Business Commons^™

Taking Flight – December 2014 Edition, Georgia Southern University

Taking Flight (College of Business) (2014-2023)

• Message from the Dean
• Alumni Spotlight: Kim Hartsock
• Fall Commencement & Graduate Brunch
• Augusta Eagle Executive Exchange
• BIG Maker Day
• GEICO Associates, Macon Representing the Eagle Nation
• Get Social with the College of Business

Why Do People Give? Similarity Based Persuasion On Charitable Appeals And Self-Presentation On Social Media, Jihye Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the sizable donations and the variety of views to research an individual's charitable motivations, the individual's charitable giving has remained somewhat stagnant. Ever since the economic crisis of 2008, contributions to charities have decreased. Therefore, garnering donations is a significant challenge for charitable organizations. Moreover, for individuals who have decided to make voluntary contributions, determining which of the over 800,000 nonprofit organizations to contribute to can be a challenging task, as well. The question of how nonprofit organizations should foster awareness and receive donations is of critical importance, yet the answer is not quite clear. In the current fierce …

Three Essays On Opinion Mining Of Social Media Texts, Shuyuan Deng

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research is a collection of three essays on opinion mining of social media texts. I explore different theoretical and methodological perspectives in this inquiry. The first essay focuses on improving lexicon-based sentiment classification. I propose a method to automatically generate a sentiment lexicon that incorporates knowledge from both the language domain and the content domain. This method learns word associations from a large unannotated corpus. These associations are used to identify new sentiment words. Using a Twitter data set containing 743,069 tweets related to the stock market, I show that the sentiment lexicons generated using the proposed method …

The Impact Of Technology, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Consumer electronics have revolutionized the way we live and work. Most students that I know would rather forgo expensive clothing labels than do without their branded smartphone. In fact, some of them would forgo food altogether if it meant their phone could be “always on” and “always with them”, clipped onto the belt buckle, strapped into a pants or jacket sleeve or increasingly into the open palm of their hand. Something happens when our basic needs as humans are overtaken by some other need that was once a distant want at best- plainly confusion in our ability to rightly determine …

What Messages To Post? Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Social Media Communications Based On Market And Offering Characteristics, Kunal Swani

Doctoral Dissertations

Marketers are struggling with the successful implementation of social media executions in their marketing efforts. The effectiveness of their social media campaigns may be realized when their customers transmit company brand messages across their unique networks of friends and associates (Berger and Milkman 2012). Indeed, marketers using social media try to determine what messages will engage their customers. In essay one, we provide guidance to B2B (business-to-business) managers by examining the usage and effectiveness of social media message strategies. Building on B2B advertising, organizational buying, and word-of-mouth theories, we highlight key differences in B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) social media message …

Parasocial Relationship Via Reality Tv And Social Media: Its Implications For Celebrity Endorsement, Siyoung Chung, Hichang Cho

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which audiences build parasocial relationships with media characters via reality TV and social media, and its implications for celebrity endorsement and purchase intentions. Using an online survey, this study collected 401 responses from the Korean Wave fans in Singapore. The results showed that reality TV viewing and SNS use to interact with media characters were positively associated with parasocial relationships between media characters and viewers. Parasocial relationships, in turn, were positively associated with the viewers’ perception of endorser and brand credibility, and purchase intention of the brand endorsed by …

Building Social Media Through Teamwork: Dividing And Conquering When Budgets And Time Stand In The Way, Johannah Lowder, Joshua Waltman

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Get Schooled: A Visual Social Semiotic Analysis Of Target's Branding Using Instagram, Chelsea Bevins

Masters Theses

With new technology arising, brands must be able to adapt to them. This thesis will break down brand management, using David Aaker's framework, of the Target Corporation to see if they are using modern resource, Instagram effectively. This thesis will also look at how the theory of visual social semiotics, applied to communications, is used to decipher intended meaning. Brand management embodies a company and people are driven by what a brand portrays. People are driven by values, emotions and quality within a brand. People associate products with memories, celebrities, attributes and symbols. Brands are more than just a name. …

