Business Commons^™

Examining The Effectiveness Of Marketing Practices Of A Nonprofit Institution Of Higher Education: Internal Service Provider, Doreen E. Sams, Mary Kay Rickard, Kendra K. Evans

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Abstract - Quality education is the sum of Institutions of Higher Education’s (IHE) parts, including classroom instruction and internal services, that are key to a student’s success during and after college. The purpose of this study is to address an understudied sector in the nonprofit marketing literature (i.e., Institutions of Higher Education internal service providers). The current study extends Dakouan et al. (2019) work by examining the marketing efforts of an IHE’s career services center’s effectiveness in creating awareness and increasing attendance at career events. The study focuses on outbound marketing strategies addressing the research question “to what extent are …

2023- The Twenty-Seventh Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Twenty-seventh Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 18-21, 2023. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

The Regional Mall’S Persona Wish List: The Hedonist, The Influencer And The Local Champion, Thomas M. Hickman, Michael Stoica, David P. Price

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study investigates three consumer archetypes (hedonist, influencer, and local champion) and their potential to influence mall revitalization. Results show that a belief in the importance of the mall leads to a more enjoyable shopping experience, a subsequent willingness to pay more for locally owned stores, a greater propensity to spend more at the mall, and to engage in positive word-of-mouth. Findings suggest that local champions and influencers are vital for bringing patrons back to shopping centers in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is argued that the mall and its tenants will benefit from co-marketing; the mall offering …

Marketing Orientation: A Longitudinal Study Of Community Banks, Stephen C. Carlson, Gerald Sullivan, Susanna Warnock, Margaret Ryder

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Marketing orientation has long been touted as a means of improved business performance and a key to success in marketing management (Kotler, Keller & Chernev, 2021). This is a longitudinal study of community banks examining marketing orientation and business performance using a survey instrument based on the work of Narver and Slater (1990) and Kohli and Jaworski (1990).

Four survey datasets cover the period preceding the Great Recession (2003-2005), the Great Recession and its fallout (2008-2010), a Post–Great Recession period (2014-2016), and the COVID-19 period (2020). Survey responses were gathered from a selected set of community bank CEOs in the …

Images In Service Marketing: Does Presentation Style Matter?, Can Trinh

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This research presents a pioneering attempt to examine whether the use of abstract images would be more effective than the use of concrete images in the case of service marketing. Based on construal level theory, we hypothesize that relative to the use of concrete images, the use of abstract images in service marketing will better match the intangible nature of services and will thus increase communication effectiveness. Two studies in this research provide evidence to support these propositions by showing that relative to the use of concrete images, the use of abstract images can enhance ad visuals, which in turn …

Happy Campers Or Unhappy Prisoners: How Materialism Punishes Us In Lockdown Times, Banwari Mittal

Atlantic Marketing Journal

COVID-19 and the resulting lockdowns created an unprecedented upheaval in consumers’ daily lives and lifestyles. The purpose of this research was to understand the psychological experience of life under lockdowns and the role of individual difference variables in that experience. Using survey data from U.S. consumers, the research identified two opposite feelings, coexisting: happy camper feeling or unhappy prisoner feeling. Younger, lower income, and less educated consumers felt more like prisoners than campers. Ability to maintain life as usual, and positive pre-pandemic life conditions (health, social network, and job satisfaction) led to happy camper feelings. In contrast, pre-pandemic materialism led …

Covid's Positive Implications On Business-To-Business Salesperson Communication And Customer Interaction, Lucy Matthews, Diane R. Edmondson, Ryan Matthews, Frances Ann Stott, Tammy Bahmanziari

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This article aims to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on industrial salesperson communication with buyers, specifically focusing on the positive outcomes. The authors use a qualitative data collection approach based on grounded theory. Thirteen executives, primarily from the transportation industry, were interviewed. Based on the executive interviews, this study develops the pandemic-induced customer interaction model for the industrial market, drawing from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and innovation diffusion theory. This study is the first to examine the positive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on business-to-business sales organization communication. This study contributes to the literature through the creation …

Privacy And Security Information Awareness And Disclosure Of Private Information By Users Of Online Social Media In The Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria, Funmilola Olubunmi Omotayo, Joy Oluwabukola Olayiwola

The African Journal of Information Systems

The purpose of this paper is to investigate information privacy and security awareness among online social media (OSM) users in the Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Building upon the social exchange theory, some factors that could influence the disclosure of private information on social media were identified. Findings from the analysis of data of 255 respondents revealed that most were aware of information privacy and security measures available on OSM, and the risks associated with the disclosure of private information on OSM. Privacy and security awareness, the perception of benefits associated with the use of OSM, the perception of risks associated with …

