Consumers’ perception of quality and factors of purchase in the context of a social enterprise

: an exploratory study based on Cozinha com Alma

Abstract

This dissertation examines the consumer response to a particular social enterprise, Cozinha com Alma. Focusing on consumer behaviour, mainly in terms of perception of quality and factors of purchase, the research explores the utilitarian value of the product offered by this organization as compared to the desire of the customers to help the families in need as the primary factor for purchase. Thus, the aim of the present dissertation is to clearly understand the customer’s perception of quality of a social enterprise, how it affects the consumer’s factors of purchase, and the impact it has in the business. To that purpose, a qualitative study was conducted based on semi-structured, face-to-face interviews to the consumers of this social enterprise. The research concluded that, although the utilitarian value somewhat motivated the purchase, consumers widely valued the helping dimension of the exchange. Research on this topic is still lacking. The main findings show that the concept of social enterprises is not perceived as deterrent for quality. Also, and contrarily to the existing literature, few consumers are able to see their purchase as purely due to solidarity reasons. Meaning that, there are many other factors of purchase involved. Thereby, the present dissertation makes a contribution to the literature not only to the consumer behaviour field but also to the concept of hybrid organizations and more specifically social enterprises by examining how consumers behave in its context.

Date of Award	2 Mar 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Marta Liliana Nunes Bicho (Supervisor)