Communication Commons^™

Medical Tourism & Communication, Alicia Mason

Faculty Submissions

Medical tourism (MT), sometimes referred to as health tourism or medical travel, involves both the treatment of illness and the facilitation of wellness, with travel. Medical tourism is a multifaceted and multiphase process involving many agents and actors that requires careful planning and execution. The coordinated process involves the biomedical, transportation, tourism, and leisure industries. From the communication perspective, the process can be viewed as a 5-stage model consisting of the: (a) orientation, (b) preparation, (c) experiential and treatment, (d) convalescence, and (e) reflection phases. Medical tourism is uniquely situated in a nexus of academic literature related to communication, business …

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 …

Speaking To The Head And The Heart: Prioritizing Empathetic Communication In The Post-Covid Workplace, Kevin T. Caffrey

Administrative and Professional Faculty Research

As of August 2022, COVID-19 continues to affect our daily lives in physical, psychological, and financial ways. Many vulnerable individuals are struggling to adapt to returning to work and as a result, employee morale is at risk. In times of crises, empathy is needed in the workplace to support one another, but many leaders and employees may not have a firm grasp of the concept. This article seeks to define empathetic communication and explore the need for prioritizing empathy amid the current post-COVID-19 workplace. Through a literature review of empathy, psychological safety in the workplace, and crisis leadership, the author …

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 …

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 …

Priming In Leadership: Applying Communication Theory To The Speeches Of Ronald Reagan, Katherine Sakai

Senior Honors Theses

The study of priming gained traction in the 1990s when researchers such as John Bargh demonstrated the nonconscious activation of ideas, often through repeated related words or activated schema. Since then, researchers have studied the effects of priming on self-view, achievement, and teamwork. While the concept of priming has just recently begun to be applied to leadership in the workplace, no research has yet been done in finding examples of priming theory in the speeches of well-known leaders. In this study, Ronald Reagan’s persuasive tactics were analyzed and found to use similar methods of repetition and schema used in priming …

Communicating For Project Management Success: Pro-Tips From Accidental Project Managers, Annie Bélanger, Preethi Gorecki, Jesus Espinoza

Presentations

Library professionals are often asked to lead projects; yet, few are given the training to proceed with confidence. This session will address major aspects of a successful project communication and management: understanding how to propose projects; skills and tools to initiate, plan, and manage projects efficiently and effectively; and knowing how to wrangle the tasks that make up projects. We will also cover how to communicate and lead through influence within a project team setting.

Sport Branding In The Digital Age Prs 370, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

A Quantitative Content Analysis On Food-Based Advergames Aimed At Children, Emiko Barker

Honors Projects in Communication

No abstract provided.

Social Media Influence: Metrics Matter, Juliana Houldcroft

Honors Projects in Marketing

It is imperative for companies to engage in social media marketing as consumers are often dependent on online information and electronic word-of-mouth. Past literature claims that consumers evaluate the influence of communications differently on social media than they would in a traditional environment because of the nature of the internet. This study aims to analyze user’s perceptions of social media marketing influence and determines if user’s perception of influence changes based on the number of social media metrics (likes, comments, and shares) that accompany a Facebook post. The study also investigates if perceptions of influence vary depending on a user’s …

Five Seconds To The Ad: How Program-Induced Mood Affects Ad Countdown Effects, Tiffany Venmahavong

Honors Projects in Marketing

The study examines what effects a five second countdown warning will have on consumer’s attitudes towards the advertisement depending on the main program content. This study builds upon several theoretical models concerning program-induced moods in relation to viewer’s judgment to commercial advertisements. Findings from two studies suggest that program-induced mood systematically influences attitude toward the inserted ad with (vs. without) a five-second countdown: for the negative-affect program, attitude toward the ad was more positive when the ad was preceded by the countdown than when the ad was not preceded by the countdown. However, for the positive-affect program, attitude toward the …

The Magic Behind Success: What Can Business Leaders Learn From Magicians Regarding Creativity And Communication?, John Logan

Honors Projects in Communication

The following research demonstrates the connection between the art of magic and the world of business. More specifically, it explores the overlap between the innovation and communication techniques magicians use when creating new ideas, developing a routine, performing, and a parallel comparison on what it takes to run a successful business. The capstone will first look at what the "magician" is including the types of tricks they perform. It will then analyze the entrepreneurial magicians and their creative process behind developing new routines. Finally, it will examine the verbal and non-verbal communication techniques magicians use to connect with their audience …

The Future Of Advertising: What You Should Know, Valerie K. Jones, Rishad Tobaccowala

