Marketing Commons^™

Marketing And Market, A. Fuat Firat

Marketing Faculty Publications

In this paper, a contradiction that has developed between the key economic institution of modernity, the market, and its institutionalized practices, marketing, is explored. This paper makes observations beyond earlier discussions of this contradiction based on the history of perspectival developments in the orientations of the discipline and in marketing practices. Specifically, separation of marketing practice from consumers resulting in its conceptualization as a provisional set of activities, and the turn from a focus on needs to a focus on exchange resulting in an emphasis on the health of the market rather than on the health of the people are …

Inside Sales Social Media Use And Its Strategic Implications For Salesperson-Customer Digital Engagement And Performance, Nawar N. Chaker, Edward L. Nowlin, Maxwell T. Pivonka, Omar S. Itani, Raj Agnihotri

Marketing Faculty Publications

Highlights

• Inside salespeople rely on four main strategies when it comes to using social media in their roles to engage with customers.

• Inside sales strategic social media use leads to higher levels of customer digital engagement and, ultimately, performance.

• Firm digital technology resources may shape the effects of inside sales strategic social media use.

Abstract

The nature of inside sales has shifted, increasing in autonomy, importance, and scope. Moreover, buyers are changing their preferences from face-to-face interactions to virtual-based relationships, leading to a future full of opportunities for inside salespeople using social media. The practitioner literature suggests that inside sales …

Marketing Approaches Between Millennials And Gen-Zs In The Fashion And Beauty Industries, Mariana Gutierrez Chora

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This Honors College Undergraduate Senior Thesis analyzes the marketing practices with respect to Gen-Zs and Millennials’ behavior in regard to the beauty and fashion industries. In order to do so, a survey among Gen-Z and Millennial adults from diverse backgrounds was conducted to gather important data. The survey consists of twenty-three questions, some focusing on the participant demographics and cultural backgrounds and the rest focusing on behaviors they have had with various forms of paid advertising through social- media practices. Additionally, this thesis includes insights regarding some of the literature review topics and includes results that enforce some of the …

Overview Of U.S. Foreign Language Education Policy, Karin P. Hartmaier

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Foreign language education policy has been a topic of concern in the USA since the time of the founding fathers. A paradox of American society is that it is a nation formed from a “melting pot” of immigrants, while the pressure to assimilate to a uniform American culture has resulted in a dominantly monolingual population. With changes in immigration rates and shifts in the national origins of immigrants, the attitudes and perspectives of the general public toward foreigners and foreign languages have also adjusted over time. This literature review will give an overview of how current events and public opinion …

2022-January-01-Covid-19 Safety Protocols For Spring, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

Dear Students,

As we prepare to begin the spring semester next week, we are faced, yet again, with combatting another dangerous variant of COVID-19. The Omicron surge has battered our hopes that we might leave the struggles of the past two years behind. We are tired. We are frustrated. But we must not give in to the temptation to surrender. Instead, we must resolve to stay strong and fight this wearisome and perilous pandemic together.

Following the CDC’s recommended health and safety precautions is the best way to care for one another and protect those most vulnerable. Yes, wearing a …

2022-January-01-Etsu Department Of Accountancy Partners With Bcs To Fund Faculty Fellowship, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Blackburn, Childers & Steagall (BCS), a longtime supporter of East Tennessee State University and the College of Business and Technology, has partnered with the Department of Accountancy to fund a faculty fellowship. The program is designed to stimulate and facilitate projects by faculty members to improve their teaching, to advance their scholarly and creative work, to enhance the University's academic programs, and to realize institutional goals.

