Impacto do marketing e das marcas no processo de decisão de compra de alimentos para uma dieta de base vegetal

Versão Final (Esta versão contém as críticas e sugestões dos elementos do júri.)A presente dissertação de mestrado tem como objetivo geral entender a influência que o marketing e as marcas exercem no processo de decisão de escolha em consumidores de uma dieta de base vegetal. Como tal, pretende-se verificar quais são as principais características de uma marca que influenciam a tomada de decisão de um consumidor a adquirir um produto de base vegetal, bem como a análise das forças internas e externas. Devido a toda a evolução tecnológica, surge um novo consumidor, o consumidor online. Este consumidor sabe o que quer, onde quer e quando quer, devido à densidade de informação presente na Internet bem como a grande participação dos consumidores nas Redes Sociais. Assim torna-se pertinente estudar a influência dos social media no comportamento dos consumidores. A investigação foi conduzida por meio de um estudo exploratório, utilizando o método descritivo, composto por 11 entrevistas presenciais a adotantes de dieta de base vegetal e quatro grupos de discussão, dois com consumidores que adotam uma dieta de base vegetal, e os restantes com simpatizantes de uma dieta de base vegetal. Recorreu- se a uma amostra não probabilística por conveniência. No presente estudo verificou-se que enquanto que os consumidores de uma dieta de base vegetal participantes neste estudo estão inteirados de como devem efetuar as compras seguindo a composição dos produtos referida nos seus rótulos, os simpatizantes confessam ainda não saber fazê-lo. A certificação é pouco importante para os entrevistados que têm uma dieta de base vegetal, ao contrário dos entrevistados que são apenas simpatizantes, pois tendo em conta a dificuldade que a leitura de rótulos apresenta, nomeadamente no que diz respeito à composição dos produtos, os mesmos consideram a certificação credível e útil para auxiliar as decisões de compra. Outro aspeto que distingue os consumidores de uma dieta de base vegetal dos simpatizantes é a instabilidade dos simpatizantes no que diz respeito à escolha das marcas e a confiança depositada nas mesmas pois estes não confiam nas marcas através do seu conteúdo ou ingredientes, o que os move é a certificação.The main goal of the following dissertation is to understand the influence that marketing and brands have on the decision making of a vegetable-based diet for consumers. In order to do so, the key traits of the brands have been identified, as well as the analysis of internal and external factors. There is now a new online consumer, due to the technological development. This consumer knows exactly where, when and what they want, since there is a large amount of information on the internet, as well as all the information in the online groups on social media. Analising the influence of the social media regarding the consumer’s behavior is crucial. An exploratory study was the method used in order to carry out the investigation, more specifically the description method. Eleven interviews were carried out in person with people who have this vegetable-based lifestyle, and four discussion groups, two of which also had a vegetable diet, with the remaining two fully supporting the lifestyle choice. A non-probabilistic sample in accordance was used. In the present study, it was found that while consumers of a vegetable-based diet participating in this study are aware of how they should make purchases following the composition of the products referred to in their labels, supporters still confess not knowing how to do it. Certification is unimportant for interviewees who have a vegetable-based diet, unlike respondents who are just sympathizers, because given the difficulty of reading labels, particularly with regard to the composition of products, the same consider certification to be credible and useful in assisting purchasing decisions. Another aspect that distinguishes consumers from a vegetable-based diet of supporters is the instability of supporters as to the choice of brands and the reliance placed on them because they do not trust brands through their content or ingredients, which moves them is the certification

Association of Adverse Outcomes With Emotion Processing and Its Neural Substrate in Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis

