Business Commons^™

Cancel Anytime! How Easy Cancellation Options Enhance Purchase Intentions For Services That Require Long-Term Commitments, Sohyeon Park, Kacy Kim, Seolwoo Park, Yung Kyun Choi, Sukki Yoon

Marketing Department Faculty Journal Articles

The authors recognize that an uncertain environment associated with prolonged pandemic conditions have made consumers reluctant to make long-term contractual commitments in various retail contexts. Hypothesizing that retailers might offer cancellation options to motivate consumers to undertake long-term commitments, the authors conduct two studies in which cancellation messages accompany ads for an online language course and a gym membership. Findings indicate that retailers can alleviate the pressures associated with long-term commitment decisions and can heighten purchase intentions by providing cancel options for consumers who register for services requiring long-term but not short-term commitments. Perceived goal achievability is identified as an …

Understanding The Business Model Of Content Creation, Taylor Vahey

Honors Projects in Communication

Individuals who post niched consistent content to social media platforms have grown audiences, which presents an opportunity for content creators to monetize the attention their posts receive. Both content creators and marketing practitioners are using trial and error processes to learn how to utilize the newest online promotion strategy; influencer marketing. This research aims to outline the business operations from the perspective of the influencer. Research on all aspects of this industry is insufficient, with only a few hundred published peer-reviewed articles on the topic available. Most of the research focuses on the perspective of the audience or the marketing …

Revolutionizing Agriculture Through Digital Twins, Mohsen Attaran, Sharmin Attaran, Bilge Gokhan Celik

Marketing Department Faculty Book Publications

The rise of digital twin (DT) technology is transforming the way businesses operate, with its applications and use cases expanding across various industries. This article focuses on the agriculture industry and explores how DT can enable intelligent automation. Through a comprehensive review of DT's concept, evolution, and development, as well as a discussion of its key enabling technologies, trends, and challenges, the authors identify potential use cases for DT in agriculture. By presenting this analysis, this article aims to provide insights into how DT can streamline operations and enhance productivity in the agriculture industry.

More Than Just A Game? The Impact Of Athletic Team Performances Of Advertisement Appeal, Matthew Cook

Honors Projects in Marketing

The goal of this study was to determine the effects that an athletic team's performance may have on the ways in which their fans view advertisements. Conducted using a 2 (game: basketball vs. baseball) x 2 (outcome: win vs. loss) x 2 (score: blowout vs. close game) experimental study created within Qualtrics, we set out to determine how the type of game, outcome, and score may all affect advertisement appeal. Using clips from a Celtics vs Lakers game as well as a Red Sox vs Yankees game, we created short video clips that were designed to replicate the experience of …

Are All Body Sizes Beautiful? A Content Analysis Of Plus-Size Representation In Fashion Brands, Julia Mclaughlin

Honors Projects in Marketing

An abundance of body positive campaigns has become increasingly popular among fashion brands. The current study aims to analyze the consumers' perceptions of model's beauty attributes and well-being based on their body size. The purpose of the present research is to provide a deeper insight into the effects that models’ appearance poses on an individual's well-being. The goal of this study is to explore consumers' perceptions of model's beauty attributes and well-being based on their body size. By conducting a content analysis of female models in the fashion industry, consumers' perceptions of models' beauty attributes, well-being, and lifestyle were discovered. …

The Impact Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Fashion Industry, Hannah Dreska

Honors Projects in Finance

This research study is an examination of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the marketing and infrastructure of companies within the commercial fashion industry. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, this paper examines the purchasing preferences and behaviors of young adults and whether their opinions on diversity and inclusivity impact it. Second, this paper examines the financial impact of companies that adopted an inclusive and diverse approach to their marketing strategies and company infrastructure. I hypothesize that inclusivity and diversity are qualities highly valued by consumers and would thus have a positive financial impact on companies that focus on …

Advertising To Reduce Public Stigma And Its Associated Consequences For Medical Marijuana Patients, Jack Tishkevich

Honors Projects in Marketing

Medical marijuana patients must contend not just with their maladies, but with the social stigma surrounding marijuana use as well. This study hypothesizes that advertising can be used to positively influence individual’s acceptance of medical marijuana. It seeks to answer the questions: Can persuasive advertising be used to reduce stigma surrounding medical marijuana? Which advertising method is most effective in this persuasive process? To find the answer, a between subject, factorial design experiment is used. One of six randomized advertisements are shown to participants in a 3x2 (pathos, logos, ethos x guilt and shame) design. Participants opinions on the advertisement …

Why, Did I Lose? Debriefing Quality And Its Effects On Justice, Protests, And Sales Loss Attributions, Timothy G. Hawkins, Mike Wittmann, Michael Gravier, Suman Niranjan, William A. Muir

