Impact of mobile app user acquisition on managerial decisions: Evidence from empirical experiment

In this research we conducted a mixed research, using qualitative and quantitative analysis to study the relationship and impact between mobile advertisement and mobile app user acquisition and the conclusions companies can derive from it. Data was gathered from management of mobile advertisement campaigns of a portfolio of three different mobile apps. We found that a number of implications can be extracted from this intersection, namely to product development, internationalisation and management of marketing budget. We propose further research on alternative app users sources, impact of revenue on apps and exploitation of product segments: wearable technology and Internet of Things.

Value creation in the nursing home real estate investment market - A case study

The underlying thesis examines the value drivers of direct investments in nursing home real estate in Germany. A survey among investors and operators is conducted in order to identify significant value drivers. Moreover, based on survey results, a framework for assessing German nursing home real estate is developed. This is applied in a case-study about the set-up of a nursing home value-add fund which will demonstrate the value creation process of redeveloping an existing nursing home real estate portfolio. Through a concluding analysis the sources of value creation, sensitivities and future prospects of direct investing into German nursing home real estate are concluded.

Ethical consumption (in)decisons

Consumers’ indecisions about the ethical value of their choices are amongst the highest concerns regarding ethical products’ purchasing. This is especially true for Fair Trade certified products where the ethical attribute information provided by the packaging is often unacknowledged by consumers. While well-informed consumers are likely to generate positive consumer reactions to ethical products and increase its ethical consumption, less knowledgeable buyers show different purchasing patterns. In such circumstances, decisions are often driven by socio-cultural beliefs about the low functional performance of ethical or sustainable attributes. For instance, products more congruent with sustainability (e.g., produce) are considered to be simpler but less tasty than less sustainable products. Less sustainable products instead, are considered to be more sophisticated and to provide consumers with more hedonic pleasures (e.g., chocolate mousse). The extent that ethicality is linked with experiences that provide consumers with more pain than pleasure is also manifested in pro-social social behaviors. More specifically through conspicuous self-sacrificial consumption experiences like running for charity in marathons with wide public exposure. The willingness of consumers to engage in such costly initiatives is moderated by gender differences and further, mediated by the chronic productivity orientation of some individuals to use time in a productive manner. Using experimental design studies, I show that consumers (1) use a set of affective and cognitive associations with on-package elements to interpret ethical attributes, (2) implicitly associate ethicality with simplicity, and that (3) men versus women show different preferences in their forms of contribution to pro-social causes.

Introducing spin-off stocks into the NSP’s risk parity strategy

Field lab: Nova Student Portfolio

Alpha generation with Twitter’s daily momentum

This thesis does not set out to focus on the dynamics relationship between Twitter and stock prices, but instead tries to understand if using relevant information extracted from tweets has the power to increase investors’ stock picking ability, and generate alpha in portfolio’s choice relative to a benchmark. Despite the short period analyzed, it gives promising results that the sentiment analysis performed by Social Market Analytics Inc. applied to an equity portfolio, is able to generate positive abnormal returns, statistically significant in and out of sample.

Macroeconomic risk in commodities market

The thesis studies the presence of macroeconomic risk in the commodities futures market. I present strong evidence that there is a strong relationship between macroeconomic risk and individual commodities future returns. Furthermore, long-only trading strategies seem to be strongly exposed to systematic risk, while long-short trading strategies (based on basis, momentum and basis-momentum) are found to present no such risk. Instead, I found a strong sentiment exposure in the portfolio returns of these long-short strategies, mainly during recessions. The advantages of following long-short strategies become even clearer when analyzing different macroeconomic regimes.

NSP work project investment styles

This paper analyzes the Nova Student Portfolio (NSP) with the objective to understand performances of the fund. Each investment style has been analyzed (growth, value and momentum) in order to highlight what style allocation contributed positively and which had a negative impact. The results show that the team mainly invested in value stocks, which contributed positively but that its growth investments had a negative impact on the stock picking performance. The stock selection shows a major influence of the value investment style. A statistical approach shows that the market factor was the one explaining the most the NSP returns.