Teaching By Practice: Shaping Secure Coding Mentalities Through Cybersecurity Ctfs, Jazmin Collins, Vitaly Ford

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The use of the Capture the Flag (CTF)-style competitions has grown popular in a variety of environments as a method to improve or reinforce cybersecurity techniques. However, while these competitions have shown promise in student engagement, enjoyment, and the teaching of essential workforce cybersecurity concepts, many of these CTF challenges have largely focused on cybersecurity as a general topic. Further, most in-school CTF challenges are designed with technical institutes in mind, prepping only experienced or upper-level students in cybersecurity studies for real-world challenges. Our paper aims to focus on the setting of a liberal arts institute, emphasizing secure coding as …

Lightweight Pairwise Key Distribution Scheme For Iots, Kanwalinderjit Kaur

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Embedding a pairwise key distribution approach in IoT systems is challenging as IoT devices have limited resources, such as memory, processing power, and battery life. This paper presents a secure and lightweight approach that is applied to IoT devices that are divided into Voronoi clusters. This proposed algorithm comprises XOR and concatenation operations for interactive authentication between the server and the IoT devices. Predominantly, the authentication is carried out by the server. It is observed that the algorithm is resilient against man-in-the-middle attacks, forward secrecy, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, and offers mutual authentication. It is also observed that the …

Reinventing Cybersecurity Internships During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lori L. Sussman

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The Cybersecurity Ambassador Program provides professional skills training for emerging cybersecurity professionals remotely. The goal is to reach out to underrepresented populations who may use Federal Work-Study (FWS) or grant sponsored internships to participate. Cybersecurity Ambassadors (CAs) develop skills that will serve them well as cybersecurity workers prepared to do research, lead multidisciplinary, technical teams, and educate stakeholders and community members. CAP also reinforces leadership skills so that the next generation of cybersecurity professionals becomes a sustainable source of management talent for the program and profession. The remote curriculum innovatively builds non-technical professional skills (communications, teamwork, leadership) for cybersecurity research …

Risk Perceptions About Personal Internet-Of-Things: Research Directions From A Multi-Panel Delphi Study, Paul M. Di Gangi, Barbara A. Wech, Jennifer D. Hamrick, James L. Worrell, Samuel H. Goh

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Internet-of-Things (IoT) research has primarily focused on identifying IoT devices' organizational risks with little attention to consumer perceptions about IoT device risks. The purpose of this study is to understand consumer risk perceptions for personal IoT devices and translate these perceptions into guidance for future research directions. We conduct a sequential, mixed-methods study using multi-panel Delphi and thematic analysis techniques to understand consumer risk perceptions. The results identify four themes focused on data exposure and user experiences within IoT devices. Our thematic analysis also identified several emerging risks associated with the evolution of IoT device functionality and its potential positioning …

Cybersecurity Continuity Risks: Lessons Learned From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Tyler Fezzey, John H. Batchelor, Gerald F. Burch, Randall Reid

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The scope and breadth of the COVID-19 pandemic were unprecedented. This is especially true for business continuity and the related area of cybersecurity. Historically, business continuity and cybersecurity are viewed and researched as separate fields. This paper synthesizes the two disciplines as one, thus pointing out the need to address both topics simultaneously. This study identifies blind spots experienced by businesses as they navigated through the difficult time of the pandemic by using data collected during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. One major shortcoming was that most continuity and cybersecurity plans focused on single-axis threats. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted …

Using Accounting Software For Teaching And Learning In A Second-Year Accounting Course, Lesley J. Stainbank Prof, Thanesha Reddy Jankeeparsad, Aarthi Algu

The African Journal of Information Systems

The aim of this paper is to report students’ perceptions on whether the use of accounting software enhances their understanding of the accounting cycle, and improves their information technology skills. Kolb’s experiential learning cycle is used to argue that offering a concrete learning experience increases effective learning. The study uses survey research to determine students’ perspectives of the usefulness of using accounting software in enhancing their understanding of the accounting cycle in a real business environment. The results show that students perceived the accounting example they used in the accounting software training to have some benefits in helping their understanding …

Implementing A Short-Term Field-Based Experiential Learning Activity: The Retail Scavenger Hunt, Pam Richardson, Rebeca Perren

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This article introduces the Retail Scavenger Hunt (RSH)—a short-term field-based experiential learning activity. This flexible pedagogical tool enables students to experience first-hand what is commonly referred to in the consumer-packaged goods industry as “the store check.” Although initially designed as an instructor-led activity, the authors adapted the exercise during the pandemic to be executed as a self-directed, app-based field activity. As a result, this research can compare student impressions across implementation modes.

