María del Mar García de los Salmones

The social role of financial companies as a determinant of consumer behaviour

Purpose – The present study aims to analyze the influence of ethical and philanthropic responsibility of a financial entity on consumer behaviour. Specifically, it aims to analyze relationships among these dimensions and diverse constructs, such as the relationship satisfaction, trust, identification with the firm, business performance, relational outcomes and loyalty.Design/methodology/approach – The benefits of corporate social responsibility as a marketing tool are analyzed in a real context, directly asking the user for his/her perceptions about the financial entities. A personal survey for users was carried out, obtaining 789 valid responses. In order to comply with the aims of this research a model of structural equations was developed.Findings – It is seen that the relationship satisfaction, trust and identification with the entity are the main determinants of loyalty, while the ethical and social dimensions have an indirect effect. The ethical behaviour influences the perceived commercial performa...

A framework for tourist expectations

Purpose – As there is still only limited research about expectation formation in destination marketing, the aim of this paper is to enhance this body of knowledge by providing theoretical and empirical evidence about the role of different factors which generate tourist expectations. In particular, since expectations may significantly condition not only the tourist choice process but also the perceptions of experiences, the objective of this paper is to examine the factors contributing to the expectations of a tourist destination. Based on service expectations literature, a theoretical framework postulates the main factors generating tourist expectations.Design/methodology/approach – Empirical research tests the research hypotheses. More specifically, several in‐depth interviews and focus groups (qualitative research) and a survey conducted in a holiday destination (quantitative research) led to data collection.Findings – Tourist expectations are a second‐order factor based on inter‐correlations among seve...

Communication using celebrities in the non-profit sector: determinants of its effectiveness

Nowadays celebrity endorsement has become a popular marketing technique in the non-profit sector. However, there is still a degree of light and shade as regards the determinants of the effectiveness of this communication strategy. Taking into account the significant lack of studies in this particular field, the current research presents a causal model with nine hypotheses, which analyse the sequence of relationships that cover from the background of celebrity credibility, to the determinants of the attitude towards adverts and the intention to collaborate. We surveyed 329 adults, who rated a fictitious ad with a celebrity without perceived experience in the non-profit area. As a result, it is observed that the celebrity’s credibility depends on the fit perceived, the attribution of altruistic motivation, the celebrity image and the general attitude towards celebrity activism. Furthermore, it is found that a credible celebrity has a strong influence on the attitude towards the advert and, indirectly, on behavioural intentions.

Examining the hierarchy of destination brands and the chain of effects between brand equity dimensions

This paper focuses on the customer-based brand equity for a tourist destination, and develops a model including the dimensions of this construct (i.e. awareness, image, perceived quality and loyalty). Accordingly, loyalty is considered the main dependent variable in the model developed here. A major contribution of this paper is that it takes into account the hierarchy of destination brands and analyzes not only the chain of effects between the dimensions of brand equity for a regional destination but also the influence of the country destination image (i.e. the country is considered to be an umbrella brand) on the perceived image of one of its regional destinations. Another significant contribution is made by examining the moderating effect of country familiarity on the relationship with both types of image. The empirical evidence obtained from a sample of 253 international tourists visiting a regional destination in Spain supports the hypothesis that loyalty towards a destination is positively influenced by the perceived quality of the destination, which in turn is directly influenced by the image and awareness of that destination. Additionally, the results support the idea that perceptions of a regional destination are positively influenced by the perceptions of the country destination in which the region is located. However, a moderating effect of country familiarity on the relationship with either type of image was not supported in this research. This could be because in a country where there are a lot of destination brands, being more familiar with the country does not necessarily imply a more accurate knowledge of its regional destinations. & 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An integrative model of destination brand equity and tourist satisfaction

This paper develops an integrative model that includes the dimensions of destination brand equity (i.e. awareness, image, quality and loyalty), as well as a key behavioural variable that is tourist satisfaction. In particular, our paper aims to contribute to the literature: (1) by examining the relationships between the dimensions of destination brand equity, which is not a deeply investigated issue so far; and (2) by adding tourist satisfaction, a key concept in loyalty formation, to the variables usually considered in destination brand equity models. The model was tested in two samples, national and international tourists visiting a destination in Spain, in order to also explore the role of the geographical and cultural distance between tourist and destination. Our results from a multi-group analysis indicate: (1) a robust link between “quality-satisfaction-loyalty” in both samples of tourists; (2) a chain of effects among awareness, image (separately considering the cognitive and affective dimensions) and perceived quality, although with the presence of some significant difference between both samples of tourists; and (3) a positive influence of cognitive image on affective image in both cases.

