Business Commons^™

Beyond The Pixelated Mirror: Understanding Avatar Identity And Its Impact On In-Game Advertising And Consumer Behavior, Kyle Coble, Jay Ratican, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the complex dynamics between avatars and in-game advertising, probing how virtual representations influence consumer behavior within digital environments. It delves into the psychological interplay between self-perception and avatar embodiment, suggesting that while younger users may treat avatars as accessories showcasing personal interests, adults tend to opt for idealized selves, affecting their interaction with and responsiveness to virtual marketing. The study contemplates the avatar’s function as both a consumer and influencer in the expanding metaverse, considering the escalating integration of branded items in games. It also highlights potential shifts in consumption patterns as digital and physical realities converge. …

Three Essays On Anti-Consumers: Conpcetualizing, Envisioning, And Expanind Based On Self-Construal And Political Ideology, Soochan Choi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The current dissertation is designed to contribute to our understanding of anti-consumers and their behaviors. Although past literature on anti-consumers gets attention from researchers and marketers, it lacks a deeper understanding of who and how anti-consumers behave societally and ideologically against targeted companies. Given this lack of understanding of anti-consumers, this dissertation conceptualizes anti-consumers, develops anti-consumer measurements, tests marketing strategies to attenuate their behaviors, and adds additional type of anti-consumption behavior, switching behavior, for marketers to maximize profits. The first essay develops a typology of anti-consumers by drawing on the literature on political ideology and self-construal. The essay suggests that …

Great Expectations: Consumer-Brand Relationships And Their Influence On The Organizational Outcomes Of Brand Transgressions, Sabrina Viscomi

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The business landscape has shifted from simply delivering quality products and services to creating shared value. It does this by fulfilling consumers’ deeper needs and meeting their increasingly high expectations. Brand transgressions inhibit organizations’ ability to meet consumers’ demands, complicating the consumer-brand relationship. As a result, brands are often unprepared to deal with the consequences of transgressions, which can be costly. The purpose of this research is to explore the influence of prior consumer-brand relationships on the organizational outcomes of brand transgressions through the lens of social contract theory. This systematic review synthesizes 39 articles to derive five analytical themes: …

Comparing The Effects Of User Generated Video Reviews And Brand Generated Advertisements On Consumer Decisions On Youtube, Vaibhav Shwetangbhai Diwanji, Jaejin Lee

Journal of Applied Marketing Theory

This empirical study examines the effects of user generated vlogs (UGV) versus brand generated ads (BGA) on consumer decisions on YouTube. UGV refers to any type of review video content about brands or products, created and published by users on YouTube. BGA refers to brand generated advertisements on YouTube. Guided by the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, this online experimental research involved a 2 (source: UGV versus BGA) X 2 (involvement: high versus low) X 2 (gender: male versus female) between-subjects research design. Results showed that UGV elicited significantly greater effects on consumer brand attitudes and purchase intentions than BGA, …

Characterizing And Categorizing The Essence Of Sport Consumption Behavior: A Thematic Analysis, Sid Terason

The Qualitative Report

Sport consumer decision making is a complex process in which an individual evaluates, acquires, uses, or disposes of sport products or services. This qualitative study aimed to identify, understand, and describe the essential characteristics of sport products consumption behavior among professional athletes in Thailand. In-depth interviewing was carried out on 25 professional athlete consumers who responded to semi-structured questions regarding their sport goods consumption. Thematic analysis was performed on the transcripts to describe the essential characteristics of the consumption and to identify overarching topics. Following social constructionism, three themes (i.e., acquisition, use, and disposal) were analyzed and eight categories (i.e., …

Advertising During The Covid-19 Global Pandemic: The Rise Of Influencer Marketing Strategies In A Recession, Bre Tenhulzen

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States in January of 2020 and has since impacted nearly all industries, including advertising. Consumers, the guiding factors for all advertising strategies, faced drastic lifestyle changes and behavior shifts which sent current strategies askew. The virus has created insurmountable unknowns, thus advertising and marketing experts must rely on historical and recent data to develop strategies for brands forging ahead. COVID-19 is the first global crisis in the age of social media which has both helped and hindered communication during the crisis. Additionally, emerging influencer marketing strategies are proving more effective than ever as brands …

