Social media offers a myriad of opportunities for entrepreneurial marketing strategies that leverage the power of communities, especially when they are combined with traditional approaches such as celebrity endorsement. The reach, frequency, and speed of communication on social media offer the ideal leverage for the drivers of entrepreneurial marketing. However, the rapid rate of change may threaten the effects of investments in entrepreneurial marketing on social media and they might become only short-lived. Employing structural equation modeling, we test the long-term effect of Facebook-based celebrity endorsement on purchase intention among 234 members of a Facebook fan community in a two-wave longitudinal design. We argue that this relationship is mediated by a sponsor's brand image and moderated by brand differentiation. This study is the first to investigate the long-term effects of entrepreneurial marketing on social media. We present the contributions and implications of our findings as they affect research and practice.

Problem: Sustainability and sustainable development has gained more attention in recent years. As a result, companies are more committed to taking responsibility and demonstrating that it contributes to a sustainable society by publishing a sustainability report. An industry that has proved to be a major problem, and which has become increasingly demanding in the sustainability issue, is the construction industry. However, previous research has shown that sustainability reports have shortcomings in its quality. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and enhance understanding of the concept of quality and quality in sustainability reports. The study aims at investigating and determining the quality of Swedish companies' sustainability reports between 2014 and 2016 and investigating whether there has been a development regarding the quality of the reports. Methodology: Based on the purpose of the study, a comparative cross-sectional design is used and a combination of quantitative and qualitative research strategy. A content analysis is done by companies' sustainability reports and its quality is assessed based on a predetermined coding scheme. Results and conclusions: The results show that the quality of corporate sustainability reports has increased between 2014 and 2016, but there is still room for improvement. The relevance of sustainability reporting exceeded its credibility. / Problem: Ämnet hållbarhet och hållbar utveckling har under de senaste åren fått allt större uppmärksamhet. I takt med det har företagen får större krav på sig att ta ansvar och visa på att det bidrar till ett hållbart samhälle genom att upprätta en hållbarhetsrapport. En bransch som visat sig vara ett stort problem och som fått allt större krav på sig i hållbarhetsfrågan är byggbranschen. Tidigare forskning har dock visat att hållbarhetsrapporter har haft stora brister i kvaliteten. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva och öka förståelsen för begreppet kvalitet och kvalitet i hållbarhetsredovisningar. Studien syftar till att undersöka och fastställa kvaliteten i svenska företags hållbarhetsredovisningar mellan år 2014 och 2016 och undersöka om en utveckling har skett avseende rapporternas kvalitet. Metod: Utifrån studiens syfte används en komparativ tvärsnittsdesign och en kombination av kvantitativ och kvalitativ forskningsstrategi används. En innehållsanalys görs av företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar och dess kvalitet bedöms utifrån ett förutbestämt kodningsschema. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet visar att kvaliteten i företagens hållbarhetsrapporter har ökat mellan åren 2014 och 2016 men att det fortfarande finns utrymme för förbättring. Hållbarhetsredovisningens relevans översteg dess trovärdighet.

