Tendência sócio-cultural da alimentação saudável no Brasil e sua re-significação a partir da publicidade: um estudo de caso da campanha Maxi-goiabinha da Bauduco

Tendências sócio-culturais costumam ser incorporadas no mercado de consumo na forma de produtos e campanhas publicitárias. Para isto, as empresas tendem a resignificar as tendências para que se tornem argumentos de venda de seus novos produtos. Este estudo toma como objeto um produto lançado no mercado, no caso a Maxi-Goiabinha da Bauducco, e discute através de referências bibliográficas e outros exemplos de mercado como se dá a re-significação deste produto em específico. O objetivo desta dissertação é identificar de que maneira as tendências de alimentação saudável foram simplificadas, transformadas em ícones e exemplificadas através de um estilo de vida pela publicidade do produto Maxi-Goiabinha. O estudo busca os elementos que serviram como influência da campanha, a razão da utilização destes elementos e quais os potenciais impactos do produto no mercado em que está inserido. A escolha do produto Maxi-Goiabinha é interessante por ser um produto de uma marca notoriamente indulgente, a Bauducco, que procura se inserir num mercado com argumentos saudáveis que não faz parte do posicionamento original da marca. A relação mostra a fragilidade da marca para manter a sua identidade ao ser confrontada com a oportunidade de maior faturamento ao se aproveitar de uma tendência de mercado. Conclui-se que a publicidade provê os consumidores de informação e a partir desta, eles passam a procurar por características mais saudáveis no mercado de consumo, o que gera uma transformação potencialmente positiva no mercado. No entanto, ao se utilizar como ícones de seus comerciais pessoas que mostram um balanço perfeito entre saúde, vida pessoal e vida profissional, pode-se gerar um aumento da ansiedade no consumidor médio para se tornarem tão bem sucedidos quanto este homem ou mulher ideal. Discute-se se as escolhas disponibilizadas pela indústria no atual contexto de consumo oprimem ou libertam o consumidor, pois ao mesmo tempo em que lhe é dado o poder de escolha, também lhe é cobrado, através dos ícones das publicidades, ser feliz e bem sucedido em dezenas de facetas e papéis que acompanham a multiplicidade da vida contemporânea.

The determinantss of foreign direct investment distribution among the Brazilian states

O Investimento Estrangeiro Direto (IED) tem desempenhado um papel importante no esforço do Brasil para tornar-se uma economia orientada para o mercado. De 1995 a 2012 o Brasil recebeu $ 511.5 bilhões de dólares em IED. Em 2012, o Brasil foi o segundo país em desenvolvimento que mais recebeu IED e o quarto no mundo (UNCTAD).Devido à concentração geográfica, os estados brasileiros que são consideravelmente menos desenvolvidos e mais pobres, são aqueles que mais precisam de investimentos e que no entanto, não têm sido receptores relevantes de IED. Em 2010, os estados com os maiores estoques de IED foram São Paulo, com 42,3 por cento do total ($ 99,9 bilhões de dólares), Rio de Janeiro com 13,3 por cento ($ 31,4 bilhões de dólares) e Minas Gerais com 10,6 por cento do total ($ 25,1 bilhões de dólares). Como pode ser observado, apenas três dos vinte e sete estados brasileiros receberam cerca de 66 por cento do total de IED destinado ao Brasil.Dada tal diferenciação na distribuição de IED entre os estados brasileiros, o presente estudo busca explicar se o benefício tributário também é determinante para o fluxo de IED, além das demais variáveis já consideradas como determinantes em outros estudos. Dada a limitação de dados, realizamos duas análises econométricas com dados em painel: 1. Usando seis variáveis chaves: tamanho do mercado consumidor, a qualidade da mão de obra, infraestrutura, custo da mão de obra, carga tributária e benefício tributário (por macro regiões), nos anos de 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010; 2. Usando cinco variáveis: as mesmas do primeiro modelo, excluindo o custo da mão de obra (por falta de dados) e utilizando os dados de benefício tributário por estado, nos anos de 2010, 2011 e 2012.

