Marketing Commons^™

Factors Prospective Students Consider When Selecting An Mba Program, Lorie Plyler Briggs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper adds to existing literature regarding MBA selection processes and helps identify and better understand the needs that motivate consumers to pursue an MBA degree. Through a series of qualitative, one-on-one interviews with 17 brand-new MBA students or prospective students, this research found that while many people have "always wanted" to earn the advanced degree, most have toyed with the idea of a graduate business degree for many years. The most frequent reasons that people cite regarding their decision to seriously consider an MBA at a large southern university centers around four desires. These are, not surprisingly, the desire …

Cause-Related Controversy: An Analysis Of Corporate Sponsor Response To The Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood Crisis, Christina Maria Cameron

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study advances crisis communication and relationship management application and theory by examining the crisis response strategies used by corporations during a time of crisis involving a nonprofit partner. A qualitative content analysis was performed on the Facebook pages of 57 companies that were corporate partners of Susan G. Komen in early 2012. Nineteen companies responded using their Facebook accounts during two crisis periods studied. The researcher argues that consideration must be given to additional contingent factors beyond those proposed by situational crisis communication theory. Contingent variables related to the corporations' relationship with the charity, including level of …

Chinese Consumers' Evaluation Of Domestic And Foreign Products: The Roles Of Country Of Origin And Product Usage Experience, Yuze Gao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although COO has been a topic of central interest in international marketing research, most work has focused on consumers in western countries. The concept of product usage experience, though often implied in COO research, has yet to be investigated more directly and explicitly. The goal of the study is to examine the relationships among COO perceptions, product usage experience and purchase intention among Chinese consumers. The study examined two kinds of product usage experiences (usage variety and frequency) pertaining to products (products in general and laptop computers in specific) made in two countries (America and China). Empirical data gathered from …

The Road To Damascus Leads To One Infinite Loop: An Introspective Adventure Into Apple Computer Customer Evangelism, Nathalie S. Collins

Research outputs 2013

This paper draws on a literature review, conceptual development and an introspective narrative to explore “quintessence” and Customer Evangelism (CE). Quintessence, a mystical connection between the customer and a product, elevates a profane product experience to the sacred. This paper argues that the quintessential moment, the root of the Customer Evangelism conversion experience, awakens or redirects a propensity toward evangelistic behaviour. As the moment of conversion, quintessence is as pivotal as it is mystical. Tourism entities can attempt to nurture a seemingly religious experience, and for some entities quintessence is an unexpected by-product. An introspective narrative, through one of the …

Towards A Folk Taxonomy Of Popular New Media Marketing Terms, Nathalie S. Collins, Jamie Murphy

Research outputs 2013

Word of Mouth and Brand Community Marketing terms have emerged to describe particular people and their effectiveness in promoting messages, particularly with the emergence of social media. The development of the terms and their use are concurrent in academic literature, industry literature and popular culture. Furthermore, it is common for these terms to converge, borrowing meanings, connotations and subtexts. This paper explores five key community marketing terms−Geek, Maven, Alpha User, Evangelist and Fanboy−and develops term classifications and relationships into a folk taxonomy. Tourism and hospitality practitioners and academics can use the taxonomy for word of mouth activities and research.