“In recognition of the 60-year anniversary of BCS, we are thrilled to reestablish our partnership with Blackburn, Childers & Steagall,” said Joel Faidley, interim chair of the Department of …

When Should Sales Managers Get Involved In Their Salesteams' Transactions, Daniel E. Chavez

Theses and Dissertations--Marketing and Supply Chain

The existing literature on sales teams explores various aspects of team members and their effects on sales performance. The literature on sales management has described how managers can promote better results from salespeople. The question at the intersection of these two streams of literature – if managers should be part of sales teams -- has not been addressed and is what we explore. Using data from a Fortune 1,000 firm that operates automotive service stores across the US we test these effects. The data presents a natural experiment as sales teams with different compositions are assigned randomly to the customers. …

Source Credibility And Persuasive Communication: Effects On Social Media Influencers, Influencer Marketing, And Consumer Attitude Change, Isabelle Jia

CMC Senior Theses

Social psychology has long been researching how source credibility influences persuasive communication. With the world transitioning into a society interested in digital consumption, communication, and connection, this paper serves as a literature review of how different characteristics of source credibility can aid influencer credibility through various modes of social media messaging. The examination of three source credibility characteristics: 1) expertise, 2) trustworthiness, and 3) likability showcase how social media influencers can establish credibility with their consumers and build further connections with them. The results underline the importance of source credibility in influencing consumer attitude change and behavior over continued exposure …

Design Power And Potential Future Of Global Organization Of Life, A. Fuat Firat

Marketing Faculty Publications

In this essay I propose a definition of design to address its potential role in largely determining power relations in the future. Some foundational discussion of wealth, culturally constructed differently in different historical times, trends of corporatization in the contemporary world, and the birth of control society is presented to help understand the possibilities and difficulties of building future organizations of life. I invite discussions and dialogues to widen and deepen the concept of design power.

“Green” Marketing In The Apparel Industry: The Spectrum Of Veracity, Stephanie R. Keane

Honors Theses

Apparel companies’ propensity for manipulation in their marketing of environmental initiatives contributes to immense environmental pollution from petrochemical textile material production. Public scrutiny pressures these businesses to adopt “green” initiatives to avoid losing devoted consumers. In some cases, these initiatives disguise the real operations of a company or claim benignity for the company when this is not the reality. Previous business ethics research analyzed the emergence of “greenwashing” in corporations and thus concluded that corporations market themselves as eco-friendly to portray commodification as sustainable. In the form of case studies, this paper scrutinizes four companies: Zara, Patagonia, Lululemon, and Pact. …

Promoting A Walk/Run Event To Expand Services For Individuals With Disabilities, Mckenzie Rodgers

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex (CEC) at WKU provides services to many individuals and families affected by autism spectrum disorders and other developmental delays and disabilities. As a nonprofit organization, the clinic relies heavily on donations and fundraisers as sources of income. One of the CEC’s primary fundraisers is the annual LifeSkills Run/Walk for Autism. This event is held each April during autism awareness month, at the Bowling Green Ballpark, providing an opportunity for the community to support the clinic in an enjoyable way.

For an honors capstone experience, the author promoted the 15th annual LifeSkills Run/Walk for Autism …

Prosocial Messaging During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Examination Of Email Advertisements, Ashley Deutsch Cermin, Ashton Mouton

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate how brands communicate with consumers through the COVID-19 pandemic and how messaging has shifted over time. The authors identify a typology drawn from extant literature and use it to understand how brands shape consumers’ behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a mix of interpretive and thematic analysis, the authors examine 858 US email advertisements and how these messages have evolved throughout the pandemic.

Findings

The authors findings demonstrate brand communication ranges from prosocial to brand messaging and brands employed different strategies at different phases of the pandemic. Specifically, while brands started out emphasizing socially desirable behavior before …

Racial Composition In Advertisements And Its Effects On White Consumers' Perceptions And Purchase Intention, Chung-Ting Wang

Honors Program Theses

Previous marketing research has generally not examined how ethnic majority consumers perceive advertisements featuring mixed racial compositions of model groups. This paper presents an investigation into how White consumers’ perceptions and purchase intentions change depending on the racial composition of the people represented in an advertisement. The study uses a single 12-condition experiment, in which we examine the type of advertisement (product vs. social advocacy advertising), racial composition (all-White vs. diverse mix vs. all-Black), and racial priming effects (racially-primed vs. racially-neutral message). Additionally, consumers’ levels of self-referencing to the ad and strength of ethnic identification are explored as possible mediation …

Medst 260: Advertising And Marketing, Mara Einstein

Open Educational Resources

Introductory course to Advertising and Marketing.

