Helena Ferreira-Barbosa, Bebiana Sabino, Vânia Loureiro and Gabriel Cepeda-Carrion
This study aimed to propose and test a model that describes the different aspects and mechanisms that influence the behavioral intentions of fitness center customers by examining…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to propose and test a model that describes the different aspects and mechanisms that influence the behavioral intentions of fitness center customers by examining the relationship between service convenience, service quality and perceived value, comparing customers with and without PT service. This study is highlighted by the need for fitness centers to remain competitive and profitable and the fact that PT services are one of the top ten global fitness trends.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 412 fitness center customers. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test each proposed hypothesis.
Findings
Nine of the ten hypotheses tested, between service convenience, service quality, perceived value and behavioral intentions, were supported. The results from bootstrapping supported the indirect effects of service quality and perceived value in the relationship between service convenience, service quality and behavioral intentions. The presence of the PT service affects the majority of the relationships in the model.
Research limitations/implications
Customers with PT services may have different expectations and perceptions based on the cost associated with the service. Managers may consider adapting their service strategies to these distinct customer segments, offering differentiated service levels or targeted convenience improvements.
Originality/value
The variables under study integrate a comprehensive model for fitness centers while innovating by incorporating PT services as a moderating variable, providing a differentiated view of how customer segments perceive and respond to fitness center offerings.
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Helena Ferreira Barbosa, Jerónimo García-Fernández, Vera Pedragosa and Gabriel Cepeda-Carrion
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the intention of using fitness app made available by the fitness centre to its members and their relationship with overall customer…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the intention of using fitness app made available by the fitness centre to its members and their relationship with overall customer satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study uses the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) as the base model. All the hypothesised relationships were tested through partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), in a quantitative study with data from 1,676 fitness consumers from Portugal.
Findings
The results support the ability of UTAUT2 in predicting the customer´s intention to use the fitness app. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation and habit have a positive impact on behavioural intentions to use the fitness app. Performance expectancy and habit have the strongest relationships. Behavioural intentions are positively related both to the usage behaviour of the fitness app and to overall customer satisfaction.
Practical implications
The results of this study present a strong contribution for fitness centre managers, since it highlights the importance of using these apps as a way to increase customer satisfaction, increasing retention levels.
Originality/value
This study is paramount as regards to examine the behavioural intention to use the fitness apps that the fitness centres make available to their members using UTAUT2 model.
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Manuel Alonso Dos Santos, Ferran Calabuig Moreno and María Huertas González-Serrano
Heloísa Helena Pimenta Rocha and Henrique Mendonça da Silva
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the introduction of school medical inspection (SMI) in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (Brazil) during the 1910s, in a process aligned…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the introduction of school medical inspection (SMI) in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (Brazil) during the 1910s, in a process aligned with the international debate that, since the late nineteenth century, sustained the need of services that focused on the sanitary inspection of schools and their students. It analyzes the purposes guiding the creation of these services and their connections to the spheres of public health and education, highlighting the role taken by the concerns about issues such as the control of infectious diseases, particularly tuberculosis.
Design/methodology/approach
The study consists of a historical analysis using as sources the legislation and documents produced by the SMI. The documents are examined in correlation with the positions defended at international conferences held at the period.
Findings
The study evidences the intricacies of the introduction of SMI services in the Brazilian states that were pioneers in this area. It examines their relations to guidelines established in international forums, which certainly played an important role in the Brazilian efforts. It also allowed to highlight the relations between efforts to create medical inspections in school and those aiming at fighting infectious diseases.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to a better comprehension of the efforts regarding social hygiene and particularly the hygiene of schools and their students in a period in which the state takes greater responsibilities for its population.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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This paper focuses on the analysis of how mass inclusion has taken place primarily in the private higher education sector. I present data on the evolution of Brazilian higher…
Abstract
This paper focuses on the analysis of how mass inclusion has taken place primarily in the private higher education sector. I present data on the evolution of Brazilian higher education, indicating the complementary roles undertaken by public and private sectors and their effects on the present configuration of our higher education. Then, I discuss the increase in higher education enrollment, in view of two factors: the widening of the supply and demand base – the former specifically by means of the expansion of for-profit private sector – and the adoption of mechanisms for access and commitment to higher education by public financing for students in private institutions.
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Cláudia Barbosa, Filipa Borrego, Teresa Costa, Ana Ferreira, Madalena Martins, Susana Moreira, José M. R. C. A. Santos and José Avelino Silva
This chapter addresses the profession of research management and administration (RMA) in Portugal. It starts with a brief outline of the national research and innovation (R&I…
Abstract
This chapter addresses the profession of research management and administration (RMA) in Portugal. It starts with a brief outline of the national research and innovation (R&I) ecosystem that contextualises the development of the profession. The RMA community is characterised and the expectations for the future of the RMA profession are summarised using data collected through a national online survey. It is posited that RMA in Portugal is an emergent career having developed key traits of a profession, namely common interests and practices, a concern with deepening specialised knowledge and skills, the existence of an organised network of practitioners, the offer of academic qualifications and training in the area, and the integration in international RMA communities of practice. Nevertheless, future developments in the European Research Area (ERA) are identified as a critical milestone that will influence the development and formal legislative institutionalisation of the RMA profession in Portugal.
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Sofia Oliveira and Helena Albuquerque
The paper aims to present a literary itinerary inspired in Julio Dinis’ novel An English Family (Uma Família Inglesa) through a comparative analysis of the places identified in…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to present a literary itinerary inspired in Julio Dinis’ novel An English Family (Uma Família Inglesa) through a comparative analysis of the places identified in the novel and the touristic attraction proposed by Visit Porto website. This novel is representative of the cultural identity and society of Porto city in the 19th century. Developing an itinerary based on this novel can facilitate the reading and understanding of the historical and cultural development of Porto.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study is based on the reading of the Julio Dinis’ novel An English Family (Uma Família Inglesa), whose storyline takes place in Porto city, Portugal in the 19th century. It used QGIS v. 3.12 software, a geographical information system to identify the places, to produce the maps and to create the itinerary.
Findings
The comparison between the places identified in the novel and the tourist attraction in Visit Porto website revealed that only 6 points in the novel are referenced on Visit Porto website. These points correspond to the ones in the historical city centre of Porto. However, the creation of an itinerary that brings together all the points mentioned by Julio Dinis in his novel, will allow the development of a new touristic itinerary, alternative to existing itineraries in the city and that can be seen as a distinguish offer that allows a different view of the urban space of Porto.
Research limitations/implications
There are some limitations to this study that can be highlighted. First, it was difficult to find the correct location of some points identified in the novel, due to difficulty of finding historical maps with quality of the data. At the same time, as tourist information is dispersed by several sources, and most of those data is not georeferenced, it was time consuming the integration of all the information in the same geodatabase. The choice of the shortest path can also be considered as a limitation, rather than the route followed by the author in the novel, but geographic information systems operates on spatial and temporal scale, which can present a limitation in tourism analysis. In the case of this project, we have chosen the shortest path, assuming that tourist would prefer that.
Originality/value
This research allowed to address two areas of knowledge that are emerging in the study of urban centres as tourist areas: the use of GIS and literary tourism. Despite the fact that there are already articles on this subject, the originality focuses on the approach made around one of the greatest writers of Portugal in the 19th century, allowing to present a tourist itinerary about one of his literary works, and the comparison made between the places identified in the novel and the tourist points identified on the Visit Porto website.