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

We live in an empowered age with empowered consumers. Technology has become a slingshot enabling each of us consumers to defeat Goliath, the big companies and marketers. Consumers have god-like power, able to see, hear, discover, and uncover almost anything through all of the devices available today. Digitization, globalization and demographic shifts are requiring us to replace old models of thinking about communication and advertising. The chapter introduces new models of thinking about about the future of advertising, guided by a few fundamental principles: delivering utilities and services, as opposed to a message; reaggregating audiences, as opposed to segmenting them; …

Generational Growing Pains As Resistance To Feminine Gendering Of Organization? An Archival Analysis Of Human Resource Management Discourses, Kristen Lucas, Suzy D'Enbeau, Erica P. Heiden

Faculty Scholarship

Guided by a feminist communicology of organization framework, we examine generational growing pains by analyzing discourses appearing in HR Magazine at three different points in time, which approximately mark the midpoint of Baby Boomers’, Gen Xers’, and Millennials’ initial entry into the workplace. We reconstruct historically situated gendered discourses that encapsulate key concerns expressed by human resource management professionals as they dealt with younger generations of workers: Personnel Man as Father Knows Best (1970), Human Resource Specialist as Loyalty Builder (1990), and Talent Manager as Nurturer (2010). We propose that frustrations expressed by older generations about Millennials may not be …

Workplace Dignity: Communicating Inherent, Earned, And Remediated Dignity, Kristen Lucas

Faculty Scholarship

Extant research on dignity at work has revealed conditions that contribute to indignity, employees’ responses to dignity threats, and ways in which employees’ inherent dignity is undermined. But while dignity – and specifically indignity – is theorized as a phenomenon subjectively experienced and judged by individuals, little research has privileged workers’ own perspectives. In this study, working adults reveal how they personally experience and understand meanings of dignity at work. I describe three core components of workplace dignity and the communicative exchanges through which dignity desires commonly are affirmed or denied: inherent dignity as recognized by respectful interaction, earned dignity …

Fundamentals Of Library Instruction, Darren Sweeper

Sprague Library Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Reflections Magazine - A Promotional Magazine For Reflections Adoption Ministry, Kamryn Reynolds

Senior Honors Theses

For my senior honors thesis I have received permission to present a project along with its scholarly apparatus. I will be displaying ways to apply communications to ministry. The project will be a promotional magazine and informational materials. For the thesis I will include the magazine and a press release. I will be approaching some marketing techniques for a non-profit organization and assessing potential ways to reach the public. Many organizations are doing incredible work to fight social injustice and oftentimes few people understand the issues. I want to show how communication can revitalize ministry and get the word out …

From The Last Frontier To The New Cosmopolitan A History Of Casino Public Relations In Las Vegas, Jessalynn Strauss

Occasional Papers

This research chronicles the history of public relations by the gaming industry in Las Vegas. Reflecting larger trends in the field, public relations efforts by the casinos and hotels in this popular tourist destination have used a variety of communication tactics over time to promote themselves to potential Las Vegas tourists. Based on archival materials from over 30 casinos and gaming corporations, this paper identifies four ways in which public relations is practiced in the gaming industry and four macro-level trends in the evolution of casino public relations in Las Vegas.

Eat More Chicken And Lead More People: Perceived Measures Of Servant Leadership At Chick-Fil-A, Michael Mishler

Masters Theses

This present study used survey data from 31 employees working at 2 Chick-fil-A locations to assess the supervisor's perceived level of supervisor's level of servant leadership and how the level (a) affects coworker's perceptions of performance, (b) job satisfaction, and (c) relational trust amongst coworkers. The participants ranged in ages from 18-50. The average age for the participants was 26. The data for the study was collected through the distribution of surveys to individuals who currently work at Chick-fil-A. The two selected locations were approximately 300 miles apart in Virginia. The study employed quantitative research methods in order to collect …

Art And Space: Impacting The Workplace, Erin V. Mccool

Senior Honors Theses

Art in its various forms and applications has always been a part of the human experience. Art can be intrusive, thought provoking, or simply beautiful. Although art comes in many different styles and forms, art continues to capture our imagination. The purposes of this thesis are to discover how art affects human activity in the workplace as well as the qualities that make artwork in the workplace successful. Based on the findings of this study, artwork will be created for the Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence at Liberty University in order to create a lively, creative environment. By …

Twitter: Businesses Increasing Their Revenues 140 Characters At A Time, Adekemi O. Oyalabu

Honors Projects in Communication

With the consumer market becoming more competitive by the day, businesses must find innovative yet cost effective means of reaching their target markets and steadily increasing their revenues. While businesses compete with one another to remain the best, they must have a strategic market plan that differentiates their products and/or services from their competitors. In an effort to do this, many businesses have begun using social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn as a means of reaching their target markets. Such sites have opened businesses to a new level of advertising where they reach consumers faster, have the …

