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Women dominate in terms of purchasing power and spending. They hold 60 percent of all US personal income, and those aged 50 years or older have a combined net worth of approximately $19 trillion. Of this group, women between 50 and 70 years old, in particular, are the biggest spenders

Women dominate in terms of purchasing power and spending. They hold 60 percent of all US personal income, and those aged 50 years or older have a combined net worth of approximately $19 trillion. Of this group, women between 50 and 70 years old, in particular, are the biggest spenders (Barmann, 2014). More important than their spending power, however, is how satisfied (or dissatisfied) they are with their current purchases. Though women make 85 percent of all consumer purchases, 91 percent of women say, "...advertisers don't understand them," (Barmann, 2014). This makes sense, considering that 50 percent of the products marketed to men are actually purchased by women (Barmann, 2014). Successfully targeting women, especially Baby Boomers (women between 52 and 70 years old), would be a lucrative endeavor, and to better understand the unmet needs of that demographic, exploratory research was needed. In-depth interviews of Baby Boomer women reveals a problem that \u2014 even on a macro level \u2014 has gone unresolved, and has perhaps worsened, throughout written history: the Generation Gap (Bengtson, 1970). To illustrate the depth of the problem, there exist starkly different impressions of younger generations, namely Millennials (born between 1980 and 1995). According to The New Generation Gap by Neil Howe and William Strauss (1992), Baby Boomers view Millennials as unintelligent, entitled "pleasure beasts." In Millennials Rising, also by Howe and Strauss (2000), Millennials are characterized as a generation that is, "...beginning to manifest a wide array of positive social habits that older Americans no longer associate with youth, including a new focus on teamwork, achievement, modesty, and good conduct." These contradictory opinions further support the substantial misunderstanding between generations that surfaced during in-depth interviews. Using the results of in-depth interviews and follow-up questions for idea validation, this thesis presents a potential method for "closing the gap." The goal of this business offering is not to homogenize older and younger generations of women; the goal is to cultivate empathy and connection \u2014 Intergenerational Cohesion \u2014 between them.
ContributorsSeefus, Cole Hawk Gillette (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Giard, Jacques (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
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Description
Dressler Makes Things (DMT), as a thesis project, explores the viability of DMT as a monetized blog. DMT is a life improvement blog with a focus on cooking. Its blog niche sits between nostalgic, sensory food blogs and professional, actionable life improvement blogs. Because blogs that bridge this gap are

Dressler Makes Things (DMT), as a thesis project, explores the viability of DMT as a monetized blog. DMT is a life improvement blog with a focus on cooking. Its blog niche sits between nostalgic, sensory food blogs and professional, actionable life improvement blogs. Because blogs that bridge this gap are rare, DMT aims to fill this need by making cooking easy, affordable, and attainable for anyone, but particularly females in their early twenties. This thesis explores marketing topics like brand, blog niche, unique value proposition, current viewers, and user personas, as well as information about the current blogging environment and an analysis of relevant competitors. It also develops marketing objectives for DMT, as well as positioning, conversion, referral, content promotion, and partnership strategies to reach these goals. Finally, it discusses distribution, pricing, and promotional tactics, as well as an operational plan and financial projections.
ContributorsParsons, Dressler Eileen (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Bitter, Gary (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
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Description
Combining the research of case studies with a creative application, this thesis consists of four main sections: an overview of data surrounding current application marketing efforts on mobile devices, an analysis of three brands that have successfully used applications marketing to engage their audiences and sell their products, the creation

Combining the research of case studies with a creative application, this thesis consists of four main sections: an overview of data surrounding current application marketing efforts on mobile devices, an analysis of three brands that have successfully used applications marketing to engage their audiences and sell their products, the creation and explanation of a proposed application marketing strategy, and a practical use of the previously found conclusions to a mobile application marketing strategy for Nutella USA. The outcome is to determine how companies use mobile applications to successfully engage consumers and lead to product purchases.
ContributorsBooker, Rebecca Allison (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Giles, Bret (Committee member) / Sabbatini, Cristina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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Description
The thesis "How Professional Artists Can Better Promote Themselves Online" aims to create a solution to improve artists' online sales and exposure. With the Internet being such a congested platform, I began to wonder how it was possible for artists to stand out from the crowd. I conducted six in-depth

The thesis "How Professional Artists Can Better Promote Themselves Online" aims to create a solution to improve artists' online sales and exposure. With the Internet being such a congested platform, I began to wonder how it was possible for artists to stand out from the crowd. I conducted six in-depth interviews in order to form a better understanding of what problems and frustrations artists currently faced everyday online. The data I collected from these interviews transformed my thesis into an entrepreneurial venture, and the iPhone app Artello was born. I created an entire working prototype of my app using Keynotopia. Artello's mission is to build an interactive art community that will create and foster relationships between artists and buyers like never before. This platform illustrates to buyers an artist's personality, style, and individual story. With Artello's guidance, artists will form stronger relationships with art buyers, connect with similar artists, and create a compelling online presence.
ContributorsPoole, Parker Anne (Author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Pomilio, Mark (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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Description
Advertising to the Millennial Generation is an honors thesis project that combines research with a creative application. The thesis is broken into three main sections: a literature review of the Millennial Generation, three case studies identifying brands or advertising campaigns that have successfully reached Generation Y, and the application of

