Resumo Estereótipos positivos e negativos estão presentes em comunicações de marketing e são apresentados aos consumidores de forma indiscriminada. Com a atual epidemia de obesidade mundial, propagandas televisivas que se utilizam de indivíduos obesos em situações estigmatizadas não são exceção. Este artigo analisa o papel desempenhado por pessoas gordas em propagandas veiculadas na televisão sob a ótica de estigmas e estereótipos. Para tanto, realizaram-se três grupos focais com sujeitos que assistiram propagandas em que o protagonista era um indivíduo gordo. Fez-se inicialmente a análise do conteúdo de uma coleção de comerciais, bem como do corpus da pesquisa na qual se construiu uma figura representativa do “ser gordo” nessas mensagens. Sobressaiu nas análises que esses protagonistas apresentam-se com o objetivo de provocar o riso por meio do humor. Por conta disso, estigmas como “cômicos”, “estranhos” e “fracos” são formados a partir dos seus estereótipos e papéis desempenhados. Ao avançar nas investigações, questiona-se até que ponto essas interpretações podem comprometer a imagem da marca veiculada, considerando que o fenômeno obesidade está presente no quotidiano da maioria dos consumidores.

Abstract Positive and negative stereotypes are present in marketing communications in everyday life to consumers indiscriminately. Taking in account the current epidemy of obesity worldwide, television advertisements that use obese individuals in stigmatized situations are no exception. This article analyzes, from the perspective of skinny consumers, the role played by fat people in commercials aired on television. Therefore, there were three focus groups with people who have seen advertisements in which the protagonist was a fat guy. There was initially a content analysis of a commercial collection and the research corpus in which it was built a representative figure of the “being fat” in these messages. The analyzes stressed that these protagonists present themselves in order to provoke laughter through humor. Because of this, stigmas as “comical”, “weird” and “weak” are formed from their stereotypes and roles. The question that remains is how far these interpretations may affect the brand image conveyed, considering that the obesity phenomenon is present in everyday life of most consumers.

Hotel Management: The Brazilian Case of Pontes Hotéis & Resorts Chain Based on the Multidimensional-Reflective Model of Organization. Hotel enterprises have shown their increasingly prominent role on the new Brazilian business scenario. Such organizations represent complex structures whose shape is impossible to follow a general pattern rigidly established. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze a hotel organization to demonstrate the hybridity that characterizes the management form adopted by its managers, based on the Multidimensional-Reflective Model. For that, a case study was carried out and the analysis led to the comprehension of the domination mode within the hotels belonging to the chain studied, through the view of the types derived from the model. Thus, through the content analysis of the data collected by in-depth interview with a manager of the group, it was found that the organization revealed a predominance of certain elements which characterizes it as equiparative-adapting, framing its management style in such a structural type.

Los emprendimientos hoteleros muestran un destacado rol ante el nuevo escenario empresarial brasileño. Como organizaciones representan estructuras complejas cuyo formato es imposible que sigua un modelo general rígidamente establecido. Así, la propuesta de este trabajo fue analizar una organización hotelera para demostrar la hibridación característica de la forma de administración adoptada por sus dirigentes en base al Modelo Multidimensional Reflexivo. Se empleó el estudio de caso cuyo análisis permitió, a partir de la creación de variables estructurales, calificar la forma de dominio presente en la gestión de los hoteles pertenecientes a la red estudiada entre los tipos organizacionales derivados del modelo. A través del análisis de contenido de los datos recolectados mediante una entrevista al gestor del grupo investigado se observó que la organización revela cierta predominancia de elementos de carácter equiparativo-adaptador, encuadrando su forma de gestión conforme el tipo estructural observado.

The construct Perceived Risk was introduced in the marketing literature in 1960 and since then has been the object of interest of researchers. Along with this theme, research on risk reduction strategies - RRSs were aimed at understanding how individuals react when faced with a situation of risk. This article was based on the work of Roselius, 1971, in which the author sought to identify the Average Percentage of Preference or "Net Favorable Percentage - NFP" of certain individuals by RRSs. A scenario of online sales of hotel services was used in order to account for the score obtained for each of the eleven strategies used in the original study namely endorsements, brand loyalty, major brand image, private testing, store image, free sample, money-back guarantee, government testing, shopping, expensive models and word-of-mouth. The research was characterized by being quantitative and descriptive and it was performed on a single cross-section with a non-probabilistic sample. Data collection was performed with the use of a Likert scale of five points, the subjects being selected by the technique of half-ball snow. The results indicate that individuals are in favor of use of strategies to reduce the risks they perceive, but they vary in determining the degree of preference assigned to them.

