研究目的：失眠盛行率高，且容易發展為慢性化的問題，目前多以助眠藥物作為失眠的治療，短期使用雖可幫助緩解失眠症狀，但長期使用的有效性及安全仍有較大爭議，且容易發展出依賴性及耐受性的問題。然而失眠患者中仍有相當高的比例在對藥物療效不滿意的情況下，使用遠超過臨床指引建議的期間，許多失眠患者亦表達出對助眠藥物使用的矛盾心態，顯示助眠藥物的使用仍受其他心理因素影響。過去研究指出計劃行為理論能有效預測及幫助探討物質使用相關行為的認知因素，但助眠藥物的使用除了認知因素的影響外，也會出現較為衝動及難以控制的渴想狀態。因此本研究目的是在於了解長期助眠藥物使用的心理因素，探討助眠藥物使用行為的認知因素，以及在計劃行為理論的架構下，失眠患者對於助眠藥物使用的認知因素是否會受到渴想的影響。 研究方法與結果：本研究以21名失眠患者進行開放式訪談後編制助眠藥物使用之計劃行為理論問卷，招募失眠且有助眠藥物使用經驗的受試者填寫助眠藥物使用計劃行為理論問卷以及助眠藥物渴想量表，並於施測後一個月及三個月的時間點，以電話追蹤其助眠藥物使用狀況，一個月及三個月有效問卷分別為143及139份。結果顯示知覺行為控制為行為意圖的主要預測因子，行為意圖及知覺行為控制能預測一個月及三個月時的藥物使用行為，且行為意圖為使用行為的最佳預測因子；助眠藥物使用行為意圖對一個月及三個月時的助眠藥物使用情況的預測力會受到渴想的負向調節。 結論：本研究結果顯示助眠藥物使用的行為意圖是行為出現與否的主要決定因素，說明失眠患者的確會在認知決策後選擇使用助眠藥物，也會在知覺到較多促進助眠藥物使用之情境或因素時產生助眠藥物使用的行為意圖或直接出現助眠藥物的使用行為，顯示助眠藥物使用行為上外在情境及因素的重要性。此外，本研究結果也顯示助眠藥物使用的行為意圖會受到渴想的干擾，當渴想程度愈高時行為意圖對於實際行為的預測力愈低，而渴想程度愈低時行為意圖對實際行為的預測愈高。此研究結果幫助了解長期助眠藥物使用的心理因素，亦可將其用於幫協助擬定助眠藥物減藥策略。 / Insomnia has high prevalence and is prone to develop into a chronic problem. Hypnotics are the most common choice of treatment for insomnia. Although short-term usage is effective in relieving insomnia, the safety and efficacy of long-term usage are still in controversy. Long-term usage has also been reported to increase risks of tolerance and dependence. Even though the efficacy of hypnotics is not always satisfying, the duration of hypnotics use in insomnia patients is often longer than clinical recommendation. This may be influenced by some psychological factors. The theory of planned behavior has been demonstrated to be able to predict cognitive factors of substance use behaviors. It can therefore possibly be used to model hypnotic use behavior. In addition to cognitive factors, craving that is associated with losing control over drug use may also play a role in the use of hypnotics. The purpose of current study is to 1) explore the cognitive factors of long-term hypnotics use based on the theory of planned behavior, and 2) understand whether the cognitive factors would be influenced by the craving state. Method and result: We first conducted a semi-structured interview with 21 insomnia patients to develop the questionnaire of the theory of planned behavior of hypnotics use and a hypnotic craving scale. The insomnia patients who had used or are currently using hypnotics were recruited to complete the questionnaires. They were contacted by telephone at 1-month and 3-month follow-ups. Total number of valid questionnaires of 1-month and 3-month follow-ups were 143 and 139, respectively. We found that behavior intention could be predicted by perceived behavior control, but not attitude and subjective norms. Frequency of hypnotics use at 1-month and 3-month follow-ups could be predicted by behavior intention and perceived behavior control, and behavior intention was the best predictor. Craving has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between behavior intention and the hypnotics use behavior at both 1-month and 3-month follow-ups. Conclusion: The findings of current study show that behavior intention is the most crucial cognitive factor to predict hypnotics use behavior. It indicates that insomnia patients may have higher behavior intention and are more likely to use hypnotics when they perceive more situational factors that lead to drug use. In addition, our study indicates the association between behavior intention and actual hypnotic use behavior can be moderated by craving. The higher the craving state the lower the predictability of hypnotic use by behavior intention, and vice versa. Our study helps understand the psychological factors of long-term hypnotics use, and assists in developing the tapering interventions.

