Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Inkstinct Tattoo-Lifestyle Magazine, Celina Rosita Tousignant

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Inkstinct, an American tattoo-lifestyle magazine, covers a broad assortment of editorial content in six regular sections: “Inkternet,” “Fokus,” “Kulture,” “Inkternational,” “Lokal,” and “Your Ink.” Created as a regularly published magazine, Inkstinct’s sections allow for fresh content every month, while enabling consistency in theme and reader expectations.

The target demographic of Inkstinct falls between the age of 18 and 35, has interest in tattoos and body manipulations, and is both male and female. Inkstinct assumes readers have at least a very basic knowledge of tattoos and body manipulations, and avoids explaining basic information in detail. However, Inkstinct’s editorial …

A Student Guide To Fundraising, Jonathan Foster

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The following thesis is a fundraising manual written for high school and college students. As a student myself, I know sometimes things are easier understood when described by a peer and I think that fundraising is a perfect example of this. While many students participate in fundraisers in their schools, there are very few who reach the magnitude of the “professionals,” raising hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. With my experience in the field, as explained in the introduction, I hope to steer fellow students in the right direction toward these lucrative fundraisers in hopes that they too can …

The Changes In The Portrayal Of Women In Cosmetic Advertisements Throughout The 20th Century, Paulina Han

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Women today have become desensitized to the massive clutter of cosmetic advertisements. In order to compete in the overly saturated market, cosmetic marketers need to start taking a different approach in making cosmetic advertisements appeal to women. The method used for this thesis project was secondary research; past experiments and case studies on women and advertising were examined and analyzed. Many of these were done by psychologists in the field of advertising and organizations and published in places such as the Journal of Advertising Research. Advertising and creative briefs from advertising agencies were also examined, in part, with other work. …

Rationale And Proposal For The Establishment Of A Consumer-Behavior Curriculum And Research Institute At Syracuse University, Carolyn Meitzner

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This thesis project was inspired by a course formerly offered by the Department of Psychology at Syracuse University, which has not been offered since at least 2006 – PSY 377: Consumer Behavior. Circumstances – including that the professor who taught the course left the university and that the Department of Psychology is uncertain about the volume of student interest in the course – led to PSY 377 being taken off the time schedule indefinitely, though it remains in the course catalog. The timing of the course’s cancellation is especially unfortunate, given that revolutionary changes in consumer behavior have occurred over …

Remembering Pan Am 103: Lessons Learned 20 Years Later, Victoria Wells

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Twenty years ago, on December 21, 1988, a bomb exploded aboard flight Pan Am 103. The plane crashed intoLockerbie,Scotland, killing 270 people on board and on the ground. Among those lost were 35SyracuseUniversitystudents coming back from a semester abroad inLondon.

This documentary uses interviews with about 40 professors and former students to tell the story of Pan Am 103. These people were reunited on campus during Remembrance Week 2008. This project explores the mistakes that were made and lessons that have been learned. The research is supplemented by interviews with current faculty and staff members. These people have researched and …

Zipped Magazine, Shilpa Prabhakar

Honors Capstone Projects - All

For my capstone project, I chose to do something that fell within the creative category. Being a magazine journalism major, most of my coursework has to do with editing, writing, and layout so I wanted to use the skills I learned in the classroom to create and find a new publication on the S.U. campus. Zipped magazine is S.U.’s only fashion publication and it allows students with an interest in this area, the opportunity to further develop their skills through writing, photography, graphics and design. Furthermore, readers are able to learn about issues that the fashion industry faces in the …

The Effectiveness Of The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty In Terms Of Society And The Brand, Lindsey Morel

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The following thesis aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. The problem is that of measuring the effectiveness of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty in a form deeper than numbers. As the campaign held a secondary goal of changing women’s perceptions of beauty, so should the evaluation. Thus, two measures will be employed.

First, the following thesis evaluates the campaigns effect on society by examining how the issue of beauty at large was and is communicated. Data was collected on beauty by drawing from experience, researching eating disorders, and exploring a feminist approach to …

The Fourth Phase: New Media And Political Campaigns, Timothy Martinez Jr.

Honors Capstone Projects - All

With the increased use of new media in political elections, I set out to answer two important questions: how does new media affect the relationship among candidates, journalists, and citizens during elections and how will traditional media adapt to the new technology? Since this topic is evolving, I read blogs and news articles during the 2008 presidential election and reflected on past elections to discover key differences.

I found that four key distinctions pertaining to new media that made the 2008 election different than previous ones. First was the creation of a virtual town hall, which was illustrated through public …

Comm.Unity And The Role Of Public Relations In Nonprofit Community Organizations, Carissa Matthews

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Nonprofit community organizations need solid public relations strategies and communications skills to accomplish an array of objectives, ranging from fundraising to increasing awareness to changing public opinion. Not only do many students attending Syracuse University possess these skills, but these individuals are also ready and willing to help nonprofit organizations because they would like to make a difference in the community, as well as add real-life work experience to their resumes and portfolios. Because of these facts, Communications for the Community (comm.UNITY) was created in October 2007 with the mission of connecting students with nonprofit organizations to help them create …

From Page To Screen: Television And The Decline Of Fiction In Magazines, Mirel Ketchiff

Honors Capstone Projects - All

My Capstone project explores how the rise of television contributed to the decline of fiction in magazines and the decline of general interest magazines in America. I argue that television appealed more to advertisers as a mass-market medium than general interest magazines. Magazines had to find a new way to appeal to advertisers, and they did so by becoming niche publications that could offer advertisers a specific type of audience, rather than just a huge amount of readers. Fiction had been used in magazines as a form of mass-market entertainment; with magazines become geared towards specialized interests, fiction fell by …

Effect Of Source On Perception Of Bias In Cable News, Braden Lynk

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Problem: The central study question was whether or not believing that a certain media outlet is biased in a certain direction predisposes someone to perceive more or less bias in news content. The following hypotheses were formed:

Hypothesis One: News consumers would find a news story to be more biased toward the corresponding associated political viewpoint of its source regardless of the actual content of the story.

