Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Displaying 21 - 30 of 35
Description
The NBA has shown to have immense popularity on social media, but has struggled recently in traditional TV viewership. Research has shown that NBA fans skew young, as the youngest fan base of the four major North American sports leagues, and that the fandom of NBA teams can be highly volatile. Research has also shown that sports fans are inclined to cheer for and identify with the team who is not favored to win in a game that they are unfamiliar with. This study aims to understand NBA fan loyalty that leads to fans tuning into NBA broadcasts, and the factors that influence both player and team loyalty among fans. By understanding what factors lead to an NBA fan watching a game on TV, there will be an increase in the number of fans who are consistent viewers of games. The question being asked is: Are NBA fans more inclined to watch games because of their favorite team or their favorite players, and what factors influence their loyalty to team and their loyalty to player?
Based on research conducted on social media usage and fan identification, an online survey was created and distributed. Respondents who identified as NBA fans answered questions regarding social media usage, live sports TV viewership, and more questions regarding presumptive factors leading to NBA game TV viewership. Analysis of the responses found that loyalty to team was a bigger factor than loyalty to player in getting NBA fans to watch games on TV. Results also indicated that loyalty to team increased based on an increase in live sports TV viewership per week, loyalty to player increased based on an increase in national TV NBA game viewership, and die-hard fans are more likely to watch NBA games for their favorite team and players than casual fans. Based on these results, it is recommended that the NBA markets their games towards casual fans, with player-focused marketing for their national TV games.
Based on research conducted on social media usage and fan identification, an online survey was created and distributed. Respondents who identified as NBA fans answered questions regarding social media usage, live sports TV viewership, and more questions regarding presumptive factors leading to NBA game TV viewership. Analysis of the responses found that loyalty to team was a bigger factor than loyalty to player in getting NBA fans to watch games on TV. Results also indicated that loyalty to team increased based on an increase in live sports TV viewership per week, loyalty to player increased based on an increase in national TV NBA game viewership, and die-hard fans are more likely to watch NBA games for their favorite team and players than casual fans. Based on these results, it is recommended that the NBA markets their games towards casual fans, with player-focused marketing for their national TV games.
ContributorsBogoshian, Matthew William (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The National Hockey League is the highest league of hockey in the world. They have the highest attendance percentage out of the four major sports in North America (National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball). However, the NHL is lacking insurmountably in the media rights revenue space compared to these other three major sports leagues in the United States. This paper is designed to find innovative solutions to remedy this problem, by incorporating the new Puck and Player Tracking technology into the television and streaming broadcasts. We first identified the core values of fans and their consumption habits and behaviors. We obtained an interview with the Senior Hockey Writer for ESPN, Greg Wyshynski, on the development and implementation of Puck and Player Tracking technology. From there, we created a survey to gauge the consumer perception of the Puck and Player Tracking technology, which allowed us to perform analytical tests to determine the best possible implementation strategy for the PPT technology into broadcasts. Using statistical testing methods, we identified that survey respondents found the least invasive augmented broadcast element was a small, gray puck trail displayed on the ice. From these findings, we proposed that the ideal implementation of the Puck and Player Tracking technology into television broadcasts should feature this element in all future traditional NHL television broadcasts and the player statistical broadcast should be offered as a second screen streamed broadcast. This implementation, compounded with other factors in the upcoming NHL media rights negotiations, creates a more valuable television product, which in turn will lead to a more competitive media rights deal.
ContributorsDiluchio, Ryan Patrick (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Sports have always incited an emotional response in fans unlike anything else and creates a special relationship between fans and their favorite sports team. However, in the current age, attendance numbers have started to fall, due to games being available on multiple platforms for viewers to watch in their own homes, along with the increased competition in the entertainment industry. Teams are seeking new ways to leverage that relationship with their fans in order to draw fans into their games. This study will look at the history of fandom and reasons why people remain loyal to “their team” year after year. In turn, fan loyalty and increased attendance translates to increased revenue for teams across all sports. As part of this study, existing literature was reviewed covering the following areas of fandom: fan loyalty, memory association, and team actions that will impact fans. This research will aid in developing hypotheses to test on why fans remain fans and how their fan dedication develops. A questionnaire was then developed to find the reason why a fan is so dedicated to their favorite team. Respondents are asked to self- identify as a fan type in order to quantify the label of “fan” and build a deeper analysis within the questions being asked. The three fan options are diehard, casual and social fans. The following analysis explored why people are fans and what factors influence their level of fan loyalty. From that, recommendations were developed for professional sports teams to take advantage of the factors found in the analysis. The hope is that they will be able to translate psychological factors and an emotional connection into a concrete strategy to drive ticket sales and revenue.
ContributorsTassinari, Isabella (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis project is designed to provide brands and prospective sponsors with information about the habits and tendencies of different segments of eSports fans in order to better assist them in making decisions regarding sponsorship deals and sponsorship activation. This thesis has been based off of “The World of Games: eSports” and “the eSports Playbook” studies conducted in 2017 by Goldman Sachs and Nielsen respectively. The goals of these studies were to:
1) provide a clear and coherent picture of different eSports demographics
2) understand the consumption habits and psychological tendencies of these groups
3) use data to create marketing strategies tailor made to each cluster group.
These studies were used as a basis to create personas encompassing the traditional sports affiliations eSports users have, as well as their attitudes towards different types of advertisements.
The goal of this project is to create marketing strategies for different types of brands tailormade to specific groups of eSports fans based on their traditional sports fandom. By testing the fandom overlap of the most popular traditional sports with the most popular eSports games, useful connections that tie both fandoms together can be made for brands. Certain endemic and non-endemic brands can use this data to help decide which industry is a better fit financially and demographically. Other brands will be able to use this data to create strong marketing campaigns that span both eSports and traditional sports leagues, delivering a clear and succinct message across multiple platforms.
