Search results

This study aims to examine individual behaviours regarding coronavirus disease-2019 vaccine brands.

Firstly, qualitative research identified the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in relation to specific brands using data gathered from 36 semi-structured interviews and processed with Leximancer software. Secondly, a new conceptual model was developed with data from 917 questionnaires and analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling. The model integrates health treatment effectiveness, vaccines’ immediate health benefits and individuals’ hope as antecedents of perceived vaccine brand reliability and company reputation and their relationships with choice uncertainty.

The results reveal that vaccine hesitancy can be linked with individual, group and contextual and vaccine brand influences and that brand reliability and company reputation antecedents have variable but statistically significant effects on choice uncertainty.

This research’s contribution lies in its analyses of vaccine acceptance and uncertainty from a vaccine brand perspective. The results can guide brand management policies implemented by public and private organisations.

This study contributes to academic literature by filling in two gaps. The first was that no prior studies have directly addressed vaccine brands’ impact, whereas the second gap was the need for brand management policies that public (e.g. governments and public health agencies) and private organisations (e.g. pharmaceutical laboratories) can apply.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the views of Bulgarian citizens about the relevance of lifestyles in the management of scarce resources through rationing and explore whether they are associated with participants’ characteristics.

A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 322 Bulgarian respondents. Respondents faced a hypothetical rationing scenario where they have to decide whether information about five harmful health behaviours (smoking, excess alcohol consumption, illegal drug use, overeating/poor diet and engaging in dangerous driving (speeding and/or under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs)) should be relevant in priority setting decisions. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were performed.

The majority of respondents disagree with the idea that personal responsibility for illness should count in priority decisions. Notwithstanding, there seems to be a wider consensus in giving lower priorities to patients that engage in dangerous driving (excess of speed and/or under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs), illegal drugs use and excessive alcohol intake. Overeating/poor quality nutrition was the risky behaviour less condemned by respondents followed by smoking. Respondents’ sociodemographic, health and beliefs about rationing criteria had different impact in the penalization of the risk behaviours.

This study is the first attempt to awaken attention to the impact that personal responsibility for health may have on intergenerational access to healthcare.

The purpose of this paper is to explore Croatian views about issues regarding bedside rationing decisions.

An online questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 243 Croatian citizens. In a context of hypothetical scenarios involving priority setting decisions taking by physicians, the present study elicits Croatian respondents’ views concerning: the ethical principles that should guide patients prioritization; the parties that should make prioritization decisions; and the likelihood of healthcare rationing becoming a reality. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis and parametric and non-parametric tests were performed.

Findings suggest that Croatian respondents: support multiple substantive rationing criteria, with an incident in favoring the worst-off, reducing inequalities in health, translated in the fair-innings argument and efficiency achievement; appoint health professionals as rationing decision makers; and do not seem to believe in the possibility of patient selection becoming a reality.

Favoring the worst-off, equalizing life time health and the pursuit of efficiency seem to be the criteria most preferred by Croatian respondents to guide rationing policy at the micro level.

This study is the first attempt to elicit Croatian opinions concerning several rationing criteria inherent in healthcare micro allocation decisions. Healthcare rationing is a serious challenge to Croatian policy makers and so it would be useful for the public’s perceptions and beliefs to be considered.

The need to reduce health expenditures raises the discussion on rationing possibilities and there is a growing interest in considering society's perspectives. The aim of this paper was to evaluate Portuguese citizens' opinion regarding the imposition of limits on National Health Service (NHS) spending. We also asked who decides how NHS money is spent, in order to obtain the respondents' views on public involvement.

An online questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistics, factorial analysis and a logit model were applied.

Our results showed that most of the respondents believe citizens have low participation on NHS' financial decisions, confirming the lack of public involvement. Health professionals are more likely to agree with limits on NHS spending, which could indicate potential inefficiencies.

From a health policy perspective, we have concluded that different stakeholders should be involved before deciding how public spending limits should be implemented. Health professionals' perspectives should be considered, taking advantage of their experience.

The main novelty of this paper is the evaluation of whether there should be limits on NHS spending, comparing health professionals and non-health professionals.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the perception of the city of Porto as a destination engaged with social responsibility practices. The authors intend to analyse if the national and international tourists know the social responsibility practices of the city and if they associate them to the domains of community, environment and customer presented by Öberseder et al. (2014) and the type of CSR image that is presented (Dean, 2002; Lichtenstein et al., 2004; Menon and Kahn, 2003).

The authors used a survey to assess the perception of the tourist regarding the social responsibility practices of the city of Porto. The authors applied a factorial analysis and a logistic regression.