Marketing Department Faculty Journal Articles

When suppliers lose in a competitive tender process, they need feedback to make accurate sales loss attributions and adjustments to their competitive strategy. Unfortunately, buyers seldomly provide sufficient feedback to enable diagnostics, learning, and adaptation. The purpose of this research is to explore a buyer's debriefing as an effective feedback mechanism. Based on data from a sample of 218 U.S. government source selections, a new construct, debriefing quality, is developed as a multi-dimensional construct comprised of: proposal efficacy information, procedural compliance and decision understanding information, and competitive intelligence information. Results show that debriefing quality enhances procedural justice and internal and …

Stories And Selling: The Impact Of Narrative Storytelling In Video Commercials, Gabriela Martin

Honors Projects in Communication

In a world where business is so closely tied together with the digital world, it can become easy to miss out on the human component of the marketing field. However, it is the narrative storytelling interwoven into advertisements that make them so compelling to consumers. Customers do not just want to be told about the features of a product, but rather they want to understand how having that product will make them feel. This storytelling can be communicated across several different forms of media, but it is especially apparent in the formatting of video commercials. While basic informational videos can …

Financial Literacy And Investing Habits Of Generation Z As It Pertains To Financial Marketing, Meghan Mazzatto

Honors Projects in Marketing

As technology boomed at the end of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century, the methods young adults use to manage their finances have also evolved. Between moving financial investing and banking to the internet, robo-advising apps, college debt, and the generational reaction to the 2008 Financial Crisis, the world of investing has taken a drastic turn when it comes to young investors. The purpose of this study is to examine the financial habits of Generation Z in order for financial planning companies to better market to the upcoming Generation Z. A survey was used for this study to …

Introduction To The Special Issue On The Future Of Advertising, Sukki Yoon

Marketing Department Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Looking In The Mirror: Does Representation In Marketing Impact The Consumer?, Alyssa Collins

Honors Projects in Marketing

This study explores the implications of fitness apparel marketing on consumer self-esteem, attitude towards brands and ads, and purchase intention. Furthermore, this study explores the relationship between a diverse, inclusive (body size and ethnicity) model and consumer attitudes. Female participants were recruited to share their feelings towards their own personal body satisfaction, how they perceive advertisements, how they feel about the brand based on the advertisement that they view, and their intentions to buy the product. The study found that while the original hypotheses were not statistically significant, that there was a positive correlation of customers being more likely to …

The Influence Of Price Transparency On Consumer Perceptions: The Role Of Culture And Luxury Brands, Cady Qiu

Honors Projects in Marketing

There is an abundance of research that analyzes country of origin (COO) and its effect on consumer behavior; however, many of these studies are in relation to products unrelated to fashion. In addition, there are a plethora of studies that discuss price transparency and product transparency. Though, most of this research is also unrelated to the fashion industry. There is also a significant lack of COO studies in relation with price and product transparency. This current study aims to focus on developing new methods of marketing in congruence with COO and fashion products. Utilizing a between-subjects experimental design, 2 (country …

Deception Perception: The Marketing Of Student Loans, Lauren Roth

Honors Projects in Marketing

Marketing from student loan servicing companies tend to omit important information, thus deceiving borrowers. These companies may be taking advantage of students' position as vulnerable consumers with limited information to maximize their own profits. This study explores the relationship between deceptive advertising from student loan servicers and its effects on consumer perceived deception, student trust in the loan servicer, and student satisfaction in their borrowing decisions. Consumer perceived deception (CPD) is the extent to which a consumer believes the ad they were exposed to tends to mislead them. To test the hypotheses, an experiment was conducted, and a questionnaire was …

The Stereotypical Perception Of A Spokesperson In A Sports Advertisement, Trinity Lennon

Honors Projects in Marketing

This study examines the gender role of a spokesperson and a type of sports in the "Match-Up Hypothesis." Two studies were conducted to test the effectiveness of sports advertisements for a gym membership: in a 2x2x2 experiment, the gender of the spokesperson, a type of sports, and the gender of the consumer are manipulated. Results indicated that females have a higher expectation of improvement when the gender of the endorser does not match the sport (Breaking the Glass Ceiling Effect). In contrast, males have a higher expectation of improvement when the gender matches the sport.

The Effects Of Sponsorship Disclosure On Consumer Perceptions, Evan Leonard

Honors Projects in Marketing

This study examines the effects of sponsorship disclosure by social media influencers on consumer perceptions. Influencers on the social media platform Instagram were focused on, testing consumer perceptions of trust, relevance, engagement, feelings towards the brand, and purchase intentions. The study was done through exploratory survey research analyzing the effects of different sponsorship disclosures on the variables (N=93). The study found a sponsorship announcement to show significantly positive results across the variables, with a discount code also shown to be significantly positive towards purchase intentions.

