RAN - Revista Academia & Negocios

Mexican consumer behaviour evaluation towards functional sausages with grasshopper powder

Erika Dolores Ruiz — 2026-04-01

Purpose: to analyse the acceptance of an innovative sausage-type product enriched with grasshopper (Sphenarium purpurascens) powder – an alternative source of animal protein (insects) – in the face of the growing demand for sustainable and nutritious food. The objective was to evaluate consumer behaviour in relation to product acceptance.
Methodology: Two integrated methods were used: first, general liking tests to identify the product characteristics most valued by consumers. Subsequently, a market research study was conducted to measure the overall perception and product acceptability.
Results: The proposed product received a high level of approval, highlighting general liking attributes such as pleasant taste, color, and aroma. Insect flour, when properly processed and presented, can serve as a realistic, viable, and accepted protein source in the Mexican market, especially when emphasizing its flavor. It also represents an innovative alternative focused on sustainability and the responsible management of species.
Implications: policies for sustainable food development support; food education promotion; entomophagy. Future research should explore cultural barriers and marketing strategies for edible insects.
Originality: scientific literature regarding global market uptake level is scarce. Therefore, this study provides evidence on the potential for marketing alternative insect-based foods, supporting the development of more sustainable products aligned with global responsible food trends.

The impact of greenwashing on stakeholders' perceptions and reactions to environmental scandals

Tomás Zapata-Soto — 2026-01-01

Purpose: To analyze the impact of greenwashing practices on stakeholder reactions by examining different levels of misleading environmental communication.
Methodology: A quasi-experimental design was carried out with 160 participants in Chile, divided into eight groups of 20 participants each. Participants were exposed to real environmental scandals involving companies operating in the country. A structured questionnaire was administered to assess stakeholder perceptions. Statistical analysis included descriptive tests and nonparametric methods such as Shapiro-Wilk, Levene, and Kruskal-Wallis.
Results: Findings indicate that more sophisticated greenwashing strategies, particularly "obscure" and "strategic" messages, were perceived as more credible than corporate or product claims. This suggests that complex environmental narratives can mask organizational intentions and maintain a facade of legitimacy, even after exposure to scandals.
Implications: The findings reveal that the sophistication of environmental scandal influences stakeholder perception more than actual environmental responsibility. These results underscore the importance of transparency, regulatory oversight, and the promotion of critical awareness among consumers.
Originality: This study replicates and adapts a previous design to the Chilean context, providing novel empirical evidence from Latin America and contributing to the debate on sustainability communication and the risks of greenwashing.

Mapping the Culinary Tourist: Archetypes and Market Segmentation in a Latin American Coastal Destination

Sebastian Araya-Pizarro — 2026-01-01

Purpose: To segment the culinary tourism market in a mature, culture-based coastal destination by characterizing visitor archetypes through attitudinal, behavioral, and sociodemographic variables, thereby providing a foundation for developing management strategies applicable to analogous contexts.
Methodology: A K-means cluster analysis was performed on a sample of 385 tourists surveyed in a Latin American coastal destination (La Serena-Coquimbo, Chile), with the resulting segmentation subsequently validated through discriminant analysis.
Results: Three distinct archetypes were identified: The "Moderate" (49.4%), who exhibit positive attitudes but face economic constraints; the "Indifferent" (22.9%), characterized by a low interest in gastronomy; and the "Premium" (27.8%), who possess high purchasing power and a strong appreciation for culinary authenticity. The classification model achieved a high predictive accuracy of 95.6%, revealing statistically significant associations between the clusters and the predictor variables.
Implications: The findings provide an empirical foundation for developing differentiated marketing and management strategies aimed at maximizing gastronomic experiences and, consequently, enhancing the competitiveness of coastal destinations in Latin America.
Originality: This research integrates attitudinal and behavioral perspectives within an understudied Latin American coastal context. It elucidates the heterogeneity of demand and positions gastronomy as a strategic pillar for sustainable tourism development.

