Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Relationship Between Country Culture, Country Demographics, And Restaurant Electronic Word-Of-Mouth Valence Ratings, Cynthia Roberts Maubert

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have documented that country culture and country demographics influence electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) within various industries. Although past research has shown the importance of eWOM to restaurants as a measure of consumer satisfaction, researchers have not established the effect of country culture and country demographics on eWOM within the restaurant industry. Thus, the specific management problem addressed in this quantitative correlational study was the lack of knowledge and understanding regarding the relationship between country culture, country demographics, and restaurant eWOM valence ratings. Grounded in Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, the research questions addressed six measures of country culture, 12 measures of …

Relationship Between Country Culture, Country Demographics, And Restaurant Electronic Word-Of-Mouth Valence Ratings, Cynthia Roberts Maubert

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have documented that country culture and country demographics influence electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) within various industries. Although past research has shown the importance of eWOM to restaurants as a measure of consumer satisfaction, researchers have not established the effect of country culture and country demographics on eWOM within the restaurant industry. Thus, the specific management problem addressed in this quantitative correlational study was the lack of knowledge and understanding regarding the relationship between country culture, country demographics, and restaurant eWOM valence ratings. Grounded in Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, the research questions addressed six measures of country culture, 12 measures of …

Marketing Ploy Or Mental Health Crisis? An Analysis Of Fan Responses To Celebrity Narratives, Kayla M. Ostrander

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Recently, celebrities have become more candid with their narratives than ever before through use of their social media accounts. While most celebrities use their social media accounts for purposes such as showing a positive or unknown side of them or to promote their work, others have posted narratives that have come under public criticism, especially Kanye ‘Ye’ West with his recent antisemitic-themed posts. In my study I examine what Kanye’s fans and the public believes to be his motivation for his recent narratives in October 2022 and December 2022, and their reasoning for assigning these motives. I collected a total …

Partisan Selective Exposure On Social Media During The 2020 Presidential Election, Grayce Lemon

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examines selective exposure and selective avoidance on social media during the 2020 presidential election. 147 voters participated in the survey conducted using Qualtrics. The purpose of this study was to understand whether selective exposure and avoidance behaviors differed based on voting outcome (Trump or Biden), and to test whether political ideological polarization was reflected in news consumption through social media. Taken together, the results indicate that although both voting bases engaged in selective exposure and avoidance, the propensity was the same between Trump and Biden voters. Additionally, results confirm existing hypotheses that the strength of political ideology positively …

Personal Branding, Reality Television, And Social Media: How Former Big Brother Contestants Create, Maintain, And Alter Their Public Image, Justin L. Richards

Masters Theses

This study interrogated how these theories were potentially used, or aspects of the theories used to create, alter, or maintain, the contestant’s personal brands on two social media platforms. Informed by previous literature on personal branding and impression management, 1,021 pieces of social media communication were analyzed, 499 pieces of communication from Taylor Hale, and 522 pieces of communication from Paulie Calafiore. This study determined that there were up to five different patterns on the kind of content produced that still qualified under these theories for Taylor Hale, and up to four different patterns for Paulie Calafiore. Some patterns appeared …

Impact Of Social Media On The Mental Health Of College Student Athletes, Maria Blasco Maurici

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the influence of social media on the mental health of college student-athletes. With the adoption of social media platforms and the challenges faced by college student-athletes, understanding the implications of social media usage becomes a priority. This study examines the potential positive and negative effects of social media on the mental health of collegiate student-athletes and considers the role of social media in shaping their self-perception and identity. By comparing with existing research and conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis, this thesis aims to find answers on the relationship between social media and the mental health of college …

Music Meets Algorithm: How Tiktok Is Changing The Music Industry For Independent Artists, Tatiana Krisztina Morales

Capstones

Music Meets Algorithm: How TikTok is changing the music industry for independent artists - A profile of two music artists who have had their career kick off after posting videos on TikTok that went viral. Link to Capstone Project: https://tatianakrisztina.wixsite.com/website/capstone

University Students’ Perspectives Of Visual-Based Cyberbullying On Instagram, Li-Min Huang

Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers have been investigating the cyberbullying phenomenon since the early 21st century. There is a substantial body of cyberbullying studies focused on text-based formats. However, studies revealed that visual-based social media platforms are more powerful than text-based platforms in affecting people’s emotions, causing significant psychological impact. Young adults ages 18-29 use visual-based social media heavily in their daily lives; therefore, visual cyberbullying on various sites has become a critical issue for this generation. Yet, the majority of existing cyberbullying studies focused on age groups under 18. The studies that did investigate this phenomenon among young adults focused mainly on text-based …