Devido ao uso crescente de Forward Guidance (FG) pelo mundo e pelo Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), essa tese se dedica a estudar a aplicabilidade dessas medidas para o Brasil. No primeiro estudo, reunimos a literatura sobre o assunto e verificamos que apenas a versão quantitativa do Forward Guidance é recomendada, pelos ganhos institucionais e pela capacidade de evitar mau entendimento sobre a condicionalidade das previsões. Contudo, a versão qualitativa, a mesma que foi empregada pelo BCB, não é recomendada por não trazer os benefícios institucionais e estar mais sujeita às críticas de não condicionalidade das projeções e sobreposição da análise do Banco Central sobre o mercado. Destacamos que na literatura empírica não é claro que há um ganho de eficiência através de aumento da previsibilidade das ações da autoridade monetária com o uso do FG. Adicionalmente, podemos perceber, ao avaliar o comportamento das expectativas de mercado no período, que a autoridade monetária passou a usar FG, que o mercado seguiu as instruções mesmo na presença de choques inflacionários, mas alterando sua avaliação sobre a meta implícita de inflação, ou seja, o mercado acreditou que era uma projeção incondicional. Já no segundo estudo, através de análise fatorial, decompomos baseado na técnica de Gürkaynak, Sack e Swanson (2005), em componentes não observáveis a reação da curva de juros curta após a divulgação do comunicado do Copom Encontramos dois fatores não observáveis ortogonais, o que significa dizer que o mercado brasileiro, além de captar a mensagem sobre a taxa de juros corrente e seus desdobramentos sobre a curva de juros, existe outro componente que reflete a reação à comunicação, mas que interfere na trajetória da taxa de juros não relacionada à mudança na taxa de juros corrente. Ao regredir esses componentes contra a expectativa de inflação, percebemos que na Gestão de Henrique Meirelles, a autoridade afetava as expectativas de inflação aumentando o nível de informação do mercado e tinha capacidade de se comunicar e ser compreendido. Já na Gestão de Alexandre Tombini, perdese a capacidade de movimentar as expectativas de inflação com comunicação e a taxa de juros corrente passa a ser a única forma de reduzir as expectativas inflacionárias dos agentes. Por fim, no terceiro estudo, implementamos os choques antecipados de política monetária em um modelo DSGE de pequena economia aberta, a fim de medir o efeito de Forward Guidance na economia caso fosse feito com total credibilidade. Verificamos que a medida é muito poderosa caso implementada de maneira crível. Também podemos verificar, ao comparar com um anúncio não crível, que a trajetória esperada da taxa de juros exerce um papel importante sobre a economia e que a credibilidade em um processo de estabilização macroeconômica é fundamental. Em resumo, encontramos evidências de que a experiência do FG brasileiro não apresentou os resultados desejados e a sua utilização não é recomendada, seja porque é uma medida que traz poucos benefícios e muitos riscos, seja porque temos evidências de que a autoridade não consegue manejar as expectativas de inflação com comunicação Contudo, caso o BCB recupere essa capacidade, como no passado, entendemos que os impactos de anúncios que surpreendessem a curva de juros seriam elevados. Ainda, nosso estudo reforça a análise de Woodford (2005) de que a compreensão do mercado acerca dos planos da autoridade monetária é chave para que a política monetária ganhe eficiência. Por isso, ter credibilidade é algo extremamente importante e quando se quer estabilizar uma economia deve-se buscar essa qualidade o quanto antes. Por fim, podemos inferir que a política monetária atualmente perdeu parte da sua eficácia, uma vez que os agentes não apreçam a taxa de juros necessária para colocar a inflação na meta e, como veremos no terceiro artigo, é importante que a trajetória esperada seja idêntica ao plano do Banco Central. / Due to the increasing use of Forward Guidance (FG) the world and the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB), this thesis is devoted to studying the applicability of these measures to Brazil. In the first study, we gathered the literature on the subject and found that only quantitative version of Forward Guidance is recommended by institutional gains and the ability to avoid misunderstanding about the conditionality of forecasts. However, the qualitative version, the same as that employed by the BCB, is not recommended for bringing institutional benefits and be more subject to criticism from non-compliance of the projections and overlapping of the Central Bank analysis of the market. We emphasize that the empirical literature is not clear that there is a gain in efficiency by increasing the predictability of the actions of the monetary authority using the FG. Additionally, we can see, to evaluate the behavior of market expectations for the period, the monetary authority started using FG, the market followed the same instructions in the presence of inflationary shocks, but changing its assessment of the implicit inflation target, or words, the market believed it was an unconditional projection. In the second study, through factor analysis, based on factored Gürkaynak technique, Sack, and Swanson (2005), on unobservable components the reaction of short yield curve after the announcement of the release of the Monetary Policy Committee We found two unobservable factors orthogonal, which means that the Brazilian market, and get the message about the current interest rate and its consequences on the yield curve, there is another component that reflects the response to the communication, but it interferes with trajectory of interest rates unrelated to changes in the interest rate. To regrow these components against the expectation of inflation, we realized that in Henrique Meirelles Management, the authority affected inflation expectations increasing market information level and was able to communicate and be