The impact of different sustainability and CSR communication strategies in consumer behavior and purchase intentions in the footwear industry

• Autor(a) principal: Pinho, Catarina Veloso Onofre de Carvalho
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/38273
• topic: Consumer behavior; Decision-making; Brand attitudes; Brand perceptions; Purchase intentions; Footwear industry; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility; Hedonic; Utilitarian; Consumer profiles; Comportamento do consumidor; Processo de decisão de compra; Avaliação de uma marca; Intenções de compra; Indústria do calçado; Sustentabilidade; Responsabilidade Social Corporativa; Hedónico; Utilitário; Perfil do consumidor; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

Consumers are complex and go through several stages in their decision-making process. Those stages can be influenced by external factors and for these reasons, it is hard for brands to understand how consumers think. Moreover, in the 21st century, sustainability and CSR are emerging concepts in consumers’ decision-making process and brand valuations. Not only consumers are trying to buy greener and more responsible as they are blaming organizations for the current unstainable lifestyle of the planet, we live in. Additionally, concerns about sustainability and companies’ impact in the society depend on consumers’ demographic profile. Nowadays, an industry that has been facing sustainable and socially responsible challenges is the footwear one. Based on prior academic literature, an experimental study was conducted to examine the impact of different sustainable and CSR communication strategies in consumers’ brand attitudes, perceptions and purchase intentions. Also, how those types of communication could impact differently, different types of consumers. Results show that hedonic ads are preferred over utilitarian ones and that sustainable and CSR related information increase brand valuations and purchase intentions. Additionally, findings show that different consumer profiles react differently to sustainable and socially responsible claims. This dissertation provides important theoretical and managerial contributions, highlighting the role of the way that a product is communicated to a consumer, and how sustainability and social responsibility impact consumers’ brand valuations. Also, it provides important conclusions for brands that want to understand which type of communication and information they should present to consumers in order to foster their success.