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1 – 10 of 11Paula Álvarez-González, Ana Dopico-Parada and María J. López-Miguens
The importance of packaging attributes for purchase decisions has generated interest in the research and food industry. As a matter of fact, innovation in packaging is constantly…
Abstract
Purpose
The importance of packaging attributes for purchase decisions has generated interest in the research and food industry. As a matter of fact, innovation in packaging is constantly searching for new solutions that generate customer experience. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of packaging attributes (protection, convenience, portability and storage, information, sustainability, branding and engagement) on consumer purchase intention of experiential packaging especially designed to provide an extraordinary sensory or interactive communicational experience and the influence of potential moderators.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a quantitative methodology based on the partial least squares (PLS) technique to estimate the structural model proposed. A purposely developed questionnaire was administered to a non-probabilistic sample of 1,489 European consumers. The questionnaire included questions related to consumers' perception of packaging attributes and purchase intention of different experiential packages.
Findings
The results indicate that packaging attributes are related to consumer purchase intention of experiential packaging. Engagement attributes show the strongest positive influence followed by branding and economy. However, attributes such as sustainability showed a negative effect on the purchase intention of these packages. The authors’ results also show the influence of gender, family structure and residential background as moderators of the relationships.
Originality/value
Customers' decision-making processes are strongly influenced by product packaging. However, little is known about how new technologies and design in packaging influence consumers' responses. This research provides evidence of the influence of packaging attributes on consumer purchase intention for experiential packaging, a proliferating area of research.
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Paula Álvarez-González, María J. López-Miguens and Gloria Caballero
Sustainable employability has emerged as a multifaceted construct that measures individuals' abilities to function in the labour market throughout their working lives. Therefore…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainable employability has emerged as a multifaceted construct that measures individuals' abilities to function in the labour market throughout their working lives. Therefore, it is no longer just about analysing how to achieve a successful transition from school/university to employment, but also about identifying the conditions that will allow people to continue to be capable and motivated in the long term. The aim of this work was to identify and rank the personal factors of an individual that contribute to his or her perceived sustainable employability.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a quantitative methodology to estimate the structural model proposed. A stratified random procedure was used to administer an online questionnaire to 202 university master’s degree students. Before testing the structural model, the validation of each scale was performed, both at the exploratory and confirmatory levels.
Findings
The results indicate that four groups were key to improve individual sustainable employability: (1) Health Status; (2) Career Competencies; (3) Core Self-Evaluations and (4) Overcoming Competencies.
Research limitations/implications
The results are of interest to any individual, employed or not, insofar as they can reflect on the relevance of each category and how to improve them at the individual level.
Originality/value
This study contributes to research on sustainable employability focus on the analysis of young people by providing empirical evidence on its relationship with other key variables, in an area where the literature remains mainly conceptual and centred in workers.
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Pablo Cabanelas, Andrea Mezger, María Jesús López-Míguens and Klaus Rüdiger
Clean and sustainable energy becomes an alternative to differentiate electricity suppliers, but it is necessary to have a better understanding of their behaviour to achieve green…
Abstract
Purpose
Clean and sustainable energy becomes an alternative to differentiate electricity suppliers, but it is necessary to have a better understanding of their behaviour to achieve green customer loyalty. This paper aims to deploy a behavioural model that helps explain loyalty of customers towards green electricity providers by including a series of antecedents such as trust, satisfaction, perceived environmental impact, propensity to trust and perceived risk.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper deploys a behavioural model that it is tested through structural equation modelling to a sample of 231 German electricity consumers with green contracts. The data analysis included two steps: first, the development and validation of the scales used to measure the constructs proposed in the model, and second, the model test.
Findings
Results demonstrate that trust and satisfaction directly influence loyalty, while satisfaction and the other variables included in the model have an indirect relationship with loyalty mediated by trust and satisfaction. As green characteristics of electricity are difficult to evaluate, managers should demonstrate in their communication the environmental effects of their activities while emphasising their capacity to attend to supply requirements for building long-term customer relationships.
Originality/value
The paper is focused on the understanding of those consumers who have signed a green electricity contract and the antecedents associated to their loyalty. The behavioural model helps identify how managers should apply marketing strategies to foster green consumers loyalty.
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Paula Álvarez-González, María Jesús López-Miguens and Gloria Caballero
The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated model on perceived employability in university students, based on personal and contextual factors.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated model on perceived employability in university students, based on personal and contextual factors.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use structural equation modelling to estimate a model that includes a set of variables, previously validated at exploratory and confirmatory levels, in order to measure personal and contextual factors involved in perceived employability. The sample comprises 816 university students selected by a stratified procedure.