Tecnologia assistiva no Brasil : uma análise das ações da FINEP, período 2005 a 2008

A partir da importância que o tema pessoas portadoras de deficiência vem ganhando na agenda das políticas públicas brasileira nos últimos anos, a presente pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar as ações realizadas pela Finep no período de 2005 a 2008 cuja temática é a Tecnologia Assistiva (TA), para verificar se as ações geraram a introdução efetiva de produtos, serviços e processos inovadores no mercado consumidor de TA. A metodologia utilizada foi a Grounded Theory e a fonte primária de dados e de informações foi obtida na própria Finep. A pesquisa também apresenta exemplos de como as políticas públicas para TA vem sendo implementadas na União Europeia e Austrália. O estudo mapeou as principais dificuldades enfrentadas pelas instituições e empresas dedicadas aos projetos inovadores de TA para a introdução dos produtos assistivos nas linhas de produção e propiciou uma reflexão sobre as suas causas e sugestão sobre a participação mais efetiva e direta dos envolvidos e a continuidade das ações para alcance dos resultados almejados nas ações de TA apoiadas pela Finep. Há, no entanto, um hiato entre a pesquisa, o lote piloto ou prova de conceito e a efetiva produção dos bens e serviços assistivos e vários são os motivos identificados na pesquisa que concorrem para esse distanciamento como, por exemplo, o perfil das empresas e sua propensão ao risco, uma vez que o ciclo de execução do projeto de TA demanda várias fases e, portanto, tempo até se obter o protótipo e poder iniciar a comercialização.

Lender liability in the Consumer Credit Market

In many countries consumer credit legislation provides for the extension of liability for product failure to the …nancial institution that advances credit to the consumer. In particular, lender liability is imposed on those credit grantors who closely operate with the supplier of the good. This paper provides a rationale for lender-responsibility in the consumer credit market. It shows that, when judicial enforcement is ine¢cient or there is risk of seller liquidation, lender-liability helps to protect consumers who systematically underestimate the probability of product failure and overestimate the extent to which they can obtain compensation.

The market strategies alternatives of an e-business start-up in Brazil

The e-business market is one of the fastest growing markets in Brazil, with e-business sales accounting for BRL 14.8 billion in 2010 and a growth of 40% per year (+1000% over the past 7 years). Sales-event clubs and collective bargaining websites are one of the most dynamic segments of the e-business market: the number of new players is increasing rapidly, with over 1200 collective bargaining websites currently operating in Brazil. In that context, growth and differentiation seem to be two key success factors for Coquelux. According to webshopper (23rd Edition, e-bit), growth can be achieved by targeting middle and low-income consumers from class C, who represent 50% of the total e-commerce sales. But Coquelux, which is specialized in desire and luxury brands, has built its reputation and competitive advantage through its “exclusivity”, by targeting wealthier consumers from classes A and B who are attracted by its fashionable and high-end positioning. The evolution (growth?) of this market and the development of its competition naturally raise a strategic question for Coquelux’s managers: can Coquelux grow and still maintain its competitive advantage? Should it grow by expanding its consumer base to class C? If so, how? Consumers from classes A, B or C must be targeted through the same online communication channels. Recent studies from the ABEP/ABIPEME emphasized the importance of social networks as a tool for converting new clients and gaining their loyalty, regardless of their social class. However, high-income and low-income e-consumers do not have the same consumption habits, do not respond to the same type of marketing strategies, and most importantly, do not share the same values. Thus, it seems difficult to expand Coquelux’s consumer base to class C without changing its marketing strategies and altering its image Three options were identified for Coquelux: reinforcing its leadership on the luxury segment and focusing on a small niche market (1), which would threaten its survival in the long run; completely changing its strategy and competing for a mass market through commercial brands (2), which requires major financial investments that managers don’t have access to; or finding an intermediary solution (3). This thesis’ recommendation for the third option consists in focusing on premium brands (rather than luxury) in order to increase sales volume (Coquelux’s most profitable sales happened with local desire brands) with products that appeal to class B but also attract the emerging class C which is looking for brand recognition. It could thus implement a slow entry strategy towards the mass market without damaging its main competitive advantage.

