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The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the perceptions of cleanliness and organization of the point of sale, hygiene and training of those who serve the public (service) and healthiness of the products, constitute a base for the perception of the quality of food sold in the street. Studies about development of street food trade have gained relevance in academic debate because of its social and economic significance. Usually, aspects related to sanitary issues are presented, and the factors that influence consumer perception regarding quality of food consumed are less explored. This was the focus of this work. The relationships among possible predecessors – attendance, cleanliness, organization and healthiness – were tested, all acting together, influencing the variable perception of product quality. Competitive models were tested because of theoretical divergences regarding the relationship between quality and healthiness, not yet totally clear in the literature.

A quantitative survey was carried out in the city of Diadema (SP, Brazil), getting 603 respondents, with data and theoretical models analyzed by structural equation modeling.

Results indicated that organization variable is not significant regarding perception of product quality, while attendance and healthiness directly affect this perception. On the other hand, cleanliness influences perceived healthiness and this, in turn, reinforces perception of product quality.

The focus of street food traders should be on clerk cleanliness and politeness (characteristics related to the service) that end up influencing the perception that the consumer develops regarding healthiness (characteristic related to product quality).

Usually research studies on this theme include only aspects related to sanitary and safety issues, and those which focus on consumer perception of food quality cover conventional outlets such as bars and restaurants. There are few ones performed as in this study that analyze street food consumer behavior regarding his/her perception of quality, cleanliness, care received, among others.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze patterns and trends of articles that present the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) and that were published in several Brazilian journals. In addition, this paper maps the institutions where the authors of the identified articles are affiliated, and discusses aspects of searching the articles in journals’ archives and other scientific databases.

The work used bibliometrics, which is one of the forms of evaluation and measurement of information flows in scientific knowledge, using mathematical and statistical methods.

The study showed an exponential growth in using SEM in several areas in recent years, with predominance in marketing. Most of the publications were produced by authors from institutions such as USP, FGV and UFRGS, but most authors published only one article using SEM. Almost all published articles used one of the three most common software, especially AMOS®. Surprisingly, many articles did not mention the software used, indicating methodological flaw.

Weaknesses were found regarding the search for articles in the different sources used, indicating that, for literature reviews, the research should be conducted in several databases in a complementary way and not alternatively. This fact becomes critical especially when expressions in languages other than Portuguese were used. This situation suggests an aggravating lack of visibility for the Brazilian scientific community since the articles are less likely to be found.

The paper shows that among the various techniques of multivariate data analysis used in the field of administration, SEM has gained prominence being operationalized using specific software.