Critical and Cultural Studies Commons^™

The Brazilian Telenovela "El Clon": An Analysis Of Viewers' Online Vicarious And Virtual Learning Experiences, Elizabeth Barbosa

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

This research involves investigating Brazilian telenovelas as a medium to disseminate knowledge about different cultures and customs. Through a qualitative content analysis this study examines messages posted in the "El Clon" telenovela-world forum with reference to the Muslim cultural theme explored by the telenovela.

The theoretical framework overarching this study is the combination of Bandura's social learning/cognitive theory and Freire's dialogical/participatory communication. In order to operationalize the study, a qualitative content analysis is undertaken utilizing the sub-dimension parasocial interaction model proposed by Sood & Rodgers (2000). The messages are analyzed in order to explore how forum participants engage in the …

The Impact Of Perceived Interactivity And Vividness Of Video Games On Customer Buying Behavior, Yi-Lin Yu

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

About 60 percent of Americans (145 million people) play video games, and the age of 61 percent of all game players is 18 and over (IDSA, 200 1). As the competition to excel in the video game market increasingly becomes difficult for manufacturers, it is becoming more important for manufacturers and video game developers to understand what makes people play and buy games. The major challenge to the gaming industry is to figure out what features of games can catch the consumers' attention. The purpose of this research was to examine what kinds of video games captivate consumers, determine whether …