1) provide a clear and coherent picture of different eSports demographics
2) understand the consumption habits and psychological tendencies of these groups
3) use data to create marketing strategies tailor made to each cluster group.
These studies were used as a basis to create personas encompassing the traditional sports affiliations eSports users have, as well as their attitudes towards different types of advertisements.
The goal of this project is to create marketing strategies for different types of brands tailormade to specific groups of eSports fans based on their traditional sports fandom. By testing the fandom overlap of the most popular traditional sports with the most popular eSports games, useful connections that tie both fandoms together can be made for brands. Certain endemic and non-endemic brands can use this data to help decide which industry is a better fit financially and demographically. Other brands will be able to use this data to create strong marketing campaigns that span both eSports and traditional sports leagues, delivering a clear and succinct message across multiple platforms.
ContributorsStrauss, Logan James (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
As a relatively new industry in the sports business world, much on Esports consumer behavior patterns remain unexplored. Previous studies have aimed to provide a clear and coherent picture of different Esports fan demographics, understand consumption habits and psychological tendencies of these groups, and forecast financial and statistical trends for the Esports industry in the future. This thesis works to elaborate on these previous studies through quantitative research via a comprehensive online questionnaire. This research is focused on investigating three topics of interest within the consumer behavior realm of the Esports industry. First, to provide a meaningful and useful segmentation of fans within the industry, offering potential sponsors a closer look at how to approach each segment with future advertising and/or messaging. Second, to monitor how the playing habits of gamers impact what content and which creators they choose to stream online. Third, to explore the level of influence (through sponsorships, messaging, etc.) video game content creators and Esports athletes have on particular types of consumers.
With the data gathered from this research, both endemic and non-endemic brands looking to enter the Esports sponsorship space will be able to make informed decisions on which marketing decisions make the most sense financially and demographically. Furthermore, brands will be able to use this data to ensure a clear and consistent message across all platforms in future marketing campaigns.
With the data gathered from this research, both endemic and non-endemic brands looking to enter the Esports sponsorship space will be able to make informed decisions on which marketing decisions make the most sense financially and demographically. Furthermore, brands will be able to use this data to ensure a clear and consistent message across all platforms in future marketing campaigns.
ContributorsIngram, Meg (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis takes a look how international baseball players are assimilated into Major League Baseball. It discusses the struggles they face in assimilating and what resources teams, in particular the Arizona Diamondbacks, provide these players with to aid in their acculturation, before concluding with four proposals to improve the assimilation process for these international players.
ContributorsMedina, Chloe Grace (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
Description
The purpose of this research is to address the inequality and lack of accessibility within the dance community. This thesis will support the argument that students with disabilities should not be limited in what they can do within recreational activities.
ContributorsMayhew, Camryn (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Pryor, Nickolas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Music, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Basketball has evolved and is continuing to evolve in parallel with media and communication. The 21st century bears witness to the digitization of basketball, media, and communication with the advent of social media. Arguably the most esteemed professional basketball league in the world, the National Basketball Association (NBA) observes fans and players alike conversing about the game through social media platforms available across the world. One of the most popular platforms, Twitter, enables anyone with a computer to write a textual post known as a “tweet” that can be made viewable to the public. The Twitter landscape holds a trove of data and information including “sentiment” for NBA teams to analyze with the goal of improving the success of their team from a managerial perspective. Two aspects this paper will examine are fan engagement and revenue generation from the perspective of several franchises in the NBA. The purpose of this research is to explore and discover if key measures of performance including both the number of points scored in a game and the game outcome either being a win or a loss, and the location of a game being won either at home or away on the road influence fan Twitter sentiment and if there is a correlation between fan Twitter sentiment and game attendance. The statistical computing tool RStudio in combination with data compiled from online databases and websites including Basketball Reference, Wikipedia, ESPN, and Statista are employed to execute two t-tests, two analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests, and one correlation test. The results indicate there is a significant difference in fan Twitter sentiment between high-scoring games and low-scoring games, between game wins and losses, among games being won at home versus away on the road, and there is no conclusion that can be made regarding any existing correlation between fan Twitter sentiment and game attendance.
ContributorsKwan, Matthew (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
This thesis looks at youth baseball pitchers’ perceptions of the risks and benefits of a weighted baseball and long toss training program. The literature review is a supplement to the thesis by examining the effects of weighted baseball and long toss training programs on a youth pitcher’s arm health and career longevity. Prior research in this topic details the risks and benefits of these programs. The research survey conducted for this thesis aimed to supplement the prior research by giving insight into the perceptions of these young athletes towards weighted baseball and long toss training programs.
ContributorsKranstuber, William (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
The National Football League’s Pro Bowl game features the league’s best players voted on by coaches, players, and fans. Being selected to a Pro Bowl is significant to a player, as it comes with contract incentives, endorsement opportunities, and accolades that are critical for Hall of Fame consideration. However, due to the emerging media presence, different fans consume different media, resulting in very different perceptions and opinions of players around the league. Because of this, certain players who are deserving of Pro Bowl votes are not receiving them from fans because of the fans’ bias towards other teams or players, unawareness of the player’s on-field performance, or other factors heavily influenced by their fandom and the media surrounding them. The purpose of this study was to determine where bias exists amongst different groups of fans and where bias exists amongst the different ways of presenting player statistics and information to fans to ultimately suggest ways to present player statistics and information within the Pro Bowl voting process to mitigate the biases found. Results show that bias does exist between multiple groups of fans and the presentation of statistics and information shown to them, and suggestions to mitigate bias revolve around redesigning the presentation of statistics and information presented to fans within the Pro Bowl voting process.
ContributorsPatel, Shan (Author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2022-05