Social Media Strategic Plan For Under Armour, Ashley Leers

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis is a study of the effects of social media on an organization’s integrated marketing communications strategy in general and provides a proposal of how the sports apparel company Under Armour could use social media to enhance its promotional strategies. It is a discussion of the implications that social media has on consumer behavior with focus on how social media has changed the way today’s consumers interact with brands. This thesis provides an analysis of the growing importance of social media being implemented within a business. Benefits discussed include the appeal of social media over traditional media, increased customer …

Successfully Social: A Non-Profit’S Guide To Modern Social Media Marketing, Deana D. Dennis

Senior Honors Theses

Social media has revolutionized modern business and marketing practices by providing a mass audience of potential stakeholders for all business entities. Nonprofit organizations that learn to utilize social media affectively could benefit in virtually every organizational initiative, including marketing, fundraising, and advocacy, by easily connecting to target audiences through the power of virtual social networking. The specific focus of this work is on Christian ministries and charitable organizations. Case studies of two differing Christian organizations are discussed: the relief organization, Samaritan’s Purse and the young adult ministry, Love and Respect (NOW). The case studies explore the organizations’ background and mission, …

Social Media Marketing Use In Georgia’S Institutions Of Higher Education, James Kelly

Honors College Theses

The Internet and social media are changing the way that people interact with the world around them everyday. Individuals are able to learn more about the products they use, places they visit, and other people within their network by simply turning on their computer, smart phone, or tablet. Thanks to this great utility, institutions of higher education around the world are using social media to interact with and market themselves to faculty, students, and even prospective students. After all, universities are aiming to prove that their product can add value to the lives of stakeholders while providing them with benefits …

Two Essays On Individuals, Information, And Asset Prices, Joseph Mohr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the first essay we explore and establish a direct link between investor attention to advertising videos viewed on social media, and trading activity in a firm's securities. We find a positive relation between views of these advertising videos and volume, and a negative relationship between views and bid-ask spread. Returns are positively related to change in views. The positive price pressure is reversed over the following two weeks. The decreases in spread and temporary increase in returns are consistent with increased purchasing by individual investors who view the advertising videos. Our results support the hypothesis that the number of …

Content Marketing Enhances Public Relations Strategies Through Social Media To Increase Market Shares For Businesses, Kelsey Donofrio

Journalism

This paper is the about the study of content marketing and the value it brings to companies. There will be discussion on the elements and tactics of content marketing that will help a business become successful. The data, to support this study, will come from working professionals in the marketing and public relations industry, as well as additional research from books and articles. This paper will discuss why written word and infographics are the best and most commonly used tactic, and why content marketing is a great tool for companies to connect and inform their consumers, on a themselves or …

Use Of Peripheral Route Triggers To Test Buying Habits On Social Curating Sites, Kellie K. Brown

Communication Studies

Ecommerce has become an increasingly visual activity as images of product fill websites, social media, and social curation sites. The Elaboration Likelihood Model has often been used to examine and explain online purchasing behavior; however, this previous research barely touches on the use of peripheral cues. In analyzing the effect of peripheral cues on buying habits when searching social curation sites, statistical results from a survey conducted using women aged 18 to 34 in the San Luis Obispo area showed that these cues made no difference on the activity of a user. Regardless of their awareness to the visual cues, …

Online Traveler Ratings: Impact On Determining The Top 25 Hotels, Yaitza Enid Matos-Rodríguez

MBA Student Scholarship

The hospitality industry has changed the way the traveler makes a decision to stay in a hotel. Travelers use the social media and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) to search and evaluate different places. Traveler reviews and ratings have had an influence on the decisions of prospective new guests. TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site for travelers. TripAdvisor displays the Top 25 hotels in the United States based on traveler reviews. This research proposal is to identify the relationship between travelers’ ratings and the top hotels. The purpose of this study is to provide hospitality management an opportunity to …

It's Not The Serve, But The Return, Marnee J. Dupont

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Determinants Of Firm Profitability: The Effect Of Social Media, Nicholas Schmidt

CMC Senior Theses

This study seeks to explore whether social media plays an important role in determining a firm’s profits. Using data from 392 Large American firms from the period 2005-2013, obtained primarily from the database, COMPUSTAT, I find that a firm’s adoption of Social Media plays a minor role in determining profits, while higher Lagged Profits, Lagged Productivity, Firm Sizes, and Advertising Expenses lead to higher profits.