Daniela Abrantes Ferreira

Efeitos da responsabilidade social corporativa na intenção de compra e no benefício percebido pelo consumidor: um estudo experimental

RESUMO Os consumidores vem demonstrando preocupacao crescente com os impactos sociais e ambientais das acoes empresariais. Nesse contexto, a responsabilidade social corporativa (RSC) vem ganhando importância e gerando um debate significativo nos meios academico e empresarial. Diversos autores tem adotado a premissa teorica de que o consumidor percebe um beneficio adicional na compra de produtos que estejam associados a RSC. Trata-se de um beneficio relacionado a sentir-se bem por estar fazendo bem aos outros. Neste trabalho, tem-se como objetivo investigar os efeitos da RSC no beneficio percebido pelo consumidor e em sua intencao de compra, num contexto em que a empresa socialmente responsavel pratica um preco maior do que o da concorrencia. Por meio de um experimento, foi testado o efeito da RSC nas variaveis dependentes. Foi elaborada uma escala de medida para a variavel beneficio percebido, inexistente na literatura. Os resultados obtidos indicaram que os consumidores pesquisados perceberam um beneficio adicional na compra do produto da empresa socialmente responsavel e mostraram-se dispostos a pagar 10% a mais por esse produto. Ao final, as principais limitacoes, conclusoes e sugestoes para pesquisas futuras sao indicadas.

The effect of corporate social responsibility upon purchase intent and the benefits perceived by the consumer: an experimental study

Consumers are showing a growing concern for the social and environmental impact of business activities. In this context, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained importance and is generating a significant debate in academia and business. Several authors have adopted a theoretical premise according to which the consumer perceives an added benefit when purchasing products associated with CSR, this benefit being related to feeling good and to doing good. This research study aims to investigate the effects of CSR upon the benefit perceived by consumers and their purchase intent, in a context in which socially responsible businesses maintain higher pricing than their competition. Through an experiment, the authors tested the effect of CSR on dependent variables. A scale for measuring the perceived benefit variable, which was absent from the literature, was developed. The results showed that the consumers surveyed saw an added benefit in buying the products of socially responsible companies and that they are willing to pay 10% more for such products. To close the article, the main limitations, conclusions and suggestions for future research are indicated.

The Ideology Underlying Consumer Boycott Studies: Are We Boycotting a Deeper Understanding of the Theme? An Abstract

Social media has enhanced the potential for consumers’ mobilization through social movements, such as boycott. Researches about how consumers negotiate their own pleasures of consumption with morality and thought for others and how this creates value for society as a hole are growing. More recently, some authors have pointed out the importance of a deeper understanding of the ideological agenda adjacent to each part of the social movements puzzle: activist consumers, companies, government, academic researchers, and so on (Askegaard & Linnet, 2011; Carrignton et al., 2016; Kozinets, 2014). This research aims to analyze the body of studies about consumer’s boycott that has been built over the past 20 years. The main objective was to critically analyze the ideologies underlying the researches and to discuss what could be the consequences of that. After refining the search for articles in the major Marketing and Consumer Behavior journals, a total of 25 articles were analyzed. Synthesizing, our analysis indicates that the predominant ideology underlying the researches about consumer boycott seems to be aligned with the maintenance of the idea of consumer sovereignty and, therefore, the consumption market-based system. That comes with a touch of hope that consumers have the power to change the world and build a better and fair society. The consequence of replicating in studies the mainstream ideology is that the system itself is not challenged. What we propose here is not about ranking ideologies and systems – e.g., capitalism vs. socialism or neoliberalism vs. protectionism – but about critically thinking of the greater contexts. Undoubtedly, the body of studies analyzed brought relevant contributions to build the knowledge about consumer boycotting. However, not going deep in identifying and analyzing what institutional ideologies may be influencing consumer individual reasons to boycotting, researches refrain from reflecting about those forces and also about how those forces might drive the study itself. The consequences for consumer behavior studies can be to state as “natural” attitudes and behaviors that actually emerge from a broader context of structured forces. When ideologies are hidden, i.e., not experienced as ideologies, they can prevent a deeper understanding of all the forces involved in the phenomena. We propose to reframe our questions when it comes to consumer boycott studies and therefore look for some more disruptive answers. That evolves questioning some “naturalized” results, going deeper into thinking about structured determinisms and institutionalized forces that drive not only consumers but also academic researchers.

Structured Abstract: Esporte Interativo—Building a Platform for Sports Fans in Brazil

The media landscape has been changing during the several few years. The TV model based on a passive audience sitting in front of a screen is challenged by the advent and proliferation of broadband, anytime, anywhere, consumer-controlled alternatives (Bradley and Bartlett 2007). New information and communication technologies (ICTs) are reconfiguring the media landscape, shifting industry boundaries towards comprehensive ecosystems which integrate previously separated industries such as content, telecommunications, and computers. Mobile devices enable a ubiquitous connectivity scenario, creating opportunities for access and content creation (Labrecque 2013). Those new ICTs can be disruptive in the media ecosystem (Christensen 1997) given their impact on markets and business models. The Brazilian media environment is unique in both its audience behavior and advertising spending. Broadcast TV is present in 98 % of Brazilian households, earning a 68 % share of advertising budget. Dissemination of new media has direct impact on the way people entertain and inform themselves. Broadcast TV audience has steadily decreased over the last few years. The Internet grew considerably, but captured less than 5 % of total share (Projeto Intermeios 2014). Sports play an important role in this environment, both because of the huge audience and the valuable live content, which fits the grid of linear channels and keeps the traditional broadcast and pay-TV business models healthy for some years to come. Within a scenario of many changes and uncertainties, this study seeks to shed light on the key challenges and opportunities faced by Brazilian TV, given changes in consumer behavior and the advent of new media. This study’s objective is to understand how incumbents are dealing with opportunities deriving from new media from a company’s perspective, analyzing the case of a young and innovative sports media group: Esporte Interativo.

Structured Abstract: Instagram Influencers and the Illusion of a Perfect Body—An Analysis Based on Bourdieu’s Theoretical Contribution

A growing number of people are interacting on the web to express and share their views and knowledge of products and brands through social networks (Valck et al. 2009). For consumers, some social networks’ profiles serve as a reference in their purchasing decision process, since these profiles are perceived as giving their personal unbiased opinion (Efimova and Hendrick 2005). The fitness industry has been heavily influenced by the growth of social media, generating billions of dollars in revenues worldwide, including sales of clothes, equipment, and services. Within this context, this research aims to investigate interactions at Instagram, identifying how followers consume content from the fitness profiles on this social network—focused on body cult and physical beauty—and how this content may influence them. This study is based on the view of consumption as a social activity, capable of producing meanings and identities (Arnould and Thompson 2005), and uses the contributions of sociologist Bourdieu (1989, 1991) as a theoretical framework for the interpretation of the results.