Consumer Response To Green Brands Vs. Traditional Brands On Digital Platforms: An Analysis Through A Series Of Case Studies, Madison Busick

Honors Scholar Theses

In the age of environmental crisis, consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of their decisions. Accordingly, many companies seek to provide more eco-friendly and sustainable products while building their brand around these values. Consumers also are increasingly using and engaging on social media and other digital platforms. But just how well do these "green" brands do in the digital space? This study aims to compare differences between brands that embody environmentalist values and traditional brands with a variety of case studies across several consumer goods segments including clothing, cosmetics, and technology. The data is collected from a variety …

Exploring Csr Communication On Twitter, Terry Damron, Lindsey Batts

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Promoting Innovative Product Adoption Via Facebook, Terry Damron, Ashleigh Knoll, Bailey Carruth

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Finding In-Store Help: The Role Of Recommendation Agents On Shoppers’ Mobile Devices, James Coyle, Yi-Fan Chen

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Couples Sleeping Apart--Separate Master Bedrooms And The Impact On The Real Estate And Related Markets, John E. Crawford

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Sleeping is a fundamental individual human need. However, most adults fulfill this need by sleeping with a partner, a behavior particularly true for married couples. A trend of couples choosing to sleep apart has emerged in recent years. For reasons practical and personally beneficial or preferred, a growing number of couples are choosing to have a home with two master bedrooms--one for him and one for her, each furnished according to the needs and tastes of the partners. Thus, some homes are being built with two master bedrooms, others are being modified to have two master bedrooms, and new empty …

The Hidden Costs Of Scheduling: Temporal Structure Reduces Task Enjoyment And Contracts Time, Gabriela Nicole Tonietto

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Time is an important but limited resource, and consumers are constantly looking for ways to get more from their time. This has led to the popularity of scheduling as a strategy to help consumers manage and organize their time. Although scheduling is both highly recommended and widely adopted, surprisingly little is known about the psychological effects of scheduling. In this dissertation, I explore the potential effects of scheduling for task enjoyment, perceived time, and time consumption, finding that scheduling may have some important hidden costs. In the first chapter, I examine the effect of scheduling leisure activities. While prior research …

The Indulgence And Restraint Cultural Dimension: A Cross-Cultural Study Of Mongolia And The United States, Rentsenkhand Enkh-Amgalan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research focuses on one of the least studied cultural dimension, “indulgence versus restraint” (IVR) and how it affects consumer behavior, international marketing, and global business operations in the U.S. and Mongolia. This project is the first research on IVR in Mongolia since the country is rarely studied and there is no available data for this cultural dimension. Samples of undergraduate business students (as consumers) from both countries were studied through surveys. The findings support that Mongolians and Americans are different regarding the “indulgence” cultural dimension. This paper has a significant contribution to the cross-cultural literature regarding the indulgence cultural …

Cell Phone Ethnography: Mixed Methods And The Brand Consumer Relationship, Robert Nathaniel Dove

Masters Theses

Overall, the goal of this study is to identify and differentiate the various motivations and cultural influences that can be used to explain consumer behavior. In doing so, this study hopes to facilitate the development of new and innovative marketing strategies, providing a new research design for the ethnographer’s toolkit. More importantly, this model can give shape to new constructs and new variables for further empirical testing in the field through quantitative and qualitative methods. By blending the two approaches, using qualitative interpretive anthropological analysis by field study with quantitative sentiment analysis adapted from market researcher Jeffery Breen’s (2012) methodology, …

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; …

Cutting The Cord: An Examination Of Changing Tv Viewership, John Crawford

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

On October 2, 1925, John Baird successfully transmitted the first television image. Since the early days of the new medium, television technology has constantly changed. Similarly, as the decades have passed the means for receiving television programming has also changed. Today, programs are delivered to millions of customers via cable connections and by satellite transmissions as those technologies were chosen by consumers to replace antennas as a means for receiving signals. The newer delivery mechanisms also provided many more channels to consumers compared to the handful of channels they could access in the antenna-only days.

