Business Commons^™

Generation Z'S Use Of User-Generated Content For Travel Advice, Emmie Kay Hudson

Honors College Theses

This research project examines Generation Z’s use of TikTok’s and YouTube’s user-generated content (UGC) for travel advice related to accommodation, activities, cuisine, and other tourist practices. As this generation ages and enters the consumer market, continued research is needed to implement marketing strategies with the most significant influence. This study will examine the younger generations' behaviors and help the tourism industry understand its rising target market in comparison to Generations X and Y. This study is conducted through a non-experimental systematic literature review of the subject. This research provides information from various sources on topics such as Generation Z, TikTok, …

Do You Dare To Study Abroad? Examining Cross-Cultural Differences In The Role Of Covid-19 Post-Pandemic Stress On Study Abroad Intentions And Country Image Formation, Helena Allman, Hilmi A. Atadil, Harriette Bettis-Outland

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2023

The purpose of this study is to explore the underlying dimensions of Covid-19 stress to determine the extent to which Covid-19 stress has an effect on students’ intentions to participate in future study abroad programs. The underlying stress factors that this work examines include traumatic stress, contamination fears, fears about economic consequences and past Covid illness experience. The paper addresses the cross-cultural differences in these factors’ effects on studying abroad intentions among young individualistic versus collectivistic consumers. The goal of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of Covid related stress phenomena among global young consumer cohorts. The results …

The Relationships Between Prosocial Consumer Behavior, Consumer Resilience, Consumer Risk Taking Propensity And Consumer Hoarding During Covid-19, Christy M. Cook, Pia A. Albinsson, James E. Stoddard

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2022

The Relationships Between Prosocial Consumer Behavior, Consumer Resilience, Consumer Risk Taking Propensity and Consumer Hoarding During COVID-19

Race Ethnicity And In-Store Mobile-Assisted Shopping In The Us, Kristine Johnson, Manuel C. Pontes

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

This research primarily investigates the relationship between race ethnicity and consumer use of mobile phones in-store to facilitate purchase decisions. Data were collected by a telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of US adults between January 5 and January 8, 2012. The data collection was sponsored by the Pew Foundation and made available for this research. The data were analyzed with the software R and its survey package that allow researchers to incorporate the sampling weights to estimate population statistics, standard errors, and confidence intervals.

The independent variables were demographic variables (race ethnicity, gender, and household income) and behavioral …

Online Survey Respondents’ Reactions To Required Questions, Jeffrey S. Gutenberg, Seongbae Lim

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

One of the most common errors committed by “amateur” online survey questionnaire designers is the improper use of “required” questions, where the survey respondent is not allowed to continue in the survey unless the question is answered. The problem with this design feature is that if a valid choice is not offered, the survey respondent must either give an incorrect answer to proceed, or terminate the survey. In order to get an empirical sense of how survey-takers respond to such situations, two studies were conducted, both employing 600+ members of a commercial online panel. Respondents were asked their opinion of …

A Cit Investigation Of Patient Deception Using Self-Discrepancy Theory, Gary Daniel Futrell

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

It is widely accepted that patients knowingly lie, mislead, and deceive health care professionals working in their favor. While physicians do their best to provide patients with quality care, patient deception can not only affect service quality and patient satisfaction, but also physician effectiveness and medical outcomes. The current research consists of a qualitative investigation of this phenomenon and seeks to lay the foundation for a self-discrepancy theory perspective of patient deception.

Self-discrepancy theory (SDT) seeks to explain how emotional discomfort can be caused by conflicting beliefs about one’s self. That is, a discrepancy arises and there is emotional discomfort …

An Exploratory Investigation Of Green Behaviors And Attitudes Towards Green Marketing Initiatives, Sam Fullerton, Tammy Mccullough, Lewis Hershey

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

A sample of 205 university students provided input regarding an array of 32 issues germane to both green marketing and green consumption. A diverse array of behaviors and opinions were articulated. Respondents reported a high propensity to engage in recycling, donating used goods, and purchasing products with a longer life expectancy. They favored environmentally-friendly actions such as focusing on cleaner and more efficient energy alternatives. There was a strong belief that individuals can make a difference. A comparison of business and nonbusiness students documented significant differences on two of the 32 issues under investigation with nonbusiness students expressing greater concern …

The Role Of Consumption In The Communication Of Family Identity In Multiracial Adoptive Families, Elise Johansen Harvey