Strangers Switching Their Identities: Cultural Identity Management And Performance On Social Media A Qualitative Analysis Of International Students’ Intercultural (Ex)Change Processes And Perceptions Regarding Their Stay In The United States And Countries Of Origin, Vivian Kretzschmar

All Theses

In this globalized world, cross-country travel for education has been a prevalent (5.6 million students identified as international students in 2020) and ever-increasing (with a predicted increase of 250% by 2030) trend through the past decades. The sojourn impacts the students’ experience of the new culture and the ensuing shocks and adaptations. The understanding of something as complicated as culture, trying to be integrated into a new culture, and its perception to individuals, of course, have their ways of distinct communication trends through social media.

The struggle of maintaining and changing one’s cultural identity and adaptation across cultures has been …

Social Media Impact On Small Brick And Mortar Businesses, David N. Bowles

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the implementation of various strategies and goals for small to medium brick-and-mortar enterprises regarding their use of social media. Drawing from primary data collection with small brick-and-mortar businesses within the greater metro area of Portland, Oregon, the value of social media is the ability of an organization to create a sense of value for their consumers while promoting positive relations and enhancing the consumer's ability to interact with an organization on a more personal level. Focusing on the implementation of various strategies and promotional efforts to increase the success of these small businesses and align their organizational …

Instagram Ideals: College Women's Body Image And Social Comparison, Paige K. Hill

Masters Theses

The present study unveils several themes that detail female college students’ experience, usage, and social comparison trends on Instagram, with a particular emphasis on body image. Compared to a study conducted by Meta Inc., which found that social comparison disproportionately affected young females (Social Comparison Exploratory Research, 2020), this study highlights insights directly expressed by young females in college concerning their past and current experiences on the platform. With over 90% of women in colleges across the United States reporting body and image dissatisfaction (Pritchard & Cramblitt, 2014), this study aims to contribute to existing literature, showcasing whether female students …

Problematic Social Media Use, Social Comparison, And Defeat: An Intensive Longitudinal Investigation, Natalia Macrynikola

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) have steadily risen over the past two decades. The simultaneous dramatic increase in social media use has fueled concerns that using social media may be contributing to suicide risk. Although an emerging body of evidence reveals associations between certain patterns of social media use and SITBs, most research studies have not been designed to assess the temporal order of these variables and have neglected to investigate mechanisms underlying such associations. As a result, whether and how social media use may be conferring suicide risk remains unclear. To address this gap, the present study examined a …

Analyzing Fluctuation Of Topics And Public Sentiment Through Social Media Data, Haoyue Liu

Dissertations

Over the past decade years, Internet users were expending rapidly in the world. They form various online social networks through such Internet platforms as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. These platforms provide a fast way that helps their users receive and disseminate information and express personal opinions in virtual space. When dealing with massive and chaotic social media data, how to accurately determine what events or concepts users are discussing is an interesting and important problem.

This dissertation work mainly consists of two parts. First, this research pays attention to mining the hidden topics and user interest trend by analyzing real-world …

The Impact Of #Metoo On Reasons For Sexual Assault Disclosure, Cheryl H. Tien

Doctoral Dissertations

Sexual assault is a long-standing widespread problem. Yet, despite the high prevalence of sexual assault, it is the most underreported crime of all crimes reported to the police (Bureau of Justice, 2018). The #MeToo movement has had a significant impact on the way in which sexual assault survivors disclose their experiences and the reasons they disclose. Disclosure appears to be an important factor in survivors’ healing from their assault, with increasing coping, greater attachment to others, and positive growth cited as effects of disclosure provided that the response to the disclosure is positive to the survivor (Ahrens & Aldana, 2012; …

The Effects Of Covid 19-Related Social Media Hate Crime On Asian And Asian Americans' Self-Esteem, Saachi Chugh

LSU Master's Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people communicate, live, socialize and perhaps the way they feel about the Asian population. The United States has seen a rise in the Asian hate crimes on online and offline platforms since the beginning of the pandemic which has affected the overall well-being of the Asian population. To our knowledge, the present study is one of the first studies to address the effects of COVID 19-related online perceived racial discrimination on the self-esteem of Asians. Additional objectives were to reveal the different coping mechanisms being used by the Asian population to cope with …