understood. In the Alexandre Tombini Management, you lose the ability to move inflation expectations with communication and the interest rate becomes the only way to reduce inflationary expectations of agents. Finally, the third study, we implemented the anticipated shocks of monetary policy in a DSGE model of small open economy, in order to measure the effect of Forward Guidance on the economy if it were done with full credibility. We found that the measure is very powerful if implemented credibly. We can also verify by comparing with a non-credible announcement, the expected path of interest rates plays an important role on the economy and the credibility in a macroeconomic stabilization process is critical. In summary, we found evidence that the Brazilian FG experience did not produce the desired results and its use is not recommended either because it is a measure that brings few benefits and many risks, either because we have evidence that the authority cannot handle the inflation expectations with communication However, if the BCB recover this capacity, as in the past, we believe that the impact of ads that surprises the yield curve would be high. Still, our study reinforces the analysis of Woodford (2005) that the understanding of the market about the monetary authority plans is key for monetary policy to gain efficiency. So have credibility is extremely important and when you want to stabilize an economy should be sought that status as soon as possible. Finally, we can infer that monetary policy currently lost some of its effectiveness, since the agents do not correctly price the interest rate required to bring inflation on target and, as we shall see in the third article, it is important that the expected trajectory is identical Central Bank's plan to.

A presente tese é uma pesquisa composta de duas partes. A primeira e principal é constituída do ensaio em economia aplicada denominado “Emprego e investimentos no Polo Naval de Rio Grande”. O estudo analisa a atividade econômica e o emprego no setor naval dos municípios do Polo Naval de Rio Grande, correspondente aos investimentos de produção nos estaleiros, e estima seus efeitos sobre o emprego agregado desses municípios. Documenta diversas características e fatos do emprego naquele setor e procede a uma investigação minuciosa da sua sazonalidade. Importantes correlações deste com o de outros setores selecionados também foram identificadas. Na análise do impacto sobre o emprego agregado, utiliza-se uma especificação diferenciada do modelo diff-in-diff e estima-se um efeito médio ponderado significativo, heterogêneo no tempo e entre os municípios. Já a segunda parte da tese, complementar à primeira, é composta de dois ensaios: um em teoria econômica e outro em economia aplicada. Ambos estão relacionados ao conceito e medida de credibilidade. Em economia monetária o termo credibilidade tem sido interpretado com distintos significados e predicados. Como consequência, as confusões e perda de eficiência acabam retardando o avanço teórico e empírico de questões importantes. O ensaio “Credibilidade: o conceito” busca organizar a interpretação e a medida de credibilidade, principalmente no contexto monetário. Nele propõe-se um conceito abrangente, baseado na linguagem natural e que aninha diversas interpretações, formalizando-o matematicamente na estrutura da Teoria da Probabilidade, na qual também construi-se a medida. No outro ensaio, denominado “Credibilidade: aplicação empírica”, realiza-se uma aplicação do conceito e da medida de credibilidade construídos no anterior. Utilizando dados de um survey de expectativas de inflação (pontuais e probabilísticas) para a economia dos Estados Unidos, estima-se diversas credibilidades para variados horizontes temporais e focos. Emprega-se métodos não-paramétricos para as estimações (spline e kernel), com especificações adaptadas à particularidade dos dados. / The present thesis is a research composed of two parts. The first and main consists of the essay in applied economy called “Emprego e investimentos no Polo Naval de Rio Grande”. The study analyzes the employment in the naval sector of the Rio Grande Naval Pole municipalities, correspondent to the production investments in the shipyards, and estimates their effects on the aggregate employment of these municipalities. It documents various characteristics and facts of employment in that sector and proceeds to a thorough investigation of its seasonality. Moreover, important correlations between this and other selected sectors were identified. In the analysis of impact on aggregate employment we used a differentiated specification of the model diff-in-diff, and estimated a weighted average effect, which is heterogeneous in time and between municipalities. Now, the second part of the thesis, complementary to the first one, is composed of two essays: one in economic theory and the other in applied economics. Both are related to the concept and measure of credibility. In monetary economics the term credibility has been interpreted with different meanings and predicates. Consequently, the confusions and loss of efficiency slow down the theoretical and empirical advancement of important issues. The essay “Credibilidade: o conceito” seeks to organize the interpretation and measurement of credibility, especially in the monetary context. In that essay are proposed a comprehensive concept, based on natural language and that nestles diverse interpretations, formalizing it mathematically in the framework of Probability Theory, in which the measure was also constructed. In the other essay, called “Credibilidade: aplicação empírica”, we apply the concept and measure of credibility built in the previous one. Using data from a survey of inflation expectations (both point and probabilistic) for the US economy, we estimate various credibilities for various time horizons and focus. We use non-parametric methods (spline and kernel) to estimate, with specifications adapted to the particularity of the data.