Findings
The model explains how perceived employability in university students is built up. It identifies the involved factors and their level of influence and provides statistically valid and reliable measures for these factors.
Research limitations/implications
This study develops an integrated model which explains more than previous ones to know perceived employability of university students by combining personal and contextual factors. A limitation of the study lies in the use of a cross-sectional design, and the specificities of the cultural context as well as consideration of the labour market situation. Generalizing the results to other cultural contexts requires caution.
Practical implications
The model explains perceived employability in university students and provides validated scales at confirmatory level that can be used for futures studies in sociology, behavioural psychology, human resources management or education. The model and scales also serve as tools for evaluation that can be used by those responsible for such personal or contextual factors.
Originality/value
The development of an integrated model that explains perceived employability to a much higher degree than previous models.
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Jesús Garcia-Madariaga, Nuria Recuero Virto, Maria Francisca Blasco López and Joaquín Aldas Manzano
Studies that examine users’ perceptions of museum’s website quality are scarce. The purpouse of this paper is to propose a multi-group comparison between two superstar museums to…
Abstract
Purpose
Studies that examine users’ perceptions of museum’s website quality are scarce. The purpouse of this paper is to propose a multi-group comparison between two superstar museums to outline the variables that define website quality regarding museum websites towards achieving e-loyalty, trust and perceived control.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample comprised 305 valid online questionnaires, collected from a panel survey using a quota-sampling technique. The proposed model was tested using partial least squares analysis multi-group comparison between Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza museum websites.
Findings
Website quality plays a determinant role in users’ behavioural outcomes. As evidenced in the results for the first time in a museum setting, website quality has the potential of influencing e-loyalty, trust and perceived control. Besides, trust has a positive influence on e-loyalty and perceived control, on trust. The multi-group comparison revealed no significant differences between the two museum superstars, which offer highly useful insights for the correct design of these websites.
Originality/value
This research addresses a multi-group comparison using partial least squares, a quite recent technique that advances knowledge regarding this method. It contributes to knowledge museum website management and online literature by means of proposing website quality as a dimension that includes content, ease of understanding, emotion, informational fit-to-task, promotion and visual appeal and by revealing significant effects of the relationships of the proposed model. Museum managers are provided with valuable inputs to design websites in an appropriate and suitable way for their users so they will be more willing to repeat their navigation experience.
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Maria Eugenia Ruiz-Molina, Miguel-Ángel Gómez-Borja and Alejandro Mollá-Descals
One key issue to be addressed in multichannel retailing strategies has to do with ensuring the consistency of the retailer offerings between the brick-and-mortar and the online…
Abstract
Purpose
One key issue to be addressed in multichannel retailing strategies has to do with ensuring the consistency of the retailer offerings between the brick-and-mortar and the online stores to offer their customers a seamless experience. This study assesses whether perceived congruence may be relevant to identify segments of heterogeneous based on their online loyalty levels as well as other constructs and variables related to the customer relationship with the retailer for two different product categories.
Design/methodology/approach
From the responses of apparel and electronics multichannel shoppers to an online survey, a CHAID algorithm was performed to identify the most relevant congruence attribute(s) perceived by customers for predicting their loyalty levels toward the online store.
Findings
The results have allowed the identification of five segments of online shoppers, both for apparel and for electronics retailing, so that customers showing the highest scores in all congruence attributes also showed a higher loyalty toward the online store.
Research limitations/implications
This study presents a first insight into the link between perceived congruence and online loyalty in retailing using a CHAID segmentation-based approach by differentiating various dimensions of perceived congruence for two product categories.
Practical implications
The results obtained allow for inferring a series of strategies and actions that retailers can adopt for improving perceived congruence between physical and online stores along with a series of dimensions, and ultimately, increase online loyalty.
Originality/value
As the interest of the literature on perceived congruence between offline and online stores is relatively recent, this exploratory research contributes to shedding light on the implications of specific congruence dimensions between the offline and the online store in terms of consumer online loyalty in all multicategory setting.
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Maria Mouratidou, William E. Donald, Nimmi P. Mohandas and Yin Ma
Drawing on a framework of conservation of resources theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between self-perceived academic performance and individual…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on a framework of conservation of resources theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between self-perceived academic performance and individual entrepreneurial intention and consider the potential moderating role of (1) participation in serious leisure, (2) perceived stress and/or (3) gender.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 405 UK-based undergraduates completed the questionnaire, with a representative gender split of 57% women and 43% men.
Findings
The positive relationship between self-perceived academic performance and individual entrepreneurial intention was moderated by serious leisure (stronger when participation in serious leisure increased) and by perceived stress (stronger when levels of perceived stress were lower). However, contrary to our expectations, gender had no statistically significant moderating role.