Carry and trend-following strategies

Recent research has shown that carry and trend strategies when combined lead to significant risk-adjusted returns that can be very attractive to investors, at a low cost with small and positive skewness. This study proposes to combine both carry and trend-following, considering a data set of ten years (09/2005-09/2015), within a portfolio composed by three major asset classes: currencies, commodities and equity indices. Following a futures-based methodology, the obtained results show that, indeed, the strategy results inevitably in higher returns and greater sharpe ratios for every asset class in study. This outcome results from the fact that trend proved to provide a significant hedge to the downside risk that carry is exposed to.

Regret associated with past and future messes under a maximizing mind-set

Promotions can make you happy if you get the “best” deal or miserable if you miss it. Previous research on this topic has shown that people favor products associated with a past miss to products associated with a future miss, and people in a maximizing mind-set, i.e. people who search for the best in different domains, feel more regret in a consumption domain. This research confirms that consumers prefer purchasing a product associated with a past miss (Experiments 1 and 2) and that regret levels are higher when participants come across the future miss, under the maximizing mind-set (Experiment 2). These studies add to the notion that information on regret might prompt people to make decisions towards a more optimistic outcome.

The global shopper & brands communication at airports

This project aims to illuminate two perspectives on travel retail. On the one hand, it describes the main character of the shopping scenario at airports, namely the Global Shopper. It covers the entire profile of the referred character, the main nationalities that represent him and the current shopping trends of the passenger. Also estimates of the booming nationalities and the future purchasing trends are accurately presented. On the other hand, the travel retail market is analyzed from the airport brands’ perspective. It is described what is currently done in terms of brands communication in the top ten airports around the world and the expected future market retail trends. To accurately explore the Global Shopper behavior and purchasing preferences, a market research was conducted with a sample of 128 respondents, male and female, from different nationalities, age groups, occupation and education backgrounds. The essay tests hypothesis regarding the relevance of several variables in the purchasing process of the Global Shopper in order to understand the most pleasant way to approach consumers in travel retail. The main variables studied concern the reasons to shop at airports, to whom the passenger shops, the preferred category and brand of purchase, feelings while shopping abroad, impulsive buying behavior, brand loyalty, the use of mobile devices in the shopping process, brands communication at airports, pre-ordering online and the attitude towards self-service stores. Some findings were in accordance with expectations, while others were a surprise and may produce valuable recommendations for future travel retail practices. 4 The main relevant results concern two areas, namely pre-ordering online and self-service stores. Results showed a certain stress about not having enough time to choose between the various offerings in travel retail, as well as difficulty in dealing with crowed stores. However, pre-ordering online was not common, which would be an initiative that could solve the discomfort at airport’s stores. Moreover, self-service would promote efficiency in stores allowing passengers to save time if they already know how to go through the shopping process by themselves. Another possible recommendation concerns differentiating the strategy in travel retail for the two genders. Some differences were found in the categories bought by male and female, as well as to how brands should shape their approach concerning the demands of each gender.

Avaliação do desempenho de fundos de investimento de obrigações: evidência para o mercado Brasileiro

Dissertação de mestrado em Finanças

Avaliação do desempenho de carteiras de fundos verdes em diferentes estados de mercado

Dissertação de mestrado em Finanças

A autonomia no processo de aquisição da competência plurilingue e intercultural no âmbito da aprendizagem do Espanhol

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ensino de Português no 3.º ciclo do Ensino Básico Secundário e do Ensino do Espanhol no Ensino Básico e Secundário

Avaliação do desempenho de fundos de investimento de ouro nos EUA: influência dos diferentes regimes de mercado na seletividade e market-timing

Dissertação de mestrado em Finanças

The impact of work clothing design on workers’ comfort

Physical and physiological comfort, at work and during leisure time, is important to human health and motivation. A growing number of jobs require workers to sit. Most clothes, except those intended for wheelchair users, were designed for walking or the standing position. Clothing designs should be user-oriented and meet users’ needs. Garment design should conform to body position and posture, not just shape and size. In this paper we present the ergometric impact of a new type of trousers designed to adapt to changes in position. Concentrations of compression forces, temperature and pressure were documented in an exploratory pilot study and contrasted to traditional designs. The new trousers showed significant decreases in compression force concentration, especially in and around the knees and waist. Most participants identified comfort as an important factor when purchasing a pair of trousers and that, for working purposes, they would prefer these special trousers rather than traditional designs.