Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons^™

Digital Marketing And The Culture Industry: The Ethics Of Big Data, Jonathan Michael Bowman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Instead of the steady march of the one percent growth in ecommerce as compared to total retail revenues in the last decade (to comprise about nine percent of the industry at the close of 2019), we have witnessed leaps now to over twenty percent in just the last year. Scott Galloway marks the pandemic as an accelerant not just of digital marketing posting a year of growth for each month of quarantine but as an accelerant of each major GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple) firm from market dominance to total dominance (Galloway 2020). Viewing these trends from the standpoint …

A Tale Of Two Companies: The Importance Of Public Relations Amidst The Shift Towards Corporate Activism, Olivia Schwab

Honors Theses

By comparing the controversies that stemmed from Papa John’s John Schnatter and CrossFit’s Greg Glassman, some obvious public relations strategies stand out, including but not limited to understanding an audience, adapting to a changing environment, establishing a crisis communications plan, and taking controversial stands on issues close to the audience’s hearts. Most importantly though, if companies preach messages of social change, they must follow up on their stances with corrective action to do their best to help facilitate it in society.

While examining the history of corporate activism, it is clear why and how some corporations become the victims of …

Illusional Marketing: The Use Of Storytelling, User Experience And Gamification In Business, Adnan Veysel Ertemel

Zea E-Books Collection

“This book is a must-have for marketers who need to use a composite set of tools to break through the attention economy. The book is also for the general public who might be concerned about the growing and numbing screen time that takes people away from doing other things.” — Philip Kotler on Illusional Marketing

Digital platforms know how to “hook” consumers and keep them glued to the screen. These products were developed based on psychologists’ research into the way the human brain works. These are new weapons in the marketing toolkit that will become even more effective when combined …

The Perceived Ethics Of Artificial Intelligence, Ross Murray

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used by millions of consumers in their daily lives. Although this technology is providing convenience, information, and instant gratification the underlying moral framework that AI uses remains largely unknown to the consumers of the technology. Two of the mostly widely used moral approaches (deontology and teleology), and their implications for AI, are discussed. The context of chatbots that use AI is examined, specifically exploring Amazon’s Alexa. The context illustrates the issue of the latent moral frameworks that AI technologies use when interacting with consumers or the environment. Although AI holds the promise of many potential …

Hidden Sugar And Its Bitter Obstacles For The Wellbeing Of Consumers, Ai Nhan Ngo

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This research paper explores issues pertaining to, and raises awareness about, high sugar intake among consumers, which causes several consequential health risks. The paper also points out various obstacles preventing consumers from reducing their high sugar consumption. These obstacles come from policymakers, policy influencers, the sugar industry, the food industry, and consumers themselves. For some obstacles, involvement of multiple parties was found. The research also discusses several possible solutions for improving a healthy consumption environment for consumer wellbeing.

Ethical Use Of Beauty In Advertising, Koca Chan

Honors Theses and Capstones

The use of beauty images in advertising has been generally deemed to be unethical in society, based on the general negative presupposition in modern western culture. The ethicalness of the display of high standards of beauty in advertisements is especially controversial and questionable in the advertising industry. Advertising watchdogs, social groups, and individuals have investigated the possibility of banning the display of high standards of beauty to be displayed in advertisings and publications. This paper argues that image advertising of high beauty standards may not be necessarily unethical in all situations. And under certain conditions, by considering and combining image(s) …

The Future Of Fashion: Corporate Social Responsibility And Essential Marketing Strategies, Taite Jorgensen

CMC Senior Theses

This paper analyzes how fast fashion has impacted future trends of the fashion industry. Due to globalization, the fast fashion industry has been able to create new norms of over-consumerism and international labor. Because of this, the fast fashion industry is able to mass produce in a way consumers have never seen before, in addition to making it all at extremely low prices. However, fast fashion brands are only able to mass produce cheap goods through unethical methodologies; these methodologies include unsustainable materials and practices, inhuman labor conditions and wages, and by making sizes that exclude bigger bodies. Consumers are …

Dialogue Marketing: Ecological Sustainability Of Letter And E-Mail In Comparison In Germany, Atilla Wohllebe