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

In the past four decades, family structure has shifted away from the traditional family of a same race family complete with a married mother and father and biological. Some disciplines have incorporated these changes into their research, but the marketing discipline has consistently assumed a relatively stable, traditional family structure. Family structures associated with social stigma have seen a rise in prevalence including those characterized by racial diversity, sexual orintation, and adoption. Families facing a stigmatized status in society are the population of interest this paper; specifically we examine the experiences of transracial adoptive families. There are over 2 million …

Compromise And Attraction Effects Under Interdependent And Independent Self-Construal, Ramin Bagherzadeh, Monika Rawal, Jose Luis Saavedra

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

When a new alternative introduces to a choice set, the preferences for the original alternatives will be effected (Mourali, Böckenholt and Laroche 2007). Consumers often feel uncertainty about the true values of options when they want to purchase products (Simonson 1989). Huber, Payne, and Puto (1982) defined the attraction effect as “when adding an alternative that is inferior to another alternative in the choice set increases the share of the relatively superior alternative.” Compromise effect is defined as “when adding an extreme option to the choice set shifts the choice preferences in favor of the compromise option” (Simonson 1989). The …

Segmentation Of The Aruban Tourism Market: Classification Of Visitors’ On-Island Activities, Deborah J.C. Brosdahl, Roasalind C. Paige

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

Travel and tourism offices in destinations throughout the world are keenly aware of the importance of attracting visitors to their locale. This is especially true in places where tourism is an important component of the local economy. Nowhere is tourism more important than for the island nations of the Caribbean, an area that has been called one of the most tourism dependent regions in the world. With approximately 1.22 million people visiting each year, the Caribbean island of Aruba “The World Tourism Council (WTTC) reports Aruba’s GDP is more reliant on travel and tourism than any other nation, relative to …

For One Or Many? Recommendation Targeting And Consumer Advice Integration, Michael Sciandra

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

As consumers, many of our most important decisions are not made in isolation. Rather, it is common for individuals to pursue, evaluate, and rely on advice from other individuals. While research on advice usage from multiple or individual advisors has been investigated, no research has looked at advice integration when the advice is offered to an individual or group. This is an important consideration of advice as online review sites (e.g. Yelp, Expedia, and Foursquare) and social media platforms (e.g. Twitter and Facebook) now make it easy for consumers to make general recommendations targeted at a large number of individuals. …

Consuming Digital Technologies And Enacting Identities: Mothers In Mundane Daily Life, Meera Venkatraman

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

This manuscript examines mothers’ consumption of digital technologies to enact their individual, relational, and familial identities. Using phemenological interviews it finds mothers purposefully consume digital technologies to negotiate, construct, and enact identities. Specifically, mothers use a repertoire of four appropriation strategies: mastering, partnering, domesticating, and avoiding. Mastery is a multi-year project in which mothers enroll in digital educational programs, qualify, and create new professional identities. In domestication, mothers assert themselves on technology managing their inclusion/exclusion in the time and spaces of family life, thereby enacting parental identities. In contrast, partnering is collaborative; mothers consume those functionalities of technologies that help …

Utilitarian And Hedonic Shopping Behavior In The Face Of Natural Disaster, Lindsay R.L. Larson, Hyunju Shin

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2017

Terror management theory suggests that events which make one’s mortality salient also lead to compensatory processes and behaviors meant to alleviate existential anxiety. Applications within the field of consumer behavior have led to the proposal that any such event may also impact materialism and consumption decisions as a protectant from such anxiety. With this in mind, the current study sets out to investigate the personal experiences and subsequent shopping behavior of those impacted by Hurricane Matthew in the coastal southeastern region of the United States. While Hurricane Matthew had nowhere near the destructive impact of Katrina within the continental United …

Share Of Wallet In Loyalty Research: Issues And A Methodology To Address Them, Arthur W. Allaway, Kyoungmi Kim, David Berkowitz

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

In a competitive market environment, share of wallet is a key measure for customer relationship management. Share of wallet analysis enables the firm to be more proactive in their ability to target customers to increase additional spending. Although share of wallet is important as a measure of customer loyalty, there is a dearth of research which focuses on share of wallet per se. In this paper, we briefly review the share of wallet literature in the context of its value to loyalty researchers. We illustrate some issues regarding share of wallet in identifying loyalty and then discuss the development of …

Do Houses Have Brands?, Melanie Eva Bruce

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

Brands have been shown to create identity, and theories of branding are used to explain purchase decisions. The importance of consumers’ creation of identity through consumption has important implications for housing. While traditionally reflected as a rational economic decision, the real estate purchase decision has been shown to incorporate much more (Marsh & Gibb, 2011). Research, by Beer et al. (2007), showed that housing is increasingly being used both as a location for, and object of, higher level consumption.

