Do Certifications Matter? The Impact of the Great Place to Work Certified Label on Consumers´ Product Perceptions

i Do Ce i ica ions Ma e ? The Impac o he G ea Place o Wo k Ce i ied Label on Consume s' P oduc Pe cep ions Clebe Tadeu Ma iano de Cas o – M20190117 Disse a ion p esen ed as pa ial equi emen o ob aining he Mas e ’s deg ee in S a is ics and In o ma ion Managemen ii NOVA In o ma ion Managemen School Ins i u o Supe io de Es a ís ica e Ges ão de In o mação Uni e sidade No a de Lisboa DO CERTIFICATIONS MATTER? THE IMPACT OF THE GREAT PLACE TO WORK CERTIFIED LABEL ON CONSUMERS' PRODUCT PERCEPTIONS by Clébe Tadeu Ma iano de Cas o Disse a ion p esen ed as pa ial equi emen o ob aining he Mas e ’s deg ee in In o ma ion Managemen , wi h a specializa ion in Ma ke ing In elligence Ad iso : P o esso a Dou o a Teodó a Szabó-Doua Co-Ad iso : P o esso Dou o Diego Cos a Pin o No embe 2021 iii DEDICATION Fi s o all, I hank my dea wi e Ca la Cos a, who has been wi h me since he beginning o his g ea jou ney. I also hank my amily, who didn’ le me gi e up on my d eam. P o esso s Diego Cos a Pin o and Teodo a Szabó-Doua , hank you o all you guidance and suppo . Fo my iends Ped o and B uno, o hei encou agemen and men o ing in his p ocess. G ea Place o Wo k® o allowing he use o he b and. Finally, I hank e e yone who wi nessed he challenges and ook pa in his jou ney so ha I could ge o his momen ! My since e “Thank you” o e e yone. i ABSTRACT Companies a e inc easingly unde s anding he posi i e impac s in he consume ’s mindse s ela ed o Co po a e Social Responsibili y (CSR) and En i onmen al, Social, and Go e nance (ESG) ini ia i es, ac ions ha can be co ela ed o mo e e hical and sus ainable ways o conduc business. Some p ac ical bene i s o hese disciplines a e on he enhancemen o employe b anding pe cep ions, u ning i in o a ele an and s a egical business componen ha is equi ing mo e a en ion o his con ex in he las yea s. The expec ed esul s wan o p o ide mo e insigh s able o show how a high le el o employee engagemen and ad e ising hese ela ed ecogni ions a e pe cei ed o no by he consume s, and i hey can di ec ly associa e wi h a be e quali y o p oduc s. E e y yea , o e six housand companies in six y coun ies, ep esen ing mo e han en million employees, in es ime and esou ces o use me hodologies like as p o ided by G ea Place o Wo k®, o iden i y hei employee expe ience and imp o e he key d i e s o engagemen . Based on his con ex his pape seeks o in es iga e i he e a e any posi i e impac s o being ce i ied as a g ea wo kplace on a b and’s epu a ion, by iden i ying consume s’ p e e ences and pu chasing in en ions in an expe imen al es compa ing di e en p oduc packages. The s udy used an expe imen al design wi h wo condi ions: a p oduc ’s package wi h e sus wi hou he G ea Place o Wo k® label. We o mula ed ques ions ha measu ed on a scale om 1 o 9, he deg ee o impo ance o ag eemen gi en o he p oposed ques ions o s a emen s. We ec ui ed 240 people li ing in he Uni ed S a es o Ame ica. 135 we e male (56,25%) and 105 emale (43,75%), 14 o hese indi iduals had 18 – 24 yea s (5,83%), 103 indi iduals 25 – 34 yea s (42,92%), 74 indi iduals 35 – 44 yea s (30,83%), 26 indi iduals 45 – 54 yea s (10,83%), and 23 indi iduals had 55 – 75 yea s (9,58%). As a esul , he explo a o y analysis unde sco es a signi ican co ela ion be ween he o e all pe cep ion o he p oduc and he quali y o a speci ic g oup. Despi e ha , we ound no s a is ically signi ican co ela ion be ween he p esence o a G ea Place o Wo k® ce i ied company label on he chocola e package and he o e all alue o he p oduc . The p esence o his speci ic label also was no s a is ically associa ed wi h he p ice people we e willing o pay o he possible as e o he chocola e. In conclusion, ou s udy shows ha he pe cep ion o quali y only impac ed indi iduals abo e 35 yea s old who a e chocola e o en. Indeed, he use o c edible labels allows i ms o signal quali y, and in so doing o c ea e he po en ial o a p emium posi ioning based on his signal. KEYWORDS Consume s P e e ence; Pu chasing In en ions; ESG; Bes Wo kplaces; Employee Expe ience; G ea Place o Wo k; Ce i ied Label; CSR Ini ia i es. INDEX 1. In oduc ion .