The television programming delivery industry …

Profile Of Corporate Social Media Consumer Segments, Beverly Wright, Aberdeen Leila Borders, Paul H. Schwager, S. Scott Nadler

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

The trade and academic literature is replete with commentary about the need for companies to develop promotional strategies and to adopt media platforms that are more engaging and conversational with customers than the traditional top-down company directed one-way communication strategies of the past (Thomas, Peters, Howell and Robbins, 2012; Foster, West and Francescucci 2011; Deighton and Kornfeld, 2009). This viewpoint is supported by Christodoulides (2008) who reported that many customers view information about a company or brand that they obtained from blogs, social networking sites and the like as being more relevant, believable and important to them in their interactions …

The Clothing Swap: Social, Sustainable, And Sacred, Mary M. Long, Deborah Fain

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

While there is much focus on recycling household waste such as paper, plastic, and metal, there is less focused attention on the waste produced by clothing and textiles. As noted by Joung (2013), consumers dispose of clothes by recycling, donating to charities, or giving to friends and family. But when individuals are not motivated to do this or are unaware of recycling options, they simply discard unwanted clothing where it ends up in landfill sites.

Motives for recycling clothes can range from altruistic (e.g., donating to a clothing drive for the poor or victims of a natural disaster) to economic …

An Analysis Of Empirical Research Of Social Media And User-Generated Content In The Hospitality Industry, Didi Fan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Hospitality remains highly competitive industry where establishments are always pushing new efforts to positively attract and retain consumers more so than the others. In recent years, the most significant trend in reaching to consumers is through social media. The research dives into great detail in the interactions and cause and effect between consumers and hospitality in social media such as the effect of user generated content. The research produces more details and ideas than simply engaging in social media helps hospitality establishments. The information was attained from a large content analysis of previous research, studies, surveys, experiments, statistical and quantitative …

The Evolution (Revolution) Of Social Media And Social Networking As A Necessary Topic In The Marketing Curriculum: A Case For Integrating Social Media Into Marketing Classes, Irene J. Dickey, William F. Lewis

Irene J. Dickey

This research first examines social media and social networks as a social phenomenon and its influence on marketing practice. Survey data and an extensive literature review reveal that not only have social networks evolved rapidly during the last few years, but so have social media, consumer behaviors, and subsequently, social media marketing tactics, which are increasingly being integrated into marketing programs. The authors explore the question of whether more time should be devoted to these topics and whether they should be incorporated into the marketing curriculum. This research provides important information, insights and recommendations for incorporating the topic of social …

The Role Of Self Concept In Consumer Behavior, Marisa Toth

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Understanding the processes that underlie consumer behavior has become an increasingly important area of research, especially for businesses and marketers. One of the most commonly studied variables believed to impact consumer behavior is self-concept.

The purpose of the current study is to examine the influence of self-concept in consumer behavior and identify factors that influence the relationship. Specifically, what is the relationship between different aspects of the self-concept and the consumption of publicly and privately consumed luxuries and necessities? Furthermore, how will this relationship be affected by the level of self-monitoring an individual displays?

Assessing The Long-Term Impact Of A Consistent Advertising Campaign On Consumer Memory, Kathryn A. Braun-Latour, Michael S. Latour

Kathryn A. LaTour

How effective is an advertising campaign that has consistently used the same theme since consumers' early childhood? To answer that question one has to consider the effect the campaign has had on consumers' memory. This research begins by discussing the structure of memory and schematic processes that occur when similar or related information is presented over time. Evidence is reviewed which suggests that early exposure would be critical in the brand schema's development. An experiment that tests the strength of the brand schema in a competitive environment and a survey that explores the importance of time of initial exposure to …

Transforming Consumer Experience: When Timing Matters, Kathryn A. Braun-Latour, Michael S. Latour

Kathryn A. LaTour

How advertising can influence or change consumers' product experience has been a topic of great interest to marketers. The majority of research has suggested that advertising received prior to an experience can exert the most influence. In 1999, however, Braun introduced the concept of reconstructive memory, and demonstrated that advertising received after an experience can alter how consumers remember their experience. The issue of which order of framing of an experience through advertising is most influential on consumer memory has not yet been investigated. A constructive memory framework that can take into account both forward- and backward-framing effects and an …

