Gilciney Ferreira and Cecilia Queirós Mattoso
The purpose of the present research is first to assess the financial education’s effectiveness, examining how a specific communication regarding the use of money could help new…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present research is first to assess the financial education’s effectiveness, examining how a specific communication regarding the use of money could help new consumers from low-income families avoid insolvency. The second is to analyse the impact of this corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity on a Brazilian bank’s image.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used a qualitative methodology based on in-depth interviews using three advertising films, which served as an enhanced element to prompt students to evaluate the discourse of sensible use of money and credit and the bank’s image.
Findings
The results showed that the students are very receptive to the ideas shown by the bank advertising films. Nevertheless, the interviewees showed a certain degree of suspicion toward the initiative and intentions of the bank. The perceived corporate image was clearly ambiguous, with the financial institution showing its advertising film about the careful use of money in complete contrast to actual bank branch practices in which employees offer and encourage young students from low-income families to get loans and credit cards. The bank became more socially responsible merely to cut costs and as a consequence did not improve its image.
Practical implications
For CSR in banks to be real and have a positive impact on society, the authors suggest that the bank enter into a cooperation or sponsorship agreement with the federal government or any public sector institution or non-governmental organizations. The form, the arguments and the language of the bank’s financial education campaign examined in this article seemed to be capable of serving social purposes or benefiting society.
Social implications
Educating consumers in the conscious use of money reduces delinquency rates and increases banks’ profits while, at the same time, benefiting society economically. The bank’s positive experience in terms of financial education could help the Brazilian government and other institutions with the same purpose. The advertising campaign provides some insights for the Brazilian government financial education program to which it has given high priority (BCB, 2015).
Originality/value
The article expands studies on CSR in developing countries and of attitudes toward it in the emerging middle class, two issues that have received scant attention. The study reinforces Carroll and Shabana’s view (2010) that companies are becoming more socially responsible merely to cut costs and Porter and Kramer’s call that to be really strategic the action must not appear to be mitigating the very harm it has caused.
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Juliana Reis Bernardes, Cecília Lima de Queirós Mattoso, Marco Aurelio Carino Bouzada and Claudia Affonso Silva Araujo
This study aims at verifying the impact of literacy on over-the-counter (OTC) drug consumer vulnerability as evaluated by health literacy and label comprehension.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at verifying the impact of literacy on over-the-counter (OTC) drug consumer vulnerability as evaluated by health literacy and label comprehension.
Design/methodology/approach
The item response theory (IRT) was used to estimate the health literacy of two groups and the two-way analysis of variance tests was used to test the hypotheses for the existence of mean differences between the two populations. The convenience sample involved 188 OTC consumers: 94 (50%) poorly literate and 94 (50%) university students/graduates.
Findings
University consumers/graduates have a level of health literacy and label comprehension that is superior to those presented by poor literate consumers. Also, age does not influence the level of health literacy by OTC drug users but has a significant impact on the understanding of OTC drug labels. Finally, the level of schooling and the “age group,” simultaneously, does not impact the understanding of OTC drug labels or health literacy.
Research limitations/implications
This study has added in the field of knowledge by investigating the behavior of poor literate consumers in Brazil, a developing country. The results may be relevant to Marketing professionals, especially those in the pharmaceutical industry, and to police makers, as they help identify the main problems faced by poorly literate consumers.
Practical implications
It is necessary to raise awareness of the dangers of self-medication and wrong use of medications, mainly focused on people with low literacy. As a suggestion, a simple glossary presented along with the label could provide explanations of scientific terms, thus increasing health literacy and reducing the vulnerability of the consumers.
Social implications
This study showed that when using common words such as gastritis to define a health problem, there is a higher degree of correctness. These results suggest the adoption of a more straightforward language and more precise explanations. By doing that, the pharmaceutical industry and policymakers will improve their social impact by increasing consumer power and taking care of the health of the most vulnerable population: the illiterate people.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the international literature, as it enhances and clarifies the knowledge about the customers’ power and vulnerability in developing countries. It fills a gap by evaluating label comprehension and heath literacy at the same time, giving an academic contribution for pharmaceutical consumers’ studies.
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Eduardo Dias Coutinho, Paulo Roberto da Costa Vieira, Cecília Lima de Queirós Mattoso, Irene Raguenet Troccoli and Marcos Jose Pereira Renni
The purpose of this paper is to better understand the influence of service quality and corporate image of Brazil’s National Cancer Institute (INCA) on the satisfaction of its…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to better understand the influence of service quality and corporate image of Brazil’s National Cancer Institute (INCA) on the satisfaction of its outpatients.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is quantitative, with data collected from a self-administered structured questionnaire answered by a sample of 434 outpatients of Hospital do Câncer I, the largest and oldest hospital operated by the INCA. The data were treated with covariance-based structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results indicated that the corporate image of the INCA was the main factor having a positive influence on the patients’ satisfaction, followed by the quality of the services rendered by physicians and the quality of the hospital’s facilities.
Originality/value
The study shows that unlike indicated by the theory, quality does not have a direct impact on satisfaction with the nursing services, but rather an indirect impact via corporate image. Even though part of the explanation can be the fact that only outpatients were surveyed, who have less interaction with the nursing team than do inpatients, this result shows the strength of the hospital’s corporate image regarding patients’ satisfaction. Besides this, the study identified that hospitals with a strong corporate image transmit to patients the perception that they are being treated by technically qualified professionals, thus increasing the chances of cure and reduced suffering. This is fundamental for patients’ satisfaction, as most are unable to understand the technical attributes of the service. The study adds to the scarce Brazilian literature on the causal relation between the image of hospitals and their patients’ satisfaction.
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Fernanda Leão, Delfina Gomes and Garry D. Carnegie
The purpose of this paper is to study the portrayal of early accountants in the unfamiliar site of Portugal by examining Portuguese-language realist literature from the second…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the portrayal of early accountants in the unfamiliar site of Portugal by examining Portuguese-language realist literature from the second half of the nineteenth century.
Design/methodology/approach
Two popular literary works – Uma Família Inglesa (An English Family), written by Júlio Dinis and published in 1867, and Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura (The Idiosyncrasies of a Young Blonde Woman), written by Eça de Queirós and published in 1873 – were examined through a qualitative content analysis.
Findings
The dimensions of the accounting stereotype discerned for the two early accounting practitioners featured in these works are portrayed as: modest; on-the-job trained practitioner; uncreative, conservative and unenergetic; honest financial manager; servant of the capitalist (i.e. merchant), and warm and sentimental. The accountant stereotype depicted from 1860s to 1870s period is similar to the conventional accountant stereotype, identified as the “traditional accountant” stereotype. Variations from this stereotype, however, are identified in the local, time-specific settings of Lisbon and Oporto.
Originality/value
The study’s portrayal of early accounting practitioners occurs during a period of transformation marked by liberalism. It augments an understanding of the image of early accounting practitioners, reflecting their social positioning at a time of significant social, economic, political and cultural changes, thereby contributing to an appreciation of the historical legacy of the accountant stereotype in continental Europe. Importantly, a taxonomy is proposed for content analysis that can be used and developed by future researchers.