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Backg ound ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2. P oblem Jus i ica ion ............................................................................................. 1 1.3. Objec i es, Resea ch Ques ions and Rele ance .................................................... 2 1.4. S udy S uc u e ...................................................................................................... 2 2. Li e a u e e iew .......................................................................................................... 4 2.1. B anding and P oduc s Di e en ia ion ................................................................. 4 2.2. CSR Ini ia i es, ESG and Employe B anding ......................................................... 5 2.3. Concep ual Model ................................................................................................. 7 3. Me hodology ................................................................................................................ 8 4. Resul s and discussion ................................................................................................ 11 4.1. Main Ou come ..................................................................................................... 11 4.2. Explo a o y Analysis ............................................................................................ 12 4.3. Discussion ............................................................................................................ 14 5. Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 15 5.1. Main Conclusions and Resea ch Con ibu ions ................................................... 15 5.2. Manage ial Implica ions ...................................................................................... 15 6. Limi a ions and ecommenda ions o u u e wo ks ................................................. 17 7. Bibliog aphy ................................................................................................................ 18 8. Appendix ..................................................................................................................... 20 8.1. Appendix 01: Raw Da a Su ey. .......................................................................... 20 8.2. Appendix 02: Raw Da a Su ey. .......................................................................... 21 8.3. Appendix 03: Plo s ............................................................................................... 22 8.4. Appendix 04: Plo s. .............................................................................................. 23 8.5. Appendix 05: Plo s. .............................................................................................. 24 8.6. Appendix 06: Plo s. .............................................................................................. 25 8.7. Appendix 07: Plo s. .............................................................................................. 26 8.8. Appendix 08: Plo s. .............................................................................................. 27 i LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Su ey scales Fon : Au o ........................................................................................... 10 Table 2. Assessing he in luence o he es ed label on he o e all pe cep ion o he p oduc . Fon : Au o ....................................................................................................................... 11 Table 3. Explo a o y analysis ega ding socio-demog aphic a iables and he o e all pe cep ion o he chocola e. Fon : Au o ........................................................................ 12 Table 4. Explo a o y analysis ega ding socio-demog aphic a iables and he p ice olun ee s we e willing o pay o he chocola e. Fon : Au o .......................................................... 13 ii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1. Concep ual Model. Fon : Au o ..................................................................................... 