The Brazilian real state market in 2012: robust growth or speculative bubble?

A forte alta dos imóveis no Brasil nos últimos anos iniciou um debate sobre a possível existência de uma bolha especulativa. Dada a recente crise do crédito nos Estados Unidos, é factível questionar se a situação atual no Brasil pode ser comparada à crise americana. Considerando argumentos quantitativos e fundamentais, examina-se o contexto imobiliário brasileiro e questiona-se a sustentabilidade em um futuro próximo. Primeiramente, analisou-se a taxa de aluguel e o nível de acesso aos imóveis e também utilizou-se um modelo do custo real para ver se o mercado está em equilíbrio o não. Depois examinou-se alguns fatores fundamentais que afetam o preço dos imóveis – oferta e demanda, crédito e regulação, fatores culturais – para encontrar evidências que justificam o aumento dos preços dos imóveis. A partir dessas observações tentou-se chegar a uma conclusão sobre a evolução dos preços no mercado imobiliário brasileiro. Enquanto os dados sugerem que os preços dos imóveis estão supervalorizados em comparação ao preço dos aluguéis, há evidências de uma legítima demanda por novos imóveis na emergente classe média brasileira. Um risco maior pode estar no mercado de crédito, altamente alavancado em relação ao consumidor brasileiro. No entanto, não se encontrou evidências que sugerem mais do que uma temporária estabilização ou correção no preço dos imóveis.

The role of consumer's risk aversion on price rigidity

This paper aims at contributing to the research agenda on the sources of price stickiness, showing that the adoption of nominal price rigidity may be an optimal firms' reaction to the consumers' behavior, even if firms have no adjustment costs. With regular broadly accepted assumptions on economic agents behavior, we show that firms' competition can lead to the adoption of sticky prices as an (sub-game perfect) equilibrium strategy. We introduce the concept of a consumption centers model economy in which there are several complete markets. Moreover, we weaken some traditional assumptions used in standard monetary policy models, by assuming that households have imperfect information about the ineflicient time-varying cost shocks faced by the firms, e.g. the ones regarding to inefficient equilibrium output leveIs under fiexible prices. Moreover, the timing of events are assumed in such a way that, at every period, consumers have access to the actual prices prevailing in the market only after choosing a particular consumption center. Since such choices under uncertainty may decrease the expected utilities of risk averse consumers, competitive firms adopt some degree of price stickiness in order to minimize the price uncertainty and fi attract more customers fi.'

Neww challenges in the luxury universe: an exploratory study of the concept of luxury experience in the Brazilian market from the perspective of brands and consumers: a case study of Pati Piva.

Luxury has evolved over the centuries; new challenges have created questions of appropriate strategies for brands. Experience and authenticity became important aspects in the field: consumers are enjoying more material comfort and there is a trend of a cultural shift for personal fulfillment and aspiration through experience. The biggest challenge for today's luxury marketers is to not only talk to the target, but to understand how the target is shifting, while not alienating consumers and damaging the brand´s image. Considering managers and consumers perspectives separately, it would be possible to conclude that their perceptions are congruent, as many studies have presented. However, if perspectives are put together and compared, different realities could emerge. This exploratory research is based on a case study that describes both perspectives of their perception on luxury experience, consumer behavior and consumption motivations, and luxury retailing. It was developed interviews with the brand owner and 10 brand´s consumers, and also indirect observations in the brands distribution formats. In the brand perspective, the case study has shown that luxury experience involves the construction of brand experience strategy based on products, multiple retail channels, consumer engagement, personal activity, exploration of five senses and other forms. In the consumer´s perspective, results revealed that brand consumers interviwed have different luxury experience perceptions and expectations; however, what is common is that service and quality must be maintained and they reflected the overall experience. Additionally, luxury retailing influences directly the consumer´s perception that must integrate multiple channels to fulfill personal demands. The research makes contributions for both actors - brand and consumer, in the sense that translates theoretical concepts of the experience itself and tries to clarify aspects that are still unknown and explored through the exploration of ways to detect the alignment between brand and consumer expectations of the experience.