Emotional Intelligence Training And Professional Salespeople, Tracey Honeycutt Sigler, Charles D. Shepherd Ph.D

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Emotional intelligence (EI) has long been considered a significant success factor, especcially in careers like personal selling that involve considerable social. contact (Goldman, 1995). As a result, a series of studies have investigated the link between EI and sales performance. The results of these studies indicates that EI can positively impact sales performanace. As a result, researchers (Deeter-Schmelz & Sojka, 2003) have called for its integration into sales training programs. However, to this point, no research has established an effective approach to EI training in sales. This study begins to rectify that shortcoming by indentifying best practices in general EI …

When Privacy Proclivity Meet Covid-19: No Longer Concerns Of Today’S M-Commerce Users?, James L. Thomas, Jianping Coco Huang, Brent J. Cunningham, Jihye Lee, Le Wu

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This is continuous research of our previous publication (Thomas et al., 2021). A new two by two study (Before and After COVID 19) X (China and the US culture) was designed to test the moderated mediation effect of the COVID pandemic on M-commerce user’s privacy proclivity, trust, and M-commerce intention! A new sample was collected from two countries in different time periods (Before and after COVID pandemic) to investigate whether M-commerce users’ concern about privacy proclivity has changed after COVID-19. Built on top of our 2021 publication, this study discovered that privacy proclivity no longer has a significant direct impact …

Brand Activism In The Age Of Black Lives Matter Movement, Peter M. Mwencha, Reuben K. Njuguna

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study provides a review of brand activism phenomenon against the background of the Black Lives Matter movement. It is informed by the growing number of activist customers, leaders and corporations that are taking a stand on divisive social and political issues that exists in today’s America. It finds that while socially-conscious consumers respond better to brands that support socio-political causes that they identify with, leaders and corporations should exercise caution when engaging in activism due to its divisiveness as well as the difficulty in aligning a brand’s public stance on an issue and consumers’ beliefs. The study recommends that …

Small Value-Add Local Food Retailer’S Covid-19 And Post-Covid-19 Strategies, Timothy L. Schauer, Denise Ogden, Doc Ogden

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The pandemic came as a blow to retailers that were already under pressure from online competitors that offered low prices and provided the convenience of shopping from home. The media tended to cover the plight and challenges for larger chain stores and big box retailers. However, the small local food providers and retailers also faced challenges and had to manage without the luxury of having dedicated staff and deep pockets with which to navigate through the pandemic. This paper explores the experiences and strategies used by 20 small local value-added food providers and retailers as they navigated the pandemic. Additionally, …

Textbook Publishing For Secondary And Higher Education, Sherry Roberts, Lucy M. Matthews

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Given the number of high school and college students in need of textbooks, there is an opportunity for individuals interested in becoming textbook authors. The process begins with conducting research to determine the appropriate type of book and the market for that book. The research for secondary education includes understanding curriculum standards for the given subject. Understanding the market for the book is important to also determine the appropriate publisher for the proposed textbook. Next, it is time to prepare the items needed for the prospectus. These items include the table of content, end-of-chapter exercises, and likely a few chapters …

Manufacturing “Hits”: A Data-Driven Ai Approach To Releasing A Pop Song In 2022, Jessica Birk, Madhavi Chakrabarty

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Technology is radically transforming the music industry through the use of big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. This paper presents a pilot study that examines the impact of data-driven approaches in creating, predicting, and marketing music. A machine learning algorithm is used to determine the optimal characteristics of the most popular songs and is used as the basis for creating the next song. Next, an AI technique was used to generate the inspiration of the instrumentation and lyrics of the song. Finally, a listener survey is used to determine the trend which included the mood, preference and context …

A Low-Cost, Low-Power, Scada Testbed Solution For Secure Remote Monitoring, Connor Berger

Symposium of Student Scholars

Similar to software application systems adopted by companies and businesses for product logging, payroll, human resources, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems control the distributed processes with multiple components located on different machines that communicate and coordinate actions in order to appear as a single coherent system. SCADA systems severely lack the appropriate security and hack prevention measures. We propose a low cost, low power SCADA testbed solution for secure remote monitoring. The goal of this research is to implement and test the testbed’s security by emulating attack vectors on both hardware components and communication channels to probe the …

Organizing Digital Platforms And Customer Needs For Digital Service Innovation, Gamel O. Wiredu