7 Fig. 2. S imuli wi hou GPTW label. Fon : Au o ....................................................................... 9 Fig. 3. S imuli wi h GPTW label. Fon : Au o ............................................................................ 9 Fig. 4. Cha Age: 18-34 yea s. Fon : Au o ............................................................................. 11 Fig. 5. Cha Age: 35+ yea s. Fon : Au o ................................................................................ 12 Fig. 6. Q-Q Plo s on possible ela ions be ween a iables o in e es . ................................... 13 iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AMA – The Ame ican Ma ke ing Associa ion B2B – Business o Business B2C – Business o Consume CSR – Co po a e Social Responsibili y EB – Employe B anding ESG – En i onmen al, Social, and Go e nance EX – Employee Expe ience EVP – Employee Value P oposi ion GPTW – G ea Place o Wo k® HC – Human Capi al UN – The Uni ed Na ions 1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Backg ound O ganiza ions pu suing pe o mance and compe i i e ad an age, ha e used some key componen s such as co po a e social esponsibili y (CSR) and en i onmen al, social, and go e nance (ESG) ini ia i es as p omo ed by UN Sus ainable De elopmen Goals, as a aluable app oach o encou age hei business uni s o imp o e hei social, economic, and en i onmen al con ex (G een and Peloza, 2011), os e ing companies o c ea e a heal hy and engaged employee en i onmen , wi h a cul u e o enable he de elopmen o he people’s ull po en ial. A s ong ESG p oposi ion also links o alue c ea ion in i e essen ial ways: op-line g ow h, cos educ ions, egula o y and legal in e en ions, p oduc i i y upli , and in es men and asse op imiza ion. Looking speci ically o a p oduc i i y upli iew, a s ong ESG p oposi ion can boos employee mo i a ion and a ac alen h ough g ea e social c edibili y (Henisz, Kolle , & Nu all, 2020). The use o suppo sys ems and consis en me hodologies o guide a cul u e ha alues employees and leade ship engaged o he o ganiza ion’s goals enables people o excel in hei jobs (Lowe, 2010). Ma ke ing manage s a e also conce ned abou he epu a ion, which is a c i ical aspec no only o b anding s a egies and consume s loyal y bu also o a ac ing and e aining hei alen ed employees. This is called employe b anding, a e m i s coined by Simon Ba ow and Tim Amble (1996). The success o companies inc easingly depends on he epu a ion ha he b and has in he ma ke , and he ac ha i can posi i ely impac he a ac ion and e aining skilled employees is i al o companies ha a e ying o be an employe o choice o he employees (Su he land, To icelli, & Ka g, 2002), and his concep o ‘employe o choice’ is no hing bu he idea o employe b anding (Tüzüne & Yüksel, 2009). The concep o employe b anding has been de i ed om ma ke ing and o ganiza ions ha ha e used b anding as a s a egic ool, applying he concep o b anding in se e al o he se ings in which he ole o b anding is p ominen (Sok o, 2012). Employe b anding is an e ec i e s a egy aimed a gaining an ad an age in inc easingly compe i i e job ma ke s. I assumes ha Human Capi al (HC) b ings alue o he company and ha i s skill ul managemen can lead o a sus ained compe i i e ad an age. A sa is ied employee will be mo i a ed o p o ide a quali y se ice o hei cus ome s (Dabi ian, Pie e and Kie zmann, 2019). Based on his p emise, o ganiza ions cons an ly looking o e ec i e s a egies o a ac new alen s o e ain hei cu en employees, pa ially h ough a well- planned and consis en employe b and. Se e al s udies al eady p o ed he posi i e co ela ion be ween employee expe ience and cus ome expe ience, and he impac s ha he bes people managemen p ac ices ha e on employee mo i a ion. As a esul , o ganiza ions became conce ned wi h adop ing ini ia i es in people managemen o ob ain g ea e employee engagemen , mo e inno a ion, g ea e cus ome sa is ac ion and g ea e , and g ea e inancial pe o mance (Edmans, 2012). 