Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

House Bubbles, Global Imbalances And Monetary Policy In The Us, Anastasios Evgenidis, A. (Tassos) G. Malliaris

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper examines the factors driving housing price exuberance in the United States, specifically the influence of expansionary monetary policies and the global saving glut. We employ medium scale Bayesian VAR and time-varying VAR models to estimate the effects of monetary policy and global saving glut shocks on US housing bubbles. We find that, prior to the Global Financial Crisis, the impact of the saving glut shock is more enduring, powerful, and rapid in generating housing bubbles compared to monetary policy shocks. However, the recent housing boom that commenced in 2019 demonstrates a different pattern. Our results suggest that both …

Curating A Consumption Ideology: Platformization And Gun Influencers On Instagram, Jenna M. Drenten Ph.D., Lauren Gurrieri, Aimee Dinnín Huff, Michelle Barnhart

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study explores how a platform enables social media influencers to promulgate a consumption ideology. We show how gun influencers, or “gunfluencers,” use Instagram to link products, activities, and meanings to Second Amendment ideology – a gun-centric belief system in the United States colloquially known as “2A ideology.” Through a qualitative study of 25 Instagram gunfluencers, we identify a process of curating a consumption ideology wherein social media influencers employ four curatorial tactics: glamourizing, demystifying, victimizing, and tribalizing. Findings suggest gunfluencers extend audiences and leverage algorithms to prescribe and model how supporters of 2A ideology should look, act, speak, feel, …

Centering Transgender Consumers In Conceptualizations Of Marketplace Marginalization And Digital Spaces, Beck Hansman, Jenna Drenten Ph.D.

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The purpose of this study is to center transgender consumers in the conceptualizations between marketplace marginalization and digital spaces. We examine trans-gender crowdfunding as a hashtag-bounded digital space created by and for the transgender community–namely, the #TransCrowdFund digital space on Twitter. We draw on trans digital geographies as a novel analytical lens to focus attention on transgender consumers' unique experiences in and between digital spaces. Through qualitative hashtag mapping, we analyzed a sample of 200 Twitter profiles and accompanying tweets drawn from individuals using the#TransCrowdFund hashtag. Findings suggest transgender consumers utilize crowdfunding as a hashtag-bounded digital space in three ways: …

Creating Data From Unstructured Text With Context Rule Assisted Machine Learning (Craml), Stephen Meisenbacher, Peter Norlander

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Popular approaches to building data from unstructured text come with limitations, such as scalability, interpretability, replicability, and real-world applicability. These can be overcome with Context Rule Assisted Machine Learning (CRAML), a method and no-code suite of software tools that builds structured, labeled datasets which are accurate and reproducible. CRAML enables domain experts to access uncommon constructs within a document corpus in a low-resource, transparent, and flexible manner. CRAML produces document-level datasets for quantitative research and makes qualitative classification schemes scalable over large volumes of text. We demonstrate that the method is useful for bibliographic analysis, transparent analysis of proprietary data, …

How The Past Of Outsourcing And Offshoring Is The Future Of Post-Pandemic Remote Work: A Typology, A Model, And A Review, Chris Erickson, Peter Norlander

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Information and communication technology (ICT) challenges traditional assumptions about the capacity to manage workers beyond organizational and physical boundaries. A typology connects a variety of non-traditional work organizations made possible by ICT, including offshoring, outsourcing, remote work, virtual companies, and platforms. A model illustrates how new technology serves as a proximate cause for a revision of social contracts between capital, labor and government reached through bargaining, and how external shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the institutional environment, and limitations in practice influence how technology changes the organization of work. An historical case illustrates the general features of the model, …

Influencer Celebrification: How Social Media Influencers Acquire Celebrity Capital, Gillian Brooks, Jenna Drenten Ph.D., Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The digital age has given rise to new pathways for everyday individuals to accrue media attention, which can be translated into promotional endeavors. Such sociocultural currency is referred to as celebrity capital, which can be exchanged within the field of advertising through celebrity endorsements. Traditional celebrities acquire celebrity capital through institutional intermediaries such as sport, television, music, and movies. Research is needed to understand the unique process by which social media influencers (SMIs) acquire celebrity capital. We draw on interviews with 40 global advertising industry practitioners and influencers to better understand how influencers acquire celebrity capital in a saturated media …

Do Guest Worker Programs Give Firms Too Much Power?, Peter Norlander

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Guest worker programs allow migrants to work abroad legally, and offer benefits to workers, firms, and nations. Guest workers are typically authorized to work only in specific labor markets, and are sponsored by, and must work for, a specific firm, making it difficult for guest workers to switch employers. Critics argue that the programs harm host country citizens and permanent residents (“existing workers”), and allow employers to exploit and abuse vulnerable foreign-born workers. Labor market institutions, competitive pressures, and firm strategy contribute to the effects of migration that occur through guest worker programs.