Den teknologiska utvecklingen har lett till en strukturomvandling i dagens samhälle, vilket har resulterat i nya vanor och ett förändrat konsumentbeteende då allt fler börjar handla online. Företag har svårt att hänga med i denna utveckling och det har blivit en allt större utmaning för dem att lyckas möta kundernas behov. Att handla livsmedel är en aktivitet som tar upp en stor del av vardagssysslorna och innebär ett invant och traditionellt beteendemönster hos konsumenterna. I den digitala övergången till att köpa livsmedel online är det svårt att avgöra vad konsumenterna har för förväntningar och preferenser. Utifrån en kvalitativ ansats har 12 stycken semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomförts för att erhålla en djupare förståelse för hur konsumenter förhåller sig till köp av livsmedel online. Dessutom har faktorer utifrån tidigare forskning setts över, för att ta reda på vad som påverkar de faktiska köpbesluten. Resultatet visar att konsumenter väljer att köpa livsmedel online främst på grund av den bekvämlighet det erbjuder. Att konsumenter inte väljer att handla online beror på att de förlorar kontrollen och den sociala kontexten av livsmedelsinköp. Priset visade sig inte ha stor betydelse vid köpen och produktinnehållet var det viktigaste vid val av produkter.

Background: A significant increase in the global food demand is expected to occur in the near future. Since the currently implied food system will not be able to meet this demand without impacting the environment negatively, it is crucial to consider alternative ways of producing food. Entomophagy thereby presents an approach that could be deployed to meet the future demand in an environmental and sustainable way. However, whereas multiple studies investigate consumers’ acceptance of insect-based products, little is known about their purchase intentions. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the underlying factors affecting Swedish university-attending Generation Y consumers’ purchase intentions towards insect-based products. In order to fulfill the purpose of this study, two research questions have been developed. Thereby, the Theory of Planned Behavior was chosen as a theoretical framework. Method: The research philosophy of this study adopted elements of both constructionism and interpretivism. Further, this study applied an abductive approach and a qualitative research design with an exploratory purpose. A total of three focus groups were conducted in order to explore purchase intentions towards insect-based products. In addition, a taste test was incorporated in each focus group to explore the participants’ reactions when given the opportunity to try an insect-based product. To adequately reach the selected target population, a combination of a self-selection sampling technique and a convenience sampling technique was employed. Lastly, a content analysis following a directed approach was applied in order to properly analyze the collected data. Conclusion: The empirical findings of this study suggest that eleven factors are contributing to the target populations’ purchase intentions towards insect-based products. Thereby, ten of these factors are connected to the components of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control of the theoretical framework whereas the remaining factor was not categorized within these components. Regarding the conducted taste test, it was found that the large majority of the participants were willing to try. Further, the taste test showed that all participants followed their initial intentions.