1.2. P oblem Jus i ica ion E e y yea , many s udies ha e o e ed consis en benchma ks o he posi i e impac s on business pe o mance and managemen di ec ly associa ed wi h a be e employees’ expe ience (Mayle , W ide & Pa e son, 2017). Companies can use his in o ma ion o inc ease hei b and epu a ion by 8 3. METHODOLOGY The main objec i e o his s udy was o e i y whe he he p esence o GPTW label on packages can be associa ed wi h expec ed changes in pe cep ion o he p oduc ’s as e o quali y. Seconda y goals we e based on o he possible socio-demog aphical ac o s associa ed o he pe cep ion o quali y by he olun ee s ollowing explo a o y analysis. The s udy used an expe imen al design wi h wo condi ions: a p oduc ’s package wi h e sus wi hou he GPTW label. We o mula ed ques ions ha measu ed on a scale om 1 o 9, he deg ee o impo ance o ag eemen gi en o he p oposed ques ions o s a emen s. In his way, he objec i e was o ex ac he opinion o he esponden s, in o de o unde s and he main pe cep ions ega ding possible buying in en ion, quali y, and as e o a p oduc wi h he G ea Place o Wo k Ce i ied Label company (s imuli). Finally, he expe imen was sen , and da a we e collec ed online andomly in wo g oups, nomina ed as wi hou s imuli and wi h s imuli (wi hou a label and wi h a label). Ini ially, excel was used in o de o o ganize and s anda dize he in o ma ion collec ed. Then, he da a was explo ed h ough S a a 12 SE so wa e and Jamo i S a is ics so wa e. A his s age, we sough o analyze he ela ionship be ween he Independen and Dependen a iables in bo h g oups o compa e hei esul s. We ec ui ed 240 people li ing in he Uni ed S a es o Ame ica. 135 we e male (56,25%) and 105 emale (43,75%), 14 o hese indi iduals had 18 – 24 yea s (5,83%), 103 indi iduals 25 – 34 yea s (42,92%), 74 indi iduals 35 – 44 yea s (30,83%), 26 indi iduals 45 – 54 yea s (10,83%), and 23 indi iduals had 55 – 75 yea s (9,58%). Finally, 7 esponses had o be emo ed om he analysis due o incomple e answe s. The in oduc o y ex exposed he hypo he ical si ua ion, abou a global company ha is planning o launch a new line o snacks (Chocola e Ba s) and is in i ing a ge consume s a ound he wo ld o o e eedback abou hese new packages design. Nex , pa icipan s we e andomly assigned o obse e he package o ei he he G ea Place o Wo k® Ce i ied Company labeled o he non-labeled e sion o a new global chocola e b and (Fig. 2 –Fig. 3). We hen collec ed he indi iduals’ pe cep ion o he quali y, as e, in en ion o buy based on he p e iously ecei ed package, using 9-poin Like scales (see Table 1). To a oid he dange o he G ea Place o Wo k® Ce i ied Company label being un eliable and inconsis en wi h he p oduc ca ego y, his speci ic ca ego y o p oduc s was chosen conside ing he la ge op ions o unknown b ands o e ed as “whi e label” in e aile s. In o de o achie e he s udy objec i es, a su ey was designed o ou expe imen al esea ch, e e encing as men ioned by (Ca pen e e al. 1994), we a e going o conside as ou “meaningless” di e en ia ion adding he G ea Place o Wo k® Ce i ied company label in packages, an a ibu e ha canno be di ec ly co ela ed o a “be e as e” o “Be e Quali y” in a chocola e ba (Figu e. 2). E en knowing ha he e is an inc easing alo iza ion and pe cei ed posi i e impac s on consume ’s p e e ences ega ding CSR and ESG ini ia i es (Lee & Shin, 2009), un il now, he e’s no speci ic la ge-scale s udy has iden i ied a posi i e co ela ion o a p oduc ’s e alua ion. 9 Fig. 2. S imuli wi hou GPTW label. Fon : Au o Fig. 3. S imuli wi h GPTW label. Fon : Au o The i ems in he ques ionnai e we e i s w i en in English, ansla ed in o Po uguese, and hen back- ansla ed in o English. Back ansla ion was used o ensu e ha he i ems in Po uguese communica ed simila in o ma ion o hose in English, meaning ha concep ual equi alence was assu ed. (Fo es & Ri a, 2014) Fo he su ey’s alida ion, we sha ed a p e ious e sion o ge some eedback abou he in oduc ion con en , luency o he s a emen s, consis ency abou he eali y, and design aspec s o he packages. The p e- es su ey was sha ed wi h cus ome s om di e en coun ies like he USA, B azil, Po ugal in an English e sion. The public was chosen by con enience, ying o ge mo e a iabili y ega ding he esponden s’ p o iles. 10 In his hypo he ical si ua ion, he pu pose o his esea ch p ojec was o s udy he impac s o di e en models o labeling p oduc s