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

With the spread of the Internet, e-mail has also steadily gained in relevance over the past years and decades. Especially in the form of newsletters, e-mail marketing is probably the most important channel of digital dialogue marketing today. This paper examines the carbon dioxide emissions of advertising e-mails in Germany on the basis of existing sources and compares them with the emissions caused by sending letters by post. Despite significantly lower CO2 emissions per piece compared to a letter, e-mails seem to be a much greater burden on the environment due to their practically unlimited scalability in terms of cost. …

An Examination Of The Growth Of Cruelty Free Products Available For The 18-24 Age Range., Daniela Isabel Bolivar Leon

Business ETD Collections

The topic being studied for this research is the examination of the growth of cruelty free products available for the 18 -24 age range. This is to highlight how the economy has being changing and adapting to new generations with the purpose of satisfying their needs and offer a more significant approach towards sustainability and animal testing. Animal cruelty on cosmetics is an extremely high concern for Millennials and Generations Z, those generations are constantly looking for sustainable improvements on their purchases. This case study aims to build new theories on whether a business can make profit in the long …

Go Green: Make Green, Sam Montague

Marriott Student Review

While cost might seem like an obstacle to some, adopting sustainable practices can turn out to be profitable for most companies. Recent research find positive correlation between business efforts and the consumer response, showcase direct benefits to the business, and provide suggestions to put the findings into practice.

Family Ownership And Corporate Environmental Responsibility: The Contingent Effect Of Venture Capital And Institutional Environment, Zhu Zhu, Feifei Lu

Department of Management Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

As scholars and policy makers pay more attention to the environmental impact of economic activities, more focus has been placed on the corporate environmental responsibility (CER) of family firms, which accounts for the majority of businesses in both developed and developing countries. Using a sample of 4714 private enterprises across 23 provinces in China, the current study examines the effect of family ownership on CER investment, as well as the moderating effects of venture capital investment and local institutional development. Results show that concentrated family ownership leads to lower CER spending, however, when venture capital investment comes from developed markets, …

Negating Amy Gutmann: Deliberative Democracy, Business Influence, And Segmentation Strategies In Education, Brian Ford

Democracy and Education

The task of creating a public will is daunting in any political system, but a democracy dedicated to the principles of participation and public deliberation faces specific challenges, including overcoming organized opposition that may not accept democratic tenets. In the sphere of education (and social reproduction more generally), business-influenced movements to reform public education question many of the established goals and norms of democratic education and thus may be the vanguard of such opposition. In order to interpret and explore these movements, this article enlists Amy Gutmann's work as a heuristic device. In so doing, it looks at the task …

Dark Clouds: The Ethics Behind A Growing Vape Culture, Matthew Crenshaw

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project addresses the areas of vaping consequences and the overall perception of vaping as a whole from the public. It also successfully answers one primary question: Have vaping companies really done anything “unethical” in terms of marketing and selling their products, or are they just the easiest entity to blame?

Vaping has been referred to as an “epidemic” in recent years. It has gained an immense amount of popularity among America’s youth however little is known about its long-term health risks. Vaping, along with its advertising techniques and unique target audience, has been compared to cigarettes and with that …

What Consumers Don’T Know They’Re Giving Away (Data And Privacy Concerns), Bayleigh Reeves

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

The modern world leverages technology and information captured by it in ways the inventors of these technologies likely never imagined. Phones and other devices are gathering information about consumers in the background when they do not even realize it. Pew Research Center found that about 77% of Americans own a smartphone and 88% use the internet. This mass access to technology and information tracking raises many privacy concerns. Basic demographic information is being tracked as well as more in-depth information like shopping tendencies, financial information, and information about known associates. While most of this data is being used for marketing …

Three Essays On The Effect Of Pain-Of-Payment On Consumers' Financial Decisions, Farnoush Reshadi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In the past few years, we have witnessed a growing level of consumer debt. Although being in debt increases consumers’ stress and reduces their financial well-being, many consumers still take on high levels of debt and hold on to it even when they have financial resources to pay off the debt. Thus, it is of utmost importance to study factors that may influence consumers’ debt repayment. In this dissertation, I study consumers’ debt repayment behavior through the lens of the double-entry mental accounting theory (Prelec and Loewenstein 1998). This theory argues that consumers’ debt repayment behaviors are driven by pain-of-payment--negative …