Submitted by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2016-08-30T20:23:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Gonzalez, Ricardo Alonso.pdf: 5177905 bytes, checksum: 91c4cc381c6ddcf64875d3a8df5a94af (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Angela Dortas (dortas@ufba.br) on 2016-08-30T21:12:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Gonzalez, Ricardo Alonso.pdf: 5177905 bytes, checksum: 91c4cc381c6ddcf64875d3a8df5a94af (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-30T21:12:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gonzalez, Ricardo Alonso.pdf: 5177905 bytes, checksum: 91c4cc381c6ddcf64875d3a8df5a94af (MD5) / Esta tese, fundamentada na Teoria da Ação Planejada, tem o objetivo de desenvolver um modelo que explicasse a influência das atitudes individuais, das normas sociais subjetivas e do controle comportamental percebido na intenção do indivíduo em empregar esforço discricionário no trabalho. O esforço discricionário no trabalho pode ser entendido como aquele nível de esforço que se encontra sob o domínio do indivíduo, que excede ao mínimo necessário para se evitar uma repreensão ou mesmo uma demissão, cabendo unicamente ao indivíduo a decisão de exercê-lo. Esse nível de esforço, sob total controle do indivíduo, pode ser motivado por diversos fatores, que possuem como base as crenças. Como fundamento teórico para se determinar esses fatores, buscou-se na Teoria da Ação Planejada os seus antecedentes. Foram desenvolvidos dois estudos empíricos como forma de se alcançar ao objetivo pretendido. O primeiro estudo, de natureza qualitativa, evidenciou as crenças salientes relacionadas ao esforço discricionário no trabalho associadas às atitudes individuais, às normas sociais subjetivas e ao controle comportamental percebido referente a tal esforço, evidenciando em ambos os grupos estudados contribuições favoráveis das atitudes, da norma social subjetiva e do controle comportamental percebido sobre a intenção de empregar esforço discricionário no trabalho. O segundo estudo, de natureza quantitativa, buscou evidenciar o efeito das atitudes individuais, das normas sociais subjetivas e do controle comportamental percebido sobre a intenção do indivíduo em empregar esforço discricionário no trabalho. Utilizaram-se duas amostras, uma composta por servidores públicos estaduais e outra por professores de Instituições de Ensino Superior públicas e privadas. Os resultados obtidos por meio de modelagem de equações estruturais apontaram em ambas as amostras significância estatística na relação entre as atitudes, a norma social subjetiva e o controle comportamental percebido sobre a intenção, confirmando a tese de que a intenção pode ser determinada por esses constructos. Dentre outros, indicaram, também, que crenças de natureza social influenciam mais na intenção do que crenças de natureza financeira. Os resultados apontaram que os indivíduos empregam esforço discricionário no trabalho motivados mais por satisfação pessoal, reconhecimento, influência de superiores e colegas, suporte organizacional e outras crenças de natureza social do que por uma expectativa de remuneração financeira ou por estarem sendo monitorados. Tais resultados contribuem com o campo da Administração na medida em que trazem ao debate o esforço discricionário no trabalho e abre espaço para várias possibilidades de pesquisa envolvendo o tema. / This thesis, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, aims to develop a model to explain the influence of individual attitudes, subjective social norms and perceived behavioral control on the individual's intention to employ discretionary work effort. The discretionary work effort can be understood as a level of effort that is under the domain of the individual, which exceeds the minimum necessary to avoid a reprimand or even dismissal, it depends only on the individual's decision to exercise it. This level of effort under full control of the individual, may be motivated by several factors, which are based on the beliefs. As a theoretical basis for determining these factors, it sought the Theory of Planned Behavior. Two empirical studies were developed as a way to achieve the desired goal. The first study, qualitative, highlighted the salient beliefs related to the discretionary work effort associated with individual attitudes, subjective social norms and perceived behavioral control. The results showed in both studied groups favorable to contributions of attitudes, subjective social norms and perceived behavioral control on the intention to employ discretionary work effort. The second study, quantitative, sought to highlight the effect of individual attitudes, subjective social norms and perceived behavioral control on the intention of the individual to employ discretionary work effort using two samples, one composed of state civil servants and another for teachers of higher public and private education institutions. The results obtained by structural equation modeling showed in both samples statistically significant relationship between attitudes, social subjective norm and perceived behavioral control on the intention, confirming the thesis that the intention may be determined by these constructs. Among others results, it indicates that social beliefs are stronger than finance ones. The results showed that individuals employ discretionary work effort motivated more by personal satisfaction, recognition, influence of superiors and colleagues, organizational support and other social beliefs than by an expectation of financial remuneration or because they are being monitored. These results contribute to the field of management as they bring to the debate the discretionary work effort and opens space to various research possibilities involving the theme.

In our interconnected world, social media is a vital tool for communication in the everyday life of individuals. The importance of social media in society has increased not only in times of peace, but social media has grown to be instrument of influencing crisis. In recent years, social media’s role in crisis and crisis response was observed by many scholars for different crisis. One of the most recent ones is the water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa, which was chosen as a case study due to its current relevance in the social media landscape. The obviously high use of social in this crisis is what this qualitative desk study investigates. This study does, however, not aim to analyse social media as a solution for a crisis, but sheds light on the patterns of social media behaviour. This research thus aims to understand Why people turn to social media in a crisis? Subsequent to this, this research analyses whether different types of users resort to social media during a crisis for different reasons. The results were obtained through applying a frameworks: As the main tool of analysis, the Different Users and Usage Framework by Houston et al. (2015). Assisting on explaining some specific part of the findings, the Theory of Planned Behavior (Icek Ajzen, 1991) was applied. Three main findings were analysed for the case study: (1) People turn to social media during a crisis for different reasons and in the case of the water crisis in South Africa, fifteen usage areas were observed. (2) According to the analytical results, different users tend to dominate different usage areas and (3) During the Cape Town crisis, it was common practice for businesses and corporations to raise awareness and combine it with promoting their business.