The tourists showed an adequate knowledge regarding the social responsibility practices carried out by the city. The respondents separated the dimensions of perceptions of CSR and revealed that they influence the (re)visit and further recommendation of the city. More specifically, the authors also verified that the CSR image and community, environment and customer domains play an important role in the knowledge of the social responsibility practices engaged by the city of Porto.

It is the first time that the scales of Öberseder et al. (2014) and Dean (2002), Lichtenstein et al. (2004) and Menon and Kahn (2003) were applied in the tourism context. Furthermore, considering that the city of Porto presents a high level of growth in tourism related activities, it is important to study the impact of CSR in the development of a sustainable tourism and its impact on the (re)visit and recommendation.

This study aims, first, to understand consumers’ perception of chefs as human brands (i.e. study one). Second, tests were run to assess the validity of a new conceptual model of the relationships between the factors of chef image, luxury restaurant image, both images’ congruity and consumers’ hedonic and novelty experiences and happiness and well-being (i.e. study two).

The first qualitative study involved using Leximancer software to analyse the data drawn from 43 interviews with luxury restaurant clients. In the second quantitative study, 993 valid survey questionnaires were collected, and the proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling.

The results reveal that consumers perceive chefs as human brands and the associated narratives include both performance- and popularity-based characteristics. The findings support the conclusion that individuals give great importance to chefs’ image and the congruence between chefs and their restaurant’s image. In addition, luxury restaurant image only affects novelty experiences, and both hedonic and novelty experiences have a positive effect on customers’ happiness and well-being.

This research focused on Portuguese luxury restaurants. The consumers’ happiness and well-being needs to be replaced by other outcomes to confirm if the model produces consistent results.

The results should help luxury restaurant managers understand more fully which pull factors are valued by their clients and which aspects contribute the most to their pleasure and welfare.

This study adds to the extant literature by exploring consumers’ perceptions of chefs as human brands and the role these chefs’ image play in customers’ luxury restaurant experiences and perceived happiness and well-being.

The purpose of this study is to explore and compare citizens’ attitudes in Portugal, Bulgaria and Croatia towards rationing criteria that should support an explicit priority setting process at the micro level.

Preferences were collected through an online questionnaire containing 14 statements concerning lottery, economic and person-based priority criteria. Respondents indicated their level of agreement with each criterion. Non-parametric tests were applied to compare the levels of agreement among 355, 298 and 243 Portuguese, Bulgarian and Croatian respondents, respectively.

The three groups of respondents appear to be concerned with both a fair and efficient allocation of resources. The severity of health conditions and patient’s age were the criteria most accepted by the respondents. This study suggests that Portuguese, Bulgarian and Croatian respondents have similar social values concerning patient prioritization, although the Portuguese adhere slightly more to efficiency criteria and less to person-based and lottery criteria than Bulgarian and Croatian respondents.

A majority of respondents across the three countries report having opinion about the bedside rationing criteria. Portuguese, Bulgarian and Croatian respondents accept a combination of personal and economic criteria in patient’s prioritization.

This study represents the first attempt to compare citizen’s opinions of three member states of the European Union.

Research paper

Cryptocurrencies put consumers at the heart of a potential revolution by shifting central authority to a distributed peer-to-peer monetary system. This study aims to perform a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis within the topic of cryptocurrencies and consumer trust.

The Web of Science database has been selected, and the analyses performed allowed us to identify five research trends obtained from the bibliographic coupling analysis: (1) Understanding consumer's (non)acceptance of cryptocurrencies, (2) Ethical aspects and trust in cryptocurrencies, (3) Blockchain technology as a trust-free technology, (4) The blockchain/trust economy, and (5) Blockchain technology: challenging trust.

Findings uncover the intellectual structure in the field of cryptocurrencies and consumers' trust and offer insights on the pros and cons of consumers' willingness to trust the digital currency.

The study proved a great gap in the current literature in linking cryptocurrencies and trust theories in a consumer context. The authors also outline several gaps that allowed us to propose future research guidelines.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the implicit and explicit attitudes of Generation Z (Gen Z) individuals toward the experience of visiting and getting to know traditional or virtual museums.

Two studies were conducted. The first study assesses the implicit attitudes of Gen Z individuals through Implicit Association Tests (IAT) toward the experience of visiting traditional versus virtual museums. Considering the results of the study one, the second study proposes and validates a conceptual model through PLS-SEM approach about the explicit attitudes of this generation toward virtual museums.

In the first study, it was found that virtual museums are more successful at engaging and immersing participants than traditional museums for Gen Z. The second study emphasized the significance of meeting Gen Z expectations and ensuring effortless access to information in virtual experiences as this can lead to increased satisfaction and inspiration among this generation.