The Effects Of Covid 19-Related Social Media Hate Crime On Asian And Asian Americans' Self-Esteem, Saachi Chugh

LSU Master's Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people communicate, live, socialize and perhaps the way they feel about the Asian population. The United States has seen a rise in the Asian hate crimes on online and offline platforms since the beginning of the pandemic which has affected the overall well-being of the Asian population. To our knowledge, the present study is one of the first studies to address the effects of COVID 19-related online perceived racial discrimination on the self-esteem of Asians. Additional objectives were to reveal the different coping mechanisms being used by the Asian population to cope with …

Generation Z And Media Literacy: Young People’S Perceptions Of Media Literacy Education, Alanna Eavan Powers

Theses - ALL

No abstract provided.

Going Viral: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Anti-Vaccine Movement & Social Media, Corinn Evancho Schumacher

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In the recent years of the rise of Web 2.0, health information has become more accessible. With this shift has come a reliance on social media to inform and educate the masses on vaccines. With the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine, the conversation surrounding vaccines moved to the forefront of the United States’ zeitgeist from late 2021 to early 2022. In this research, I conducted a case study on the communication surrounding vaccines on social media while examining specific Facebook groups that advance the misinformation surrounding vaccines. I examined over 300 posts from four public Facebook groups in order to …

The Pandemic Is Not Killing Us, The Police Are Killing Us: How The Change In The Subjective Reality Of Nigerian Citizens Brought About The #Endsars Protests, Olabode Adefemi Lawal

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Using the theory of the social construction of reality, I researched the multiple roles of social media in the Nigerian #EndSARS protests. I interviewed 16 Nigerian protesters from the #EndSARS movement for this study: eight participated in-person while eight protested in-person and digitally (hybrid). Participants were asked a series of scripted questions regarding the #EndSARS protests to understand the roles social media played in shaping the subjective reality of Nigerians during that time. Using thematic analysis, this thesis proposes that the change in the subjective reality of some Nigerians contributed to the October 2020 #EndSARS protests. This thesis also compares …

Instructional Designers Conducting Professional Learning Using Social Media: A Phenomenological Study Of Their Experiences Through A Self-Regulated Learning Lens, Pauline S. Muljana

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Because the instructional design and technology field is dynamic (Sharif & Cho, 2015; Wang et al., 2021), instructional designers need to pursue continuous, just-in-time professional learning (Carliner, 2018) to improve knowledge, skills, and abilities (Sharif & Cho, 2015; Ritzhaupt & Martin, 2015), without being constrained by location, budget, and time (Muljana et al., 2020; Muljana et al., 2021). On the one hand, the omnipresent social media technologies offer affordances for facilitating this type of professional learning. Such technologies allow instructional designers to reach out to colleagues, search for ready-to-implement strategies, and find relevant, timely information. On the other hand, conducting …

Parasocial Relationships With Online Influencers, Sydney Reynolds

LSU Master's Theses

Current research on parasocial relationships has a focus on the media consumer and the media personae in television or film where the media consumer exerts time and emotional energy into the relationship while the character is unaware of their existence. The purpose of this study is to explore the Influencers and further conceptualize the term parasocial relationship to include these online mediated relationships and interactions. This study explores parasocial relationships and what is associated with them in the context of social media with respondents who consistently engage with social media Influencers. Social media Influencers address their audiences personally and share …

The Effect Of Racial And Ethnic Identity Salience On Online Political Expression And Political Participation In The United States, Jonathon Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How close an individual identifies with their race or ethnicity can affect how individuals behave as political actors. Racial identity can affect how individuals express their political beliefs on social media sites or participate in political activities. However, does political expression on social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, affect levels of political participation? The purpose of the project is to examine the relationship between racial and ethnic identity, online political expression, and political participation among the three largest racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Specifically, this project aims to answer whether online political expression mediates the relationship between …

Social Media Marketing And Insurance: An Analysis Of The Impact Of Social Media Marketing On Small Independent Brokerages Of Property And Casualty Insurance, Kaylee B. Brucker

University Honors Theses

Property and casualty insurance is an intangible service. It is a large industry within the US that in most regard is perpetual. Marketing for insurance is not similar to marketing for most other services or products. The agent must relay the value to the consumer prior to them purchasing it. Further, when considering social media marketing, we find a separate strategy of marketing. Social media marketing is becoming increasingly popular, it has shown as a successful strategy for obtaining consumers' attention and their business. This success has been seen in many industries, including insurance. However, there is a lack of …