Diversos países adotaram o regime de metas de inflação como estratégia de condução da política monetária, visando à busca prioritária da estabilidade de preços. Neste sentido, o objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar, num primeiro momento, as principais características desse arranjo de política monetária, assim como as condições necessárias para sua implementação e operacionalização, enfatizando o papel da credibilidade. Posteriormente, para fornecer parâmetros de comparação ao caso brasileiro, são apresentados alguns resultados empíricos de importantes experiências internacionais, a saber, Nova Zelândia, Canadá e Reino Unido, representando economias avançadas; Chile, Israel e México, representando economias emergentes. Em seguida, é analisada a experiência brasileira, apresentando o cenário econômico anterior à introdução do sistema de metas no País, passando, então, à análise das evidências empíricas desde sua implementação, em junho de 1999, até dezembro de 2012. Por fim, são apresentadas algumas conclusões acerca da efetividade, ou não, do sistema nos países analisados, bem como da importância da credibilidade para o desempenho do referido regime, em particular, no Brasil. / Several countries have adopted inflation targeting regime as a monetary policy aimed at priority pursuit of price stability strategy driving. In this sense, the objective of this paper is to analyze, at first, the main features of this arrangement monetary policy, as the necessary conditions for its implementation and operation, emphasizing the role of credibility. Later on, in order to provide benchmarks to the Brazilian case, some empirical results of important international experiences, namely New Zealand, Canada and the UK, representing advanced economies are presented; and Chile, Israel and Mexico, representing emerging economies. Then it is analyzed the Brazilian experience, presenting the economic scenario in the country before the introduction of the system of targets, passing then to the analysis of the empirical evidence, since its inception in June 1999 until December 2012. Finally, we present some conclusions about the effectiveness, or not, the system in the countries analyzed, as well as the importance of the credibility to the performance of the referred scheme, particularly in Brazil.

Este trabalho tem por proposta analisar a credibilidade da política monetária brasileira. O período verificado pelo trabalho é a partir de outubro de 1997 a dezembro de 2007, marcado principalmente por políticas antiinflacionárias e por dificuldades externas. Particularmente, busca verificar se houve ou não credibilidade neste período. Para tanto, é utilizado instrumental econométrico, via modelo autorregressivo com variáveis dummies. São feitos também testes necessários à detecção de correlação serial. Considera-se que há credibilidade quando se têm resultados nos quais a variável desemprego gera impactos negativos sobre o diferencial de taxa de juros entre Brasil e EUA. Os resultados da regressão do modelo mostram uma medida válida para a questão da credibilidade da política monetária no caso brasileiro. / This research has for proposal to analyze the credibility of Brazilian monetary policy. The verified period is between October/1997 and December/2007, manly characterized by anti-inflationary policies and external difficulties. Specifically, this research proposes to verify if there was or not credibility on the period. For that, it is used an econometric instrumental, by an autoregressive model with dummie variables. The necessary tests for the detection of serial correlation were made. Credibility exists when the unemployment variable generates negative impacts on the interest rate differentials between Brazil and USA. The results of model’s regression show a valid measurement to Brazilian monetary policy credibility.

