Meet the DCs

About Gabriela and Her Academic Background

Gabriela is a Brazilian researcher with a transdisciplinary background that bridges academia, the social sector, and corporate environments. Her work integrates marketing, cultural semiotics, and consumer behavior, with a strong emphasis on understanding how meanings, values, and expectations are constructed around products and innovations.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Design, with a specialization in media. Her academic trajectory is further enriched by several postgraduate specializations, including cultural anthropology, reflecting a sustained interest in human behavior from cultural and symbolic perspectives.

With over ten years of professional and academic experience, Gabriela has developed extensive expertise in qualitative and mixed research methods, alongside skills in project management and grant writing. She has published scientific articles and contributed to two book chapters, mainly in the fields of communication, cultural analysis, and consumer studies.

About Her Research and Thesis

Gabriela’s PhD research is conducted within the SpoilControl project, a Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Doctoral Network that aims to address microbial spoilage while improving the sustainability, quality, and safety of fermented beverages. Her work is carried out at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), University of Lisbon, within the International PhD Program in Sustainable Land Use, with a specialization in Food Engineering, and includes a six‑month secondment at the University of Bordeaux dedicated to experimental economic research.

Situated at the intersection of consumer behavior, economics, and food sciences, her thesis explores whether “naturalness” is a meaningful and influential concept for consumers of fermented beverages, particularly wineand how this concept is defined, interpreted, and operationalized. Although widely used in marketing, regulation, and public discourse, naturalness often remains poorly defined and is marked by contradictions, especially when food innovations and new technologies are involved.

Her research seeks to understand how consumers construct perceptions of naturalness beyond the intrinsic attributes of products and to examine whether innovations in fermented beverages align with or challenge these perceptions. A central dimension of her work addresses the relevance of naturalness in the context of emerging genetic innovations, such as GMOs and new genomic techniques, and how these developments interact with consumer expectations, trust, and regulatory debates.

To address these questions, Gabriela is developing an analytical and experimental framework that combines conceptual inquiry with behavioral and economic experiments. Her thesis focuses in particular on defining and clarifying the concept of naturalness from the consumer’s perspective; drawing parallels between consumer understandings of naturalness and biotechnological definitions; exploring contradictions surrounding naturalness in relation to environmental impact, food safety, and quality; measuring consumers’ willingness to buy natural fermented beverages compared to conventional or innovative products; evaluating the impact of naturalness claims on consumer behavior; and analyzing the role of cultural, geographical, and gender differences in shaping expectations and purchasing decisions.

Her research contributes directly to Work Package 3 (WP3) of SpoilControl, in collaboration with doctoral candidates working on sensorial impacts, methodological approaches, and economic dimensions of spoilage, as well as with Work Package 2 (WP2), which focuses on microbial monitoring and safety. By integrating consumer perspectives into the project, her work helps bridge technological innovation, regulatory challenges, and societal acceptance within the fermented beverage sector.

Motivation for the Project

Gabriela was motivated to join the SpoilControl project for both professional and personal reasons. Pursuing a PhD outside Brazil represented an opportunity to further internationalize her academic career and engage in a dynamic European research environment.

Her strong interest in human behavior, particularly regarding emerging concepts applied to traditional products such as wine and fermented beverages, closely aligned with the objectives of SpoilControl. Being part of a Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Doctoral Network, with its emphasis on mobility, interdisciplinarity, and collaboration, also represents a key step in her development as a researcher, offering valuable opportunities for academic exchange, networking, and career growth.