Syfte: Ett problem som konstaterats är att rekrytera och behålla skyddsombud inom byggbranschen. Bristen på frivilliga och engagerade skyddsombud kan bidra till lägre säkerhet på byggarbetsplatser. Syftet är att undersöka hur skyddsombuden upplever sin arbetssituation i dagsläget, samt att utreda vad som kan förändras för att situationen ska bli bättre.  Målet med examensarbetet är att ta reda på vad som kan förändras för att fler ska vilja vara skyddsombud. Detta undersöks genom huvudfrågeställningen: Varför vill inte fler vara skyddsombud? Huvudfrågan bryts ned och besvaras genom två delfrågeställningar: Vilka nackdelar finns i rollen som skyddsombud?  Vad behöver förändras för att situationen ska bli bättre?  Metod: För att nå målet genomförs en fallstudie. Fallet är Skanska Hus region väst och begränsas till yrkesgruppen skyddsombud. Intervjuer och enkäter används som undersökningsmetoder, vilka utformas kvalitativt. Intervjuer genomförs med huvudskyddsombud. Huvudskyddsombuden har en bred bild av situationen då de har kontakt med samtliga arbetsplatser inom sitt distrikt. Enkäter skickas ut till alla lokala skyddsombud i regionen, detta för att få en bred svarsfrekvens. Resultat: En stor anledning till de nuvarande skyddsombudens bristande engagemang är att de inte får gehör, vilket gör att de känner sig ensamma. Det finns inte acceptans för att säkerhetsarbete tar tid och skyddsombuden får dåligt samvete när de tvingas lämna sin arbetskollega för detta.  För att förbättra situationen måste skyddsombuden få mer gehör. Säkerhetsförståelse och acceptans för säkerhetsarbete måste ökas bland alla på arbetsplatsen. Skyddsombuden behöver känna att de kan och tillåts påverka projektet. Konsekvenser: För att lösa problemet måste situationen för de som är skyddsombud förbättras. Om de nuvarande skyddsombuden är nöjda så kommer de sprida en positiv bild vidare till sina medarbetare, de potentiella nya skyddsombuden. Skyddsombudens situation kan förbättras genom följande punkter:  Skyddsombuden måste få mer gehör från övriga på arbetsplatsen. Skyddsombuden ska med fördel ligga utanför projektets tidplan. Skyddsombuden bör involveras i ett tidigare skede av projektet. Begränsningar: Examensarbetet har avgränsats till att enbart undersöka skyddsombudets roll utifrån deras eget perspektiv. Med tanke på arbetets omfattning har övriga rollers uppfattning om skyddsombuden utelämnats från undersökningen. Undersökningen har inte heller fokuserat på att undersöka hur förbättringar kan genomföras. / Purpose: A stated problem in the construction industry is to recruit and keep safety officers. The lack of willing and engaged safety officers could result in lower safety at construction sites. The purpose of this report is to examine how the safety officers are currently experiencing their work environment and examine what can be changed to improve the situation.  The aim of this thesis is to find out what can be improved for more people to want to be a safety officer. This is examined by the main question: Why do not more people want to be a safety officer? The main question is answered by two sub-questions: Which difficulties exists in the role as a safety officer?  What changes needs to be done to improve the situation? Method: To reach the aim of the report a case study was performed. The case is Skanska Hus Väst and is limited to the profession safety officers. The method of investigation is interviews and questionnaires, which are qualitatively conducted. The interviews are conducted with the chief safety officers. The chief safety officers can see the broad picture of the situation since they continuously keep contact with all the construction sites in their district. The questionnaires are sent to all the local safety officers in all the districts in the entire region.  Findings: One reason for the lack of engaged safety officers is that they do not receive the necessary respect and response from their coworkers. It makes them feel alone. There is no acceptance for safety work and the time that is needed, which give the safety officers a bad conscience when they are forced to leave their work partner. To improve the situation the safety officer’s must receive more respect from their coworkers. Knowledge and acceptance concerning safety must be improved among all workers on the construction site. The safety officers need to feel that they can, and are allowed to, influence the project.  Implications: To solve the problem the current safety officer’s situation must be improved. If the existing safety officers are pleased they will give a positive picture of the role to their coworkers, the potential new safety officers. The safety officers’ situation can be improved by the points that follows: The safety officers must receive more respect from others in the construction site.  The safety officers should advantageously be placed separate from the time plan of the project. The safety officers should be involved in an earlier stage of the project.  Limitations: The report has been limited to only examining the role of the safety officer and their own perspective. The views of safety officers from the perspective of other roles at the construction site has been omitted from the thesis. The report does not investigate how to perform the changes.

