Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Essays On Marketing Strategy, Chang Liu

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I apply game-theoretical methods in the context of marketing research and investigate the effects of stylized facts in behavioral economics. Chapter 1 studies the effects of managerial optimism on firms’ performance. Research has shown that many managers and entrepreneurs tend to be optimistic and are inclined to believe that negative shocks happen to them less frequently than to others. However, there is also evidence suggesting that such optimism is often inaccurate in reality and managerial optimism can lead to the failure of a company. We develop a game-theoretic model to investigate the impact of managerial optimism on …

It Is In The Cards: An Analysis Of Greeting Card Selection Through Identity And Personality, Emily Topilow

Honors Projects

In this exploratory study, personal and social identity were analyzed for their effect on how consumers choose greeting cards. Factors, including personality, relationships, and identity will be qualitatively analyzed to understand people’s buying habits. Certain factors, including gender, personality, relationships, type of card, and frequency of receiving and giving cards, will be qualitatively analyzed for frequency. The two theories analyzed were the Social Identity Theory (SIT) and the Identity Theory (IT).

525 college-aged students were surveyed to examine their purchasing habits of greeting cards. The results showed that the identity of the card giver and the identity of the card …

Cause Campaign For Dating Abuse In College, Isabel Elaine Kerr

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Through a cause campaign and partnership with the James Madison University (JMU) Health Center (UHC), this project confronts the widespread social issue of intimate partner violence (IPV), or dating abuse, in college-aged relationships. Encompassing all forms and subsets of dating abuse, the campaign intends to initiate conversation, facilitate awareness, and express support within the university community. The campaign is scheduled for implementation in October 2019, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, in conjunction with the UHC’s other awareness efforts.

Thinging : Powerful Objects., Tammy M. Burke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The works in "Thinging” are inspired by desire, the genuine and the false, systems of real and perceived values, the quest for immortality, the allure of things, our use of them to make ourselves, and imagining pasts and futures via objects. The following concepts are threaded through the work: cathexis, ritual as a value builder, collections, hoarding, display, object history, exchange, use, and sign values, and vibrant materiality. At the heart of my investigation is the quest to examine the origins of object power, and by what measures it can be evaluated: value from belief, market value, and something perhaps …

The House That Credit Built: How Advertising Shaped A Culture Of Borrowing In The Decade Of Prosperity., Morgan Folden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of the visual rhetoric of the advertisements in 1920s America that encouraged consumers to implement payment plans to purchase commodities. It begins with an analysis of a standard advertisement found in a popular subscription journal and describes the ad’s reliance on an editorial-style layout to appeal to the rationality of the viewer, a theme common among marketing schemes of the surrounding decades. It uses an art historical approach to provide a new lens in studying capitalist economics and the provocative issue of empowerment versus confinement in the general visual representation of American housewives. The latter …

Using Consumer Personality To Direct The Creation Of More Effective Advertisements, Connor Keith

Selected Honors Theses

Advertising is one of the most pervasive forces in business and culture today. All advertisers are seeking ways to be more effective in order to reach consumers better. One of the ways they can do this is by targeting certain personality types in their advertisements. This thesis seeks to find the differences in responses to advertisements from consumers with different personality types. A survey is used in conjunction with a personality test to study if consumers are most influenced by advertisements targeted toward their personalities. Suggestions are given for how to create and distribute advertisements to be most effective for …

Leadership And Community In The Arts: A Case Study Of Legend And Culture In Chiusdino, Italy, Amanda Svetlak

Arts Administration Masters Theses

The complexity of culture goes beyond artistic expression, nationality, race, and religion. Culture shapes our communications, interactions, and our perceptions of the world around us (Hall, 1989). Studies show that self-awareness of our own culture through exposure to the unfamiliar leads to intercultural competences (Herlo, 2015; Crossman, 2011; Hermond 2018; Hall 1989). As technology, travel, and community diversity continues to shrink our world and diversify our workplaces, these intercultural competences support modern processes of marketing, community engagement, and organizational leadership. This thesis is a case study of the community culture, organizational culture, and structure of arts institutions in Chiusdino, Italy. …

How Organizations And Their Brands Leverage Marketing Partnerships To Enhance Their Success: The Guidelines To Navigating Both Reaffirming And Repositioning Strategic Partnerships, Remi A. Edwards

CMC Senior Theses

Understanding the different factors, influencers, and outcomes that form a successful brand partnership allow for marketers to make informed decisions that benefit their company. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature regarding partnership marketing and issues a set of guidelines for marketers to strategically market their brand by way of collaboration. With two distinct strategic frameworks, reaffirming partnerships and repositioning partnerships, this paper seeks illustrate the efficacy of brand collaboration and how to achieve success based on varying brand goals.

The Sea Turtle As A Marketing Symbol For The Anti-Plastics Movement, Hannah Chiu

Pitzer Senior Theses

The anti-plastic straw movement uses the sea turtle to bring an empathetic symbol to broaden the scope of the plastics problem in the ocean, giving the public a powerful visual image for the first time in the history of the anti-plastics movement. In this thesis, I build on existing conversations on charismatic megafauna and flagship species, to explore the emerging anti-plastic straw movement and its use of the sea turtle as a symbol. I also provide an analysis of the imagery and comments on social media sites of green marketing companies and non-governmental organizations. These social media sites, such as …