The impact of human resources practices on consumers’ investment intentions

Aristides I. Ferreira (Business School, ISCTE – Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal)
Luis F. Martinez (Nova School of Business and Economics, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal)
Rosa I. Rodrigues (Department of Human Resources and Organizational Behaviour, ISCTE – Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal)
Carla Ilhéu (Department of Human Resources, British Embassy, Lisbon, Portugal)

Employee Relations

ISSN: 0142-5455

Publication date: 5 June 2017

Abstract

Purpose

Research has shown that corporate policies affect customers’ decisions. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the influence of human resources (HR) practices on investment intentions in the financial sector.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were obtained from 548 managers and management students. Participants were presented real news regarding two banks with contrasting HR practices. Subsequently, they had to choose – from a given virtual amount – their investment allocations.

Findings

Results primarily showed that participants decided to invest more money in the bank which was more profitable to them, regardless of that bank’s HR practice. But, most importantly, when the news was specifically addressed to the in-group (managers), participants decided to invest more money in the bank with the HR practice by which they identified more, although being less profitable to them.

Originality/value

The findings demonstrate the urgency for organizations to manage effectively their HR practices, as they serve as a vehicle to corporate reputation, thus affecting the relationship with the stakeholders and investors’ decisions.

Keywords

Citation

Ferreira, A., Martinez, L., Rodrigues, R. and Ilhéu, C. (2017), "The impact of human resources practices on consumers’ investment intentions", Employee Relations, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 475-486. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-05-2016-0097

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Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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