Business Commons^™

Game-Changer: A Case Study Of Social-Media Strategy In Big Ten Athletic Departments, Makayla Hipke, Frauke Hachtmann

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This study used a case study approach to develop an understanding of how social media strategy is developed and deployed in Big Ten Conference athletic departments and to explore the issues associated with it. Based on in-depth interviews with department officials, the following six themes emerged: connecting with target audiences; varied approaches in coordination of postings; athletic communications as content gatekeepers; desire to incorporate sponsors and generate revenue; focusing on building fan loyalty through engagement; and challenges of negativity and metrics. The social media strategy in Big Ten Conference athletic departments appears to be driven by athletic communications/sports information departments …

The Curvilinear And Conditional Effects Of Product Line Breadth On Salesperson Performance, Role Stress, And Job Satisfaction, Jeff Johnson, Ravipreet S. Sohi

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

The impact of how product line breadth affects a salesperson is unclear in the existing literature. While numerous product lines can provide certain benefits to the salesperson, they may also have a dark side. This research examines the impact of number product lines handled by the salespeople on their performance, role stress, and job satisfaction. Based on role and schema theories, we test a series of curvilinear and conditional effects, using data collected from salespeople across multiple industries. Our analysis indicates non-linear relationships between number of product lines handled by the salesperson and salesperson performance and role stress. Further, these …

The Influence Of Mobile Website Quality On Consumer Satisfaction And Behavior, Xiuyuan Gao

Department of Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mobile shopping has grown into a huge market and an increasing number of consumers have begun to use mobile websites to shop. Therefore, how mobile shopping websites provide good shopping to customers is significant. The object of this study is to relate factors of website quality to college students’ satisfaction with mobile shopping experiences, which in turn influence their intentions to return to the website and/or to purchase on the website. Five dimensions of website quality, which were information quality, navigation, visual appeal, response time and interactivity, were selected in this study. The model of self-regulatory process (Bagozzi, 1992) has …

Embracing Change: Exploring How Creative Professionals Use Interactive Media In Advertising Campaigns, Adam Wagler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Advertising agencies are incorporating new forms of interactive media into campaigns as media continues to rapidly change. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to explore how five creative professionals at leading advertising agencies in the Midwest are integrating interactive media into campaigns. Through a series of interviews this project helps solidify what it means to integrate interactive media. The findings illustrate a fundamental shift in an industry that is moving away from “advertising.” An industry built around traditional media now requires creatives to incorporate dynamic, mobile, and social media into the marketing mix. Advertising agencies must engage audiences …

The Psychological Effects Of Perceived Scarcity On Consumers’ Buying Behavior, Shipra Gupta

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This research seeks to provide an understanding of consumers’ psychological responses to the scarcity environments that are strategically created by retailers. A mixed method design provides both qualitative and statistical understanding of this phenomenon. The findings across four studies define a new construct that captures consumers’ understanding of the product shortage that is strategically created by the retailer, differentiates it from scarcity situations where the retailer does not necessary limit the supply of the product, and suggests that consumers react differently in the varied conditions. The study suggests that strategically controlled environments, by creating product uncertainty, are able to motivate …

Effect Of Social Media On Crowdfunding Project Results, Alexey Moisseyev

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Crowdfunding is a form of collaborative social media. Even though crowdfunding can function without social media, this phenomenon has developed greatly with the advance of social media. The studies in entrepreneurship and finance established connections between startup projects and social ties. However, the impact of social media on crowdfunding is still lightly studied in academic literature.

The purpose of this thesis is to define the influence of social media on crowdfunding. In particular, this research studies the connections between social media assets such as the social media followers and the social media seals of approval and crowdfunding results such as …

The Implementation Of New Marketing Strategies By The Salesperson: The Constraining Factor Model, Jeffrey S. Johnson

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The implementation of marketing strategies has long been espoused as a key concern of academics and practitioners due to its importance to firm performance. Despite this fact, strategic implementation remains a perennial challenge for firms. This may be in part due to the focus placed on strategic formation rather than strategic implementation. Additionally, as the preponderance of empirical explorations into the implementation phenomenon have been conducted at the firm level, significant opportunity remains to understand implementation on an individual level. Of the organization roles germane to strategic implementation, that of the salesperson is arguably one of the most important. The …

What Brings You Pleasure? The Role Of Desire Within The Development Of Compulsive Purchasing, Justine Rapp