Este trabalho tem por proposta analisar a credibilidade da política monetária brasileira. O período verificado pelo trabalho é a partir de outubro de 1997 a dezembro de 2007, marcado principalmente por políticas antiinflacionárias e por dificuldades externas. Particularmente, busca verificar se houve ou não credibilidade neste período. Para tanto, é utilizado instrumental econométrico, via modelo autorregressivo com variáveis dummies. São feitos também testes necessários à detecção de correlação serial. Considera-se que há credibilidade quando se têm resultados nos quais a variável desemprego gera impactos negativos sobre o diferencial de taxa de juros entre Brasil e EUA. Os resultados da regressão do modelo mostram uma medida válida para a questão da credibilidade da política monetária no caso brasileiro. / This research has for proposal to analyze the credibility of Brazilian monetary policy. The verified period is between October/1997 and December/2007, manly characterized by anti-inflationary policies and external difficulties. Specifically, this research proposes to verify if there was or not credibility on the period. For that, it is used an econometric instrumental, by an autoregressive model with dummie variables. The necessary tests for the detection of serial correlation were made. Credibility exists when the unemployment variable generates negative impacts on the interest rate differentials between Brazil and USA. The results of model’s regression show a valid measurement to Brazilian monetary policy credibility.

abstract: The purpose of this project is to better understand police perceptions of sexual assault complainants by assessing their likelihood of questioning a complainant’s credibility and by examining police attitudes toward victims of sexual assault. To advance understanding of these issues, this dissertation (1) expands upon prior research by drawing on a sample of officers from one of the largest metropolitan police departments in the United States and, (2) through the use of framing theory, contributes to the literature by focusing on the attitudes of police toward sexual assault complainants and how these beliefs are shaped by day-to-day experiences. This dissertation investigates two research questions using a mixed-methods approach. The data come from 400 sexual assault complaints that were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and 52 LAPD detective interviews. I quantitatively examine the factors that influence officer perceptions of complainant credibility, focusing on indicators of “real rape,” “genuine” victims, “inappropriate” victim behavior, and “character flaws.” I contextualize this work by examining police attitudes toward sexual assault victims using qualitative data taken from interviews of sex crimes detectives. This research contributes to the broader case processing literature by focusing on victim credibility, a factor consistently found to influence case processing decisions. Moreover, this study contributes to research on the frames officers assign to women who report sexual assault. Analyses from the quantitative portion of the study confirm that indicators of “real rape,” and complainant “character issues” were key explanatory factors influencing credibility assessments. Regarding qualitative results, three sexual assault victim frames were identified. These frames include depictions of victims as they relate to: (a) the suspect/victim relationship, (b) problematic victim behavior, and (c) age. These three frames indicate that certain types of victims are viewed as problematic. This dissertation contributes to three broad bodies of literature: law enforcement decision making, law enforcement perceptions of sexual assault victims, and framing theory. This dissertation was able to tap into officer attitudes to shed light on the ways officers treat women who come forward to report sexual assault, providing valuable insight into officer attitudes, credibility assessments, and victim framing. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2015

Cette recherche se positionne dans un contexte de parrainage d'une cause par une marque, et plus précisément dans le cadre d'une publicité de soutien en faveur d'une cause environnementale. Elle vise notamment à répondre à la problématique suivante : comment améliorer l'efficacité d'une publicité de soutien ? La littérature a mis en exergue le rôle majeur joué par la congruence/incongruence perçue entre le parrain et l'entité parrainée, mais ce concept fait néanmoins débat depuis plus de trente ans dans la littérature marketing (Fleck et Maille, 2010 ; Maille et Fleck, 2011). Les objectifs de la recherche imposent une phase importante de meilleure compréhension du concept et de sa mesure (études 1 et 2). L'étude 3, utilisant de manière originale l'approche tétraclasse, propose une nouvelle conceptualisation basée sur l'identification des éléments de contribution à la congruence et à l'incongruence. Sur la base de ces résultats, deux outils de mesure sont proposés permettant