I’Ll Have What She’S Having: Gauging The Impact Of Product Placements On Viewers, Sharmistha Law, Kathryn A. Braun

Kathryn A. LaTour

Product placement in TV shows is becoming increasingly common, yet little is known about its effectiveness nor even how to define and measure such effectiveness. This research examined the effectiveness of product placement with the use of two different types of measures: explicit measures that tap memory directly (with the use of a recognition and recall task), and an implicit measure that measures the effect of exposure on product choice indirectly. It was hypothesized that the ability of product placement to enhance memory and choice may be mediated by distinct mechanisms. The results showed an overall enhancement in product recall, …

How And When Advertising Can Influence Memory For Consumer Experience, Kathryn A. Braun-Latour, Michael S. Latour, Jacqueline E. Pickrell, Elizabeth F. Loftus

Kathryn A. LaTour

Recent "paradigm shifting" research in consumer behavior dealing with reconstructive memory processes suggests that advertising can exert a powerful retroactive effect on how consumers remember their past experiences with a product. Building on this stream of research, we have executed three studies that incorporate the use of false cues with the aim of shedding new light on how post-experience advertising exerts influence on recollection. Our first experiment investigates an important but yet unexplored issue to advertisers who are perhaps reticent about embracing this paradigm: Does the false cue fundamentally change how consumers process information? After finding that when the false …

Consumer Attitude Towards The Spirit Airline Online Advertising, Tamilla Curtis, Blaise Waguespack, Anke Arnaud

Dr. Tamilla Curtis

A Business Model Of Purchase Stimulus On The Consumer Intention To Buy Products Under Volume Discount Through Consumer Behavior Factors, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Krishnaswamy Jayaraman, Rozinah Jamaludin, Seyedeh Khadijeh Taghizadeh

Mohammad Iranmanesh

The importance of sales promotion has increased dramatically as the purchasing power of money has gone up ever before in developing and developed countries. Malaysia is one of the biggest sales promotion markets where the highest proportion of 81% is driven by retailers in the year 2009 as compared to 77% in 2008 (Nielsen, 2010). Volume discount is an attractive promotion strategy among Malaysian consumers and is commonly prevalent in the market. Volume discount includes four components namely Buy one get one free (BOGO), Buy one and get next one with 50% discount, up to 50% extra volume and coupons …

Consumer Attitudes Towards Using Qr Codes In A Retail Setting, Chris Thayer

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Corresponding with the increased use of smartphones and other mobile devices equipped with a camera, quick response (QR) codes have been introduced. QR codes allow large amounts of data (e.g., product information, discounts, usage suggestions) to be compressed into a small, printed square. To access the information, consumers must scan the QR code with a smart device (smartphone, tablet, etc). Korean and Japanese consumers appear more willing to scan QR codes in retail settings compared to their American counterparts. This reluctance is explored through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

Furthermore, consumers’ motivation toward QR code use is made explicit and …

Ironic Advertising: Theory, Evidence And Practice, Ekin Pehlivan Yalcin

2012

Irony is one mechanism that advertisers use to attract consumer attention. Although ironic advertising (IA) is utilized in the mass media, it has received surprisingly little conceptual or empirical attention from marketing scholars. Perhaps one reason for this is that in marketing irony has been viewed primarily from a postmodern perspective. This is in marked contrast to psycholinguists where the phenomenon is approached from a more ecumenical, realist point of view. This dissertation is based on the premise that a realist approach to ironic advertising would produce insights for both marketing theory and practice.

This dissertation comprises of three papers …

Exploring And Explaining Consumer Competition: A Mixed-Methods Approach To Understanding The Phenomenon, Bridget M Satinover Nichols

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the phenomenon of “consumer competition.” The overarching objective is to help researchers and marketing practitioners understand how the phenomenon is created, how consumers experience competition, and to begin to inspect its effects. Consumer competition is defined as the active processes of striving against others for the acquisition of a consumption object. To date, this phenomenon has been under-researched, despite its prevalence in many marketing and consumer-related domains.

An extensive literature synthesis provides the foundation for understanding competition and competitiveness in general from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Based on the synthesis of literature and …