Shaping Innovation in Education: Transformational Leadership, Knowledge Management, and a Dual PLS-SEM–NCA Approach

Herberth Roller — 2026-05-01

Purpose: To examine how transformational leadership influences innovation in higher education through a dual analytical approach (PLS-SEM and Necessary Condition Analysis), considering the mediating role of knowledge management capabilities.
Methodology: A postpositivist paradigm with a quantitative, cross-sectional design. Structured surveys were distributed to university professors in Lima (Peru), yielding 235 valid responses. The study examined direct and indirect relationships among transformational leadership, knowledge management capabilities (acquisition, sharing, and application), and innovation.
Results: Transformational leadership influences innovation indirectly via knowledge sharing and knowledge application. The direct effect is not supported, and knowledge acquisition is not significant. NCA shows that transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and knowledge application constitute necessary conditions for high innovation.
Implications: The findings refine Leadership–Knowledge–Innovation theory by demonstrating that leadership drives innovation primarily through capability-based mechanisms. Practically, higher education institutions should strengthen structures that promote knowledge sharing and application among faculty.
Originality: Empirical evidence is provided through the integration of PLS-SEM and NCA, offering a more comprehensive understanding by combining average effects and structural constraints. This dual approach highlights how leadership and knowledge processes jointly shape innovation, a critical priority in higher education.

Chatbots and Socio-Emotional Cues in Corporate E-Learning: Evidence on Learning and Dropout

Manuel Medina-Labrador — 2026-05-01

Purpose: This study examined whether instructional chatbots and emojis improved learning outcomes and reduced dropout in asynchronous corporate training. It also explored participant performance profiles through agent-based simulation.
Methodology: The study followed three phases: chatbot development, implementation of a four-week private online course using a 2 × 2 factorial experiment (chatbot: yes/no × emojis: yes/no), and simulation in NetLogo. A total of 120 employees were evenly assigned to four experimental conditions.
Results: Chatbot use and emoji presence were associated with better learning outcomes and lower dropout. The chatbot-plus-emoji condition showed the highest survival rates (68%–76%) and the lowest dropout risk (24%–32%). Posttest scores indicated significant retention after 15 days (? = 6.61, p < 0.001). The simulation reproduced the empirical ranking of the conditions and identified a high-performing profile characterized by prior experience with virtual training, longer organizational tenure, familiarity with podcasts, and stable weekly study time.
Implications: The findings indicate that combining cognitive support through chatbots with socio-emotional signaling through emojis can strengthen persistence in corporate e-learning.
Originality: This study integrates factorial experimentation and agent-based simulation to explain how expressive digital interactions support learning continuity.

Housing access challenges for young people: A holistic analysis from real estate professionals

Óscar Gutiérrez-Aragón — 2026-05-01

Purpose: To understand the perception of real estate professionals in Spain regarding the problem of housing access among young adults in Spain, in order to determine its causes and identify solutions.
Methodology: A qualitative analysis was conducted using data from semi-structured interviews with long-standing real estate professionals in the province of Barcelona.
Results: A pessimistic perception of access to housing among young people was found, with little likelihood of improvement in the medium term. Furthermore, it is estimated that the marketing strategies used for this target group are neither adapted to their actual situation nor focused on their real needs.
Implications: The solution to the problem must come from public-private cooperation and the real estate sector´s improvement of marketing strategies and employee training to serve this population group.
Originality: This study provides the viewpoint sale-purchase agents to address a problem that has traditionally been approached from the unidimensional perspective of supply and demand.