Advertising to the Millennial Generation is an honors thesis project that combines research with a creative application. The thesis is broken into three main sections: a literature review of the Millennial Generation, three case studies identifying brands or advertising campaigns that have successfully reached Generation Y, and the application of these findings to an advertising campaign with additional marketing mix elements for Bose headphones.
Before creating a campaign targeting Millennials, this thesis first identifies which consumers belong in the Millennial demographic. The definition given looks beyond the ‘age 18-34’ demographic information and analyzes the generation’s unique characteristics, their feelings of being misunderstood by businesses, the importance of social media and technology in their world, and what motivates them to take action.
The subsequent case studies examine the advertising tactics of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, the burgeoning social news and entertainment website BuzzFeed, and Beats by Dre headphones. Each of these brands successfully captured the Gen Y demographic group, with an emphasis on the younger end of the 18-34 age spectrum, and effectively communicated their understanding of Millennials’ culture. Each of the three campaigns contained social or digital elements to create engaging and relevant content for the niche of younger Millennials. Immediately following the case studies, best practices are outlined to summarize the findings.
Finally, a digital campaign is proposed for Bose headphones. The literature review, case studies, and best practices contributed to the culminating campaign, which will allow Bose to reach the younger Millennial audience.
ContributorsOechsner, Meredith Leigh (Author) / Montoya, Detra (Thesis director) / Ostrom, Amy (Committee member) / Giles, Charles (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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Description
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of digital on the fashion industry. In order to accomplish this, we must first examine the fashion industry, as well as the emerging digital space, and how these two industries are rapidly colliding. Fashion, an industry that has been around

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of digital on the fashion industry. In order to accomplish this, we must first examine the fashion industry, as well as the emerging digital space, and how these two industries are rapidly colliding. Fashion, an industry that has been around since the early 1800s in the United States (Fashion History: The American System for Fashion, 2009), is being forced to pivot, and change its traditional practices, in order to remain relevant in a world heavily influenced by the Internet and consumer preferences. The largest changes taking place within fashion include the power of various industry influencers, including designers, magazines, retailers and lifestyle bloggers, and the rise of blogging as a fashion news source. Although designers, magazines and retailers still have significant clout within the industry, bloggers are becoming a force to be reckoned with, adding a new variable to the industry.

Meanwhile, digital is still being defined, as countless people work to determine best practices and reconcile the unending amount of information available into something that can be used. Trends in digital include the concept of new media, blogging, social media and new channels of media. Overall, we are seeing a shift to user-­‐ generated content, available all the time, and a proliferation of content being created and published on the Web.

Some of the ways these two industries are colliding include the rise of lifestyle bloggers, developments and usage of technology, an abundance of new e-­‐commerce models, and finally, a shift in the ways consumers curate and discover products online.

Predictions for the future include a more streamlined and user-­‐friendly process for search and product discovery online, increase in social commerce and personalization of products, and finally, a return to brick and mortar shopping, but with an improved, experiential model. These trends will affect industry stakeholders dramatically, and so necessary actions for these stakeholders are also discussed, such as allocating more resources to content generation and e-­‐commerce, giving consumers the ability to personalize, and improving their physical shopping experiences to provide something valuable and entertaining.
ContributorsLose', Jenna Elizabeth (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Giles, Bret (Committee member) / Boonlorn, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2013-05
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Description
The objective of this paper is to give information that can assist Independent (indie) authors at every stage of the book process: development, promotion and distribution of their books. The book market is changing, and it's changing today. As the market evolves it is essential for authors to evolve as

The objective of this paper is to give information that can assist Independent (indie) authors at every stage of the book process: development, promotion and distribution of their books. The book market is changing, and it's changing today. As the market evolves it is essential for authors to evolve as well. Due to the market's evolution, authors must question every stage of the book process, from beginning to end. It is due to these significant changes that my paper will be formatted more as a guide for newer indie authors or authors who are having trouble keeping up with the new market. The guide will assist indie authors at every stage of the book process and will also make clear where the new market stands. In order to create a more credible guide, I collected large amounts of primary data and entered the market myself in order to truly understand the new market from an indie author's position. I found this approach essential due to the near absence of credible secondary data and because of the plethora of nuances at every stage of the book process. For primary data, I created and distributed an in-depth survey with the purpose of revealing book blogger preferences, online habits, and preferred methods of contact. The reason for my focus on book bloggers is because of the greatly increased importance of book reviews. I also believe that book blogger preferences are a good indicator of what the typical reader enjoys, giving me further insight into market preferences as a whole. I became an indie author in order to better understand the market so that I could ask the right questions and be better able to give practical suggestions. I wanted to create a guide that real indie authors could use, so it seemed natural that I should become a real indie author. This guide is structured in the way indie authors would create their book.
ContributorsCollopy, Robert Edward (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Eaton, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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Description
A fun, interactive, and practical motivational speaking package designed to inspire and encourage high school and college students, as well as young adults, to achieve success and discover their leadership potential. Using secrets learned from starting my own business, Board Blazers LED Underglow Skateboard Lighting, and performing as Drum Major