Importance: The development of adverse clinical outcomes in patients with psychosis has been associated with behavioral and neuroanatomical deficits related to emotion processing. However, the association between alterations in brain regions subserving emotion processing and clinical outcomes remains unclear. Objective: To examine the association between alterations in emotion processing and regional gray matter volumes in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis, and the association with subsequent clinical outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants: This naturalistic case-control study with clinical follow-up at 12 months was conducted from July 1, 2010, to August 31, 2016, and collected data from 9 psychosis early detection centers (Amsterdam, Basel, Cologne, Copenhagen, London, Melbourne, Paris, The Hague, and Vienna). Participants (213 individuals at CHR and 52 healthy controls) were enrolled in the European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) project. Data were analyzed from October 1, 2018, to April 24, 2019. Main Measures and Outcomes: Emotion recognition was assessed with the Degraded Facial Affect Recognition Task. Three-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired from all participants, and gray matter volume was measured in regions of interest (medial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and insula). Clinical outcomes at 12 months were evaluated for transition to psychosis using the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States criteria, and the level of overall functioning was measured through the Global Assessment of Functioning [GAF] scale. Results: A total of 213 individuals at CHR (105 women [49.3%]; mean [SD] age, 22.9 [4.7] years) and 52 healthy controls (25 women [48.1%]; mean [SD] age, 23.3 [4.0] years) were included in the study at baseline. At the follow-up within 2 years of baseline, 44 individuals at CHR (20.7%) had developed psychosis and 169 (79.3%) had not. Of the individuals at CHR reinterviewed with the GAF, 39 (30.0%) showed good overall functioning (GAF score, ≥65), whereas 91 (70.0%) had poor overall functioning (GAF score, <65). Within the CHR sample, better anger recognition at baseline was associated with worse functional outcome (odds ratio [OR], 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78-0.99; P =.03). In individuals at CHR with a good functional outcome, positive associations were found between anger recognition and hippocampal volume (ze = 3.91; familywise error [FWE] P =.02) and between fear recognition and medial prefrontal cortex volume (z = 3.60; FWE P =.02), compared with participants with a poor outcome. The onset of psychosis was not associated with baseline emotion recognition performance (neutral OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.79-1.09; P =.37; happy OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.84-1.25; P =.81; fear OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.85-1.13; P =.77; anger OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.89-1.12; P =.96). No difference was observed in the association between performance and regional gray matter volumes in individuals at CHR who developed or did not develop psychosis (FWE P <.05). Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, poor functional outcome in individuals at CHR was found to be associated with baseline abnormalities in recognizing negative emotion. This finding has potential implications for the stratification of individuals at CHR and suggests that interventions that target socioemotional processing may improve functional outcomes.

Increased resting hippocampal and basal ganglia perfusion in people at ultra high risk for psychosis::replication in a second cohort

We recently reported that resting hippocampal, basal ganglia and midbrain perfusion is elevated in people at ultra high risk (UHR) for psychosis. The present study sought to replicate our previous finding in an independent UHR cohort, and examined the relationship between resting perfusion in these regions, psychosis and depression symptoms, and traumatic experiences in childhood. Pseudo-Continuous Arterial Spin Labelling (p-CASL) imaging was used to measure resting cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 77 UHR for psychosis individuals and 25 healthy volunteers in a case-control design. UHR participants were recruited from clinical early detection services at 3 sites in the South of England. Symptoms levels were assessed using the Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental States (CAARMS), the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D), and childhood trauma was assessed retrospectively using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Right hippocampal and basal ganglia rCBF were significantly increased in UHR subjects compared to controls, partially replicating our previous finding in an independent cohort. In UHR participants, positive symptoms were positively correlated with rCBF in the right pallidum. CTQ scores were positively correlated with rCBF values in the bilateral hippocampus and negatively associated with rCBF in the left prefrontal cortex. Elevated resting hippocampal and basal ganglia activity appears to be a consistent finding in individuals at high risk for psychosis, consistent with data from preclinical models of the disorder. The association with childhood trauma suggests that its influence on the risk of psychosis may be mediated through an effect on hippocampal function

Basic Self-Disturbances Related to Reduced Anterior Cingulate Volume in Subjects at Ultra-High Risk for Psychosis