Practical implications
The practical contribution comes from informing policy for universities and national governments to increase individual entrepreneurial intention in undergraduates.
Originality/value
The theoretical contribution comes from advancing conservation of resources theory, specifically the interaction of personal resources, resource caravans and resource passageways.
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Reyes Vargas, María Inmaculada Sánchez-Queija, Andrew Rothwell and Águeda Parra
The purpose of this paper is to validate the self-perceived employability (SPE) scale (Rothwell et al., 2008) and explore its relationship with sociodemographic variables in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to validate the self-perceived employability (SPE) scale (Rothwell et al., 2008) and explore its relationship with sociodemographic variables in Spain. The SPE is an employability scale designed to examine undergraduates’ expectations and self-perceptions of employability. The SPE includes internal and external dimensions of employability and has been satisfactorily tested in a variety of contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample comprised 1,502 Spanish undergraduate students from a broad range of subject areas. Confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory factor analyses were conducted. Finally, the Spanish-self-perceived employability (S-SPE) was studied in relation to a set of demographic variables.
Findings
The results revealed similar findings to those reported by Rothwell et al. (2008), namely, four factors labeled: the external labor market’s demand for people in my subject field, my confidence in my skills and abilities, the status and credibility of my field of study and my engagement with my studies and academic performance. The external and internal employability dimensions were obtained by forcing a two-factor solution. Men scored higher than women in the S-SPE; science students scored higher than arts and humanities undergraduates and students with higher perceived income levels scored higher than those with lower perceived income levels.
Originality/value
The S-SPE can be used with Spanish speaking university students (Spanish being the second most widely spoken language in the world) and allows cross-cultural comparisons of undergraduates’ SPE. The S-SPE may help guide the development of social policies and programs designed to enhance employability. It can be used with undergraduates as a diagnostic instrument in career counseling, and as a self-assessment instrument which will enable undergraduates to acquire a greater degree of self-knowledge in relation to their employability.
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Maria Pilar Jerez Gomez, Ana Bojica, Javier Martínez-del-Río and Reem Karaja
This study aims to shed light on how internships' features drive employability outcomes and answers the question of how internships that maximize the employability of interns can…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to shed light on how internships' features drive employability outcomes and answers the question of how internships that maximize the employability of interns can be designed. The study assumes that the duration of an internship, degree of formalization and the use of internship-specific motivational practices by companies are likely to influence interns' perceptions of employability.
Design/methodology/approach
A study among interns investigated the relationship between different internship features and interns' employability. Data on the duration of the internship, motivational practices specific to internships and the formalization of the internship process were collected from a large sample of 13,565 interns in 27 European countries from 15 to 35 years old.
Findings
The findings suggest that internship duration has a curvilinear effect on employability with increasing effects on employability at the beginning of the internship, followed by a decrease over time. In addition, the use of practices specifically designed to motivate interns also favors the interns' employability. Finally, formalization of the internship placement moderates the effect of motivational practices on employability.
Originality/value
By identifying key features of the internship experience – duration, formalization and motivational practices – the authors contribute to the theory related to the development of career resources and employability in young adults and show that these features significantly shape young adults' employability perceptions.
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Chiara Ottolenghi, Simona D'Amico and Gennaro Iasevoli
The objective of this study is to investigate consumer motivations and purchase behaviors with respect to cookies with customized packaging and consumer interest in different…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to investigate consumer motivations and purchase behaviors with respect to cookies with customized packaging and consumer interest in different types of customization in the Italian food industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted by performing a quantitative analysis of 642 surveys collected via Google Forms. A repeated-measures ANOVA, univariate ANOVA, chi-squared test, correlation analysis and linear regression analysis were conducted using SPSS.
Findings
Customers buy cookies with customized packaging as personal gifts to someone they care about. The ability to insert their initials or a personalized phrase appears to increase customers’ positive attitudes toward buying cookies with customized packaging. Those interested in this type of customization are willing to pay more, regardless of the type of customization.
Research limitations/implications
In the survey, only some types of customization not previously extracted from a focus group are explored, and the analysis covers only the food industry and does not take a cross-sectional approach. In addition, we specifically refer to the Italian market, which means that results cannot be generalized.
Practical implications
From a managerial perspective, our results highlight that food industry companies should take advantage of the opportunity to segment the demand for customized packaging with respect to consumers’ attitudes and their motivation toward food products.
Originality/value
From a theoretical perspective, this study analyzes consumer attitudes and behaviors toward purchasing cookies with customized packaging. From a managerial perspective, the results of the study highlight interesting courses of action for companies in the food industry that would like to use the tool of customization by intervening in terms of the packaging rather than the product itself.
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