Business Commons^™

Marketing Mutuality: Boundary Spanning Approaches To Marketing Strategy, Alexander Scott Rose

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation, arranged in three essays, is grounded firmly in the crossroads of sociology and marketing. Theories of the former inform phenomena of the latter. In particular, the sociological theory of the gift and the rich tradition of anti-utilitarian social science inform contemporary debate regarding the rise of the sharing economy and its much-heralded potential to alter the landscape of the market. Through an ethnography of brand and retail service settings in the particular context of American craft beer festivals, the concept of mutuality is used to provide a line of demarcation between effective and ineffective forms of the sharing …

Exploring The Consequences Of Shopper-Facing Technologies: Their Effect On Shopper Experiences And Shopping Outcomes, Brian Ijams Spaid

Doctoral Dissertations

Just as technology has influenced nearly every facet of the modern consumer’s life, it is also significantly changing how those consumers shop and how it influences their purchase decisions. Understanding how technology impacts these shoppers within the retail environment is crucial for retail managers who are expected to deploy and manage these sources of continuous change.

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the phenomenon of shoppers experiencing technology in the retail environment. Specifically, our primary goal is to understand how shopper-facing technologies impact shoppers’ experiences and behaviors and subsequently affect outcome variables that matter to retailers. To that …

Interaction Privacy: A Study Of Threats And Consequences, Carol Lee Esmark

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the dissertation is to explore interaction privacy, a person’s ability to control the amount of access others have to the self during relational encounters in attempts to achieve ideal levels. According to marketing research, a positive shopping experience is becoming all the more important (Achrol & Kotler, 2012; Deighton et al., 2012), which could be enhanced with adequate levels of shopper privacy. Using reactance theory (Brehm 1966) as guidance, the model examines privacy encroachments through visual and physical dimensions which lead to threats that cause an individual to realize control has been lost and …

The Influence Of Location Of Firm Ownership On Consumers, C. Clifton Eason

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An increasing number of consumers are making consumption decisions based on perceptions of a firm's social performance. In other words, many consumers take into account a firm's impact on society and the environment when deciding where they will spend their money. Thus, it is important for firms to understand what these consumers perceive to be important indicators of a firm's social performance. A potential element of social performance that has yet to be studied is local ownership as well as its influence on consumers' store perceptions and consumption decisions. As large, national chains increasingly threaten the existence of smaller, locally-owned …