E-Commerce Commons^™

Navigating Study Abroad: Improving Western Michigan University Students' Understanding Of University-Approved Provider Programs Through A Website Redesign, Gillian Gold

Honors Theses

Study abroad is a valuable opportunity for students' personal and professional development and is offered in various study abroad models and frameworks, including university-run or externally-run. Western Michigan University offers various options, including Faculty-Led Programs, WMU Exchange Programs, Partner Study Abroad Programs, University-Approved Provider Programs, International Internships, and Independent Study Abroad Opportunities. The University-Approved Provider Programs option at WMU allows students to study abroad through a provider that could more directly meet their interests and goals due to the personalized options available. Despite the benefits of the University-Approved Provider Programs, participation in these programs is low. The information about this …

Analyzing Social Media Content Strategies That Drive Engagement For Independent Hairstylists, Aurora Batts

Honors Theses

This study explores how social media, has changed the way independent hairstylists market themselves and connect with clients. Social media has become a huge tool in the beauty industry, allowing stylists to showcase their work, build their brand, and attract new clients. Because platforms like Instagram act as a digital portfolio, clients are making decisions based on what they see online rather than just location or recommendations.

Due to this shift, it is important to understand which types of content perform well and generate engagement. This study focuses on identifying the specific content characteristics that lead to higher engagement for …

Impact Of Humor Vs. Seriousness In Advertising: The Role Of Product Type In Consumer Recall And Purchase Behavior, Cian Ortega

Honors Theses

This study examines the effectiveness of humorous versus serious advertising tones across three different product categories, which are beverage, hygiene, and health/medicine. This is done by measuring their impact on a consumer’s brand/product recall, enjoyment, and purchase intent. Historically, humor has been related to positive emotional responses while seriousness has been associated with building trust and credibility. By using a within-subjects experimental-survey design, data were collected from seventy survey respondents who viewed humorous and serious advertisements across the three product categories (hygiene, beverage, and health/medicine and then evaluated each ad based on their agreement to statements relating to brand/product recall, …

A Series Of Accounting Case Studies: Macy's Inc. And Other Notable Financial Events, Emelyn Darnell

Honors Theses

This thesis is a compilation of six case studies focusing on financial accounting and analysis of current events in the accounting world. These were completed under the direction and supervision of Dr. Victoria Dickinson through the Honors Accountancy 420 course. Four case studies included in this compilation are analyses of Macy’s Inc. through different accounting lenses. The case studies analyzing Macy’s Inc. were done in groups in the fall semester of 2022. Our group prepared an Operational Risk Assessment, analyzed Macy’s audit risk, and comprised possible solutions to decrease risk. We also discussed Macy’s current ESG and cybersecurity procedures and …

Sipping Success: A Complete Digital Marketing And Customer Journey Makeover For Local Business Mi Boba Using Principles Of Change Management, In-Store Experience Enhancements, And Website Redesign., Joanna Holecko

Honors Theses

Sipping Success captures the journey of customer experience and marketing strategies for a small, woman-owned business in Kalamazoo, Michigan: Mi Boba. Beginning with an in-depth analysis of existing in-store experience using reviews and interviews, this thesis uses insights to guide the creation of a customer service blueprint catered to creating the perfect Mi Boba interaction. From that blueprint, new signage and menus were created to improve the customer experience. Next, the website was completely redesigned to address issues of navigation, visual representation of products, and search engine optimization (SEO). These enhancements improved user experience, resulting in significant increases in website …

An Analysis Of The Extent To Which Responsible Technology Is Taught In R1 And R2 Research Universities In Michigan., Maisie Blaukamp

Honors Theses

Responsible technology development, use, and communication is crucial as technological innovations scale. An increasing topic of conversation in the technology and education industries is how to educate individuals to interact with technology in an ethical way, as harmful technologies and use of technologies are creating negative impacts on individuals, businesses, and society. This research examines the extent to which responsible technology is taught in major Michigan universities.

An analysis of courses and course descriptions at 8 R1 and R2 universities shows that there is a lack of responsible technology education in business colleges, courses teaching technology development, and courses teaching …

Dynamic Double Auctions: An Analysis Of Secondary Sneaker Market And Its Future As An Nft Marketplace, Chris Zhu

Honors Theses

A theoretical analysis of a dynamic double auction over time shows that greater market density can result in more aggressive trading strategies from buyers and sellers. In addition, my model suggests a fast price discovery period initially, with impatient investors having a more aggressive approach. I confirm these results using resale sneaker data from the StockX website for five deadstock sneakers. I find that market density is positively correlated with bid prices, and the bid-ask spread decreases over time during the price discovery period. However, the results also indicate that sellers price in additional transaction costs and lags in their …

Politics Of Privacy: The Role Of Individual Political Views In Consumer Data Privacy Concerns, Connor Neill

Honors Theses

Today, every choice that is made, from where to shop to what music to listen to, has turned into a reflection of one’s political views and identity. The main purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between an individual’s political views and his or hers attitudes toward the security of personal information in the consumer realm. Two studies were conducted in the form of surveys. The first study aims to measure the consumer’s trust and risk beliefs for a company of a certain size as well as their feelings toward the dimensions of control, collection, and awareness of …