El concepto de riesgo percibido fue introducido en la bibliografía de marketing en 1960 y desde entonces ha sido objeto de interés para los investigadores. Junto con esa temática se realizaron estudios sobre estrategias de reducción de riesgo (ERR) buscando comprender cómo reaccionan los individuos al enfrentarse a una situación de riesgo. El presente artículo se basa en Roselius (1971) quien buscó identificar el Porcentual Medio de Preferencia o "Net Favorable Percentage" (NFP) de los individuos por determinadas ERR. El objeto estudiado fueron las ventas online de servicios hoteleros midiendo la puntuación obtenida para cada una de las once estrategias utilizadas en el estudio original a saber, uso del endoso de las marcas, lealtad a la marca, imagen de la marca, test de empresas privadas, imagen del establecimiento, muestra gratis, garantía de devolución del dinero, test de organismos gubernamentales, comparación de opciones, compra de ofertas caras y difusión boca a boca. El estudio se caracterizó por ser cuantitativo descriptivo y se realizó con un corte transversal único, en tanto que la muestra fue no probabilística. Para la recolección de datos se empleó una escala de tipo Likert de cinco puntos y los sujetos fueron seleccionados por medio de la técnica de bola de nieve. Los resultados indican que los individuos muestran una actitud favorable frente al uso de estrategias para reducir los riesgos que perciben, aunque varían en la clasificación del grado de preferencia atribuido a ellas.

Tourism is an import industry in the Brazilian scene and its image of an exotic country is well-known. The growth of the access to the Internet and the dynamism of the flow of information in this media, led to the development of destination websites, with the objective to inform and promote localities globally. The objective of this study was to analyze how the access to the tourism website of a specific destination can influence the evaluation of its image. The research had an exploratory-descriptive character, with a transversal nature. First a literature review was applied and the participation of six judges evaluating the chosen tourism websites, objects of this research: city of São Paulo (http://www.cidadedesaopaulo.com), Rio de Janeiro (http://www.rioguiaoficial.com.br) and Rio Grande do Sul (http://www.turismo.rs.gov.br). In the descriptive phase a survey with a non random sample of one hundred and eleven respondents was carried measuring the image of the destination before and after the exposition of subjects to the websites. Non-parametric test of hypothesis of Wilcoxon indicated significant differences between attributes evaluated for the respondents before and after the expositions to the websites. Thus, it is considered important that the managers of websites from localities worry about the correct planning and development of the tourism websites, since the results of the study corroborate the assumption that a website can influence the image of the tourist destination.

El turismo es una industria muy relevante en Brasil, país que posee la imagen de lo exótico y se destaca en diversos países del mundo. El crecimiento del acceso a Internet y el dinamismo del flujo de información, permitió al desarrollo de sitios de destinos para informar y promover localidades de forma global. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar cómo el portal turístico de un destino puede influenciar en la evaluación de su imagen. La investigación fue de carácter exploratorio-descriptivo, de corte transversal. Se relevó la literatura y seis evaluadores analizaron los portales turísticos de la ciudad de São Paulo (http://www.cidadedesaopaulo.com), Rio de Janeiro (http://www.rioguiaoficial.com.br) y Rio Grande do Sul (http://www.turismo.rs.gov.br). Luego se realizó una encuesta con una muestra de 111 personas para medir la imagen del destino antes y después de ver los sitios. El test no paramétrico de Wilcoxon de la hipótesis, indicó diferencias significativas entre los atributos evaluados por los participantes así como contraposiciones en las evaluaciones de algunos atributos por medio de análisis estadísticos descriptivos (media y desvío patrón). Así, se considera importante que los creadores de los portales busquen una correcta planificación y desarrollo de los portales turísticos ya que los resultados del estudio corroboran la hipótesis de que el portal puede influir la imagen del destino turístico.

RESUMO O risco percebido tem sido estudado na área de marketing desde sua introdução, em 1960 por Bauer, devido à sua influência no comportamento do consumidor. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar o construto risco percebido quanto ao consumo de cigarros em grupos de fumantes e não-fumantes, com o intuito de analisar possíveis diferenças de percepções quanto aos tipos de riscos abordados pela literatura especializada. Ademais, buscou-se verificar a propensão a assumir riscos e diferenças quanto à percepção dos benefícios do consumo de cigarros. Para tal, foi realizado um estudo de corte transversal com uma amostra de 390 estudantes universitários. Os resultados indicaram que os fumantes percebem menos riscos de vício, financeiro, de saúde, sociais, de tempo e o risco geral do que os não-fumantes. Os fumantes percebem mais benefícios, em especial quanto considerar o cigarro como uma forma de aliviar a tensão e de ser relaxante.

ABSTRACT The perceived risk has been studied in the marketing literature since its introduction, in 1960 by Bauer, in spite of the importance of this construct in the consumer behavior area. The objective of this study was to investigate the perceived risk construct of the cigarette consumption among smoking and non smoking groups, with the goal to analyze the different perceptions of the risks. Besides that, this investigation studied the differences of perceived benefits of smoking and propensity of taking risks. This investigation used a transversal study with a sample of 390 university students. The results indicated that the smokers perceive less risks of vice, financial, health, social, time and the general risk than the non smoking. Besides that, the smokers perceived more benefits, in special considering smoking as a way to alleviate the tension and relax.