Revisiting The Beneficiaries Of The Scotus Ruling Striking Down Paspa, Sam Fullerton, Ronald Dick, Michael Mccall

Association of Marketing Theory and Practice Proceedings 2020

A Supreme Court ruling in 2018 essentially rendered restrictions on sports gambling to run counter to states’ rights, thus in conflict with the Constitution of the United States. As a consequence, 13 states and the District of Columbia now have legalized sports gambling. Initial research into the consequences of this ruling identified 12 potential beneficiaries. Subsequent research entailing an assessment of new literature and a survey of executive opinion involving a number of marketing executives who work within the field of sports marketing expanded the findings from the earlier study. This extension of the preliminary study found 14 beneficiaries rather …

International Olympic Committee Rule 40: Reasonable Protection For The Ioc Or Unfair Restriction To The Athletes?, Jeri L. Jones

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper explores the history, legality and ethical perspectives of the International Olympic Committee Rule #40 that was put into effect starting with the 2016 Olympic Games. Rule 40 was established to protect official Olympic sponsors from marketing campaign dilution and ambush marketing attempts from non-official brand sponsors. It was designed to prevent over-commercialization of the Olympic brand and to protect official Olympic sponsors’ substantial investment for exclusive marketing rights during the Games. It also however effectively prevents athletes from recognizing their own individual company sponsors and goes so far as to limit an athlete’s apparel during the Games, their …

The Introduction Of The Philosophy Of Sufficiency Economy And Its Application To Consumer Context, Sasawan Heingraj, Suwakitti Amornpan

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Thailand was one of the potential causes of the 1997 East Asian economic recession due to its lack of readiness in dealing with globalization. In fact, globalization can generate double-edged effects on a country’s economic condition. While it can mitigate global inequality and poverty, it can also be considered as the determinant of trade imbalances, income inequality, and deterioration of natural resources. In order to enhance a balanced and sustainable development at society and country level, we believe that the well-being of each individual should be taken into consideration. This article introduces the concept of Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy (PSE) …

Impact Of Life-Cycle Costs Threshold Criteria In The Alternate Design Pavement Bidding Practices Of Public Transportation Agencies, Ilker Karaca, Douglas Gransberg, Ashley F. Buss

Ilker Karaca

This paper proposes a model that enables Department of Transportation (DOT) policy makers to quantify the expected volume of projects that will qualify for letting in their alternate design/alternate bid (ADAB) pavement bidding programs. Current guidance on alternate bidding recommends a fixed percentage as the life cycle cost (LCC) threshold criterion to determine whether pavement selection decisions should be made through ADAB bidding practices. The paper’s analysis shows that the fixed LCC threshold percentage approach may have considerable shortcomings. Instead, a dynamic threshold value is proposed that can subsequently be calibrated by agencies, based on the desired size of their …

The Personalization-Privacy Paradox Explored Through A Privacy Calculus Model And Hofstede’S Model Of Cultural Dimensions, Kellen M. Schwartz

Honors Projects

The Personalization-Privacy Paradox is a relevant issue for companies today, as it deals with the paradox of customers who on the one hand want to keep their personal data private, but on the other hand desire the personalization benefits that can be gained by giving up that privacy. Many studies in the past have observed the Personalization-Privacy Paradox, but not thoroughly through the lens of a privacy calculus model. This paper uses a privacy calculus model to examine the Personalization-Privacy Paradox using Hofstede’s Six Dimensions of Culture and examines the United States, Germany, and China as case studies of three …

Consumers’ Reactions To Multiple Instances Of Negative Publicity: The Role Of Publicity Domain Similarity, Berna Basar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Although it is very typical for consumers to be exposed to multiple instances of negative publicity about a brand, existing research has focused on consumers’ reactions to one-time negative publicity instances. Given the important role of self-brand connection in consumers’ reactions to negative brand-related information, the current study investigates how consumers with different self-brand connection levels react to multiple instances of negative publicity in a single domain versus across different domains. Specifically, I suggest that consumers with high self-brand connection might be defense motivated, which in return, might result in justification of one-time instances unless consistency in behavior is signaled. …