The originality of this study lies in its focus on Gen Z's attitudes toward virtual museums and the use of both implicit and explicit attitude measures to gain a comprehensive understanding of these attitudes. An interesting aspect emerges from the implicit attitudes displayed by Gen Z, indicating their preference for virtual museums as more captivating compared to traditional ones.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the effect of health risk perceptions on the degree of decisiveness of a person towards e-commerce (e-commerce acceptance), self-awareness towards leisure and self-awareness towards socialisation in pandemic contexts. The identified gap was related to the COVID-19 pandemic, where the development of studies inherent to this context is becoming urgent. Thus, it was necessary to understand how the health risks perceived by individuals influenced their choice regarding online shopping and, simultaneously, socialising and leisure activities.

To reach this goal, a conceptual model was developed based on the self-determination theory, and data were collected from two countries (Portugal and Croatia). The model was estimated using the structural equation modelling (SEM).

The results showed that the perceptions regarding health risks have a positive effect on the degree of decisiveness of a person towards e-commerce acceptance and self-awareness towards socialisation. In turn, the perceptions of health risks have a positive effect on self-awareness towards leisure, not supporting the model conceptualisation.

The paper contributes to fill a gap in literature by analysing the simultaneous effect of individuals’ e-commerce motivations for leisure and socialising activities within a pandemic context. These results have significant managerial implications for several stakeholders that must communicate to the specific public regarding this type of events.

El propósito de este estudio es analizar el efecto de las percepciones de riesgo para la salud sobre i) el grado de decisión de una persona hacia el comercio electrónico (aceptación del comercio electrónico); ii) la autoconciencia hacia el ocio; y iii) la autoconciencia hacia la socialización en contextos de pandemia. La laguna identificada estaba relacionada con la pandemia de COVID-19, donde era urgente desarrollar estudios inherentes a este contexto. Así, era necesario comprender cómo los riesgos para la salud percibidos por los individuos influían en su elección respecto a las compras en línea y, simultáneamente, a las actividades de socialización y ocio.

Para alcanzar este objetivo, se desarrolló un modelo conceptual, basado en la teoría de la autodeterminación y se recogieron datos de dos países (Portugal y Croacia). El modelo se estimó mediante un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM).

Los resultados mostraron que las percepciones sobre los riesgos para la salud tienen un efecto positivo en el grado de decisión de una persona hacia la aceptación del comercio electrónico y la autoconciencia hacia la socialización. A su vez, las percepciones sobre los riesgos para la salud tienen efectos positivos sobre la autoconciencia hacia el ocio no suportando la conceptualización del modelo.

El artículo contribuye a llenar un vacío en la literatura al analizar el efecto simultáneo de las motivaciones de comercio electrónico de los individuos para actividades de ocio y socialización en un contexto de pandemia. Estos resultados tienen importantes implicaciones de gestión para varios actores que deben comunicar al público específico sobre el tipo de eventos.

O objetivo deste estudo é analisar o efeito da perceção dos riscos para a saúde sobre i) o grau de decisão de uma pessoa em relação ao comércio eletrónico (aceitação do comércio eletrónico); ii) a auto-consciencialização em relação ao lazer; e iii) a auto-consciencialização em relação à socialização em contextos pandémicos. A lacuna identificada estava relacionada com a pandemia da COVID-19, onde era urgente desenvolver estudos inerentes a este contexto. Assim, foi necessário compreender como os riscos de saúde percebidos pelos indivíduos influenciaram a sua escolha relativamente às compras on-line e, simultaneamente, às atividades de socialização e lazer.

Para atingir este objetivo, foi desenvolvido um modelo concetual, com base na teoria da autodeterminação e foram recolhidos dados de dois países (Portugal e Croácia). O modelo foi estimado utilizando a modelação de equações estruturais (SEM).

Os resultados mostraram que as perceções relativas aos riscos de saúde têm um efeito positivo sobre o grau de decisão de uma pessoa em relação à aceitação do comércio eletrónico e de auto-consciencialização em relação à socialização. Por sua vez, as perceções dos riscos de saúde têm efeitos positivos sobre a auto-consciencialização em relação ao lazer não suportando o modelo concetual.

O artigo contribui para preencher uma lacuna na literatura ao analisar o efeito simultâneo das motivações do comércio eletrónico dos indivíduos para atividades de lazer e socialização em um contexto de pandemia. Estes resultados têm implicações de gestão significativas para vários intervenientes que devem comunicar ao público específico sobre o tipo de eventos.