Rainbowashing: Does It Impact Purchase Intention?, Ramon Luis Fille

Honors Projects in Marketing

Cause related marketing efforts by multiple brands have grown over the past few years. With the growth of social media and even more awareness for multiple causes, consumers are pickier when it comes to brands that supports them. While many studies have been done when it comes to “greenwashing” (the tactics of brands to show their green initiatives), there are still more that needs to be done to understand the impact of “rainbowashing” marketing methods on consumer purchase intention. The importance of this study and how it can affect businesses are discussed. To get a feel for the potential effect …

If You Can't Take The Tweet: Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility Through The Lens Of Social Media Marketing, Julia Winterhalter

Honors Projects in Communication

Companies are increasingly taking action on societal issues and are aware of the impact that their corporate voice has on impressionable publics. Existing research focuses greatly on corporate social responsibility and the moral standards that set up companies to market themselves authentically to the values they build themselves on. The current study explores how three companies utilize their platform to share their values in relation to ethical issues arising in the modern world. Through the Twitter accounts of Ben & Jerry's, Patagonia, and Starbucks, a content analysis was conducted on their use of language related to their ethical standpoints on …

Advertising In The Volunteer Tourism Industry: Analyzing The Relationship Between Social Exclusion And Self-Versus-Other Benefit Appeals., Lyndsay Swanston

Honors Projects in Marketing

This study aims to analyze how consumers perceive advertisements in the volunteer tourism industry when influenced by social exclusion and benefit appeals. The authors examined feelings, attitudes, and behavioral intentions of consumers in reference to an international volunteer trip advertisement. Based on data from a sample (n=259), findings demonstrated that consumers who felt more socially excluded responded more favorably to other-benefit appeals, opposed to self-benefit appeals. An interaction effect was discovered when looking at the degree of sympathy that participants felt regarding the advertisements. Participants who were socially excluded felt more sympathetic after viewing the other-benefit appeal advertisements, whereas those …

The Effect Of The Pandemic On Engagement Levels Of Linkedin Posts, Lauren Fedor

Honors Projects in Marketing

This paper will examine the effects that the pandemic COVID-19 has on the social media platform LinkedIn. It will detail the ways that LinkedIn has changed and shifted since the virus became a widespread challenge for the entire country. The paper will look at LinkedIn activity during 2020 of various users, highlighting the factors of the top five posts with the highest engagement. The specific LinkedIn users that will be looked at will be sales recruiters, and the success of their posts will be measured by engagement levels (number of likes and comments). It will look for any patterns during …

Impact Of Fashion Advertisements On Consumers, Kathryn Sweeney

Honors Projects in Marketing

This paper sets out to investigate the expectations, satisfaction, and retention of fashion advertising. The purpose of this paper is to determine if ad type (traditional models vs. plus-size models) and brand type (luxury vs. non-luxury) have impacts on consumers’ perceptions, attitudes, purchase intention, and overall expectations of the advertisements and brands. Two-hundred fifty-six participants (62.5% males, 37.5% females) (mean age = 19.9) were recruited from Bryant University and received extra credit in their MKT201 course for completing the survey. Each participant was randomly assigned one stimulus advertisement and was then asked to answer a questionnaire that featured measures of …

The Effect Of Native Vs. Foreign Language On Consumer Visual Perception, Gabriela Reymont

Honors Projects in Marketing

This research examines the effect of language on visual perception. Specifically, how the use of native language vs. foreign language affects preference for different elements of visual perception (e.g. low movement vs. high movement, angular shape vs. circular shape). Although language usage has been found to influence consumer perception, past literature has failed to examine language as the antecedent of visual perception. To fill that gap, two controlled experiments are conducted in a survey format. Within the survey, participants examine marketing stimuli presented either in their foreign language or native language. For the first experiment, participants choose between packaging with …

Competence In Co-Creation: The Impact Of Product Attributes And Add-On Services In The Decision To Co-Create, Peter Elder

Honors Projects in Marketing

Purpose: Co-creation is increasingly used by companies as a method of improving the overall value of a product or service offering. The purpose of this paper is to explore determinants of customer value in relation to customer value co-creation in the context of an online purchase decision.

Objective: Evaluate the impact of Elaboration Likelihood on the desire to co-create a product and the attractiveness of the product based on different contextual modifiers to the online purchase and co-creation decision. Methodology: In order to understand determinants of the value of a co-creation experience, an online purchase process was simulated for participants, …

Strategy & Tactics To Improve Sales For B2b Manufacturing Firms: A Case Study, Frank T. Ricci, Jr.

