Marketing Commons^™

Our Celebrities Our Selves: Reconstructing Ourselves As Online Personalities, Arne Baruca

Marketing Faculty Publications (Archived)

Celebrity influence on consumer behavior at the online macro level is the motivation for this study that addresses the nature of celebrity consumption and how consumers apply that consumption to develop their online self-presentation.

The sample for this study is limited to consumers with active accounts at online social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. Methodology is a three-part design. A multi-factor qualitative exploratory study (n=73) reveals four celebrity-consumer relationships whose proposed measurement scales are tested in a quantitative pilot study (n=85). Finally, a large sample study (n=593) is used to test the measurement model and to test the proposed …

An Empirical Examination Of University Intercollegiate Athletic Expenditures, Jeffery L. Stinson, Adam Marquardt, Joshua Chandley

Marketing Faculty Publications

To date, little empirical work has examined the institutional returns associated with athletic program investments. While intangible brand effects are commonly cited, such as athletics serving as the perceptual "front porch" of the institution, direct examination of the effects of athletic programs has often been narrow in scope. Within this study, we assess the contributions of investment in athletics as compared to other areas of institutional investment, on important institutional outcomes. Data for the study was collected from two datasets, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the Equity in Athletics dataset. Fixed effects models for NCAA Football Bowl …

Top 10 Law School Home Pages Of 2011, Roger Skalbeck

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

For the third consecutive year, the website home pages for all ABA-accredited law schools are evaluated and ranked based on objective criteria. For 2011, law school home pages advanced in some areas. For instance, there are now thirteen sites using the HTML5 doctype, up from a single site in 2010. In addition, seventeen schools achieved a perfect score for three tests focused on website accessibility, up from eight in 2010. Nonetheless, there’s enough diversity in coding practices and content to help separate the great from the good.

For this year’s survey, twenty-four elements of each home page are assessed across …

Maintaining Relevance In A Changing World, Robertico R. Croes, Manuel A. Rivera, Seung Hyan Lee, Valeriya Shapoval, Nancy Kageyama, Milos Bujisic, Anil Bilgihan, Eric D. Olson

Dick Pope Sr. Institute Publications

Bok Tower Gardens (BTG) is located in Lake Wales, between Tampa and Orlando, and offers the Singing Tower, the gardens, the Pine Ridge Trail and the Pinewood Estate along with a visitor center and a café. BTG stretches nearly 50 acres of Olmsted Gardens and is built on Iron Mountain, one of the highest points in Peninsular Florida. The Gardens is listed as a National Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. BTG recorded 149,888 visits in 2011, slightly more than its 2002‐2010 average of 133,045. Increasing total visitation is an important goal for BTG. At the request …

Acculturation Effects On Preference For English And Spanish-Language Tv Commercials Among Hispanic Audiences Of Mexican Descent, John Burton

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The growth of the U.S. Hispanic population and its purchasing power over the past twenty years continues to be monitored closely by corporate interests anxious to gain market share and brand loyalty of the segment that now represents the largest minority group in the country. Marketers continue to look for competitive advantages in effectively communicating targeted messages to Hispanics in order to increase revenues and profits.

This study focused on the historically dominant mass-reach medium of television and explored concepts of acculturation theory to examine the effects of acculturation sub-dimensions on TV commercial language preference and attitudes among Hispanic audiences …

Paradoxes And Consumer Decision-Making, Carolyn Popp Garity

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Consumers often find themselves faced with conflicting evaluations in which they identify both positive and negative aspects of a purchase or consumption experience. A paradox occurs when the individual is aware of the conflicting evaluations and experiences tension as a result. While there are strong potential implications of paradox, marketing research has been slow to study consumption paradoxes. As a result, many deficiencies exist in the literature, including no consensus as to the definition of consumer paradox, insufficient quantitative measurement, and limited knowledge of the antecedents and consequences of paradox. This dissertation was conducted to address these shortcomings. Essay one …