How Do Consumers Face the Decision to Buy Fair Trade Products? A Marketing Approach

In this article, we propose and empirically test a causal model to understand how consumer social orientation, the credibility of nonprofit organizations, the perceptions of fair trade products, and the attitudes toward the fair trade brand interact and affect the buying intentions of fair trade products in a sample of 292 Spanish consumers. The findings show that consumer social orientation has the greatest effect on buying intentions, above consumers’ perceptions of fair trade products, the credibility of the trading nonprofit organizations and consumers’ attitudes toward the fair trade brand. Actually, consumers’ attitudes toward the fair trade brand have no significant effect on consumers’ buying intentions. The findings also demonstrate that the credibility of nonprofit organizations only influences consumers’ buying intentions indirectly through consumers’ perceptions of the functional utilities of fair trade products.In this article, we propose and empirically test a causal model to understand how consumer social orientation, the credibility of nonprofit organizations, the perceptions of fair trade products, an...

Information and Knowledge as Antecedents of Consumer Attitudes and Intentions to Buy and Recommend Fair-Trade Products

ABSTRACTThe authors propose and empirically test a causal model to understand how the availability of fair-trade information and consumer knowledge about this issue affect consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward fair-trade products. The model is built upon the attitude-behavior paradigm and the premises of agency theory. It is tested through structural equation modeling with a sample of 292 Spanish consumers. The findings are that consumers do not have good knowledge about fair trade and that this is significantly determined by the lack of information about this in the market. It is also observed that consumers’ perceptions about the availability of fair-trade information have negative effects on their concern about this issue and that such information as is available is not effective in reducing consumer skepticism. The research represents an extension of previous fair-trade literature because the role of information and communication in improving consumer attitudes and buying intentions has rarely be...ABSTRACT The authors propose and empirically test a causal model to understand how the availability of fair-trade information and consumer knowledge about this issue affect consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward fair-trade products. The model is built upon the attitude-behavior paradigm and the premises of agency theory. It is tested through structural equation modeling with a sample of 292 Spanish consumers. The findings are that consumers do not have good knowledge about fair trade and that this is significantly determined by the lack of information about this in the market. It is also observed that consumers’ perceptions about the availability of fair-trade information have negative effects on their concern about this issue and that such information as is available is not effective in reducing consumer skepticism. The research represents an extension of previous fair-trade literature because the role of information and communication in improving consumer attitudes and buying intentions has rarely been explored in the case of ethical products.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Media: A Content Analysis of Business News in Spain

ABSTRACT This article presents the findings of a theoretically driven content analysis of the coverage of corporate social responsibility by Expansión, the leading Spanish business journal, in a 1-year time frame. The goal of the article is to help companies understand how they can take advantage of media coverage of CSR by identifying the major stakeholder groups and CSR issues discussed in business news, the positive/negative/mixed tone of the coverage, and the differences that exist in media CSR discourse depending on the industry under scrutiny. The findings are explained under the salience framework of stakeholder theory.

The role of brand utilities: application to buying intention of fair trade products

Abstract The authors focus on the ethical consumption and propose a model of buying intention of fair trade products, including the utilities of the fair trade generic brand as direct determinants. The authors measure the functional and symbolic utilities provided by this brand, together with the attitude towards the commercialising organisations, consumer concern and perceived knowledge about fair trade issues. The model is tested through a structural equation model on a sample of members (students, lecturers and staff) of a ‘Fair trade University’. The results confirm that perceived functional utility is the most important antecedent of the buying intention, while the symbolic dimension has a significant but weaker explanatory power. Conversely, the consumer attitude towards the organisation has no influence. The authors also highlight the importance of communication and concern to stimulate consumer behaviour.

An empirical exploration of the link between reporting to stakeholders and corporate social responsibility reputation in the Spanish context

Purpose - Based on the principles of stakeholder theory, this paper explores the relationship between (1) the information reported to stakeholders in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and (2) companies’ CSR reputation (CSRR). Design/methodology/approach - The paper implements two regression models to test how reporting to stakeholders influences the CSRR of 84 companies included in the Spanish “MercoEmpresas Responsables” reputation index. Findings - The results demonstrate that greater global reporting intensity to stakeholders does not necessarily mean a better CSRR. Contrarily, the reporting–reputation link depends on the intensity of reporting to specific stakeholders, such as investors, regulators and the media. The findings are explained largely by the institutional, political and business characteristics of Spain after the Great Recession of 2007-2008. Research limitations/implications - The evidence reported in this paper confirms stakeholder theory as an adequate framework to understand corporate reporting to stakeholders and its relationship with CSRR. The findings suggest that stakeholder salience (i.e., power, legitimacy and urgency) is a key concept for understanding the reporting–reputation link better in future research. Practical implications - In the light of the findings, companies willing to use reporting to stakeholders as a tool to improve CSRR should (1) establish regular mechanisms for monitoring stakeholder power, legitimacy and urgency, (2) provide complete information to investors in their CSR reports and (3) minimize the amount of detail provided to regulators and the media in their CSR reports. Originality/value - There is still little empirical evidence concerning how the information to stakeholders contained in CSR reports influences the processes by which CSRR is built or destroyed. This paper contributes to the previous literature by describing how the global intensity of reporting to stakeholders and the intensity of reporting to different stakeholder groups relate to CSRR.