Estudos sobre a compressão da tomada de decisão dos agricultores complementadas pelas contribuições da psicologia estão crescendo, mas ainda carecem de mais pesquisas. O objetivo geral desta tese é compreender os determinantes sociopsicológicos que influenciam os produ-tores rurais na intenção de adotar e/ou aperfeiçoar as práticas de manejo no sistema de produ-ção de leite à base de pastagens perenes, em suas propriedades, na região meio oeste catari-nense, no próximo ano. O modelo teórico metodológico escolhido para desenvolver a pesqui-sa foi a Teoria do Comportamento Planejado, a qual tem-se mostrado adequada para estudar o comportamento de produtores rurais. Trata-se de uma teoria social utilizada para predizer ou explicar um comportamento específico. Foi realizado uma survey com 149 produtores de leite, que tem o sistema de produção baseado em pastagens perenes. A aplicação do questio-nário ocorreu nos meses de dezembro de 2016, janeiro, fevereiro e março de 2017. O recorte geográfico utilizado foi, os sete municípios que fazem parte da Agência de Desenvolvimento Regional de Videira- SC. Os resultados demonstraram que os constructos do modelo principal complementados por norma moral e identidade própria explicaram 54 % da variância da in-tenção. A variável que mais influenciou foi norma moral, indicando que os produtores de leite sentem e tem consciência que é necessário adotar/aperfeiçoar às práticas e que isso é o correto a fazer. Os dados revelaram também que a relação significativa e positiva entre norma subje-tiva injuntiva e intenção sugere que a pressão social percebida pelos produtores influência a intenção deles em realizar o comportamento em domínio. A medida de atitude foi a terceira variável que mais influenciou na intenção dos produtores, sinalizando que eles possuem uma avaliação favorável desse comportamento. E a quarta e última variável significativa no mode-lo é identidade própria, indicando que os produtores se reconhecem como indivíduos que ado-tam/aperfeiçoam as práticas. Também, uma divisão de grupos foi realizada por meio da medi-ana, identificando dois grupos, um de moderada e outro de forte intenção. Os grupos apresen-taram diferenças significativas no que tange aos constructos psicológicos e aos seus objetivos motivacionais. No entanto, não apresentaram diferenças no que se refere as características socioeconômicas. De maneira geral, os resultados empíricos dessa tese formam uma base so-bre a qual as intervenções políticas podem ser desenvolvidas para promover o aumento das taxas de adoção ou aperfeiçoamento dessas práticas e consequentemente contribuir para o desenvolvimento da atividade e o desenvolvimento rural da região. / Studies regarding farmers’ decision-making process, complemented by psychological contri-butions are increasing, but they are still lacking more research. The general objective of this thesis is to comprehend the social psychological determinants influencing the intention of rural farmer to adopt and/or improve management practices of milk production based on pe-rennial pastures in their properties in the Midwest region of Santa Catarina state next year. The Theory of Planned Behavior was chosen as the methodological theoretical standard to develop this research which has been proven efficient in order to study the rural producers’ behavior. It is about a social theory used to predict or explain a specific behavior. A survey was applied to 149 milk producers having a milk production based on perennial pastures. The survey was done during the months of December 2016, January, February and March 2017. The geographical division used was consisted of seven cities that belong to the Regional De-velopment Agency of Videira city – Santa Catarina state. The results show that the main stan-dard constructs complemented by moral standard as well as self-identity explain 54% of in-tention variance. Moral standard was the most influential variable, indicating that milk produ-cers feel and are aware about the need of adopting/improving the management practices and that it is correct to do so. The data also unveils that the significant and positive relation between subjective injunctive standard and intention suggests that the social pressure percei-ved by producers influence their intention to perform the domain of behavior. Taking attitude was the third variable that had the most influence on producers’ intention, indicating that they have a favorable evaluation of this behavior. The fourth and last significant variable of the standard is self-identity, indicating that producers acknowledge themselves as individuals who adopt/improve the practices. A group division was also done through the median, identi-fying two groups: moderate and strong intention. The groups show significant differences regarding psychological constructs and their motivational objectives. Nevertheless, they do not show differences in reference to social-economic characteristics. In general, the empirical results of this thesis set up a basis on which political interventions can be developed in order to improve the user adoption rate or improvements of these practices and consequently contri-bute to the activity development as well as the rural development of the region.