Online Reviews And Consumers' Willingness To Pay: The Role Of Uncertainty, Yinglu Wu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Empirical studies of online reviews have found that valence (average rating) has a consistently positive impact on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP), but volume does not. Although two studies tried to explain this phenomenon using different perspectives (Wu and Ayala, 2012; Sun, 2012), neither study can fully accommodate the consumer behaviors observed by the other. This dissertation adopts a theoretical framework that can explain the consumer behaviors observed in both studies as well as the varying influence of review volume at the individual level. Specifically, several studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between bidirectional online seller reviews (e.g., the …

The Role Of Technology In Enabling Sales Support, Aaron D. Arndt, Jason Harkins

Marketing Faculty Publications

The purpose of this research is to develop a framework explaining how technology can enable sales support. Sales support technology is often used to assist salespeople with a variety of transaction activities, such as prospecting, communicating, scheduling appointments, and processing orders. Sales support technology can be categorized as automation and facilitative technology. Our framework explains when a technology is appropriate for a particular sales activity based on workload and customization. It also proposes who should use a technology based on orientation towards sales revenue or cost control goals. Then, we develop managerial recommendations and propose directions for future research.

The Marketing Relevance Of Australian Cosmetic Brand Ambassadors, Jessica Boswarva

Theses : Honours

Brand ambassadors are often employed to perform important marketing roles such as influencing product adoption and creating brand awareness (Livesley, 2009; O’Leary, 2010; Voight, 2007; Wragg, 2004). Brand ambassadors provide personalised customer service, including educational, experiential and relational roles and as a result propagate trust, minimize perceived risk and create familiarity and involvement (Belch & Belch, 2007; Chiou & Droge, 2006; Elliot & Percy, 2007). Whilst studies highlight benefits to businesses in general, there is limited research to the role of brand ambassadors within the Australian cosmetic industry. Cosmetic brand ambassadors are a traditional feature of the cosmetic industry and …

Preface, Nirmalya Kumar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

As late as 2001, Indian outward investment was less than US $1 billion. Instead, India, like all developing countries, was actively courting foreign investment into the country. By 2006, India had reached the tipping point. For the first time, Indian outward investment of US $10 billion had outstripped foreign investment into India. The spending spree continued unabated in 2007. Indian companies arranged or concluded US $21 billion in 40 foreign investment deals in January and February of 2007 alone. Moreover, Indian foreign investment in the financial year closing 31 March 2007 exceeded the cumulative total foreign investment by Indian companies …

The Competitive Dynamics Of New Dvd Releases, Anirban Mukherjee, Vrinda Kadiyali

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In the U.S. motion picture industry, DVDs are increasingly a major source of revenue for moviestudios. Two important strategic decisions for DVDs are the release date and price. Industry evidencesuggests studios consider various release options as evidenced by their pre-release announcements. Whendeciding DVD release dates and prices, studios must consider the following. First, weeks of high demandpotential, increase sales. Second, intense competition in weeks of peak demand might reduce marketshare, lower margins and lead to higher costs of release. Third, deferring a DVD release (e.g. to a nonpeakdemand week) after the movie’s theatrical run reduces the potential sales of the …

Investigating The Role Of Online Social Media In Consumer-Firm Relationships, Janna Cole

Honors Theses

Regarding the role of Web 2.0 in business activities, three primary areas of interest are under discussion: (1) how Web 2.0 tools should be integrated into firms' marketing strategies, (2) how Web 2.0 tools should be used to build or retain brand equity and create value with consumers, and (3) how the participation of brands in Web 2.0 influences consumers attitudes and behaviors, if at all. There are some overlaps between these subjects, particularly involving the role of consumers in appreciating or diminishing brands' reputations, as well as information gaps to be filled by further research as these technologies continue …

Remixing Business Models: Technology And The Future Of The Modern Music Industry, Ryan Brown

Honors Theses

The music industry has undergone significant changes throughout the past few decades. The primary basis of these changes is technology, which has impacted everything from finding artists to distributing music. However, record labels have been slow to adapt to these changes, which has led to serious problems such as illegal music downloading. Illegal downloading, also known as "music piracy," has radically changed the entire business and distribution structures within the music industry. Although lawsuits and other strategies have been undertaken to attempt to combat this particular issue, technology will continue to affect the music industry for the foreseeable future. Advances …

