Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection

Valued as a $28 billion industry in 2021, the second-hand clothing industry, or thrifting industry, has been exploding (2020 Fashion Resale Market and Trend Report, 2020). This has been aided by a myriad of technological advancements, social movements, and economic factors. The goal of this thesis is to uncover consumer behaviors leading to this growth across behavioral, emotional, perceptual, and belief factors. Additionally, this thesis aims to provide strategic implications for marketing professionals, create recommendations for brands to successfully enter this industry and target consumers. In this study, a Qualtrics survey was distributed to students at Arizona State University. The results were analyzed through Microsoft Excel. The results showed that in order to be successful in this industry, brands should: emphasize sustainability in marketing, increase brand awareness, highlight feelings of pride in products, uniqueness, and affordability, mitigate feelings of poverty, low quality, and lack of variety, understand the perceptual differences in shopping versus thrifting, and take advantage of branded fashion.

My thesis process consists of a start-up business plan for a mobile car maintenance company. Mobile car maintenance is a very new branch of the traditional brick-and-mortar car maintenance industry. The business plan will feature key components such as an executive summary, market analysis, and pricing structure. Within the business plan, there will be an in-depth financial portion estimating expenses, revenues, the initial investment required, etc. to create a discounted cash flows chart for the first 5 years of the start-up. This financial analysis will illustrate the opportunity of this business model to potential investors as well as assist in formulating the company's capital structure.

This creative project is a trade blog dedicated to Gen Z. Its purpose is to inform communication professionals about best practices when reaching out to this evolving demographic. The articles for this blog were informed by executive interviews with communications professionals who are members of Gen Z themselves or have already had success with this demographic.

In the United States gambling regulations have been loosening considerably over the past several years. Many states have legalized sports betting either at physical locations or through mobile apps. With the legalizations have come an influx of marketing efforts by all the large gambling companies. These marketing efforts raise serious ethical and legal questions, as groups of vulnerable people such as minors are being frequently exposed to sports betting and other online gaming. The sports gambling industry was worth 76.75 billion dollars in 2021 and is rapidly growing with a growth rate of 10% year over year (Grand View Research). Given how lucrative sports betting has been even in its relative infancy the major players in the field are attacking potential markets fiercely, flooding TV, websites, and social media with advertisements. Every major sports league has been quick to partner with the large sports betting corporations and air numerous advertisements during every nationally televised game. Mainstream exposure such as this is what makes these tactics so controversial. While these advertisements may not be as clearly problematic as previously outlawed tactics which preyed on the young and vulnerable in the alcohol and tobacco industry, they share many of the same troubling elements. For these reasons we find it important to examine the effects of current marketing practices used within the gambling industry. It is critical to begin these examinations now as every day that passes potentially harmful practices become increasingly commonplace and would be tougher to reverse or alter.

Nostalgia marketing has become an increasingly popular tool for brands to attract consumers and offer products that take them back to a simpler time. This thesis aims to investigate how nostalgia marketing influences consumer perception and explore sustainable techniques that brands can adopt to effectively utilize nostalgia. The study consisted of a literature review on nostalgia marketing, an analysis of interview data with consumers, and a discussion of the implications of the findings as they apply to brands. The study utilized a sample of 11 participants with a wide range of ages and genders. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings provide insight into what elements of items people find nostalgic and suggest strategies for companies to appeal to consumers sustainably and ethically. The results of this study highlight the need for responsible and sustainable marketing practices to ensure a positive impact on society and the environment.

The Academy Awards represent the uneasy tension between art and commerce in Hollywood. The façade of art that the Academy has worked so hard to cultivate is weakened in the face of “for your consideration” campaigning. These advertising efforts, led by the studios and teams employed by potential nominees, make claims to the virtues of a given film and advocate for their celebration. The awards business has grown into a multi-million dollar industry, directly contradicting the art-driven version of Hollywood that the Academy claims to represent.