Browsing by Author "Antunes, Ana Cristina"
Now showing 1 - 10 of 55
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Advertising and gambling in the digital age: insights and trendsPublication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Farias, Ana RitaTechnological changes have provided an unprecedented opportunity to access and engage everywhere and all the time with gambling in the digital environment. The growth of online gambling markets fueled by technological advancements, with an increased reliance on online payments, and global digitization have completely transformed advertising in the gambling industry. In the last years, the gambling industry has witnessed rapid and profound changes, with new and hybrid forms of gambling activities emerging, a trend that is expected to continue in the future (e.g., King et al., 2010; Stehmann, 2020). In addition, the gambling industry has started to use digital channels to communicate with its targets and advertise (online) gambling activities. Digital technology has an undeniable impact on gaming industry advertising, making it a key component of their marketing strategy. Digital gambling advertising has allowed a more tailored communication towards the targets, regarding content and types and communication, leading to increased investment in this advertising. Targeting young people who are frequently exposed to gambling advertisements has proven to be especially effective when done through social media and partnerships with digital influencers. These commercials may be promoted directly on social networks, through embedded YouTube videos, or through gaming streaming services like Twitch. Despite the ever-growing investment in the online gambling industry and advertising, the growing adherence of young people to online gambling and the plethora of ways through which these can be impacted by online gambling advertisements, frequently subtler and more diffuse, but also more frequent than those in traditional media, the scholarly work remains incomplete and fragmented. Attending to the pivotal role of advertising on gambling behavior and considering that this research domain is still under development, a comprehensive review of the extant research is deemed as necessary. This paper focuses on how gambling advertising on digital platforms affects consumers/gamblers online behaviors. A systematic review of the relevant studies published in peer-review journals was conducted to identify the key themes and dominant effects. The analysis of the set of papers considered for this review sheds light on the direct and indirect effects of digital gambling advertising on online gambling behavior. Based on this analysis, the general impact, but also the role of specific types of digital advertising and advertising in specific digital platforms in shaping online gambling attitudes, perceptions and behaviors are discussed. Based on the existing evidence and the identified research gaps, we propose future research directions that reflect emerging and unexplored relevant areas. Conclusively, implications of this study for theory and practice are also addressed.
- Age 2.0: Motivations and Brand EngagementPublication . Miranda, Sandra; Machado, Ana Teresa; Antunes, Ana Cristina; Gama, AnaThe demographic winter that is widespread throughout Europe, along with the spread of network society, has brought to contemporary societies a striking new world of opportunity and challenge. The growing adherence of the senior population to Information and Communication Technologies, with a focus on digital social networks, is perceived as a positive sign of inclusion and digital literacy. In this context and given the potential of this segment as a marketing target, brands need to understand the interests, motivations, and profiles of these users to achieve greater interaction and proximity with this audience. Taking into account two countries, Portugal and Spain, the aim of this research is 1) to discuss the role of social networks in promoting active aging; 2) to understand the level of importance and how this senior segment interacts with the brands on social networks and 3) to compare the results among the two sociocultural realities. Methodologically, an exploratory qualitative investigation was carried out based on the realization of a Focus Group in which users of social networks residing in Spain and Portugal participated. Results point out that more than seeking and get information about brands, seniors navigate the social networks in search of affiliation, support, and socialization not only broadening their network of contacts in the virtual world but mainly by networking with their "acquaintances" to retrieve memories and strengthen bonds of friendship. As little research has been undertaken so far into the ways that older consumers are adopting or rejecting new digital technologies, this study contributes to the academic literature regarding this subject. Furthermore, for marketers, it is important to tailor their strategies and to convey appropriate messages as there is evidence that seniors have still to be pushed to join and use pages of brands on Facebook as a platform to interact with brands.
- Age 2.0: motivations and brand engagementPublication . Miranda, Sandra; Machado, Ana Teresa; Antunes, Ana Cristina; Gama, AnaThe demographic winter that is widespread throughout Europe, along with the spread of network society, has brought to contemporary societies a striking new world of opportunity and challenge. The increasing adhesion of seniors to the Information and Communication Technologies and, in particular, to digital social networks while being seen as a positive sign of inclusion and digital literacy, has led brands to embark on an accurate process of understanding the interests, motivations and profile of these users, as well as developing communication and interaction strategies according to their specificities. Drawn upon on a qualitative study through Focus Groups made up of senior Internet users and social networks and conducted in Portugal and Spain, the aim of this research is, on the one hand, to discuss the role of social networks in promoting active aging and their implications on relevant dimensions of the elderly's life, and on the other hand, to understand the level of importance and how this senior segment relates and interacts with the brands that populate social networks. Results point out that more than seeking and get information about brands, seniors navigate the social networks in search of affiliation, support and socialization not only broadening their network of contacts in the virtual world, but mainly by networking with their "acquaintances" with the goal of retrieving memories and strengthening bonds of friendship.