Wage Theft, Economic Conditions, And Market Power: The Case Of H-1b Workers, Peter Norlander, Jed Devaro

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study explores what determines employers’ violations of the wage contracts of workers on H-1B temporary work visas, which occur when firms pay those workers below the promised prevailing or “market” wage. A theoretical framework is proposed that predicts more violations during economic downturns, fewer violations when firms have more labor-market power, and more violations by subcontractor firms. Empirical analysis is based on a firm-level matched dataset of wage and hour violations and the firms that sponsor H-1Bs. Higher labor market power, measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, is associated with fewer violations. Higher unemployment rates and subcontractor firms are associated …

Tourism As Industry And Field Of Study: Using Research And Education To Address Overtourism, Kathleen M. Adams, Peter Sanchez

Anthropology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Purpose: The purpose of this article is (1) to highlight the dual, Janis-faced, nature of the study of tourism as an industry and as a field of study; (2) to discuss how education is used to promote sustainable tourism and prevent overtourism, both in the academic arena as well as where tourism occurs; and (3) to offer suggestions concerning the value of education as an avenue for harmonizing the Janus-faced character of tourism, in order to foster a tourism industry that can better achieve global sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach: This paper combines literature review with assessment. The authors use existing literature on …

Credibility Of Crime Allegations, Frances Xu Lee, Wing Suen

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The lack of hard evidence in allegations about sexual misconduct makes it difficult to separate true allegations from false ones. We provide a model in which victims and potential libelers face the same costs and benefits from making an allegation, but the tendency for perpetrators of sexual misconduct to engage in repeat offenses allows semiseparation to occur, which lends credibility to such allegations. Our model also explains why reports about sexual misconduct are often delayed, and why the public rationally assigns less credibility to these delayed reports.

Sexualized Labour In Digital Culture: Instagram Influencers, Porn Chic And The Monetization Of Attention, Jenna M. Drenten, Lauren Gurrieri, Meagan Tyler

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The rise of digital technologies and social media platforms has been linked to changing forms of work, as well as the mainstreaming of pornography and a ‘porn chic’ aesthetic. This article examines some of the ways in which these themes coalesce, and interrogates the conceptual boundaries of sexualized labour, extending beyond traditional organizational settings and into Web 2.0. The study explores performances of sexualized labour on social media by analysing visual and textual content from 172 female influencers on Instagram. This article contributes to the literature on sexualized labour in three ways. First, by demonstrating how sexualized labour is enacted …

Gender East And West: Transnational Gender Theory And Global Marketing Research, Katherine Sredl

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Much of the prior scholarly research on global gender and marketing tends to focus on development. The post-socialist space does not fit neatly into this paradigm, given the diversity of its legacy of ideology, industrialization, feminist thought, and the post-socialist experience of privatization, democratization, European Union expansion, and, in some cases, war. This chapter uses the history of feminist thought in Yugoslavia and Croatia to highlight the contribution the post-socialist space brings to global gender and marketing research: questioning the role of the state in securing rights and questioning assumptions about individualism in a neoliberal era. I argue for an …

Video Gaming As A Gendered Pursuit, Jenna M. Drenten, Robert L. Harrison, Nicholas J. Pendarvis

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

As video game technology has evolved, so too has the gendered nature of the video gaming subculture. This chapter characterizes the broad cultural context of gaming and the shifting social patterns of gendered game play. By reviewing existing research at the intersection of gender, gaming, and consumption, we identify three primary research opportunities to build upon existing research: understanding consumers’ lived experiences in the gendered gaming subculture, exploring the gendered gaming marketplace (e.g., shopping, advertising), and investigating the systemic, structural, and cultural underpinnings of gaming. Existing research in the field is not exhaustive nor complete; rather, opportunities for research identify …

Gendered Market Subjectivity: Autonomy, Privilege, And Emotional Subjectivity In Normalizing Post-Socialist Neoliberal Ideology, Katherine Sredl

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Most prior studies of marketplace ideology foreground consumer agency as identity co-creation or opposition to ideology. In this research, I consider how the logics of the dwindling state and global neoliberalism discursively form consent in post-socialist Zagreb, Croatia. I use recollections and small group discussions to compare women’s class and generationally based experiences of the daily family meal and work, during Yugoslav exceptionalism and privatization. Changing social relations normalize the gendered subjectivity of neoliberalism in post-socialist Zagreb, characterized by autonomy, the privilege of the younger generation, and the emotional subjectivity of anxiety and loss. Linking consumer experiences to the changing …

Crossing The #Bikinibridge: Exploring The Role Of Social Media In Propagating Body Image Trends, Jenna M. Drenten, Lauren Gurrieri

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A book chapter written by Jenna Drenten and Lauren Gurrieri for The Dark Side of Social Media: A Consumer Psychology Perspective (2017).

