Publicações

This study introduces Craft-Tourism Orientation (CTO) — the motivation to engage with local crafts during travel — as a novel construct and examines how it shapes purchase intentions for handcrafted fashion. Drawing on value theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior, a model is proposed in which CTO’s association with purchase intention is mediated by perceived value and attitude. Survey data from 810 respondents were analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results show that CTO’s relationship with behavioral outcomes is fully mediated by perceived value: a tourism mindset is associated with enhanced value perceptions of craft garments, which in turn foster positive attitudes and purchase intentions. Among craft-oriented slow fashion attributes, functionality and exclusivity show the strongest associations with perceived value, while localism shows no significant relationship. The findings offer practical guidance for destination marketing organizations and craft retailers. Strategies should move beyond attracting craft-oriented tourists and instead focus on activating value perceptions — through narrative storytelling, immersive artisan experiences, and positioning craft garments as the “ultimate souvenir” that combines functional durability with cultural exclusivity. The study makes three contributions: it introduces and empirically validates CTO as a contextual value-amplifying mindset; it delineates the cognitive pathway through which tourism engagement translates into commercial action; and it bridges tourism studies and consumer behavior research by integrating situational context into core models of purchase decision-making.

This paper examines changes in the association between household characteristics and saving and portfolio allocation across three periods surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Using three-wave survey data from Portuguese households (pre-COVID, during COVID, post-COVID), we test four hypotheses about the temporal stability and evolution of economic, behavioral, and sociodemographic determinants. Our evidence documents how these associations differed across the three period. Core economic fundamentals (income, wealth, and human capital) showed stable associations with saving propensity across all three periods (H2). In contrast, behavioral traits such as present bias and overconfidence showed suggestive evidence of amplified explanatory power during the peak uncertainty period (H1), a pattern consistent with rational inattention. Sociodemographic influences exhibited selective perturbation (H3), with marriage gaining relevance post-COVID while age and gender became insignificant. Portfolio allocation proved highly dynamic: a crisis-driven shift toward securities and deposits reversed sharply into post-COVID liquidity, with allocation determinants showing greater instability than those of saving (H4). These descriptive patterns suggest that while economic fundamentals show stable associations with the capacity to save, behavioral dispositions and evolving expectations exhibited dynamic associations with the propensity and allocation of savings across the three periods we observe.

Digital and green transformation is reshaping European tourism, yet significant investment barriers persist among tourism SMEs. This study examines why Portuguese tourism businesses do not invest in the competencies the twin transition demands, even when skills gaps are empirically demonstrable. Drawing on 393 survey responses from accommodation, food and beverage, and travel and tour operations businesses, we show that the dominant barrier is not financial constraint — cited by fewer than one in six non- investors — but the absence of perceived need: 66–67% of non-investing accommodation and travel firms state they do not require green or digital capabilities. This ‘perceptual gap paradox’ — whereby firms self-assess as adequate in domains where Importance- Performance Analysis identifies material gaps — reframes the skills gap from a training supply failure to a managerial awareness failure. The study contributes to the digital transformation readiness literature by providing demand-side empirical evidence on why investment fails to materialise, and offers actionable implications for policymakers, VET providers, and industry associations operating in tourism-dependent economies.

Introduction Sustainable brand communications are widely assumed to motivate greener consumer behavior. Yet this assumption overlooks moral licensing, whereby prior virtuous actions can elevate moral self-concept and increase the likelihood of subsequent ethically questionable behavior. This paper argues that sustainable brands act as underexamined contributors that shape how consumers interpret their actions, thereby influencing the likelihood of subsequent behavioral responses. Methods We develop a conceptual framework through synthesis of the behavioral science literature on moral self-licensing and the sustainable brand communications literature. Results Three contributions emerge. First, we identify four pathways through which sustainable brand communications may activate moral licensing: virtue attribution (framing purchase as a completed moral act), identity conferral (positioning consumers as sustainable persons), effort signaling (emphasizing sacrifice in sustainable choice), and absolution framing (carbon offsets and impact-neutralization messaging). Second, we develop a 2 × 2 typology of sustainable brand archetypes by expected licensing risk—the Virtue Vendor, Systemic Nudger, Identity Merchant, and Sacrifice Brand—highlighting a structural tension whereby stronger sustainable brand identities may, as a theoretical proposition rather than a demonstrated pattern, be particularly likely to generate cross-domain licensing effects (the “Patagonia paradox”). Third, we derive five design principles for licensing-resistant communications: avoid moral closure, decouple identity from purchase, make systemic demands explicit, suppress absolution signals, and actively suppress growth signals. Discussion Licensing-resistant design principles are in structural tension with conventional commercial growth logic, suggesting that voluntary communication reform may be insufficient without institutional arrangements (e.g., purpose trusts, B-Corp governance) that subordinate revenue growth to mission fidelity. While recent regulation (EU Directive 2024/825) addresses absolution framing, other licensing pathways remain unregulated. Sustainable brand communications should aim to open rather than close consumers’ moral accounts, framing each purchase as a partial contribution within an ongoing behavioral commitment.

Impulse buying is something most of us have experienced—walking into a store with no plans to shop and walking out with a bag full of clothes. This study looks closely at what drives that kind of spontaneous behavior, focusing specifically on fashion physical retail in Portugal. The researchers surveyed 411 consumers and used a structural model to analyze how different traits and marketing stimuli influence impulse buying. They looked at factors like sensation seeking, self-identity, shopping motivations (both for pleasure and practicality), how involved people are with fashion, how sensitive they are to price, and how much they’re influenced by store promotions and ambiance. A key part of the study is the role of self-control. The findings show that self-control acts as a kind of filter—helping people resist external triggers like sales promotions or appealing store environments. While fashion involvement, hedonic motives, and price sensitivity directly encourage impulse buying, self-control weakens the impact of other factors. In fact, it completely mediates the effects of store ambiance and promotions. This means that those elements only influence buying behavior when someone’s self-control is low. The study offers valuable insights for fashion retailers. Retailers who want to increase sales should focus on creating enjoyable shopping environments and running sales promotions because these strategies work best with customers who have low self-control. The study deepens our comprehension of impulse buying by showing how motivations interact with environments and internal self-regulation.