Self-congruity theory proposes that consumers attempt to preserve or enhance their self-image by selecting brands with ‘images’ they believe are congruent …

Marketing Research For Mission-Based Thrift Suggests Relationship Marketing Strategy, Jon M. Martin

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

In order to alleviate the risks associated with a lack of objective marketing research data and to apply marketing research in a unique niche, the author, in collaboration with a local mission-based thrift (“Thrift XYZ”), conducts marketing research regarding the motivations and preferences of shoppers and donators for one primary thrift location in North Carolina as a gratis community service. The findings are that XYZ’s shoppers and donators routinely and regularly shop and donate (respectively) with XYZ and that the nature of this target market is ideal for developing and applying a relationship marketing strategy with each/both groups.

Perceived Believability Of Televised Green Advertising, Linda Jo Warren

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

Consumers are typically skeptical and cynical of advertising claims for products and generally disbelieve most advertised information. Believability of advertisers’ claims is crucial for consumer adoption of products, but consumers’ environmental imagination should be assessed to enhance believability of green marketing claims. Consumer belief in an advertised product is nearly essential to prompt the consumer to purchase. This paper examines the perceptions of consumers and their believability of specifically green versus non-green televised advertisements. The FTC considers not only a product in its rulings, but also the packaging, formulations and disposal of the product. Consumer belief of advertising relating demographic, …

From Ethical To Sustainable Consumption: An Exploratory Study Of Students' Familiarity With Mindful Consumption, Julie M. Pharr

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

This paper seeks to further the marketer's understanding of ethical consumption by exploring differences in the way people perceive ethical consumption, mindful consumption, and overconsumption. The results support the idea that neither ethical nor mindful consumption designate a clearly defined set of practices. Researchers cannot count on even better- informed consumers to understand the full extent of ethical consumption possibilities or correctly apply more encompassing terms such as mindful consumption or overconsumption. As the construct of ethical consumption broadens to sustainable consumption, researchers will need to carefully operationalize the construct.

“Money Worlds” And Well-Being: An Empirical Test Of Tatzel’S Model Of Consumer Styles Based On Money Dispositions And Materialism With Extension To Other Consumer Behavior Variables, Leisa Reinecke Flynn, Ronald E. Goldsmith, Michael Brusco

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

Miriam Tatzel (2002) has proposed a comprehensive theory of “money worlds and well-being” comprised of four prototypes of consumer behaviors based on whether consumers are high or low on materialism and simultaneously tight or loose with money. These four prototypes (Value Seekers, Non-Spenders, Big Spenders, and Experiencers) are proposed to differ strikingly along a variety of values, attitudes, and behaviors. Three earlier studies have reported tests or the model, but none specifically tried to confirm empirically the four types of consumers. The present study uses data from 1016 U.S. student consumers to test empirically the proposed typology and the proposed …

Online And In-Store Compulsive Buying Among Metrosexuals And Other Male Consumers, Michael Lee Thomas, Luther Trey Denton Iii, Lindsay R. Larson, Kathleen Gruben

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

This paper presents an exploratory study of compulsive buying behavior among males, specifically metrosexual consumers. These men represent significant purchasing power, but to date they have not been studied in both online and in-store environments. The current research has significant importance for public policy, consumer behavior and marketing. The literature has largely ignored male compulsive shopping behavior, especially how this behavior manifests itself in different shopping environments and among different subsets of male consumers. For the current research, data was gathered via an online survey of 193 males. The study discusses both online and in-store compulsive buying by various product …

Television Viewership Among Millennials: An Analysis Of Millennials Usage And Preferences Of On-Demand & Broadcast Television Services, Summer Shelton, Nicholas Mckaig, Cristian Gonzalez Mendez

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

The purpose of this study is to identify the usage and preferences of millennials viewing television content on broadcast or on-demand television subscriptions. The study focuses on those aged 18-35, but also provides results for those falling outside of this age demographic. This study seeks to provide marketers with information regarding consumer preferences so they may adapt their offerings to meet the desires of customers which will in turn provide consumers with better quality television viewing experiences. An online survey was conducted which included 118 respondents and gauged their current use of, satisfaction with, and preferences for viewing television content. …

Flirting Online And The Connection Between The Use Of Dating Websites And Dating Applications, Kristine Johnson, Olguta Vilceanu, Manuel C. Pontes

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

For this research, we used data collected by the Pew Foundation's "Internet and American Life Project Tracking Survey," conducted in Spring 2013. The data was adjusted through the use of sampling weights to estimate for general population parameters. The collected data examined online flirting, use of dating websites, and the use of dating apps. Findings suggest women between the ages of 18-34 years are just as likely as men to signal their romantic interest by engaging in online flirtation. In addition, women ages 50 years or older are less likely than men to signal their romantic interest by engaging in …

A Content Analysis: The Relationship Between Sentiment, Gender And Time Of Day In Ewom, Katie Bass, Laicelis Haro, Xiaotong Liu, Jaejin Liu

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

This content analysis looks at several trends regarding electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) and how consumers engage in eWOM. 304 tweets were analyzed and numerous correlations regarding gender and time-of-day. This research will be beneficial to brands and companies seeking to launch new products or services using social media as a promotional avenue.

