Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection

With as rapid a growth that Esports has had and its current introduction to the public mainstream, there is yet to be sufficient studies and research compiled to fully develop the profile of an Esport consumer. While companies such as Neilson and others have begun scratching the surface of the Esport community, there is much that is relatively unknown. Consumer behavior patterns of traditional sports has been defined for years, however as the billion dollar a year industry that Esports is, Esport consumer behavior is still taking shape. This thesis will attempt to build upon previous studies conducted by former Arizona State University students to continue to define the Esport consumer. Through quantitative research conducted via an online survey consisting of demographic, behavioral, and psychographic questions, the stereotype of an Esport consumer will be dissolved to reveal their true nature. This study will prove to be an iteration among the previous research by -<br/>• Developing a functional segmentation of Esport consumers, which will allow for marketers within the industry to better understand their audience in their attempts to persuade/incentivize<br/>• Understanding and dissecting the scale of influence that content creators (those who play Esports for the purpose of entertaining through various platforms) and competitive Esport athletes have on certain segmentations of consumers<br/>• Discovering the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on certain segmentations in regards to their time spent playing themselves<br/><br/> After compiling results from this questionnaire, marketers that are both endemic and non-endemic brands seeking to partner within the Esports space will have a better understanding of their audience and how to connect with them.

Esports is the fastest growing sub sector within the entertainment industry, predicted to garner over 600 million viewers by 2022. However, there is a big category of esports - mobile esports - that are not yet recognized globally. This thesis project analyzes how mobile esports has risen in the Eastern countries of the world, primarily Southeast Asia, and compares it to the possibility of replication in the Western countries of the world, primarily the United States and Brazil. It examines the specific factors that caused mobile gaming and thus mobile esports to flourish in the East Region of the world. The thesis additionally incorporates current attitudes towards esports and mobile esports in the United States and discusses the viewpoints of consumers in those specific areas. This research uses primary data and literature synthesis to ultimately increase knowledge on how mobile esports has risen in popularity in various Asian countries and whether or not mobile esports can thrive in a different environment such as the United States.<br/><br/>This thesis takes data from the “Newzoo Global Esports Market Report” conducted in 2020 by Newzoo. This report does the following:<br/>- dives deep into the global and regional esports economy<br/>- provides a realistic estimate of the market’s future potential regarding revenue streams, audience numbers, key trends, and franchises<br/>- highlights financial and statistical trends for the esports industry in the future<br/><br/>Overall the thesis finds that mobile esports have succeeded in the Asian market due to an established demographic of esports fans and players, mobile first consumers, and wide technology network in Asia. Data analysis finds that currently many American gamers still find mobile gaming to be “boring” and ultimately that cultural attitude, generational shifts, and the ideal game need to align for mobile esports to succeed in the United States.

This project looked at how certain factors impacted how likely consumers were to buy tickets to NCAA Division I FBS Football games, otherwise known as FBS Football games. It first analyzed prior research into sports ticket sales to identify factors that generally impact ticket sales for sports in general that could be feasibly analyzed using a sample of college students. From this, four factors were chosen to be analyzed. These factors were fan loyalty, price sensitivity, opposing team quality, and home team quality. After collecting data from intro level marketing students and performing a statistical analysis of the data, it was concluded that all four factors impacted the likelihood of an individual buying a ticket to an FBS Football game.

This paper analyzes the differences between for-profit marketing and nonprofit marketing and the nuances around nonprofit marketing. There are currently almost 1.8 million nonprofits registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This sector contributed approximately $1.047.2 trillion to the US economy in 2016 alone (National Center for Charitable Statistics, 2020). Prior research on nonprofit marketing indicates that nonprofit marketing is more complex and nonprofit organizations face many challenges in developing marketing strategies. Many studies have shown a trend in emerging technologies impacting the way nonprofits can market, including demographic changes, social media, targeting strategies, and improved customer relationships (Andreasen, 2012; Switzer, 2021; Crawford and Jackson, 2019; George and Shah 2021; Graca and Zwick, 2020). To further explore nonprofit marketing and trends in the industry, I interviewed marketing specialists working in nonprofit organizations in Arizona to gain their perspective on marketing in the nonprofit sector. I found a lot of similarities between the results from prior studies on nonprofit marketing and the findings from my interviews such as personalized targeting strategies, the importance of relationships, technological advancements, lack of resources, and digital marketing strategies. However, it was interesting that respondents did not highlight issues related to demographic trends and social media as being central to their marketing strategies.

The objective of this thesis is to address, study and evaluate the current Veteran suicide epidemic and discuss current initiatives and recommended reforms to decrease Veteran suicide rates across the nation. This thesis holistically demonstrates the significance of this issue with presenting and analyzing extensive recent data and information gathered from military reports. Next, this thesis assesses federal policies and programs along with statewide suicide prevention efforts created to mitigate this issue, including unique anecdotal evidence and observed data. In order to illustrate the nature and efficacy of current suicide prevention measures, this thesis carefully relies on information from diverse primary sources, examining stories, claims, and perspectives from state Veterans-affiliated leadership, some of whom are former service-members themselves. To comprehensively unite these various state profiles and perspectives, this thesis conducts careful theme-based analysis, studying and dissecting each state using a uniform set of themes. Finally, this thesis proposes thoughtful and evidence-based recommendations for future efforts to further decrease Veteran suicides, offering insights for key changes to important processes and federal reporting as well as suggestions for the implementation of specialized prevention efforts on a nationwide scale with the goal of promoting the welfare of our nation’s former service members.