André Luiz Maranhão de Souza Leão

The means-end approach to understanding customer values of a on-line newspaper

Customer value is understood as one of the constructs that best explains consumer decision making. Its proposal is to understand how consumers translate product or service characteristics and consequences of use into personal self-relevant values. The means-end theory is a way of systematically thinking in this hierarchical representation. The most commonly used method to achieve means-end chains is laddering. This theory and method were used to understand customer values of an important on-line Brazilian newspaper, which is an innovative approach, since on-line laddering is uncommon. The findings indicate that values related to goals of a personal nature are the most important ones. However, other values indicate the increase of the public man pointing to an alternative vision of what is commonly thought of as the contemporary isolated and selfish human. Academic research could benefit from a broader understanding and use of the means-end theory and laddering on the Web. Future research for managerial practices is warranted in areas such as segmentation, satisfaction measuring and customer value reevaluation, in addition to copy tests.

Competências empreendedoras de dirigentes de empresas brasileiras de médio e grande porte que atuam em serviços da nova economia

In a context where entrepreneurship is being stimulated, an understanding of behavior related to entrepreneur competences is critical. Such perspective presents a valuable contribution to business development and management, as well as for external and internal organization group interaction. Thus, competence may be understood as a construct that includes different personality traits, skills and knowledge. This study has a qualitative research approach. A series of interviews with new economy Brazilian C.E.O.s, based in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo was undertaken, followed by a content analysis. Results indicate conceptual and managerial competences prevalence. Besides, a competence not indicated in the literature - work-life balance competence - was discovered. Conclusions and managerial implications are also discussed.

Atividades marcárias na vida cotidiana dos consumidores: descoberta de uma nova forma de se pensar as marcas?

In spite of the growing importance placed on brands in contemporary marketing, we know little about the way consumers understand and define them. With this in mind, we carried out this exploratory study, with the objective of identifying what consumers say about brands when they interact with one another. To this end, we assume that, in social interactions, the impressions of some interfere with the judgment of others, enabling consumers to define certain brand aspects and express what they think about them. To access consumer brand thought, a communication ethnography was undertaken through participant observation of the interaction of individuals from different social groups in everyday life (Hymes, 1986). This procedure led us to identify 38 brand aspects that we named as brand activities, based on the notion of speech activities, which assumes that what we say are actions (Austin, 1990; Wittgenstein, 2005). Max Webers social theory and his typology of social action helped us to understand our research findings. A reflexive approach towards them prompted us to suggest the discovery of a new way of thinking brands, and in order to do this we propose a preliminary framework. Finally, we discuss possible contributions both to academia and brand management.

CONSUMER CULTURE THEORY (CCT) JÁ É UMA ESCOLA DE PENSAMENTO EM MARKETING

The 1980s brought an alternative view to the positivist predominant current in consumer research field: Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), which assumes an epistemological orientation based on interpretivism and qualitative research. Given the prominence achieved by CCT its raised the follow question: Consumer Culture Theory can be considered an autonomous marketing school of thought? Guided by three fundamental criteria for qualifying a school of thought (academic recognition, body of knowledge and contributions), a desk research was conducted, based on journals and papers in the field and in a research corpus built from the references included in the seminal text Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research. Conclusion is that CCT meets the criteria adopted in this research and, thus, can be considered an autonomous marketing school of thought within the field of consumer research.The 1980s brought an alternative view to the positivist predominant current in consumer research field: Consumer Culture Theory CCT), which assumes an epistemological orientation based on interpretivism and qualitative research. Given the prominence achieved by CCT it’s raised the follow question: Consumer Culture Theory can be considered an autonomous marketing school of thought? Guided by three fundamental criteria for qualifying a school of thought (academic recognition, body of knowledge and contributions), a desk research was conducted, based on journals and papers in the field and in a research corpus built from the references included in the seminal text Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research. Conclusion is that CCT meets the criteria adopted in this research and, thus, can be considered an autonomous marketing school of thought within the field of consumer research.