International Olympic Committee -- Rule 40: Who Does It Protect Versus Who Should It Protect?, Jeri L. Jones

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Escape For Boone & Crocket, William K. Foxx, Joseph W. Giese, David W. Van Buskirk

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Defining Sustainability On Campus: A Network Analysis Of Competing Student Conceptions, Matt Hettche, Dae-Hee Kim, Lisa Spiller

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Are Accounting Firms Breaching The Age Discrimination Act With The Inclusion Of Mandatory Retirement Provisions, Emily Haggard

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Age is just a number. This phrase has been murmured time after time in history. From famous movie scenes, song lyrics, pages in books, and wisdom from mothers, everyone has heard this at least once in their lives. Some joke that age only matters in wine and cheese. Some argue that age is all a limitation that the mind gives you. People are taught to never ask a woman how old she is, and as a society we celebrate certain ages such as twenty-one and sixteen, yet shun and deny those such as thirty and fifty. There are rules for …

Does Persistence Explain Esg Disclosure Decisions?, Garret A. Mcbrayer

Marketing Faculty Publications and Presentations

Advocates of an increased focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives have argued that increased ESG disclosure is a necessary first step. Given the limited regulatory requirements on ESG disclosure, manager preferences serve as a primary determinant of ESG transparency. Using data on ESG disclosure from Bloomberg, I examine the extent to which disclosure persistence on the behalf of firm management, as proxied by managerial tenure, affects firms’ ESG disclosure strategies. Overall, I find that ESG disclosure quality and ESG disclosure variability are reduced as management tenure increases. Further, I find that the replacement of a firm’s CEO interrupts …

Reflective Practice Series: Selected Instructional Models Using Synchronous Video Conferencing Software, Martin W. Sivula

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

With the vast array of resources available to instructors, one would think that instruction and teaching would yield success for all learners. Now, well into the 21^st century has much changed in the classroom? Certainly, movable desks and chairs, advanced audio and visual equipment, and a plethora of all types of technologies which might be able to enhance training and education. Over the last several decades research on individualized instruction, cognitive science, educational psychology, and multimedia instruction (to name a few) have permeated the literature on instruction. With all the research and the vast array of studies on improving …

Consumer Welfare And Price Discrimination: A Fine Line, Marie Wallmark, Eyal Greenberg, Dan Engels

SMU Data Science Review

Traditionally, it was not feasible for businesses to determine the maximum price the buyer was willing to pay, but with the availability of big data and the deployment of sophisticated algorithms, with a great degree of precision businesses can ascertain the maximum willingness price. Some forms of price discrimination are prohibited under the Robinson-Patman Act of Antitrust (1890), provided demographic characteristics such as race and gender are the determining factors. The problem with this interpretation is that sellers are not transparent about what factors are taken into consideration when determining price. Current laws are either limited in their interpretation or …

The Internal Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Firm Performance, Lindsay Harris

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the internal effects of corporate social responsibility on firm performance. It also examines the definition of corporate social responsibility and two varying theories about the topic. This thesis explores the human resource, quality and financial aspects of firm performance and how those aspects of a company are affected by adopting significant corporate social responsibility programs. This research seeks to answer the claim that corporate social responsibility programs do not have a positive effect on the actual performance of an organization. It will examine the effect of CSR on employee attitudes, moral and …

#Readyforrio: How A Revised Rule 40 Impacted Sponsorship At The 2016 Summer Olympics, Anthony Carson

Senior Theses

When planning and executing the Olympic Games, a premier event in modern sport, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) relies heavily on sponsorship revenue from their official sponsors. “Worldwide Olympic Partners,” the top 11 sponsors of the 2016 Olympics, had exclusive rights during the Olympic cycle from 2013-2016.

With the purchase of these expensive sponsorship deals, brands are looking to capitalize on the “glow” of the Olympics, and use excusive Olympic intellectual property to make ties from their brand to the Games. In order to make these sponsorship deals more valuable, the IOC has historically provided official partners with added exclusivity …