Lucie Povolná

Purpose: This paper investigates how environmental and ethical values shape consumer responses in the cosmetics retail context, focusing on detachment from brands that use chemical ingredients or engage in animal testing, as well as preferences for green and cruelty-free products across cultural and generational contexts. Design/methodology/approach: We conducted three online survey studies in Italy (n = 310), Thailand (n = 198) and Czechia (n = 535). The first two studies examined how environmental values predict detachment from brands associated with animal testing or chemical ingredients, with brand attitude towards green and cruelty-free products tested as a mediator. The third study analysed how environmental and ethical values predict favourable attitudes towards cruelty-free cosmetics and willingness to purchase such products among Generation Z. Mediation was evaluated using bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples and the bias-corrected percentile method. Findings: In Italy and Thailand, environmental values predict detachment from brands associated with animal testing or chemical ingredients, and this effect is fully or partially mediated by brand attitudes towards green and cruelty-free cosmetics. In Czechia, environmental and ethical values directly predict higher willingness to buy cruelty-free products. Results support an attitude-to-behaviour pathway while revealing cross-cultural and generational differences in effect sizes with implications for retail decision-making. Originality/value: This research provides multi-country evidence on how environmental and ethical values shape consumer reactions in the cosmetics sector. It advances understanding of value-driven detachment and purchase intentions for cruelty-free products and offers actionable insights for retailers and brand managers seeking to align assortment and communication strategies with ethically motivated consumer segments.

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Municipality representatives in Czech cities are increasingly aware of the need to implement measures to adapt cities to climate change. Rainwater management is one pillar in national and local strategies; however, the measures are still not implemented in sufficient quantity and quality. Low enforceability is the result of low public awareness of measures and insufficient communication on the part of both state and municipalities. Besides the low capacity of local authorities to communicate these topics, the cities face little response and lack of interest from residents. In many cases, this is caused by inappropriate choice of communication and participation tools and methods. Based on examples of good practice identified by semi-structured interviews from six Czech cities, however, it is possible to achieve effective communication, for instance by means of annual local participatory meetings with residents, involving independent experts or implementation of online tools to easily share information and to discuss and propose measures and options.

The implementation of innovation strategies in SMEs is subjected to changes in the economic cycle. The reliability of economic trend indicators varies according to economic trends. The author deals with the relationship between selected business cycle survey indicators and time periods that correspond to the different phases of the economic cycle between the years 2003–2017. The aim of the article is to find out whether selected business cycle surveys indicators are equally reliable across the economic cycle. To solve the problem, first, the consensus of a selected business cycle surveys indicator and the performance of the mechanical engineering industry were evaluated, and then, the results were put into the context of the time period and tested with nonparametric ANOVA. The results show that the selected indicator was more reliable in periods of growth and less reliable in downturns, which is a signal for SMEs as to how to interpret the business cycle surveys. The use of future development assessments provides important information for businesses that make investment decisions and help them think over funding for innovation.

Successful timing of INDUSTRY 4.0 projects in businesses can be disrupted by the coming of a recession. The authors assume a close link between INDUSTRY 4.0 and research and development (R&D) projects. R&D projects are statistically internationally monitored and have a significant impact on European Union economic policies. This article explores the impact of the two economic recessions in 2009 and 2012–2013 on the number of R&D entities and human resources involved in R&D in the Czech Republic. The method of multivariate statistics with dummy variables was used. Research has shown that different sectors (business sector, government sector, higher education sector, and non-profit sector) show a different development of the number of R&D entities in times of economic crisis. The research findings indicate that current European Union grant support, tax relief, and other specific factors appear to be more important for the development of R&D projects in the Czech Republic than the effects of economic recession. In terms of longer time horizons, however, the effects of the business cycle cannot be ignored. In order to predict economic development, enterprises and other subjects can use leading macroeconomic indicators.

Table of Content - Article Detail - Proceedings of the 43rd International Academic Conference, Lisbon

Table of Content - Article Detail - Proceedings of the 42nd International Academic Conference, Rome

The scientific periodical journal published by the Faculty of Management and Economics of Tomas Bata University in Zlin offers results of basic and applied economic research of domestic and international authors in the English language.