packages. Table 1. Su ey scales Fon : Au o 11 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1. Main Ou come Conside ing ou main hypo hesis, o e i y whe he he p esence o GPTW ce i ied company label in packages can be associa ed wi h expec ed changes in pe cep ion o he p oduc ’s as e o quali y, we ound no e ec o he p esence o he es ed label on he o e all pe cep ion (p=0.491) no wi h he in luence o as e (p=0.331) o he p oduc as p esen ed in able 02. Table 2. Assessing he in luence o he es ed label on he o e all pe cep ion o he p oduc . Fon : Au o Howe e , he mode a ion analysis using SPSS PROCESS Mac o (Model 2) showed a signi ican in e ac ion wi h combined quali y assessmen s (pe cei ed quali y, package design and p emium package e alua ions; α = .844) as he dependen a iable, and age (di ided in o wo g oups: 18-34 (47.6%) and 35+ (52.4%)) and he equency o ea ing chocola es as pa allel mode a o s (F(2, 227) = 3.56, p = .03). Speci ically, we ound ha younge people who don’ ea o en chocola e a ed he p oduc wi h he GPTW label signi ican ly lowe han he p oduc wi h no label (MGPTW label = 6.05 s. MNo label = 6.80, SE = .32, = -2.32, p = .021). On he o he hand, olde people who ea chocola e o en did a e he p oduc wi h he GPTW label on a highe label (MGPTW label = 7.97 s. MNo label = 7.35, SE = .31, = 2.00, p = .046). The label did no make any di e ence o younge people who ea chocola e o en (p > .70) o o olde people who don’ ea chocola e o en (p > .90). Fig. 4. Cha Age: 18-34 yea s. Fon : Au o 12 Fig. 5. Cha Age: 35+ yea s. Fon : Au o 4.2. Explo a o y Analysis Fu he in es iga ion highligh ed hose olun ee s indeed unde sco e he p esence o he GPTW ce i ied company label as an unusual ea u e ela ed o he chocola e package, bu hey a e no necessa ily conside ed as ele an o impac hei pe cep ions ega ding he p oduc . Fu he mo e, no o he signi ican associa ion was ound ega ding he p esence o he label. In ac , he p ice he olun ee s we e willing o pay (p=0.509), he disposal o paying mo e o labeled chocola e han a egula one (p=0.802), he alua ion o he chocola e as a p emium p oduc (p=0.443), he ex en o which hey we e awa e o GPTW wo k (p=0.940), he ele ance owa ds GPTW ac i i ies (p=0.985), he awa eness owa ds ESG ini ia i es (p=0.954) and he ele ance ega ding ESG (p]0.936), none o hese a iables seemed o be in luenced by he p esence o he es ed label, as p esen ed in able 03 and Figu e 04. Table 3. Explo a o y analysis ega ding socio-demog aphic a iables and he o e all pe cep ion o he chocola e. Fon : Au o 13 Fig. 6. Q-Q Plo s on possible ela ions be ween a iables o in e es . Q-Q pło on (A) he co ela ion be ween o e all imp ession o he chocola e and how people imagine he as e would be like, (B) he co ela ion be ween o e all pe cep ion o he chocola e and how much would someone pay o he i em. In e es ingly, o e i y which a iables could be ela ed o he o e all quali y and as e pe cep ion o he chocola e, complimen a y analysis whe e un. We ound ha a highe gene al pe cep ion o he p oduc was p esumably in luenced by he an icipa ion o a be e as e (p<0.001), he pe cep ion o he package design as pleasan (p<0.001, independen ly o he p esence o GPTW label). The ele ance people gi e o bo h GPTW (p=0.045) and ESG (p=.979) ini ia i es did no impac o e all quali y pe cep ion. Mo eo e , we ound ha conside ing he p oduc o be p emium (p=0.001), ha ing acknowledged GPTW wo k (p=0.006), o ESG ini ia i es (p<0.001) we e ac o s associa ed wi h he alue people we e willing o pay o he chocola e, independen ly o he package hey ecei ed as p esen ed in able 04. Table 4. Explo a o y analysis ega ding socio-demog aphic a iables and he p ice olun ee s we e willing o pay o he chocola e. Fon : Au o 14 4.3. Discussion In a gene al analysis, we ound no s a is ically signi ican co ela ion be ween he p esence o a GPTW ce i ied company label on he chocola e package and he o e all alue o he p oduc . The p esence o his speci ic label also was no s a is ically associa ed wi h he p ice people we e willing o pay, o he possible as e o he chocola e. The explo a o y analysis unde sco es a signi ican co ela ion be ween he o e all pe cep ion o he p oduc and