A fun, interactive, and practical motivational speaking package designed to inspire and encourage high school and college students, as well as young adults, to achieve success and discover their leadership potential. Using secrets learned from starting my own business, Board Blazers LED Underglow Skateboard Lighting, and performing as Drum Major of the 400+ member ASU Sun Devil Marching Band, I share tips and tricks that can be applied in everyday life. Topics include surviving in difficult leadership situations unique to young leaders, celebrity confidence secrets, and creating infectious enthusiasm while working on a team.
ContributorsRudolph, Gregory James (Author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Desch, Timothy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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Description
This honors thesis project provides analysis on the barriers to treatment seeking regarding mental health. Research on treatment seeking barriers was done, and then used to create a digital campaign that was run via organic sharing and a boosted Facebook post using custom audiences. The research begins to examine the

This honors thesis project provides analysis on the barriers to treatment seeking regarding mental health. Research on treatment seeking barriers was done, and then used to create a digital campaign that was run via organic sharing and a boosted Facebook post using custom audiences. The research begins to examine the relationships between stigma and help-seeking regarding mental health. The leading barriers for seeking mental health treatment include both social and self stigma. Social stigma involves fearing judgment from others regarding mental health, and self stigma involves people's negative judgments about having mental health issues themselves. There is a negative cycle between self and social stigma as people's self perceptions often reflect into society, and society's general opinions often influence people's perceptions of themselves. In order to decrease mental health stigma efforts must be made to erase both self and social stigma. Research on consumer psychology showed the effectiveness of targeting people's need for belonging. In order to target people's need for belonging the campaign was designed to show mental health issues as a commonality between people that can be solved, rather than as a negative discrepancy. Research into digital marketing trends showed Facebook as one of the most powerful platforms for reach and audience targeting, so it was chosen as the ideal platform for this campaign. The analysis of barriers to treatment seeking, consumer psychology, and digital marketing culminated in the digital campaign, "Just because you can't see it...doesn't mean it's not there," promoting mental health awareness, which ran for 5 days reaching 9,874 people and getting 5,117 views.
ContributorsCastronova, Naomi Liana (Author) / Ostrom, Lonnie (Thesis director) / Cavanaugh Toft, Carolyn (Committee member) / Giles, Bret (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
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Description
This paper is rooted in the field of business, with an emphasis on entrepreneurship in the fashion industry. The questions we tried to answer were the following: What are factors of success for current fashion brands? What is important to our target market when shopping? How can we deliver these

This paper is rooted in the field of business, with an emphasis on entrepreneurship in the fashion industry. The questions we tried to answer were the following: What are factors of success for current fashion brands? What is important to our target market when shopping? How can we deliver these attributes to our target market? How can we use our findings to create a fashion brand? First, we conducted in-depth external analysis about existing retailers including, Forever 21, Zara and Brandy Melville. After doing so, we created brand molecules and learned about other people's perceptions in relation to these existing brands. Next, using our own qualitative and quantitative research, we sought to understand the many gaps in the overall shopping experience for college students and young working professionals. Our research revealed many common themes and trends that we will integrate into our proposed business plan in efforts to fill the gaps. Through our data analysis, common trends included how our demographic learns about new fashion trends, statement pieces versus mix-and-match basics, online shopping versus in-store shopping, price sensitivity of our target market, and lastly, the quality of customer service and the store's return policy. After our extensive research and data analysis, we began to construct our brand. We propose a new business model that targets our fashion-forward consumer with a memorable shopping experience that delivers high-quality and trendiness to their wardrobe. Using the elements and trends we identified, combined with our own vision, we combined them into one brand, The Capsule Collection. ur brand will feature high-quality, reasonably priced basics ranging from everyday casual to business casual. We will have store locations in cities where there are many young working professionals, and target them through social media advertising. Our store will feature an open layout with clean and minimalistic displays, keeping everything in neutral tones and accented with plants. The goal of The Capsule Collection is to make shopping as easy and exciting as possible, and focus entirely on the customer's experience.
ContributorsMeyyappan, Rathna (Co-author) / Aggarwal, Payal (Co-author) / Gray, Nancy (Thesis director) / Samper, Adriana (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12