Goodwill Going Green: How Green Branding Can Generate $1m In Revenue, Elia Meltzer, Esha S. Vartak, William M. Crone, Ryan T. Richards

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Goodwill Industries is a nonprofit organization. Not only do they specialize in charity work, but they also have a chain of stores that focus on thrift shopping. Additionally, Goodwill provides other services, such as recycling clothing, electronics, and other goods. Recently, Goodwill of Akron, Ohio received a grant of five million dollars, where the money for the grant would have to be utilized in five years. The main objective of this project was to find a way for Goodwill to use grant money efficiently, to generate revenue for a new transportation initiative.

Our team has recommended utilizing the most popular …

Adjust-A-Ramp, Taylor Sharrits, Courtney Banks, Emily Beck, Jazmin Buenrostro

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Adjust-A-Ramp is a portable ramp designed to ensure the safety of consumers and prevention of damage to cars, specifically towards low profile cars. A low-profile vehicle includes any vehicle that has a clearance off the ground of 6.5 inches or less. Advantages of low-profile vehicles include improved handling, better braking, increased fuel efficiency, increased stability, and an overall luxury aesthetic. The reduced tire size increases grip on smooth surfaces with better wheel response, creating a fast, more efficient ride. The simple tire tread patterns and the stiff sidewalls allow for lower rolling resistance which increases fuel economy. The Adjust-A-Ramp can …

Social Media Influencers: Talk Is Not Cheap!, Antoinette Okono

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Social media influencers are digital opinion leaders who have amassed large followings on social media. Through their content and communication on social commerce platforms, and social networking sites, social media influencers can influence their audience's attitude towards brands and encourage purchase decisions. This paper explores the impact of social media influencers on the relationship between social commerce and purchase intention. Since the relationship between social commerce and purchase intention has been thoroughly examined by researchers, I discover through reviewing the literature how an independent entity can impact social media consumers' attitudes and purchase decisions. Specifically, I analyze the social commerce …

Nostalgia As A Tactic For Marketers: The Use Of Retro Marketing To Entice Consumer Purchase, Cortnee Y. Bunch

AMTP Proceedings 2022

In marketing, nostalgia involves linking a product, service, or brand to the past to create an emotional connection. While it has existed in marketing positioning for some time, it has become a strategy that marketers can take advantage of through retro marketing. Retro marketing involves relaunching a product or service brand from an earlier period, by using familiar packaging or product designs, to evoke a nostalgic connection among consumers (Brown et al., 2003). Through the effective use of brand attitude, product experience, and brand preference, companies small and large can use retro marketing to create a competitive advantage and entice …

You Don't Belong: Exploring Luxury Branding Strategy, Lauren E. Beverly, Jamye Foster

AMTP Proceedings 2022

Luxury branding strategies create impressions of exclusivity which is transmitted into the brand’s products and retail spaces. Exclusivity is a necessary component to create consumer desire despite limitations of accessibility, time, effort, and pricing. A new population of aspirational shoppers, known as Chandlers, highly value exclusive brands as they increase perceptions of social status. This study will examine the impact of loud vs. discrete luxury branding on perceptions of brand status and browsing intentions, and the moderating impact of the Chandler effect.

Empathy, Altruism, Csr, And Consumer Buycott Behavior During Covid 19: Lessons Learned, Ania Izabela Rynerzewska, Eliza Hetrick

AMTP Proceedings 2022

As Covid-19 became a global pandemic, life as businesses and consumers know it changed dramatically. Suddenly, in-person shopping became rare while social distancing and working remotely became common practice. The impact of Covid-19 reached beyond the obvious death toll and economic recession and contributed to a shift in what is considered relevant and what is secondary. This study analyzed the impact of consumer levels of altruism and empathy on interest in Covid-19 exacerbated topics like employee treatment, social justice, and the environment. Further, this study emphasized the importance of CSR efforts supporting current topics, which have been found to contribute …