Graves, Gifts, And The Bereaved Consumer: A Restorative Perspective Of Gift Exchange, Jenna M. Drenten, Kristy Mcmanus, Lauren I. Labrecque

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

When a gifting relationship is disrupted by death, why might a living consumer continue to invest in it? Consumer spending on deceased loved ones does not end with the funeral. Given the embodying power of a physical gravesite, this article examines the practice of gift giving to the deceased in the context of American cemeteries. We employ a longitudinal approach, in which 180 cemetery gravesites were photographed. The photographic data are coupled with a netnography of grief and bereavement communities. Findings support a restorative perspective of gift exchange. Bereaved consumers utilize restorative giving as a mechanism to cope with loss …

Snapshots Of The Self: Exploring The Role Of Online Mobile Photo Sharing In Identity Development Among Adolescent Girls, Jenna M. Drenten

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A chapter written by Jenna Drenten for Online Consumer Behavior: Theory and Research in Social Media, Advertising and E-tail (2017).

Native Advertising: A Close Look At An Emerging Advertising Unit, David Kamerer

School of Communication: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This study is a content analysis of a random sample of in-feed native ads, as curated by the Sharethrough Native Advertising Leaderboard. A native ad is paid content that looks like organic content and is served in the same feed. Native ads can earn premium CPMs for publishers, while giving advertisers a “lean in” format that online readers may actually enjoy. What are these native ads like? They utilized a mixture of assets including text (almost all), photos (an average of five), videos (almost half had one or more), interactive elements (20 percent) and GIFs. Only 75 percent of ads …

Gamer Girls: Navigating A Subculture Of Gender Inequality, Robert L. Harrison, Jenna M. Drenten, Nicholas Pendarvis

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Purpose

Video gaming, which remains culturally embedded in masculine ideals, is increasingly becoming a leisure activity for female consumers. Guided by social dominance theory, this paper examines how female gamers navigate the masculine-oriented gaming consumption context.

Methodology/approach

Eight avid female gamers (ages 20–29) participated in-depth interviews, following a phenomenological approach to better understand their lived experiences with video gaming. Data were analyzed using phenomenological procedures.

Findings

Findings reveal an undercurrent of gender-based consumer vulnerability, driven by stereotypical perceptions of “gamer girls” in the masculine-oriented gaming subculture. Further, the findings highlight the multilayered, multidimensional nature of gaming as a vulnerable consumption …

Transforming Impossible Into Possible (Tip): A Group Work Model In Workforce Development, Philip Young P. Hong

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

This presentation introduces a newly developed social work group intervention model in workforce development. Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP) program empowers participants to develop self-awareness, confidence, hope, goal-orientation, leadership, accountability, conscientiousness, and grit, it is anticipated that it improves both employment and retention outcomes.

Challenges And Opportunities For Development Of Sustainable Tourism In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Clifford J. Shultz, Almir Peštek, Eve Geroulis

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

An examination of the challenges of sustainable tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Impact Of An Urban Wal-Mart Store On Area Businesses: An Evaluation Of One Chicago Neighborhood's Experience, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Julie Davis, David Merriman, Lucia Samayoa, Brian Flanagan, Ron Baiman, Joseph Persky

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

Having achieved nearly complete coverage of non-urban and suburban markets, mega-retailer Wal-Mart has turned its attention to urban expansion. Evaluations of Wal-Mart’s impact on urban retail businesses and local employment are necessary to inform policy makers, scholars, and community activists looking to improve economic opportunities for inner-city residents. This study focuses on the Wal-Mart store that opened on the West Side of Chicago in September 2006.

Are There Rational Bubbles In The Us Stock Market? Overview And A New Test, A. (Tassos) G. Malliaris, Ramaprasad Bhar

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A speculative bubble is usually defined as the difference between the market value of a security and its fundamental value. Although there are several important theoretical issues surrounding the topic of asset bubbles, the existence of bubbles is inherently an empirical issue that has not been settled yet. This paper reviews several important tests and offers one more methodology that improves upon the existing ones. The new test is applied to the annual US stock market data spanning over a century and at the monthly frequency covering the post-war period. Although we find evidence of stock price bubble in both …

Is The Federal Reserve Bank Stock Market Bubble-Neutral?, A. (Tassos) G. Malliaris, Marc D. Hayford

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper argues that the Fed was not stock market bubble-neutral during the last several years. This nonneutrality implies two options: first, the Fed has used monetary policies to prevent the building of the stock market bubble or, second, the Fed has contributed to its development and subsequent deflation. We supply representative quotes from the FOMC transcripts to establish that the Fed has paid significant attention to the valuation of the stock market. These quotes confirm that the stock market’s valuation was an important variable in the Fed’s decision-making and its conduct of monetary policy. We also conduct econometric modeling, …