Exploring The Perception Of Sponsored Posts On Instagram, Mahek Verma

Honors Theses

Influencer marketing has grown immensely, and consumers are now frequently interacting with and making decisions based on content published by influencers on social media. This thesis explores how different types of endorsed influencer posts are perceived along with how the type of endorsed post can impact a consumer’s perception of the product and brand being endorsed. Using self-administered questionnaires, semi-structured interviews a simulated influencer content browsing experience, this research examines differences between influencer endorsements officially sponsored by a company, endorsements of products merely gifted by the company, and endorsements of products with no company involvement. Research findings identified a lack …

The Future’S So Bright: A Business Plan And Market Research Analysis Of Fraze, Elizabeth Lanford

Honors Theses

This thesis is an overview of the creation and operation of Lindy and Liz, LLC dba Fraze. Fraze is an online boutique specializing in custom, beaded sunglasses. This thesis contains details of the founding, operation, and future of the business. The following business plan will give insights to marketing strategies, target audience demographics, and sourcing procedures.

Accompanying this business plan is market research relevant to the target market of Fraze. Part I details secondary research about the effects of social media on this target market and their consumption habits. It also contains insights about the products and marketing techniques most …

A Look Into Electronic Word-Of-Mouth: The Willingness Of Consumers To Write Online Reviews, Michelle Le

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the willingness of a consumer to write an online review in relation to their love for a brand, their attachment to a brand and their satisfaction with shopping online for that brand. There are limited empirical studies that investigate the impact of Brand Love, Brand Attachment, and Electronic Shopping Experience Satisfaction on online reviews. Brand Love is the extent of emotional attachment that a content consumer feels for a certain brand or trade name whereas Brand Attachment measures the degree or strength to which consumers connects themselves with a brand. Lastly, a …

Permissions Between Creators And Users: An Investigation Of Particulars In Privacy Policies For Mobile Apps, Abbigail Griffith

Honors Theses

Mobile apps create a space for users to share information with other users and, in doing so, the creators of the applications. Generally, the greater amount of sharing information that occurs between users and creators enhances the experience of the apps for both parties. However, the extent to which mobile apps use this information can cause concerns with users about privacy due to the unknown practices of mobile apps relevant to data collection, data sharing, and data storage.

Documents, such as privacy policies, exist in attempts to moderate these concerns. Additionally, mobile apps offer in-app features for the same reasons. …

Women Leaders In Marketing: Breaking Through The Glass Ceiling, Hallie Green

Honors Theses

Introduction: During my internships I was able to work with and meet women leaders in marketing. Through our discussions I learned that gender roles are still prevalent in large companies today. Many of the women I worked with talked about struggles women face in their career that men do not. There were strong emotions that women did not get equal treatment for their contributions to the company. I was surprised by these statements, especially from seemingly successful women. This thesis will be an exploration of the difficulties professional female marketers face, and the ways women that are starting their career …

E-Commerce’S Impact On Big-Box Retailers, Brian Bates

Honors Theses

The history of retail has been an evolutionary process of new innovations and transformations. Previous changes include: the development of catalogue based retail, and the recent innovation of super stores, known as big-box retailers. It is possible that we are dawning upon a new revolution of the retail environment as electronic commerce (e-commerce) continues to grow. This paper will analyze the impact of e-commerce on retail markets, specifically big-box stores (warehouse style retailers with over 750 million in sales). Using financial and real estate data from Bloomberg^TM, and e-commerce data from eMarketerTM and the US Census Bureau two …

Does Social Media Help Create Brand Loyalty?, Ali Russo

Honors Theses

Throughout my time at Haworth College of Business, Social Media has been a big topic of discussion. The issue has not been if companies should use it as a tool to reach consumers but how do companies effectively utilize Social Media sites. Companies have two important ways to utilize these sites: the first is to collect data from users, and the second is to create a platform where they can interact and influence purchasing decisions. I wanted to create a thesis that focused on the interaction side of Social Media. Initially, I wanted to see if Social Media would create …

Consumer Opinions And Rfid Implementation, Anna K. Brown

Honors Theses

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been in use for a number of decades tracking various products and materials in a wide range of industries. The objective of this study was to find simple factors and relationships explaining the usage of Internet shopping and online banking, and the attitudes toward RFID in hospitals. The question being addressed is whether the general population is accepting of the technology application in the tracking of patients and their medical histories in a hospital environment. A randomly selected survey of the population in the Midwest was taken to examine relationships between privacy attitudes and behaviors …

A Comparison Of Print Advertisements To Corresponding Web Sites: Are Marketers On Target, Sarah Jo Sautter

Honors Theses

Technological advances constantly make lives easier and information more accessible. Marketers seek the best ways to communicate with their prospects. This means keeping pace with technology, and being a pioneer in the industry. The Internet is one communication medium growing in popularity among marketers. As a new advertising medium, companies rush to beat their competitors, and many others follow. As a result, Web addresses are found in traditional media like television, radio and especially print.