Georgia Southern University's Communication During Covid-19 Analyzed Using The Discourse Of Renewal Theory, Jessica Hickman

Honors College Theses

This research aims to analyze how Georgia Southern University handled COVID-19 through a public relations perspective using the discourse of renewal theory. In order to do this, this research looks at the communication sent from the University to the faculty, staff, and students during the time periods of March to April of 2020 and July to August of 2020. The three research questions this research will examine are: how did the University apply the discourse of renewal theory to speak to the students, faculty, and staff regarding COVID-19, how did the University use its email system to communicate with the …

Digital Communication Channel Selection For Organizational Leadership: Best Practices For Interacting With Dispersed Stakeholders, Sarah M. Diefenbach

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

As organizations embrace hybrid and remote work models, there is a growing need for organizational leaders to use digital communication channels to maintain active communication with dispersed stakeholders. The purpose of this study was to analyze what digital communication channels have been implemented by organizational leadership and why they were selected. LinkedIn, Twitter, and corporate posts from six CEOs within the New York Metropolitan area were analyzed over a four-year period. Results revealed that personal social media channels were the most frequent forms of communication. Additionally, multimedia and multichannel strategies enhanced the communication messages and led to a best practices …

A General History And Theory Of Mind Control. Information Design, Commercial Truth And The Disinformation Crisis, Gabriel Isaiah Samandi

Senior Theses

The phrase “mind control” typically sparks the imagination to think of implausible and delusional hysteria; the paranoid schizophrenic who argues the existence of instantaneous and affirmative instructions against one’s own will that can subvert the autonomy of an individual. Since the early 1950s, associations such as the above have provided an illusion of separability between established epistemic concepts and the realm of amateur conspiracy theory “research.” With the invention of the internet, however, and especially after the concerted effort of international disinformation campaigns via social media, such lines have begun to blur. Questions about the interplay between implicit psychological associations …

Jeopardy! In Crisis: What Is Corporate Culture Issues Affecting The Entertainment Industry?, Evan Nemeroff

Student Theses and Dissertations

Cultural issues like sexism, racism, and social movements have impacted the entertainment industry, specifically the game show sector. This research identified how these prevalent matters in our society have affected celebrities by looking into the type of people who lead game shows, revealing if certain demographics such as race and gender influenced whether particular individuals were chosen to host a program. Included within this research are studies that portray how the game show industry has been biased explicitly towards one gender for several decades. Further research looks into a scandal that Sony faced when it had to name a successor …

Plugging Into A New Age: The Impact Of Social Media Use On Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions Of Production Agriculture And Consumer Decisions, Shannon K. Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Today, 84% of young adults between the ages of 18-29 use at least one social media site (Pew Research Center, 2020) and are in the stages of emerging adulthood where they are making independent decisions for the first time (Arnett, 2000). As society becomes more technologically advanced, we become further removed from agriculture (Powell & Agnew, 2011; Dale et al., 2017). Thus, resulting in a separation between consumer and producer (Wilson & Lusk, 2020; Holt & Cartmell, 2013). This leaves the opportunity for society to turn to social media for agriculture information leading to negative perceptions of agriculture (Eyck, 2000; …

A Content Analysis Of Queer Slang On Tik Tok, Kuri Benitez

Student Research Submissions

Social media platforms’ concentration of diversity and interactions has accelerated the rate of cultural change on the Internet. With the rise of Tik Tok, a video-sharing social media platform, language used by marginalized groups is being incorporated into the platform’s slang due to the rapid rotation of trends. This study aims to provide data to a new field related to Tik Tok culture and the effects of trends on marginalized groups.

Using qualitative content analysis, this article studies an LGBTQ+-inspired Tik Tok trend to determine if the portmanteau of “-ussy”’s meaning has changed from its original use and if trends …

A Feminist Rhetorical Analysis Of Queer Appropriation In Digital Spaces, Derek Bryant

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Appropriation is an invariable part of the way in which people communicate. In order to better understand what appropriation is and how appropriation functions communicatively, this research defines what appropriation is from a rhetorical perspective. As the world becomes more interconnected through the use of popular social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, the popularity of appropriation only continues to grow. This research focuses on popular examples of how queer culture is appropriated and used within mainstream culture by straight individuals as a way for to gain financial and social capital. Keywords: Appropriation, pop culture, digital spaces, TikTok, YouTube, …