Submitted by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2016-04-07T22:10:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida, Tatiane Nunes Viana de.pdf: 6386798 bytes, checksum: 2058d838b1ff97e17ff623a0ac0dbb89 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2016-04-19T18:24:04Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida, Tatiane Nunes Viana de.pdf: 6386798 bytes, checksum: 2058d838b1ff97e17ff623a0ac0dbb89 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-19T18:24:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida, Tatiane Nunes Viana de.pdf: 6386798 bytes, checksum: 2058d838b1ff97e17ff623a0ac0dbb89 (MD5) / Em um ambiente extremamente competitivo, muitas empresas lançam novos produtos de forma sistemática com o intuito de obter um diferencial perante seus concorrentes. Todavia, o excesso de opções no mercado pode confundir e sobrecarregar o consumidor que deseja adquirir um novo produto. Neste contexto, a comunicação boca a boca online surge como uma forma de superar a assimetria de informação ao descrever os atributos do produto em termos de situações de uso, mensurando sua qualidade sob o ponto de vista do usuário, diminuindo o risco do consumidor. Assim, esta tese tem como objetivo geral analisar empiricamente um modelo téorico, baseado na Teoria do Comportamento Planejado, que relacione a atitude em relação à marca, a confiança na marca, o controle comportamental percebido, a norma subjetiva e intenção de compra de um produto eletrônico, em contextos em que os consumidores se deparam com comentários online positivos e negativos. A influência deste tipo de comunicação boca a boca na intenção de compra, em contextos de baixo e alto envolvimento, também foi verificada. O método de pesquisa adotado foi o experimental, sendo o delineamento estudo de grupo de controle pré-teste/pós-teste, com esquema fatorial 2 x 3. A amostra final válida foi de 690 alunos de IES de Salvador/BA. A abordagem de pesquisa foi quantitativa e foram utilizados métodos da estatística descritiva, análise fatorial, teste t e modelagem de equações struturais para a análise dos dados. Os resultaram comprovaram que os comentários online influenciam a intenção de compra, sendo que o maior efeito foi verificado em relação as informações positivas. Os indivíduos com baixo envolvimento foram mais influenciados pelos comentáriosonline positivos, enquanto que os com alto envolvimento foram mais impactados pelos comentários online negativos. Em relação ao modelo teórico, foi incluído um construto de segunda ordem, denominado fatores motivacionais da intenção de compra, responsável pela maior variação na intenção de compra em todos os modelos analisados. Os fatores de ordem pessoal – confiança na marca e atitude em relação à marca – foram os que apresentaram maior impacto na formação do construto de segunda ordem e também os que, de forma indireta, explicaram a maior variação na intenção de compra em todos os modelos analisados. De uma forma geral, os resultados apontam para a necessidade de as empresas investirem em marcas fortes e confiáveis, dedicando maior atenção às estratégias de comunicação e à manutenção de relacionamentos de longo prazo com seus clientes. Não obstante, ressalta-se que os comentários online não devem ser negligenciados. In an extremely competitive environment, many companies launch new products in a systematic way in order to get a differential to its competitors. However, the excess of options in the market can confuse and overwhelm consumers who wish to purchase a new product. In this context,electronic word-of-mouth appears as a way to overcome information asymmetry in describing the attributes of the product in terms of situations, measuring its quality from the user's point of view, reducing the consumer's risk. Thus, this thesis has the general objective to empirically analyze a theoretical model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, which relates the attitude toward the brand, trust in the brand, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm and purchase intent of an electronics products, in contexts where consumers are faced with positive and negative online consumers reviews. The influence of this type of word-of-mouth communication in purchase intent, contexts of below and high involvement, was also checked. The research method adopted was the experimental, and the study design pretest control group before-test/post-test with factorial 2 x 3. The valid final sample was of 690 students from Universities at Salvador/BA. The research approach was quantitative and were used methods of descriptive statistics, factor analysis, t-test and structural equation modeling to analyze the data. The result proved that the online consumers reviews influence purchase intent, with the greatest effect it was checked against the positive information. Individuals with low