he p ice people would pay as well as wi h he assump ion o he p oduc as being a p emium one. In he p esen s udy, we ound ha he pe cep ion o alue ela ed o he es p oduc was p e e ably due o mo e ob ious aspec s such as he as e o he expe ience o he p oduc as being p emium a he han ela ed o he p esence o a pa icula label i sel . In e es ingly, e en among pa icipan s which conside ed ele an he ac i i ies o GPTW, he p esence o he GPTW ce i ied company label was no ela ed o inc eased alue pe cep ion. This ele an obse a ion possibly unde sco es he adi ional GPTW business- o-business app oach a he han a cus ome -di ec ed appeal o business- o-consume model. F om he esul s o his s udy by clus e ing, we can conclude ha b ands can ha e a posi i e e ec om he G ea Place o Wo k label whose a ge is olde , chocola e-consuming people. Fo example, mo e expensi e, p emium b ands could bene i om a label such as he GPTW ce i ied label. Howe e , i could ha e a nega i e e ec on younge consume s, especially i hey don’ consume chocola e o en. These indings sugges ha esea che s and ma ke e s o e hical p oduc s should conside he age and equency o consump ion when assessing consume s’ o he good and i s a ibu es. 15 5. CONCLUSIONS 5.1. Main Conclusions and Resea ch Con ibu ions The s udy aims o unde s and he ele ance o including a GPTW ce i ied company label on chocola e packaging and whe he consume s can conside his inse ion as ele an o in luence hei pe cep ion o quali y, in en ion o buy, as e, and willingness o pay. The s udy s ill o e s a p oposed model and a pa h o u u e esea che s, pe mi ing he expansion o he knowledge ega ding he uses o Employe B anding communica ion ools as di e en ial on b ands’ pe cep ion. Examples o e hically labeled p oduc s ha conside en i onmen al and human wel a e issues a e becoming inc easingly p e alen and he li e a u e shows ha human esou ces bes p ac ices a e c ucial o achie ing ope a ional e ec i eness. Suppo ing o ganiza ional policies can imp o e epu a ion as s a egic ac o s o le e age i s ma ke posi ion, capable o boos CSR ini ia i es, impac ing he company mo ale and p oduc i i y, c ea ing a wo kplace ha is conduci e o quali y. Add o his en i onmen an inspi ing business mission o company image ha appeals o cus ome s, and you’ll ha e a company well-posi ioned o sus ained g ow h. A p ope ESG p og am help o ensu e ha in e nal p ocesses a e socially and en i onmen ally sus ainable and can lead o cos sa ings, educing was e, and op imizing esou ces. ESG p og ams can also help o a ac and e ain he bes alen s, educing cos s ela ed o high u no e a es. These quali a i e and quan i a i e bene i s illus a e he impo ance o social conside a ions o e e y aspec o ou business, ein o cing how s a egic is o be socially esponsible. The posi i e co ela ion be ween employee expe ience and cus ome expe ience, and he impac ha he o ganiza ional clima e has on employee mo i a ion, is al eady p o ided by se e al s udies. A s ong ESG p oposi ion can boos employee mo i a ion and a ac alen h ough g ea e social c edibili y, ini ia i es as pa o an en i onmen al, social, and go e nance (ESG) p oposi ion also links o alue c ea ion in i e essen ial ways, op-line g ow h, cos educ ions, egula o y and legal in e en ions, p oduc i i y upli , and In es men and asse op imiza ion, looking speci ically o in a p oduc i i y upli iew. E en inc easingly alue e hical aspec s in a b and, consume s in end o buy p oduc s om “good” companies wi h “good” CSR consume s ini ia i es, bu i seems o us ha no o e e y ype o p oduc o scena io, hese aspec s ha e a di ec impac as decision-making, i ’s necessa y o e alua e he equency o consump ion and age g oup. B oadly speaking, e en wi h all he signals poin ing o a posi i e impac and all possible bene i s ega ding using a GPTW ce i ied company label on he p oduc ’s packaging, ou indings only con i m he accep ance o a posi i e impac ega ding he quali y whose a ge is olde people who ea chocola e o en (H2). 5.2. Manage ial Implica ions As o he implica ions o he managemen , ou indings yield p ac ical implica ions o co po a e manage s and con ibu e o he g owing body o knowledge o Employe B anding, CSR, and ESG ini ia i es as pa o hei co po a e s a egy and b and managemen . 