalization process – normative isomorphism – a professional HR jargon use was identified. HR areas usually act in collective bargaining, resorting to specialized professionals or consulting companies. During the economic crisis, HR professionals' attitude had a reactive nature, responding to organizations leadership, with little dedication to the emerging context.
Practical implications
This work enables important players like HR managers, union members and specialists in public policies to interpret the institutionalization phenomena of practices related to management, labor market and labor relations in the country.
Social implications
Understanding the effects of the relations among state, companies and unions allows the different power vectors, acting upon the institutionalization process of people management areas in the Brazilian case, to be outlined.
Originality/value
This study applies the institutional approach to understand the economic and social heterogeneity affecting organizations in Brazil. It enhances the knowledge on HRM areas scope and their articulation toward labor market and relations.
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This paper puts forth a conceptual framework of multiple and fluid national culture focused on the contemporary Brazilian context. Drawing from recent criticism on the excessive…
Abstract
This paper puts forth a conceptual framework of multiple and fluid national culture focused on the contemporary Brazilian context. Drawing from recent criticism on the excessive determinism and simplicity of typical cross‐cultural depictions, the study (1) analyzes Brazilian contemporary culture from a historical perspective; (2) summarizes prevailing Brazilian cultural depictions in the literature; (3) proposes a conceptual framework centered on the dynamics between cultural differentiation and homogeneity, putting forth predictions on the potential future shifts of the Brazilian cultural texture along these two extremes; and (4) makes the case for culture research focused further on the study and depiction of multiple national cultures, and on their fluidity over time, rather than on monolithic and stable national cultures.