Determining The Influence Of Electronic Messages On Consumer Behavior Based On Perceived Source Trust And Credibility, Mackenzie Sawyer, Nick Sellers, Rhett Coleman, Jaejin Lee

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2016

With the growing presence of the internet, it is difficult for consumers to separate valuable information from useless information, and for marketers to determine what information consumers deem valuable. This paper aims to discover which message source - Corporate, Social, or Independent - is most trustworthy in the eyes of consumers. Corporate sources include paid platforms such as the company’s website and social media channels managed by the company, social sources include reviews posted on social media platforms by unpaid users who are not directly associated with the company, and independent sources include reviews from online articles, specialized publications, discussion …

Fitting X-Bar Chart To The Traditional Transaction Surveys Analysis, Usama A. Saleh

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

Traditional transaction surveys such as service feedback cards (SFCs) are widely embraced by different service organizations to measure a service quality or to assess customer satisfaction with specific transactions. This paper pursues to apply the statistical quality control technique of -chart (X-bar) to analyze the scaled collected data of these SFCs. The proposed method establishes the control limits to what is being measured for meeting the managerial objectivity of monitoring, controlling, or improving a service performance.

Why Do Shoppers Shop?, Ronald E. Goldsmith, Leisa Reinecke Flynn, Ronald A. Clark

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

The purpose of the present study was to assess the relationships between three potential motivators of shopping behavior with a measure of attitude toward shopping. Data from 306 US student consumers were collected via an online survey. Reliable and valid scales operationalized the constructs. The results showed that shopping appears to be motivated in part by a desire for status, by materialism, and by brand engagement in self-concept. The results also showed women like to shop more than men do and that the relationships among the variables differed between men and women, suggesting that each gender is motivated to shop …

Product Placement And Its Influence On Children, Simon Hudson, Charlene Elliott

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

Despite the growing body of research concerning the practice of product placement, a notable research gap exists pertaining to the influence of product placement on children, and its link to childhood obesity. This study will provide an insight to the influence of product placement on children. Its objective is to analyze the placement of food and beverage products on children of various ages. An experimental approach will be taken whereby child-respondents will be divided into groups and each group will see the same television clip but with different placements (digitally inserted) of various types of food and beverages. All groups …

The Impacts Of Contextual Cues On The Effects Of Brand Extension, Bob Wu, Joseph W. Chang

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

Brand extension strategy represents one of the most frequently used branding strategies. The degree of success in this stimulus generalization process depends on the perceived fit between the existing parent product and the extension product. In this article, we examine whether a brand extension initiated by a foreign (vs. domestic) company is construed differently by consumers and consequently whether it affects factors used to judge the fit between the parent brand and the extension brand. A 3 (foreign vs. U.S. vs. control) x 2 (anti-cavity toothpaste vs. pain relievers) between subjects factorial design was used for the study.

The present …

Gift Cards And Gift Giving: Research Notes From The Field, Melek Meral Meral Anitsal, Ismet Anitsal, Sara E. Taylor

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

Gift cards are rapidly emerging as a trend in the retail marketplace. However, this emerging phenomenon of consumers’ preference of gift cards has not been explored thoroughly yet. The objective of the current study is to understand consumer reactions to gift cards in terms of their impact in gift giving and gift receiving relationships. Specifically, this research seeks to answer the following research objectives: (1) How gift givers and receivers perceive gift cards; (2) What roles of gift cards play in gift giving rituals; and (3) What meanings gift cards communicate for receivers and givers.

Brand Engagement And Consumer Innovativeness, Ronald E. Goldsmith, Leisa Reinecke Flynn, Felipe Korzenny

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2010

Brand engagement describes the tendency of consumers to make the brands they buy part of their self- concept. This new insight into consumer behavior offers marketers many ways to create relationships with their customers. An unexplored aspect of brand engagement is how it is related to consumer innovativeness, the tendency to be among the first buyers of new products. The present study used survey data from 2399 adult U.S. consumers to show that brand engagement is positively related to consumer innovativeness. This finding suggests that in addition to promoting the features of new products likely to attract innovators, showing how …