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Customer experience in digital transformation: The influence of intelligent chatbots toward a sustainable market.
2025-01-10 - Gomes, Sofia; Lopes, João M.; Trancoso, Tiago
Purpose
Using artificial intelligence technologies in customer service through chatbots is revolutionizing companies’ commercial practices and business models. This study explores the role of customer experience drivers in using chatbot services in customer engagement and customer behavior intention. The mediating role of customer engagement in the relationship between the customer experience drivers of using chatbots and the customer behavior intention was also explored.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, a sample of 1,319 Portuguese consumers using chatbots in their online purchases was collected. A quantitative methodology was applied with the partial least squares method.
Findings
The results reveal that the customer experience drivers of using the chatbot service directly and positively influence customer engagement but not customer behavior intention. However, there is a positive influence of customer experience drivers on customer behavior intention when mediated by customer engagement.
Originality/value
This study contributes to developing social exchange and resource exchange theories in customer experience. In addition, it allows companies to infer practical implications for obtaining sustainable competitive advantages through implementing chatbot technology.
Mapping the difficulties in implementing resource efficiency measures of European Companies
2026-01-30 - Gomes, Sofia; Lopes, João M.; Nogueira, Elisabete
Resource efficiency is a key pillar of the European Union's strategy to address climate change, the energy transition, and sustainable economic growth. This study examines how firm-specific characteristics influence the difficulties EU companies face in implementing resource efficiency strategies. Using multilevel latent class analysis, the study identified four firm-level clusters, ranging from minimal to severe implementation barriers, and five country-level classes reflecting varying degrees of national-level challenges. Findings show that smaller and older firms with lower turnover and limited investment tend to face moderate to severe difficulties, highlighting the critical importance of financial capacity and organizational agility. At the country level, pronounced geographic variation emerges: firms in Northern and Central Europe generally face fewer obstacles, whereas those in Southern and Eastern Europe encounter greater challenges. The results emphasize the need for differentiated policy and managerial interventions, including targeted financial support, capacity-building programs, and cross-regional knowledge exchange, to promote strategic resource allocation and broader adoption of sustainable practices. Overall, the study advances theoretical understanding by linking firm heterogeneity with multilevel contextual factors and provides actionable insights for enhancing resource efficiency across the EU.
Industrial Tourism in Small and Medium-Sized Industrial Enterprises: Challenges and Opportunities
2025-04-28 - Montenegro, Zulmira; Marques, Jorge; Sousa, Cristina
This paper explores Industrial Tourism (IT) within Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It aims to identify the main challenges and opportunities of this tourism product and offers suggestions to enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of these organizations. This research seeks to understand the perspective of active industrial enterprises, or the "living industry," and how this type of tourism can enhance their sustainability and competitiveness. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire administered to 186 SMEs in Portugal. The findings show that most Portuguese SMEs do not engage in IT, mainly due to logistical, security, and strategic concerns. However, the study concludes that IT offers opportunities for SMEs to improve their marketing approaches, societal relationships, business strategies, and human resources.