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This paper seeks to put forth two major contributions into marketing scholarship: (1) the role of desire within the development of compulsivity from impulsive consumptions, and (2) an assessment of compulsivity measurement scales. A mixed method design provides for both statistical and qualitative support for both contributions, for a deeper and replicated account of consumer behavior within the marketplace. First, we develop a possible path for the development of compulsivity, explaining impulsivity as an antecedent with consumer shopping desire as the driving factor. With this, we introduce the variable Consumer Shopping Desire as a quantified construct related to Belk et …

The Portrayals Of Family In Advertising: Children's Perspectives, Elise J. Johansen

College of Business: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Children are exposed to over 25,000 advertisements each year just on television. Research has demonstrated advertising’s effect on children’s preferences and perceptions including gender roles. With the changing structure of family now including diverse family types such as same-sex parents, childfree couples, single-persons, and transracial adoptive families, we do not yet know if advertising is changing with the times and how children perceive these family groups. This study seeks to determine how children perceive family in advertising and its effect on their concept of family through a content analysis of children’s television advertisements and data collection from children in the …

Book Review: Tim Wu, The Master Switch: The Rise And Fall Of Information Empires, Robert A. Mittelstaedt

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

This book is both a chronicle of the past and a look to the future. The author, a law school professor at Columbia University on leave at the Federal Trade Commission when the book was published, reviews the history of the telegraph, telephone, movies, radio (amplitude modulation [AM] and frequency modulation [FM]), and television (broadcast and cable) industries. In all of these, he finds a recurring pattern, a cycle in which the industry begins in a state of chaos with many entrepreneurs competing for the right to provide peoplewith the means of receiving and/or sending information. The chaos period is …

Book Review: Steven D. Levitt And Stephen J. Dubner, Superfreakonomics, James W. Gentry

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

I listened to Freakonomics on audiotape borrowed from the library and liked it sufficiently to spring for the sequel SuperFreakonomics. The authors place great emphasis on the role of incentives in generating human behaviors. One does not need to read the first book in order to enjoy the second book, as the latter is just an extension of the first that focuses on new issues. I do recommend reading both books as they are thought provoking, which is my highest praise for scholarly communication in any form.

The strength of the book is that the problems facing society are …

Identifying Barriers And Incentives Related To Attending The Performing Arts: An Examination Of First Year College Students, Laura J. Sweet

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Young adults entering their first year of academic study beyond high school face seemingly limitless opportunities. For the first time, they’re on their own: deciding everything from when to eat to where to study and what to do in their free time. Campuses are rich with possibilities. From official student organizations and clubs, to impromptu pizza parties and dorm floor trivia contests, daily decisions create the experiences that shape the life to come. On many large campuses, alongside academic buildings are art galleries and performance spaces. Research shows that early exposures to the arts lead to increased engagement during student …

The Prevalence And Influence Of The Combination Of Humor And Violence In Super Bowl Commercials, Benjamin J. Blackford, James W. Gentry, Robert L. Harrison, Les Carlson

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

The growing concern over violence in the media has led to vast amounts of research examining the effects of violent media on viewers. An important subset of this research looks at how humor affects this relationship. While research has considered this subset in television programming, almost no research has explored this in the context of advertising. This paper builds on the little research that exists by examining the effects of combining humor and violence, as well as the theoretical approaches that underlie these effects. A content analysis is conducted to identify the prevalence of violence, humor, and the combination of …

Eagle Lager: A Sorghum Success Story On Many Levels, Ian Mackintosh

INTSORMIL Presentations

In 1999 in Uganda we were faced with a static but highly competitive market.

Needed to grow our market and to do this we needed to make beer cheaper

It was felt that a suitable local ingredient would reduce the cost of manufacture and stimulate local agriculture and the economy as well as provide opportunities for growth and profit for the company.

An extensive base line study of the Ugandan agricultural sector was undertaken to determine what was “out there.”

It was clear that there was enormous potential but little else.

Sorghum seemed the logical starting point because there was …

Sustainability Through Profitability: The Triple Bottom Line, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

Today’s highly competitive, globalized world requires organizations and businesses to think differently about how they are going to stay in business. Businesses can no longer afford to focus on profits as their sole purpose for existence. Organizations must instead think about the “Triple Bottom Line” and its implications for their ability to grow their brand, customer loyalty and profits.