Human Resource Management Practices and Organizational Commitment: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement and The Integration of Necessary Condition Analysis

Daniel Ortiz Chamochumbi — 2026-05-01

Purpose: This study examines how Human Resource Management (HRM) practices influence organizational commitment in private security companies, considering work engagement as a mediating variable.
Methodology: Post-positivist and quantitative design were applied using PLS-SEM and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). Data were collected from 312 security agents in Metropolitan Lima using validated Likert-scale instruments.
Results: Selection and recruitment, job security, and performance appraisal were positively associated withwork engagement, which strongly predicted organizational commitment. NCA revealed that work engagement exhibited the strongest necessary condition effect, followed by smaller necessity effects for job security, employee participation, and performance appraisal.
Implications: Findings suggest prioritizing rigorous selection processes, stable employment policies, and fair appraisal systems to improve retention and strengthen commitment in high-turnover sectors. The results offer guidance for HRM practices, workforce professionalization, and public policy in private security services.
Originality: This study integrates PLS-SEM with NCA to provide both sufficient and necessary conditions, offering a novel methodological approach and empirical evidence in a sectorparticularly within high-turnover private security settings in Latin America.

The role of informality in the unequal distribution of labor income in Mexico under the RIF decomposition approach

Luis Antonio Dávila-Mosqueda — 2026-06-01

Purpose: To analyze the impact of informality on labor income inequality in Mexico (20052022) and assess the role of education and other factors in reducing the gap between formal and informal workers.
Methodology: RIF decomposition is employed to analyze the distribution of labor income in Mexico over the 2005–2022 period, using data from the National Occupation and Employment Survey. This approach breaks down changes in the Gini coefficient into components attributable to observable worker characteristics.
Results: Although inequality persists in the informal sector, educational improvements and public policies have partially reduced the gap. However, education alone has not significantly translated into equity.
Implications: Formal employment policies and improved working conditions are complementary to educational progress.
Originality: The study highlights the limited impact of education on reducing inequality, emphasizing the need for structural policies to foster employment formalization.

Corporate social responsibility and circular economy in social economy entities: bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review

Fernando Medina Vidal — 2026-01-01

Purpose: To map and synthesise the literature linking Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Circular Economy (CE) in Social Economy Entities (SEEs) (2000–2025), combining bibliometric mapping and qualitative synthesis to trace thematic evolution and identify SDG-related research gaps.
Methodology: Following PRISMA 2020, a mixed-method review integrated bibliometric analysis of 211 Web of Science-indexed journal articles with in-depth synthesis of 30 core papers, using Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny to map publication trends, key contributors, and thematic development.
Results: Findings show a significant acceleration in academic output since 2016. Seven key research domains were identified, including sustainability management, circular business models, and ESG indicators, marking a paradigm shift from isolated normative frameworks toward integrated operational strategies where ethical considerations and resource efficiency converge.
Implications: SEEs serve as institutional drivers of inclusive circularity through democratic governance and territorial embeddedness. Findings suggest integrating social indicators, such as decent work and participation, into CE frameworks, highlighting SEEs' role in promoting green jobs, local resilience, and community cohesion.
Originality: An original integrative framework for inclusive circularity is established, positioning SEEs as the fundamental link between CSR ethical foundations and circular operational practices. It synthesises the social dimension of circularity, providing a conceptual roadmap to overcome academic fragmentation and guide future sustainable governance.

Analysis of the scientific production related to gay consumer behavior: a bibliometric analysis

Wilson Alejandro González Cárdenas — 2026-05-01

Purpose: To characterize the evolution of scientific output related to gay consumer behaviour, identifying lines of scholarly development that benefit society, academia, and productive sectors, while integrating the concepts of identity, consumption, and market.
Methodology: Scopus and Web of Science databases were used for a bibliometric analysis of 275 documents published between 1990 and 2025, focused on gay consumer behaviour. The analysis identified citation networks, topic co-occurrence, and conceptual structure.
Findings: The emerging thematic clusters centre on human studies, sexual and gender minorities, and homosexuality. This suggests that the topic has been addressed in a fragmented manner, with limited representation of Latin American realities, often confined to the characterisation of commercial patterns without adequately addressing identity, cultural, and social recognition dynamics.
Implications: The scientific output in this area is responding to the need to understand gay consumers from a comprehensive perspective, through critical and humanistic approaches that enrich the understanding of consumption within this segment.
Originality: An incipient evolution in the field is evident, reflecting both challenges and opportunities for the study of historically excluded populations that may be of interest to businesses. Future research is proposed that integrates inclusive marketing with cultural and identity studies.