- Agressão no trabalho em processos de mudança organizacional: o papel mediador do cinismo organizacional e do comportamento políticoPublication . Miranda, Sandra; Vicente, Ângelo Guerreiro; Antunes, Ana Cristina; Rodrigues, Bruno Soares; D’Oliveira, TeresaWorkplace aggression is a factor that shapes the interaction between individuals and their work environment and produces many undesirable outcomes, sometimes introducing heavy costs for organizations. Only through a comprehensive understanding o f the genesis of workplace aggression is possible to develop strategies and interventions to minimize its nefarious effects. The existent body of knowledge has already identified several individual, situational and contextual antecedents of workplace aggr ession, although this is a research area where significant gaps occur and many issues were still not addressed (Dupré & Barling, 2006). According to Neuman and Baron (1998) one of these predictors is organizational change, since certain changes in the work environment (e.g., changes in management) can lead to increased aggression. This paper intends to contribute to workplace aggression research by studying its relationship with organizational change, considering the mediation role of political behaviors an d organizational cynicism (Ammeter, Douglas, Gardner, Hochwarter, & Ferris, 2002). The literature review suggests that mediators and moderators that intervene in the relationships between workplace aggression and its antecedents are understudied topics. Ja mes (2005) sustains that organizational politics is related to cynicism and the empirical research of Miranda (2008) has identified leadership political behavior as an antecedent of cynicism but these two variables were not yet investigated regarding their relationship with workplace aggression. This investigation was operationalized using several scales including the Organizational Change Questionnaire - climate of change, processes, and readiness (Bouckenooghe, Devos, & Broeck, 2009), a Workplace Aggressio n Scale (Vicente, 2008, 2009), an Organizational Cynicism Scale (Wanous, Reichers, & Austin, 1994) and a Political Behavior Questionnaire (Yukl & Falbe, 1990). Participants representing a wide variety of jobs across many organizations were surveyed. The r esults of the study and its implications will be presented and discussed. This study contribution is also discussed in what concerns organizational change practices in organizations.
- All users are equal, but some users are more equal than others: exploring the psychology of users that follow social media influencersPublication . Murteira, Carla; Antunes, Ana CristinaThe study of social influence in social media settings has gained significant importance in the last years due to the advent of the internet and the increase of social media users and followers of social media influencers (SMI). This chapter focuses on the followers’ psychological experience by reviewing how SMIs are perceived by followers and what moves the users to follow SMIs. Users follow SMI in an attempt to obtain information, inspiration, and entertainment, therefore brands have the chance to promote their products and services based on an appealing communication that can be provided by the SMI. However, the SMIs’ perceived credibility, trustworthiness, authenticity, and expertise can impact not just the interaction with followers but also the brand image. It is recommended that brands conduct a continuous and careful assessment of SMIs’ communication style and followers’ perceptions to improve followers’ attitudes towards the brands and their purchase intentions.
- The art of engagement: brands on social networksPublication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Miranda, Sandra; Machado, Ana TeresaSince the presence of brands on social networking sites is now a constant in accordance with the relational paradigm, it is important to understand the impact of this presence in the relationship brand-consumer, in particular in engagement, the main objective of this study. Given the specific nature of social networks, brands have been using them as a way to get closer to the consumer, as part of their daily life and their social relations, seeking to be perceived as “friendly” brands and reinforce feelings of belonging and commitment. From the universe of brands, Cubanas was the brand selected, based on RankUPT, a statistics website aimed at the analysis of Facebook’s activity in Portugal that makes a daily measurement of homepages, based on the number of fans. A netnographic study was conducted, through a non-interventionist observational technique, added with a collection of qualitative behavioral data which took place between March and December 2015, and also considering the use of secondary data for the descriptive analysis of the brands in question. Metrics used for measuring engagement were the most commonly used in other studies (e.g., likes, sharing, commenting), along with the Malhotra, Malhotra and See (2013) criteria for the drivers of engagement. The results are discussed and the academic and business implications of the study are examined, in particular for branding and relationship marketing.
- Can Facebook Support Senior's Consumer Decision Process?: A qualitative studyPublication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Gama, Ana; Miranda, SandraThe Iberian Peninsula is experiencing a context of generalized demographic aging combined with the progressive adherence of elderly to ICT and social media. However, as organizations acknowledge seniors as an increasingly attractive digital market segment due to their economic power, free time and their high longevity, there remains a paucity of studies that focus on the online shopping behavior of the elderly consumers. Using a qualitative methodology, which involved 5 focus groups and 45 Portuguese and Spanish elderly, the present research has the main objectives to understand how seniors behave throughout the online purchase decision making process and to examine the role and relevance that the elderly attribute to the brands in social media. The results suggest a widespread resistance of the Iberian Peninsula seniors to make online purchases, although some of the Portuguese seniors do it in low-involvement purchases and more regularly than the Spanish ones. Seniors’ digital involvement with brand webpages serves to support their purchase decision-making process, from information search about characteristics, features or products’ prices of the product they intend to purchase, but also for the evaluation of alternatives, based on the opinions of other internet users until the purchase decision and post-purchase. Their information search frequency in the Facebook pages of the brands is variable and their perception about these pages is negative, due to the presence of advertising, to brand pressure but also to their contents (photographs and products descriptions) presented on those pages.