What Makes Strategy Making Across The Sales-Marketing Interface More Successful?, Avinash Malshe, Ravipreet S. Sohi

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

Extant research on marketing strategy making (MSM) lacks process-based theoretical frameworks that elucidate how marketing strategies are made when sales and marketing functions are involved in the process. Using a grounded theory approach and data collected from (a) 58 depth interviews with sales and marketing professionals and (b) a focus group with 11 marketing professionals, we propose that MSM within the sales-marketing interface is a three-stage, multifaceted process that consists of Groundwork, Transfer and Follow-up stages. Our process-based model explicates the specific activities at each stage that are needed to develop and execute marketing strategies successfully, the sequence in which …

Consequences Of Customer Powerlessness: Secondary Control, Matthew Bunker, A. Dwayne Ball

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

This research investigated the consequences of powerlessness when consumers experience service failure with a company that has high-exit barriers. The specific consequences investigated were three types of secondary control, which are grudge-holding, avoidance (predictive avoidance), and retaliation desire. These secondary control coping strategies highlight consumers’ ability to control their personal behaviors and thoughts, even when they cannot completely control the outcomes of a situation. A qualitative study, followed by a scenario-based survey and structural equation model, suggest that the primary direct consequences of powerlessness in commercial relationships are grudge-holding and predictive avoidance, and that both predictive avoidance and a desire …

Sales Buy-In Of Marketing Strategies: Exploration Of Its Nuances, Antecedents, And Contextual Conditions, Avinash Malshe, Ravipreet S. Sohi

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

This study uses a qualitative research design with the Grounded Theory method, to explore the multifaceted nature of sales buy-in, i.e. the sales function’s belief that marketers’ proposed strategy is appropriate and has merit. Based on 49 in-depth interviews with sales and marketing professionals, the findings indicate that obtaining sales buy-in consists of four key components: (a) objectivity and rational persuasion (b) sensitivity and responsiveness to reality (c) involvement in strategy creation, and (d) positioning for success. The findings also show that three organizational-level factors play an important role in determining sales buy-in: (1) eliminating interfunctional walls, (2) bridging the …

Underdog Consumption: An Exploration Into Meanings And Motives, Lee Phillip Mcginnis, James W. Gentry

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

Marketers frequently position business concerns—whether brands, teams, or stores—as the non market-dominant entity (or the “underdog”). This article examines the motives for underdog support through in-depth interviews and a focus group. Findings suggest that underdog consumers support underdogs out of empathy, as a way to ensure the maintenance of equal opportunity in competition, and as a way to provide personal inspiration. Some motives for underdog support can be interpreted to be anti-consumption (or, at least, anti-corporate) in nature. On the other hand, many underdog consumers support and identify with underdogs not necessarily as a way to keep the top dog …

Does Fair Trade Deliver On Its Core Value Proposition? Effects On Income, Educational Attainment, And Health In Three Countries, Eric J. Arnould, Alejandro Plastina, Dwanye Ball

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

Alternative trade organizations (ATOs) based on philosophies of social justice and/or environmental well-being are establishing new channels of trade and marketing. Partisans promote ATOs as systems to transfer benefits from consumers in the wealthy northern hemisphere to producers in the poor southern hemisphere. The central public policy question is whether the well-being of poor agricultural producers in the southern hemisphere is actually being improved by fair-trade practices, or are consumers who buy products on this premise deceived? The research reported here partially answers the question whether participation in a fair-trade coffee marketing channel delivers benefits to smallscale producers in Latin …

Summer Sessions Breakdown Of Course Dates And Time, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

This report highlights an exhaustive analysis of the hundreds of Summer Session courses to develop an understanding of when they occur during the day and during which of the four academic terms. The analysis shows that the most popular time for scheduling courses is between 9:30 am and noon for each of the four summer session terms. Given the limited number of general purpose classrooms on campus, accommodating faculty preference for rooms, buildings, and computer equipment is sometimes not possible during the most in demand course times. The results also showcase the potential for having summer courses four-day per week …

Animal-Companion Depictions In Women’S Magazine Advertising, Patricia F. Kennedy, Mary G. Mcgarvey

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

Via a content analysis of 1398 advertisements that include both people and pets and that appeared in women’s magazines over a period of four decades, this study examines the changing roles played by companion animals and the changes in themes used in these advertisements. Considering both the pictures and text, the study codes advertisements for themes, pet roles, whether or not the pet appears on a leash, and the physical location of the pet. These data show the movement of companion animals from outdoor protectors and companions to loved family members sharing all areas of the home with their human …

Anomie And The Marketing Function: The Role Of Control Mechanisms, Amit Saini, Mike Krush, Jean L. Johnson

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

The theoretical notion of anomie is used to examine the impact of top management’s control mechanisms on the environment of the marketing function. Based on a literature review and in-depth field interviews with marketing managers in diverse industries, a conceptual model is proposed that incorporates the two managerial control mechanisms, viz. output and process control, and relates their distinctive influence to anomie in the marketing function. Three contingency variables, i.e., resource scarcity, power, and ethics codification, are proposed to moderate the relationship between control mechanisms and anomie. The authors also argue for the link between anomic environments and the propensity …

Causes And Consequences Of Grudge-Holding In Service Relationships, Matthew P. Bunker, Dwayne Ball

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to place grudge-holding as a theoretical construct, measure it, and empirically place it in a nomological net and, additionally to discuss the consequences of grudge-holding in this research.