Workplace Dignity In A Total Institution: Examining The Experiences Of Foxconn’S Migrant Workforce, Kristen Lucas, Dongjing Kang, Zhou Li

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

In 2010, a cluster of suicides at the electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn Technology Group sparked worldwide outcry about working conditions at its factories in China. Within a few short months, 14 young migrant workers jumped to their deaths from buildings on the Foxconn campus, an all-encompassing compound where they had worked, eaten, and slept. Even though the language of workplace dignity was invoked in official responses from Foxconn and its business partner Apple, neither of these parties directly examined workers’ dignity in their ensuing audits. Based on our analysis of media accounts of life at Foxconn, we argue that its …

Exploring Touch As A Positive Workplace Behavior, Bryan Fuller, Marcia J. Simmering, Laura E. Marler, Susie S. Cox, Rebecca J. Bennett, Robin A. Cheramie

Faculty and Research Publications

Whereas most research has focused on the negative aspects of touch in the workplace (i.e. sexual harassment), this study focuses upon the positive use of touch. In an effort to explain individual differences in the use of workplace touch, three sequential studies are used to introduce the concepts of workplace touch self-efficacy and workplace touch initiation anxiety. In Study 1 we develop scales to assess the constructs. Study 2 provides an initial examination of the construct validity of the measures developed in Study 1. Results of Study 3 indicate that supervisor reports of touch self-efficacy and physiological touch anxiety are …

Coaching Efficacy With Academic Leaders: A Phenomenological Investigation, Deanna Lee Vansickel-Peterson

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this psychological phenomenological research was to understand the efficacy of life coaching from the perspective of academic leaders. To date, not one investigation or attempt has been made towards the above stated purpose. This study includes a theoretical overview and a review of the coaching literature from Socrates (469-399 BC) to current day Humanistic theory presented in part by Roger (1902-1987).

This process included data collection from five academic leaders who have been coached for at least two years. Levels of analysis of 365 statements, quote and/or comments produced finding of efficacy in life coaching with academic …

Using Critical & Creative Thinking To Enhance Productivity In Integrated Marketing Communications Meetings And Procedures, Ashley N. Smith

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This paper provides a teaching model for how to effectively incorporate Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) methods into a business setting to initiate organizational change. I developed a workshop on workplace meetings based on the imperfections of the marketing team at “ICS.” The workshop touches on CCT methods that are needed in order for organizations to change. I also integrated CCT methods into the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Procedure to enhance productivity and produce results. Integrated marketing is made up of many pieces of the media field, but often the participants in IMC are searching for the same end result. …

Where Were The Media In The Financial Crisis Of 2008, And Have We Seen This Trend Before?, Margaret Dickinson

Honors Projects in Communication

In the fall of 2008, the United States and the rest of the world experienced significant financial turmoil. The financial industry as we knew it crumbled before our eyes. After experiencing this event and the media's fragmented and inconsistent coverage of it, I felt an interesting topic to look into was the financial press' failed coverage of the finance industry, both today and in the past. In looking at this event, I will focus on both the financial press that failed to cover the happenings of the financial industry, as well as those that did recognize the issue at hand. …

A Phone Of One's Own: Texting At The Bryant University Reference Desk, Laura Kohl, Maura Keating

Library Staff Publications, Presentations & Journal Articles

Librarians take great pride in their continuous efforts to be accessible to their patrons. By summarizing the “Text a Librarian” program at the Douglas and Judith Krupp Library at Bryant University, this article highlights the many ways reference librarians and their services have evolved. This article takes you on a journey through their “eureka moment” to the phone plan and purchase, implemented guidelines and policies and ultimately, their “texting success”.

Communication Counts, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

The author discusses the necessity of communications in a business setting. She cited the implementation of Plain Talk by the Annie E. Cassey Foundation which proves the fact that policy works best when decision makers, community residents and citizen customers communicate effectively. She also revealed that to surely achieve success in the business, it is suggested to never underestimate the emotional power of human nature and build a sense of community through continual communication.

Business Web Page Design, Andrée Rathemacher, Kelli Belmonti

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Flier for ACRL New England Chapter Business Librarians' Interest Group (BLIG) Fall Program, "Business Web Page Design." The program was held on November 12, 1998 at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Novos Serviços De Informação E Comunicação: Um Quadro De Referência Estratégico, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Norbert Mundorf, Ruby Roy Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

From the late 1960s onwards, the range of information and communication services available to residential consumers and business users in the technologically advanced nations has been growing. The future of information services will depend on the strategic and structural interactions of firms specializing in content, conduits and components.