Honors Projects in Marketing

Manufacturing businesses primarily focus on producing products, but as a result, these firms can fall behind on their marketing efforts when compared to other business sectors. Through a case study approach, an analysis was conducted to reveal how business to business 'B2B' manufacturing firms can attain and use marketing research supplemented by robust data analysis from its customers to improve sales. The study was divided into 7 sections. Sections 1, 2, and 3 show the dynamics of this business sector and motivations for this project. The remaining sections 4, 5, 6, and 7 explore the practical implications through a live …

An Examination Of Sustainable Marketing And Fan Engagment Within The Sports Industry, Caroline Meizen

Honors Projects in Marketing

The goal of this research-based thesis was to uncover the prominent methods of connecting with fans and recognizing preferences of marketing messages to see if sustainable marketing will increase engagement on game-day or have a neutral impact. Research was conducted through an analysis of case studies from the perspective of teams, athletes, and venues. A survey was distributed to analyze fan behaviors related to the importance of sustainability, engagement preferences with marketing messages and overall impact of the sports space as a platform for sustainable messages. Survey results of sports fans showed that the connection with their favorite teams and …

Impact Of Fashion Advertisements On Consumers, Kathryn Sweeney, Kacy Kim, Sharmin Attaran

Honors Projects in Marketing

This paper sets out to investigate the expectations, satisfaction, and retention of fashion advertising. The purpose of this paper is to determine if ad type (traditional models vs. plus-size models) and brand type (luxury vs. non-luxury) have impacts on consumers’ perceptions, attitudes, purchase intention, and overall expectations of the advertisements and brands. Two-hundred fifty-six participants (62.5% males, 37.5% females) (mean age = 19.9) were recruited from Bryant University and received extra credit in their MKT201 course for completing the survey. Each participant was randomly assigned one stimulus advertisement and was then asked to answer a questionnaire that featured measures of …

A Study Of The Technology Acceptance Model For Social Media Adoption In Small & Medium Enterprises, Lily Iacurci

Honors Projects in Marketing

While some small businesses adopt social media into their business practices, others do not. This study utilizes the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to discover what factors or elements influence the adoption of social media within small and medium enterprises (SMEs). An extended version of the TAM was created to examine several factors that may influence SMEs’ adoption of social media. Through an empirical analysis, several findings were uncovered. It was found that compatibility, perceived ease of use and cost all had a significant effect on SME’s owner or marketers’ attitudes toward adopting social media. The implications of these findings for …

The Comparison Of Effectiveness Of Social Media Marketing By Brands And Influencers For Organic Cosmetics, Alyssa Belanger

Honors Projects in Marketing

The cosmetics industry, one of the largest industries in the world, has taken a major shift toward organic products. Consumers prefer these products because they are safer on the human skin, have longer lasting positive effects, and do not harm animals in the creation of the product. Marketing strategies have taken a major shift toward social media. Partnering with influencers to promote products has become increasingly popular because it can be more effective by creating a deeper, more personal relationship with consumers (Glucksman, 2017). However, distrust has been growing toward influencer marketing because their recommendations are not always authentic (Kowalewisc, …

Rivalry Appeals In Advertising: Distinctiveness Versus Inclusiveness, David Stahr

Honors Projects in Marketing

The main objective of the research is to study how convenience and shopping products impact how consumers react to rivalry appeals in advertisements. The authors examine the effectiveness of rivalry appeals in advertisements and how they are impacted by the product type considered by consumers. In two studies, a 2 (prime: distinctiveness vs. inclusiveness) x 2 (message: competition vs. collaboration) ANOVA methodology was conducted on survey data. In Study 1, participants primed with distinctiveness (inclusiveness) and considering convenience products experienced an assimilation effect where they preferred competitive (collaborative) rivalry appeals. In Study 2, participants primed with distinctiveness (inclusiveness) and considering …

Rivalry Appeals In Advertising: Distinctiveness Versus Inclusiveness, David Stahr, Sukki Yoon, Kacy Kim

Honors Projects in Marketing

The main objective of the research is to study how convenience and shopping products impact how consumers react to rivalry appeals in advertisements. The authors examine the effectiveness of rivalry appeals in advertisements and how they are impacted by the product type considered by consumers. In two studies, a 2 (prime: distinctiveness vs. inclusiveness) x 2 (message: competition vs. collaboration) ANOVA methodology was conducted on survey data. In Study 1, participants primed with distinctiveness (inclusiveness) and considering convenience products experienced an assimilation effect where they preferred competitive (collaborative) rivalry appeals. In Study 2, participants primed with distinctiveness (inclusiveness) and considering …