Hypothesis Two: Liberal respondents would be more likely to perceive the news stories as conservatively biased and conservative respondents would be more likely to perceive the new stories as being liberally biased. …

Goldin Ceramics: Website As Primary Advertising Vehicle For Small Business, Alfiya Mukhutdinova

Honors Capstone Projects - All

I wanted my Honors Capstone Project to capitalize on the combination of advertising, design, and website-building skills I have gained both inside and outside of the classroom during my time atSyracuseUniversity. I wanted the chance to apply my conceptual knowledge as well as my knowledge of advanced design and website software to an actual client with measurable results. I decided to tackle the challenge of creating a new website for my aunt’s small business, Goldin Ceramics. Since Olga’s only method of advertising is in-person at craft shows that she attends roughly once a month, her website plays a crucial role …

Drive Magazine, Shannon Sweeney

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract Not Included

A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Impact Of Health Journalism Through Women's Magazines, Abigail Cuffey

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The first women’s magazines date back to the beginning of the twentieth century. Throughout the years, they continue to advise, entertain, and give a voice to women. This paper examines one particular area: health journalism, an area that offers the potential for a substantial impact on readers’ health and lifestyle. This thesis explores the potential impact through interviewing the health editors and writers, as well as the readers themselves. The thesis also profiles a pioneer health writer, Barbara Seaman, whose decades of health writing for women’s magazines served as a catalyst for change on several critical women’s issues. Seaman’s work …

Players The First Magazine Dedicated To Young Female Athletes And Women’S College Sports Fans., Stephanie Plotino

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The involvement of women in athletics has exploded over the last 10 years. This project capitalizes on this changing dynamic by creating a prototype of a women’s college sports magazine called Players. No such magazine currently exists in the United States, but I believe there is a market for it among teenage female athletes who are interested in women’s college sports. Without Players, females have only male-dominated publications like Sports Illustrated or ESPN for general sports coverage, or they can read more female-friendly publications such as Shape and Fitness, which cater to an active lifestyle but do …

Pure: Life And Design In Finland, Sarah Moskaitis

Honors Capstone Projects - All

My longtime fascination with Scandinavian design inspired me to pursue an honors thesis project in spite of the many obstacles that would have to be overcome. As I began to design a project plan, my research led me to focus on one specific area of Scandinavia. Finland seemed to be one of the most interesting countries that Americans probably know the least about. Boasting one of the best educational systems in the world and an impressive design history, this quaint population of only about five million has completely transformed their homeland since the devastation left by World War II. The …

I Am What I Wear: The Use Of Dress In Constructing And Evaluating Sexual Identity, Jean Stevens

Honors Capstone Projects - All

This thesis explores different disciplinary studies and discussions of dress, and more specifically, the use of dress in constructing a gendered identity and sexual identity. To conduct this research, I performed a literature review and referenced various social psychological, sociological, and/or feminist theoretical frameworks. I argue that dress cannot serve as any sort of innate or accurate indicator of sexual identity; rather, the meanings associated with dress are socially produced and vary across time and place. Evidence for this argument emerges only after a literature review, as one can recognize a common theme linking the literature, or perhaps a commonly …

Creative Television Promotion, Kristina Quinlavin

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The advertising world is a place focused on research, brand identity, and creativity, all of which combine to achieve one seemingly simple goal: to convince the consumer to purchase a specific item. It is often a difficult enough challenge to persuade a buyer that a product is worth her money, but there is one product category that demands something much more valuable than any price tag cost. This category requires its advertising to create a personal bond with the consumer; to welcome it and want it in her life. What is this audacious sounding product that charges something greater than …

Communicating The Obesity Crisis: The Role Of Public Relations And The Media In Framing A National Health Issue, Kimberly Jaindl

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Communication of obesity as a public health issue has taken many forms and been framed in a variety of ways since early 2000. These communications often frame the public’s perception of the problem and of potential solutions. This study examines the current perceptions and actions according to several groups, including the government, the food industry, individuals, the media, and public relations professionals. It then attempts to assess the framing of the issue, including perceptions and actions, by the print media and public relations professionals. A census of newspaper articles and press releases from a one-month time period in late 2004 …

A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis Of The Use Of Sex In Advertising In American And British Women’S Magazines, Kathleen Ruddy

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Sex and decency in advertising is an international issue, and different nations allow different degrees of sexually explicit material (Boddewyn, 1991). This study compares the use of sex in advertisements in American and British editions of Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, and Marie Claire. The degree of sexual content in the advertisements was analyzed using measures of nudity, sexual behavior, sexually attractive models, sexual referents, and sexual embeds. The variables of nudity and sexual behavior were examined in a content analysis, and the variables of sexual attractiveness, sexual referents, and sexual embeds were examined in a qualitative analysis. Analysis of variance between …