Financial guilt and crisis

: exploring marketing opportunities to Southern European countries

Abstract

Southern European Countries have been hit by a crisis which has implied deep and fast mutations of the social and economical reality surrounding consumers. Therefore, the consumer himself has changed his vision, behavior, habits, values and beliefs towards the external environment. Thus, it is of crucial importance for companies’ marketing to understand and respond to the crisis correctly, not only focusing on the reorganization of the structural costs most are conducting, but also in the modifications on consumers’ attitude. This article allows us to understand more deeply the new consumer and how guilty appeals can reply in fulfilling their necessities. More precisely, it will focus on and discuss the use of financial guilt during crisis periods and how companies can take advantage of it. For this purpose, the results of an international research in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece will be discussed.

Date of Award	23 Jul 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Susana Silva (Supervisor)