French wine and the Brazilian consumer

Em um mercado internacional de vinhos cada dia mais competitivo, exportadores franceses estão procurando novos mercados para expandir suas atividades. Nesse cenário o Brasil aparece como um mercado potencial enorme e, por isso, é necessário aos empreendedores o perfeito entendimento das dinâmicas de mercado, a fim de moldar estratégias de marketing eficientes. A primeira etapa é entender o comportamento do consumidor final, a fim de oferecer o produto certo de maneira certa. Essa dissertação tem por objeto a análise dos hábitos de consumo, bem como a percepção do consumidor sobre os vinhos franceses no mercado do vinho brasileiro. A análise será efetuada em função do comportamento do consumidor; portanto, uma atenção especial será dada à demografia, aos hábitos de consumo e as tendências do mercado para os produtos vitivinícolas. Mais precisamente, a investigação tentará identificar diferentes grupos de consumidores com padrões semelhantes, baseados em dados demográficos, consumo atual ou potencial de vinho, e sua percepção particular sobre o vinho francês. A idéia por trás desse processo é a construção de um quadro que pode ajudar a desenvolver estratégias de marketing para profissionais do mercado de vinhos franceses no Brasil, fornecendo a potenciais exportadores uma melhor compreensão sobre como direcionar o seu posicionamento e atingir metas de forma eficaz. A realização desta dissertação foi um desafio importante porque o comportamento do consumidor de vinho no Brasil nao foi estudado inteiramente. É muito difícil hoje para exportadores franceses que desejam compreender melhor o consumidor brasileiro de vinho encontrar qualquer estudo ou análise. A fim de fazer isso, a literatura sobre o mercado do vinho brasileiro foi utilizada (especificidades dos produtos, produção, dados de consumo, etc.). A literatura também inclui os fatores de decisão que influenciam os consumidores nas suas decisões de compra, o que é uma questão muito complexa quando se trata de vinho. Finalmente, a literatura sobre as estratégias de marketing foi revista, a fim de avaliar o tanto o impacto potencial como a relevância para o mercado brasileiro. A segunda etapa do estudo foi a apresentação de questionários a consumidores brasileiros e a análise, com o intuito de determinar as preferências dos consumidores e compreender a percepção do vinho francês. O objetivo foi identificar potenciais grupos alvos para os produtores franceses de vinho.

The consumer litigation industry: chasing dragon kings in lawyer-client networks

The community of lawyers and their clients form a scale-free bipartite network that develops naturally as the outcome of the recommendation process through which lawyers form their client base. This process is an example of preferential attachment where lawyers with more clients are more likely to be recommended to new clients. Consumer litigation is an important market for lawyers. In large consumer societies, there always a signi cant amount of consumption disputes that escalate to court. In this paper we analyze a dataset of thousands of lawsuits, reconstructing the lawyer-client network embedded in the data. Analyzing the degree distribution of this network we noticed that it follows that of a scale-free network built by preferential attachment, but for a few lawyers with much larger client base than could be expected by preferential attachment. Incidentally, most of these also gured on a list put together by the judiciary of Lawyers which openly advertised the bene ts of consumer litigation. According to the code of ethics of their profession, lawyers should not stimulate clients into litigation, but it is not strictly illegal. From a network formation point of view, this stimulation can be seen as a separate growth mechanism than preferential attachment alone. In this paper we nd that this composite growth can be detected by a simple statistical test, as simulations show that lawyers which use both mechanisms quickly become the \Dragon-Kings" of the distribution of the number of clients per lawyer.