- Can macroinfluencers have an impact on the customers’ journey of their followers?Publication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Murteira, CarlaConsumer marketplaces have been changing due to the evolution of digital technology, especially with the advent and growing popularity of social networking sites. The rise and massive use of social media by consumers opened a door to new forms of communication between brands and consumers. One of them is through the use of social media influencers (SMI), which now assume a pivotal role to connect brands with consumers. This has led many companies and brands to increasingly include in their marketing strategy influencer-based campaigns, although as Janssen et al. (2022) alert, much remains to be explored to gain a better understanding of the value of digital influencers as an instrument for marketing communication. One of the issues that warrant further research is what types of influencers are effective in which situations and for what purpose (Vrontis et al., 2020). Given that the empirical research is mainly focused on a broader and generic concept of social media influencers, scholars have already highlighted the need to address potential differences among the several types of SMI and examine if they have a distinct impact on the customers’ journey (e.g., Boerman, 2020; Vrontis et al., 2020). There are numerous typologies of digital influencers depending on factors such as their status, practices, or their impact and presence on specific social media platforms, but the most popular classification is related to audience size, that is, their number of followers. In this study, we depart from the last criteria (number of followers) to examine the role and impact of a specific SMI type – the macroinfluencer - on the customers’ journey of their followers. The authors collected and analyzed data from approximately 460 Instagram users in Portugal that followed one or more lifestyle macroinfluencers on this digital platform. These followers, mostly women between 18 and 45 years old, use Instagram on a daily basis. In this survey, we examined the role of the social media macroinfluencers’ perceived credibility, perceived content utility, their perceived similarity with their followers, the perceived fun and satisfaction that followers derive from following them, as well as consumer motives to follow, on the consumers’ decision process. Overall, the results show that the perceived macroinfluencers characteristics are positively related to the consumers’ intentions to search for and purchase products and services announced by these SMI. According to the findings, the examined macroinfluencers’ perceived characteristics are also positively related to the followers’ intentions to keep following the SMI in the future. The results are discussed, and the academic and business implications of the study are examined.
- Can macroinfluencers have an impact on the customers’ journey of their followers?Publication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Murteira, CarlaConsumer marketplaces have been changing due to the evolution of digital technology, especially with the creation and popularity of social networking sites. The rise and massive use of social media by consumers opened a door to new forms of communication between brands and consumers. One of them is through the use of social media influencers (SMI), which now assume a pivotal role to connect brands with consumers. This has led many companies and brands to increasingly include in their marketing strategy influencer-based campaigns, although as Janssen et al. (2022) alert, much remains to be explored to gain a better understanding of the value of digital influencers as an instrument for marketing communication. One of the issues that warrant further research is what types of influencers are effective in which situations and for what purpose (Vrontis et al., 2020). Given that the empirical research is mainly focused on a broader and generic concept of social media influencers, scholars have already highlighted the need to address potential differences among the several types of SMI and examine if they have a distinct impact on the customers’ journey (e.g., Boerman, 2020; Vrontis et al., 2020). There are numerous typologies of digital influencers depending on factors such as their status, practices, or their impact and presence on specific social media platforms, but the most popular classification is related to audience size, that is, their number of followers. In this study, we depart from the last criteria (number of followers) to examine the role and impact of a specific SMI type – the macroinfluencer - on the customers’ journey of their followers. The authors collected and analyzed data from approximately 460 Instagram users in Portugal that followed one or more lifestyle macroinfluencers on this digital platform. These followers, mostly women between 18 and 45 years old, use Instagram on a daily basis. In this survey, we examined the role of the social media macroinfluencers’ perceived credibility, perceived content utility, their perceived similarity with their followers, the perceived fun and satisfaction that followers derive from following them, as well as consumer motives to follow, on the consumers’ decision process. Overall, the results show that the perceived macroinfluencers characteristics are positively related to the consumers’ intentions to search for and purchase products and services announced by these SMI. According to the findings, the examined macroinfluencers’ perceived characteristics are also positively related to the followers’ intentions to keep following the SMI in the future. The results are discussed and the academic and business implications of the study are examined.
- Capital humano e capital psicológicoPublication . Antunes, Ana Cristina; Cunha, Miguel Pina eNeste capítulo, traçamos os principais vetores para descrição e análise do capital humano e do capital psicológico. Desenhámos este texto de modo a servir como guia para cada um destes conceitos, como um instrumento de trabalho para a operacionalização dos mesmos e como uma proposta de desenvolvimento para o leitor. O conceito de capital humano é apresentado de acordo com vários enfoques e perspetivas, possibilitando ao leitor o exercício de uma análise crítica acerca desse conceito e das formas como tem sido concetualizado e operacionalizado. Em relação ao capital psicológico, circunscrevemo-nos à sua abordagem pelo comportamento organizacional positivo. Quer o capital humano, quer o capital psicológico, têm sido abordados de formas distintas pela economia, pela sociologia, pela antropologia e pela psicologia. No entanto, atendendo aos objetivos deste livro, consideramos mais frutuoso para o leitor conhecer a abordagem adotada no seio das ciências organizacionais.