involvement were more influenced by the positive online consumers reviews, while with high involvement were most impacted by the negative online consumers reviews. Regarding the theoretical model, it was included a second-order construct, called motivational factors of intent to purchase, accounted for most variation in purchase intent in all the analyzed models. The factors of personal order - trust in the brand and attitude toward the brand - presented the main contribution to the second-order construct and also those who, indirectly, explained most variation in purchase intent for all models analyzed. In general, the results point to the need for companies to invest in strong and trusted brands, devoting more attention to communication strategies and maintaining long-term relationships with their customers. However, the online consumers reviews should not be overlooked.

abstract: Sexual violence is a problem on college campuses across that United States. In the past few years, federal and state legislation has been drafted in order to address campus sexual violence. A main feature of this legislation addresses an important communicative construct related to students’ sexual behavior: sexual consent. Colleges and universities are adopting an affirmative-standard of consent, which emphasizes that consent for sexual activity be communicated verbally or via unambiguous actions, mutual, voluntary, enthusiastic, and ongoing throughout the sexual encounter. Literature has explored how college students communicate and interpret sexual consent, but antecedents to sexual consent behaviors, particularly affirmative consent, are largely unknown. The current investigation seeks to longitudinally explore the antecedents to college students’ affirmative sexual consent behaviors (i.e., nonverbal, initiating, verbal). Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a theoretical framework, hypotheses predicted that at Time 1 (T1) attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral control would positively and significantly predict students’ (T1) intentions to communicate affirmative consent to their partner. Then, it was predicted that at Time 2 (T2)—thirty days later—intentions to communicate consent from T1 would positively and significantly predict college students’ communication of affirmative consent to their partner during their most recent sexual encounter. The final matched (i.e., completed T1 and T2 surveys) sample included two hundred twenty-five (N = 225) college students who had engaged in sexual activity during the 30 days between survey distributions. Results from the path analyses support the theoretically driven hypotheses for all three affirmative consent behaviors, and demonstrate that subjective norms and perceived control are important and strong determinants of students’ communication of affirmative sexual consent. Furthermore, multi-group invariance tested the potential moderating effects of three individual, two dyadic, and two environmental/contextual variables on the strength of path coefficients between TPB constructs for all three sexual consent behaviors. Only individual and environmental/contextual variables significantly moderated relationships within the TPB for the three models. Results are discussed with regard to theoretical implications as well as practical implications for university health educators and other health professionals. Additionally, limitations and future directions are noted. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Communication 2016

Submitted by Alison Vanceto (alison-vanceto@hotmail.com) on 2017-02-23T14:38:14Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseAAD.pdf: 5331257 bytes, checksum: b1a12cc58c6eb107fef82814e00e2d8b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-03-14T14:09:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseAAD.pdf: 5331257 bytes, checksum: b1a12cc58c6eb107fef82814e00e2d8b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-03-14T14:09:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseAAD.pdf: 5331257 bytes, checksum: b1a12cc58c6eb107fef82814e00e2d8b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-14T14:18:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseAAD.pdf: 5331257 bytes, checksum: b1a12cc58c6eb107fef82814e00e2d8b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-29 / Não recebi financiamento / The use of bicycles as a transportation way has been in discussion for some time. Versatile, lightweight, quiet and clean, the bike can be part of the solution to the transport problems that occur in big cities. The increasing saturation of the city roads by automobiles have recently reinforced the importance of bikes, now suggested as an alternative for sustainable mobility. It is has been noticed that it is no longer used just by leisure, sport or toy means, and has definitely become a transport