Wood : from the forest to the consumer

Illegal logging causes a number of environmental and social damages in countries where wood is sourced from native forests. Logging in protected areas is an act of irresponsibility that exacerbates the loss of biodiversity. In addition, uncontrolled deforestation and bushfires may aggravate climate change, not to mention the negative effects they impose on local populations, such as the impoverishment of rural communities whose livelihoods depend on forest products. Several studies show that Brazil ranks high in terms of irresponsible use of natural resources, including native wood from the Amazon. Even more worrisome is the fact that the state, despite being responsible for regulating logging activities, is one of the largest consumers of native wood, which subverts the goals of any government committed to sustainable environmental management. By monitoring the development and impacts of illegal timber production and consumption around the world, the Friends of the Amazon Network – an initiative by the Getulio Vargas Foundation with support from the British Government and the European Commission – identified a need to describe and evaluate, in a brief and instructive manner, the different mechanisms the state has available to reverse this predatory practice. One of the aspects discussed in this book is the role of civil servants in major efforts aimed at repressing illegal logging and timber production, as well as identifying products derived from these activities in order to prevent their consumption. This is the purpose of this publication, which uses detailed infographics and a journalistic approach, including interviews and true stories, to outline the complexity of Amazon timber’s chain of custody – from logging, processing and transportation to commercialization in the Brazilian market.

Coffee house consumer behavior in Changsha, China

Women in Changsha are patronizing coffee-houses, ordering beverages and sweets, and disliking the taste of the expensive product purchased. This thesis is an exploratory research study conducted in Changsha, China with a consumer behavior focus. It uses primary surveys and interviews in addition to secondary sources from books, articles, and academic journals. It seeks to identify underlying motives for purchasing behavior from working women in the developing third-tier city Changsha, Hunan, China. It delves into the psychology of the working women who spend their hard-earned discretionary incomes at costly western chain coffee-houses. The inland mass-market consumer class feels the desire to project their newly established status while needing to save money for their personal future, their children’s schooling, and their parent’s retirement. They must wisely spend discretionary income while satisfying social societal norms. An individual’s self-concept plays and important role in determining which coffee shop she will frequent and what she will order. Daylight Donuts, Starbucks, Costa Coffee and local café’s all serve brewed coffee but they have different associations. This study aims at understanding the influencing factors associated with coffee-house brand equity and how the consumer’s perception of the brand forms her purchasing behavior. All coffee-house brands are relatively new in Changsha, none existing more than seven years. They do not have lasting ties with the community and need to create consumer relationships to ensure sustainability. Changsha women are bold and strong willed. If a corporation is to succeed in the future of Hunan, it will need to create an environment of hospitality excellence, place socially responsible roots in the society, and ask its customers what they want.

Effect of price and in-store promotion on sales: a study of distinct regions in an emerging market

Increasing competition caused by globalization, high growth of some emerging markets and stagnation of developed economies motivate Consumer Packaged Goods (CPGs) manufacturers to drive their attention to emerging markets. These companies are expected to adapt their marketing activities to the particularities of these markets in order to succeed. In a country classified as emerging market, regions are not alike and some contrasts can be identified. In addition, divergences of marketing variables effect can also be observed in the different retail formats. The retail formats in emerging markets can be segregated in chain self-service and traditional full-service. Thus, understanding the effectiveness of marketing mix not only in country aggregated level data can be an important contribution. Inasmuch as companies aim to generate profits from emerging markets, price is an important marketing variable in the process of creating competitive advantage. Along with price, promotional variables such as in-store displays and price cut are often viewed as temporary incentives to increase short-term sales. Managers defend the usage of promotions as being the most reliable and fastest manner to increase sales and then short-term profits. However, some authors alert about sales promotions disadvantages; mainly in the long-term. This study investigates the effect of price and in-store promotions on sales volume in different regions within an emerging market. The database used is at SKU level for juice, being segregated in the Brazilian northeast and southeast regions and corresponding to the period from January 2011 to January 2013. The methodological approach is descriptive quantitative involving validation tests, application of multivariate and temporal series analysis method. The Vector-Autoregressive (VAR) model was used to perform the analysis. Results suggest similar price sensitivity in the northeast and southeast region and greater in-store promotion sensitivity in the northeast. Price reductions show negative results in the long-term (persistent sales in six months) and in-store promotion, positive results. In-store promotion shows no significant influence on sales in chain self-service stores while price demonstrates no relevant impact on sales in traditional full-service stores. Hence, this study contributes to the business environment for companies wishing to manage price and sales promotions for consumer brands in regions with different features within an emerging market. As a theoretical contribution, this study fills an academic gap providing a dedicated price and sales promotion study to contrast regions in an emerging market.