The African Journal of Information Systems

Digital organizations have become highly dependent on digital platforms and customer needs as key resources for digital service innovation. These resources in the competitive environment are making and shaping innovation of digital services because, though external, they remain central to digital organizations’ strategic innovation and competitiveness. Yet, how and why organizing these resources influences digital service innovation is under-explained in the literature. This paper, based on an empirical study and grounded theory methodology, addresses this limitation. It explains that digital service innovation occurs through two complementary types of organizing, namely: foundational knowledge organizing by combining digital platforms and customer needs, …

2022 - The Third Annual Fall Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Fall 2022 Symposium of Student Scholars, held on November 17, 2022. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Reducing The Negative Effects Of Uncontrollable Factors When Designing New Courses, Nusser Raajpoot, Ran Liu

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper seeks to introduce a novel course design method in academic literature. It uses advanced experimental designs to capture student preferences. It also makes a distinction between controllable and uncontrollable design factors and seeks to minimize the negative impact of uncontrollable design factors, ensuring a successful course introduction. We propose and test a design method that combines Taguchi experimental designs with discrete choice estimation where choice probabilities are used as input data for Taguchi's inner and outer arrays. Design efficiency is measured by calculating signal to noise (S/N) ratio, which accounts for both mean and variance of choice probabilities. …

Brides And Bridal Stores: Online Or Brick-And-Mortar, Libby C. Jones, Ismet Anitsal, Melek Meral Anitsal

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper explores the growing global bridal industry and the different trends, traditions, and aspects of specific countries' bridal industries. It outlines western and eastern traditions and how globalization contributes to their spread. A deeper focus is dedicated to the United States' bridal industry and the issues brick-and-mortar bridal boutiques face as more brides have started shopping at online bridal stores. The relationship between brick-and-mortar and online bridal stores is explored based on various propositions about the bridal industry's emerging challenges. These propositions include trust issues in the retail environment, convenience, selection of bridal gowns in different retail formats, incorporating …

Political Reality: Attack Ads Are Here To Stay, Rebecca Dingus, Chanho Song, Richard H. Kolbe, Michael Y. Hu

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The primary research questions of this study center on two largely overlooked areas in negative political advertising: (1) Would the sponsor of the attack ad message be better off with a positive message? (2) When one is targeted by an attack ad, how should the attacked candidate respond? M-Turk subjects (n = 1,380) were used to conduct a multi-stage experimental design to capture the dynamic aspects of how subjects react to the use of attack ads in a hypothetical political campaign. In general, subjects did not respond favorably to attack ads, as these negative political messages caused damage to the …

Analyzing The Past Five Years Of Equinox Week* Programs Focused On Sustainable Development Goals Within A Collection Of Local And Global Initiatives To Support A Proposal For The Publication Of A Comprehensive Book, Abdoulaye Idrissa

Symposium of Student Scholars

Many undergraduate students are not familiar with the research process involved in a book publication proposal. Through this multidisciplinary collaborative research, the faculty intends to minimize this gap by engaging the students in such a process from the early phase of proposal preparation. The student will research and review the past five years of EQUINOX Week* programs focused on Sustainable Development Goals within a collection of local and global initiatives to support a proposal for the EQUINOX proceeding publication.

With an extensive set of qualitative and quantitative data gathered over a span of 5 years. The student will be …

Secure Cloud-Based Iot Water Quality Gathering For Analysis And Visualization, Soin Abdoul Kassif Baba M Traore, Maria Valero, Amy Gruss

KSU Proceedings on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Water quality refers to measurable water characteristics, including chemical, biological, physical, and radiological characteristics usually relative to human needs. Dumping waste and untreated sewage is the reason for water pollution and several diseases to the living hood. The quality of water can also have a significant impact on animals and plant ecosystems. Therefore, keeping track of water quality is a substantial national interest. Much research has been done for measuring water quality using sensors to prevent water pollution. In summary, those systems are built based on online and reagent-free water monitoring SCADA systems in wired networks. However, centralized servers, transmission …

Cybercrime In The Developing World, David A. Ghelerter, John E. Wilson, Noah L. Welch, John-David Rusk

KSU Proceedings on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

This paper attempts to discover the reasons behind the increase in cybercrime in developing nations over the past two decades. It discusses many examples and cases of projects to increase internet access in developing countries and how they enabled cybercrime. This paper examines how nations where many cybercrimes occurred, did not have the necessary resources or neglected to react appropriately. The other primary focus is how cybercrimes are not viewed the same as other crimes in many of these countries and how this perception allows cybercriminals to do as they please with no stigma from their neighbors. It concludes that …