Desvelamento do limiar discursivo de uma marca global em uma cultura local

With the advent of globalization comes a new form of coexistence between societies, the possibility of which has helped to generate a tangle of cross-cultural field and allowed the establishment of universal values in local sites. This context coupled with mass culture promoted brands to produce complex and global cultural symbols. Inspired by Michel Foucault’s archaeological project, we elected a global brand to undergo a photo-ethnographic case study of mundane daily practices. This process project has enabled us to perform the analysis through an ordering, definition and description work, developed within the discursive field, allowing the results to reveal enunciative descriptions guided by brand marketing practices. Descriptions revealed functions and their relations have allowed us to decipher the rules under which they were governed. The analysis revealed the relational threshold between global and local cultures and

Conhecendo o "valor do cliente" de um jornal on-line

With the advent of Internet, a subject seems peculiar to marketing: understanding the “brand new” on-line consumer behavior. Oneway of doing such thing is to explore the customer value as means to comprehend what consumers valorize and than deliver it. Customer value is the consumer’s perception of product attributes and how these can provide benefits that help him reach his goals. The theory of means-end chains is a way of thinking systematically about this representation. The method most widely used to reach means-end chains is called laddering. A sample of 78 readers of a mainstream on-line newspaper was assessed. Its users’ main customer values offered important conclusions. It wasidentified that readers are mainly concerned about their personal objectives, interaction with others as well as interested in social matters. Based on this, managerial implications are discussed. Suggestions for future researches are also presented.

Compreendendo os valores das marcas: aplicação da lista de valores em diferentes indústrias

What makes a brand desirable? There are plenty of evidence indicating that consumers make brand decisions based on the congruence between brand value and customer value. This study aims to verify and analyze perceived brands values, having as a reference the brand personality concept. For that, the list of values (LOV) has been used to measure brands acting in three different industries (fashion, civil aviation and grocery stores). A sample of 296 respondents was consulted. Data indicates a tendency on brand value perception by industry. A same value was considered the most important for all brands analyzed by industry. Besides, new LOV clustering dimensions were identified. Conclusions are drawn and indicate that investigated brand values are based on personality characteristics driven by the id and the superego mental systems. Managerial implications related to brand identity construction are discussed at the end of the paper.

Formações discursivas de uma marca global num contexto local: um estudo inspirado no método arqueológico de Michel Foucault

O advento da globalizacao contribui para gerar um emaranhado campo de cruzamentos culturais e, assim, permite o estabelecimento de valores universais em meios locais. Esse contexto, aliado a cultura de massas, promoveu as marcas a simbolos culturais complexos e globais. Nosso objetivo foi buscar a compreensao de como e possivel uma marca transnacional se estabelecer numa cultura local reproduzindo a cultura global. Inspirados no projeto arqueologico de Michel Foucault, construimos um corpus fotografi co de praticas cotidianas de uma marca global. Tal processo se deu por meio de um trabalho de ordenacao, defi nicao e descricao, elaborado no interior do campo discursivo, pautado nas acoes de marketing da marca. A analise nos revelou as formacoes discursivas entre culturas global e local e nos possibilitou desvelar as relacoes existentes nessa teia. Os resultados apontaram alguns caminhos para refl exao, tanto acerca da importância assumida pela marca na cultura quanto da forma assumida pelas sociedades ocidentais contemporâneas.

Uso conjunto de dois modelos cognitivos para a compreensão do processo de escolha do consumidor

This study aims to generate a better understanding about consumer behavior based on two cognitive models: risk perception and consideration set. In this sense, it has focus on consumer evaluation and choice processes, considering different risk perception levels in two service settings. A survey with a sample of 772 respondents was performed through a structured questionnaire. Results indicate that the number of brands considered for choice is associated with some risk perception dimensions. It was also identified which attributes are considered the most important in service delivery as well as the most used risk reducing strategies by consumers with varying patterns of risk perception. Conclusions and managerial implications are also discussed.

Sendo aos olhos do outro: o papel da alteridade na construção da identidade metrossexual

Se discute cada vez mas la cuestion de la identidad. Con el sujeto posmoderno se fragmentan las identidades que otrora se consideraban solidas y fijas. Entre ellas se encuentra la de genero, que anteriormente estaba determinada por aspectos biologicos y en la actualidad se entiende como una construccion cultural. Por otro lado, hay enfoques que relacionan la construccion de la identidad con el papel del consumo en dicho proceso. En ese contexto, hay la reciente aparicion del metrosexual, termino que evoca una identidad de genero a la vez que esta delimitado por determinados patrones de consumo. En este estudio se investiga, por medio del consumo, la construccion de una nueva identidad: la metrosexual. Para ello se identificaron individuos con comportamiento metrosexual y se realizaron entrevistas en profundidad. Una de las conclusiones es la de que esta identidad tiene en la alteridad uno de sus aspectos centrales. En este articulo se presentan y discuten dichos hallazgos.