option, either for financial reasons, agility, welfare, health, convenience or due to the deficiency of public transport. In this research we aimed at studying the applicability of the Theory of Planned Behavior in order to analyze the attitude of university students towards cycling, aiming at identifying the behavioral factors that can explain the bike option for utility trips (to work and to school). The methodology has started by the bibliographic research in order to identify the factors that influence the attitude towards cycling, followed by the development of the survey instrument. Targeting this end, we have developed a questionnaire based on the three constructs of Planned Behavior Theory and based on observable variables on the habit and intention in using the bike, betaking the Google Drive tool for this purpose. The questionnaire was sent via email to undergraduates and also it was applied in classrooms, with the authorization of the professors in four public universities (one in each city). From the 1,200 questionnaires sent 705 valid forms were answered on a proper way. The data collection for this research was carried out in public institutions of higher education in São Carlos - SP, São José do Rio Preto - SP, Campo Grande - MS and Tupã - SP. For data analysis, we have used confirmatory factor analysis, factor analysis and cluster analyzes. The survey results allow a better understanding about the construct Attitude towards bicycle use.Throughout the study it was identified that the construct Attitude comes to be represented by three factors: Quality (Health, Economy, Environment), Freedom (Independence, Speed) and Insecurity (accidents, robbery). Another remark was that not always the more positive value for the attitude implies ona strong intention to use the bike. It is considered that this research reached its main goals and the results contribute to the settlement of the policy guidelines encouragement on using bicycles on utilitarian trips, given that the implementation of a program to encourage the use of bicycle policy can bring economic and environmental benefitsfor a city. / O uso da bicicleta como modo de transporte vem sendo discutido há algum tempo. Versátil, leve, silenciosa e não poluente, a bicicleta pode ser parte da solução para os problemas de transporte que se verificam nas grandes cidades. Mais recentemente, a crescente saturação das vias das cidades por automóveis reforçou a importância da bicicleta, agora sugerida como alternativa de mobilidade sustentável. Nota-se que ela deixou de ser apenas um meio de lazer, esporte ou brinquedo e se tornou definitivamente uma opção de transporte, seja por questões financeiras, agilidade, bemestar, saúde, praticidade ou deficiência do transporte público. Na presente pesquisa buscou-se estudar a aplicabilidade da Teoria do Comportamento Planejado para analisar a atitude de jovens universitários com relação ao ciclismo, com o objetivo principal de identificar os fatores comportamentais que podem explicar a opção pela bicicleta para viagens utilitárias (para o trabalho e a escola). A metodologia utilizada teve início com levantamento bibliográfico para identificação dos fatores que influenciam na atitude com relação ao ciclismo, seguida da elaboração do instrumento de pesquisa. Para tanto, foi elaborado um questionário com base nos três construtos da Teoria do Comportamento Planejado e com base nas variáveis observáveis de Hábito e Intenção de usar a bicicleta, utilizando a ferramenta Google Drive. O questionário foi enviado via e-mail para alunos de graduação, e aplicado em salas de aulas, com a autorização dos professores, em quatro universidades de ensino público (uma em cada cidade). Dos 1200, questionários enviados obteve-se um retorno de 705 formulários respondidos válidos. A coleta de dados para esta pesquisa foi realizada em instituições públicas de ensino superior nas cidades de São Carlos - SP, São José do Rio Preto - SP, Campo Grande - MS e Tupã - SP.Para a análise dos dados, utilizou-se a análise fatorial confirmatória, a análise fatorial exploratória e a análise de agrupamento (cluster).Os resultados da pesquisa permitem um melhor entendimento quanto ao construto atitude em relação ao uso da bicicleta. Foi identificado no estudo que o construto Atitude passa a ser representado por três fatores: Qualidade (Saúde, Economia, Ambiente), Liberdade (Independência, Rapidez) e Insegurança (Acidentes, Assaltos), outra constatação foi que nem sempre quanto mais positiva for a atitude mais forte a intenção de usar a bicicleta. Considera-se que a pesquisa atingiu o seu objetivo principal e os resultados contribuem para a definição de diretrizes políticas de incentivo ao uso da bicicleta em viagens utilitárias, haja vista que a implantação de uma política de incentivo ao uso da bicicleta pode trazer vantagens econômicas e ambientais para uma cidade.