Recruiting For Higher Education: The Roles That Print, Web, And Social Media Play In The Decision Process For Prospective Students, Brandon X. Karcher

Department of Computer Graphics Technology Degree Theses

Recruiting in higher education is a process that has been an evolving process since it first began. The most traditional methods for recruiting have been through print, web, and campus visits. However, with new social media like Facebook, Twitter, and other services, many universities have adopted the new media for recruiting purposes. Social media, coupled with a more technologically adept population of prospective students forces universities and colleges to look at an increasing number of mediums for recruiting. There is a lack of literature that documents the usefulness of the newer social media outlets. This study was designed to determine …

The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status And Emotional Gratification For Consumers Who Purchase Overtly Branded (Overtly Designer) Goods, Sarah Siracusa

Fordham Business Student Research Journal

When examining the reasoning behind a consumer’s choice of luxury purchase, we rely largely on consumer psychology. One important psychological factor is the concept of needs. Consumers of different socioeconomic backgrounds have different needs, thus influencing what they choose to purchase. While past research has focused on intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations, and the relationship between aspiration and luxury brand preference in predicting luxury consumption, there has not yet been a study conducted focusing on the relationship between socioeconomic status and emotional gratification of purchasing overtly branded (overtly designer) goods in America. After surveying participants in three socioeconomic income groups, it …

The Role Of Identity In Disposal: Lessons From Mothers’ Disposal Of Children’S Possessions, Barbara J. Phillips, Trina Sego

Marketing Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study uses depth interviews with mothers about their disposal of children’s possessions to craft a new understanding of the role of identity in disposal. Our study asks: How does identity influence the disposal process of ordinary possessions? A disposal identity continuum of keepers and discarders emerged from the data. This new understanding suggests that disposal involves decisions regarding the match of possession to mother, partner, child, and family identities. When disposal identities lead to conflict between the actors in the disposal decision, decision makers use coping strategies such as subterfuge, avoidance, forced choice, and training/discussion. In addition, the disposal …

The Consumption Of Concepts: The Hedonic And Utilitarian Effects Of Perceived Interactivity On The Consumption Of Digital Information, Colleen P. Kirk, Jennifer Thomas, Larry Chiagouris

Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics

No abstract provided.

Crafting A Career Using Cps And Foursight, Morgan E. Milovich

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

ABSTRACT OF PROJECT

Crafting a Career Using CPS and FourSight

The purpose of my project is to develop a case study of how I will use Creative Problem Solving (CPS) and an attention to my Foursight preferences to grow my existing craft business into a viable career, rather than having it as just a hobby.

By utilizing the CPS Thinking Skills Model and having a greater awareness of my Foursight preferences, I was able to move from a dream to a reality and come out the other end of this project with a fully functioning, profitable business rooted firmly in …

Empirical Problems Using The Efficient Frontier To Find Optimal Weights In Asset Classes, Matthew Maher, Harry White, Phil Fry

Marketing Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study documents the transitory nature of "efficient" weights in six commonly employed asset classes, going beyond a simple stock and bond classes and using a 30 year data window. We review the literature on asset class diversification, including its failures during the recent credit crisis. Results show that asset class diversification benefits are inconsistent and, contrary to common academic wisdom before recent times, historical asset class covariances (even estimated with decades of data) are poor estimates of future values.

Transparency Through Social Media: Improving The Credibility Of Pr Professionals In The Twenty-First Century, Pete Voss

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This correlational study identifies opportunities for PR (public relations) professionals to gain trust by engaging online communities using unprecedented levels of transparency. The thesis begins by reviewing literature and setting the stage for how and when PR gained its PR problem (Thomas et al., 2009). The study observes how PR professionals are currently engaging these audiences, and also demonstrates how the public perceives these actions. The philosophical framework for this study stemmed from Aristotle's belief in goodwill in communities (Book 1, Chapter 1), and Augustine's (1909) belief that "All wish to rejoice in truth" (p. 186). Sherif's Social Judgment Theory …