Design/methodology/approach – A 2 × 2 scenario-based experiment was performed using 320 subjects, approximately 80 people per condition. The size of the exit barrier (high/low) and the effectiveness of the service recovery (good/poor) were varied between each scenario to determine changes in grudge-holding.

Findings – Some consequences of grudge-holding are retaliation desire and communication avoidance. Although trust was tested in this research, and is …

2007 Survey Of Summer Sessions Students At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

During Summer 2007, UNL Summer Sessions (FlexEd) surveyed summer students to learn about their experience in taking a summer course(s). The survey results will offer confirmation of what we are doing well and will provide guidance on areas of improvement and better strategies for marketing UNL summer opportunities. A total of 227 students completed the survey. Fifteen summer classes were selected to complete a paper-based or electronic version of the survey. The classes were from three different summer sessions and used different delivery mechanisms (on-campus, studio, distance education).

International Trade, Consumer Behavior And Trust: Factors Affecting Agribusinesses In Developing Countries, Ronald Hampton, Ingrid Fromm, Bonani Nyhodo

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

With the increasing complexity of global food systems, producers in developing countries are faced with challenges associated with market access to developed and other developing countries. There is clear evidence that the fastest growing developing countries are the ones engaging in trade and participating in the global market. The difficulty for developing countries, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in those countries is the logistics and agreements needed to enter international markets and benefit from trade. Global production networks are becoming extremely complex. Arms-length trade is now confined to commodities with low returns, thus access to high-income yielding activities requires …

Market Disintermediation And Producer Value Capture: The Case Of Fair Trade Coffee In Nicaragua, Peru And Guatemala, Eric J. Arnould, Alejandro Plastina, Dwayne Ball

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

Does participation in Fair Trade coffee marketing deliver added value to small-scale producers in developing countries? Is Fair Trade fair to producers as promised? The present study adopts a survey methodology designed to measure a combination of socio-economic impact indicators as well as measures particular to the Fair Trade coffee growing and marketing experience. We surveyed over 1200 small-scale coffee producers in Nicaragua, Peru, and Guatemala, of which about two-thirds participate in coffee marketing schemes sponsored by Transfair, USA. The study reports selected results related to production, marketing, material quality of life, education, health, and general wellbeing. Results show that …

Service Personalization And Loyalty, A. Dwayne Ball, Pedro S. Coelho, Manuel J. Vilares

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

Purpose:

To investigate the effect of service personalization on loyalty, and to measure some of the psychological dynamics of the process.

Methodology:

structural equation modeling.

Findings:

We show that the effect of service personalization on loyalty exists, but that the effect is not all direct. Personalization works through improving service satisfaction and trust. Personalization and improved communication act together in such a way that they account for the variance in loyalty that would be otherwise explained by corporate image.

Research limitations:

Data, though comprising a very large probability sample, are from one economic sector in one European country.

Practical implications: …

A Consumer-Behavior Perspective On Intimate Partner Violence, Debra Lynn Stephens, Ronald Paul Hill, James W. Gentry

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

This research examines women’s experiences of and responses to intimate partner violence using the perspective of the extended self. From in-depth interviews with a demographically diverse group of women in the United States, the primary theme to emerge was that chronic abuse is experienced as the male partner’s ongoing campaign to incorporate the abused woman into his extended self, by appropriating or destroying the aspects of her that give her autonomy. The most important implication for agencies serving abused women is that many of their clients are faced with the daunting task of repairing or reconstructing their core and extended …

Marketing Locally Produced Foods: Consumer And Farmer Opinions In Washington County, Nebraska, Mindi L. Schneider, Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Local food system potentials were studied in Washington County, Nebraska, United States. As a departure from most studies of locally based systems, farmers were surveyed in addition to consumers for potential participation. Data about the current food system and opinions and preferences for local production, marketing, and purchasing of food were collected using self-administered mail questionnaires. The response rate was 35% for the farmer survey and 37% for the consumer survey. Results indicated that, on the farming side of the food system, conventional corn and soybean production and marketing predominated in Washington County, and farmer interest in producing for local …