de mieux appréhender la congruence perçue et l'incongruence perçue (étude 4). Puis cette recherche étudie, au moyen d'une expérimentation (étude 5), dans quelle mesure et de quelle manière l'articulation du parrainage (explication du lien entre le parrain et l'entité parrainée) peut influencer les intentions comportementales envers la cause soutenue. Les résultats soulignent que la congruence perçue, l'incongruence perçue et la crédibilité du parrain sont médiatrices de l'effet de l'articulation du parrainage sur les intentions comportementales envers la cause soutenue, mais avec une différence d'effet entre congruence et incongruence. En effet, si l'articulation du parrainage influence positivement la crédibilité du parrain en augmentant la congruence perçue et en diminuant l'incongruence perçue entre la marque et l'organisation non commerciale, l'effet de la congruence perçue sur les intentions comportementales envers la cause n'est pas médiatisé par la crédibilité perçue du parrain, à la différence de l'effet de l'incongruence perçue qui est bien médiatisé par cette crédibilité. / This research takes place in the context of cause sponsoring by a brand, and more precisely within the framework of environmental issue advocacy advertising. It aims in particular at answering the following question: how to improve the efficiency of advocacy advertising? Previous research highlighted the major role played by perceived congruency/incongruency between the sponsor and the sponsored entity, but this concept has been still discussed for more than thirty years in the marketing literature (Fleck and Maille, 2010; Maille and Fleck, 2011). The objectives of this research require to better understand the concept and its measure (studies 1 and 2). Study 3 uses in an original way the tetraclass approach to propose a new conceptualization of the concept based on the identification of elements that contribute to congruency and to incongruency. Based on these results, two measurement tools allowing to separately capture perceived congruency and perceived incongruency are proposed (study 4). Then this research examines through an experiment (study 5) to what extent and how sponsorship articulation (the explanation of the link between the sponsor and the sponsored entity) can influence behavioral intentions toward the supported cause. The results underline that perceived congruency, perceived incongruency and sponsor credibility mediate the effect of sponsorship articulation on behavioral intentions toward the supported cause but throughout a different effect on perceived congruency and on perceived incongruency: 1/sponsorship articulation influences positively sponsor credibility due to an increase in perceived congruency and a decrease in perceived incongruency between the brand and the not commercial organization, 2/ the effect of perceived congruency on behavioral intentions toward the cause is not explained by sponsor credibility while the effect of perceived incongruency is explained by sponsor credibility.

Research questions:How do consumers perceive native advertising compared to other online advertising? How does the media channel affect native advertisements?How do consumers receive native advertising? Purpose:The purpose of this study is to examine native advertising from a consumer perspective. A research will be done about how consumers perceive native advertising compared to other online advertising, how the media channel affects native advertisements and how consumers receive native advertising. Four different hypotheses are used to examine the research questions, which will entail new insights within the subject native advertising. Theoretical framework:The theoretical framework of this thesis consists of theories which are related to the research area native advertising. The main theories are about online advertising, native advertising, consumer perception, credibility and media source impact. Method:This study has a quantitative and deductive approach. An experiment was performed with a between-subject design where two surveys were used. The surveys were distributed by email and the primary data collection included responses from 106 respondents. The data analysis was performed through various diagrams, t-tests and Pearson's correlation test. Empirical findings:The empirical findings present the data from the experimental surveys through tables, diagrams and text. The results are based on 16 items with answer options which represented a Likert scale, one item with a two option answer and two open questions. Conclusion:In the conclusion, the research questions are responded. The results from the empirical findings show a more positive perception of native advertisements compared to banners from a consumer perspective. The media channel did not have any impact on the perceived credibility of a native advertisement. The results show that the respondents received native advertising as obvious advertising and therefore they did not feel persuaded by this kind of advertising.