Introduction: Alterations of the “pre-reflective” sense of first-person perspective (e.g., of the “basic self”) are characteristic features of schizophrenic spectrum disorders and are significantly present in the prodromal phase of psychosis and in subjects at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR). Studies in healthy controls suggest that neurobiological substrate of the basic self involves cortical midline structures, such as the anterior and posterior cingulate cortices. Neuroimaging studies have identified neuroanatomical cortical midline structure abnormalities in schizophrenic spectrum disorders.Objectives: i) To compare basic self-disturbances levels in UHR subjects and controls and ii) to assess the relationship between basic self-disturbances and alterations in cortical midline structures volume in UHR subjects.Methods: Thirty-one UHR subjects (27 antipsychotic-naïve) and 16 healthy controls were assessed using the 57-item semistructured Examination of Anomalous Self-Experiences (EASE) interview. All subjects were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 T, and gray matter volume was measured in a priori defined regions of interest (ROIs) in the cortical midline structures.Results: EASE scores were much higher in UHR subjects than controls (p &lt; 0.001). The UHR group had smaller anterior cingulate volume than controls (p = 0.037). There were no structural brain imaging alterations between UHR individuals with or without self-disturbances. Within the UHR sample, the subgroup with higher EASE scores had smaller anterior cingulate volumes than UHR subjects with lower EASE scores and controls (p = 0.018). In the total sample, anterior cingulate volume was inversely correlated with the EASE score (R = 0.52, p &lt; 0.016).Conclusions: Basic self-disturbances in UHR subjects appear to be related to reductions in anterior cingulate volume

Speech Illusions in People at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis Linked to Clinical Outcome

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Around 20% of people at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis later develop a psychotic disorder, but it is difficult to predict who this will be. We assessed the incidence of hearing speech (termed speech illusions [SIs]) in noise in CHR participants and examined whether this was associated with adverse clinical outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: At baseline, 344 CHR participants and 67 healthy controls were presented with a computerized white noise task and asked whether they heard speech, and whether speech was neutral, affective, or whether they were uncertain about its valence. After 2 years, we assessed whether participants transitioned to psychosis, or remitted from the CHR state, and their functioning. STUDY RESULTS: CHR participants had a lower sensitivity to the task. Logistic regression revealed that a bias towards hearing targets in stimuli was associated with remission status (OR = 0.21, P = 042). Conversely, hearing SIs with uncertain valence at baseline was associated with reduced likelihood of remission (OR = 7.72. P = .007). When we assessed only participants who did not take antipsychotic medication at baseline, the association between hearing SIs with uncertain valence at baseline and remission likelihood remained (OR = 7.61, P = .043) and this variable was additionally associated with a greater likelihood of transition to psychosis (OR = 5.34, P = .029). CONCLUSIONS: In CHR individuals, a tendency to hear speech in noise, and uncertainty about the affective valence of this speech, is associated with adverse outcomes. This task could be used in a battery of cognitive markers to stratify CHR participants according to subsequent outcomes

Meta-analysis of associations between childhood adversity and hippocampus and amygdala volume in non-clinical and general population samples

Background: Studies of psychiatric populations have reported associations between childhood adversity and volumes of stress-related brain structures. This meta-analysis investigated these associations in non-clinical samples and therefore independent of the effects of severe mental health difficulties and their treatment. Methods: The MEDLINE database was searched for magnetic resonance imaging studies measuring brain structure in adults with and without childhood adversity. Fifteen eligible papers (1781 participants) reporting hippocampal volumes and/or amygdala volumes were pooled using a random effects meta-analysis. Results: Those with childhood adversity had lower hippocampus volumes (hedges g = −0.15, p = 0.010). Controlling for gender, this difference became less evident (hedges g = −0.12, p = 0.124). This association differed depending on whether studies included participants with some psychopathology, though this may be due to differences in the type of adversity these studies examined. There was no strong evidence of any differences in amygdala volume. Discussion: Childhood adversity may have only a modest impact on stress-related brain structures in those without significant mental health difficulties

Termoquímica de β-dicetonatos metálicos

Dissertação de Doutoramento em Química apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Port