16 Be o e using elemen s known o be e ec i e o Employe B anding ac ions in packaging as e hical signs, wi h he in en ion o impac posi i ely he pe cep ions o quali y o as e, i is necessa y o ealize i you a ge audience ecognizes he awa ds o ce i ica ions associa ed wi h you company and mapping he en i e decision p ocess. Ou s udy shows ha he pe cep ion o quali y only impac ed indi iduals abo e 35 yea s old who a e chocola e o en. Indeed, he use o c edible labels allows i ms o signal quali y, and in so doing, o c ea e he po en ial o a p emium posi ioning based on his signal. Fo example, in a low in ol emen p oduc ca ego y, he chances o skipping in o ma ion and e alua ion a e mo e han compa ed o he high in ol emen p oduc s, u ning hese labels o elemen s less able o posi i ely impac consume s’ pe cep ions as demons a ed in he s udy esul s, being su passed o elemen s ha a e usually conside ed in o he consume decision- making p ocess (Ko le , 1991). The consume decision-making p ocess has also p o en o be a use ul ool o guide ma ke ing manage s, allowing segmen a ion and posi ioning o consume s (Zhou e al., 2010), wi h a consis en s a egy combining labels and co ela ed signs o an e hical d i e o socially and en i onmen ally sus ainable, can be possible o imp o e a p emium posi ioning inside a speci ic ca ego y. Fo he G ea Place o Wo k® co po a e ma ke ing and b ands managemen , i ’s an oppo uni y o e alua e how o imp o e you B2C communica ions and posi ioning including in low in ol emen p oduc s ca ego ies, he e is a b oad window o oppo uni y o expand hei b and’s alue o hei ecogni ions and ce i ica ions besides B2B po olio, expanding hei ele ance and ela ionship abo e he Human Resou ces ocused ools. Mo eo e , he oppo uni y o ein o ce o hei clien s he use o GPTW label in p oduc s wi h a a ge abo e 35 yea s old, as a ele an s a egy o imp o e p oduc di e en ia ion and achie e a p emium posi ioning. 17 6. LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORKS The esea ch con ains se e al limi a ions. The e a e some limi a ions in his esea ch ha could no be o e come due o ime and limi ed esou ces. The me hod applied in he su ey (expe imen ) has limi a ions, one limi a ion lies in he ac ha he quali y and quan i y o in o ma ion ob ained signi ican ly depend on he esponden s’ abili y and willingness o coope a e, wi h he possibili y o p esen ing biased esponses, as hey will know he pu pose o he s udy, he esponden s hey can gi e answe s hey conside “co ec ”. Second, we did no include ce ain s udies because o he una ailabili y o hei quan i a i e da a o because hey we e quali a i e. I was also no possible o ind o he highly ela ed s udies based on su eys o ha e a baseline o compa ison. Thi d, he in iabili y o collec ing a la ge numbe o esponses samples om di e en loca ions, such as Eu ope and Sou h Ame ican, ma ke s ha ha e a mo e ele an p esence om he G ea Place o Wo k b and. One ac o no add essed in his s udy is he use o o he segmen s and ca ego ies wi h low and high in ol emen , o e alua e i he GPTW ce i ied company label could impac consume s in di e en ways, once depending on he ca ego y analyzed, he decision p ocess and e alua ion op ions a e mo e complexes, leading o conside mo e elemen s du ing he pu chase and decision p ocess. Decision making o high in ol emen pu chases is a complex p oblem-sol ing exe cise and he e o e in ol es a sequen ial p ocess: p oblem ecogni ion, in o ma ion sea ch, b and e alua ion and selec ion, pu chase, and pos -pu chase (Ques e e al., 2007; Nayeem, & Casidy, 2013). The limi a ions o he s udy can amoun o oppo uni ies o u u e esea ch, aising an in e es ing end o be explo ed, by segmen ing p oduc s ca ego ies such as low and high in ol emen , o unde s and he e ec s o using adi ional Employe B anding communica ions and ce i ica ions as b anding di e en ia ion. 24 8.5. Appendix 05: Plo s. Appendix 05: Plo s. Fon : Au o 25 8.6. Appendix 06: Plo s. Appendix 06: Plo s. Fon : Au o 26 8.7. Appendix 07: Plo s. Appendix 07: Plo s. Fon : Au o 27 8.8. Appendix 08: Plo s. Appendix 08: Plo s. Fon : Au o Page | i