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- All Subjects: COVID-19
- All Subjects: fandom
- Creators: Ingram-Waters, Mary
- Creators: Eaton, John
Our study surveyed 43 DFS users to determine how they began playing DFS, what they like about DFS, and what they dislike about DFS. From the data collected, it was determined that TFS and DFS users are similar in their competitive nature, in their increased levels of sports consumption and investment, and in their increased favoritism towards individual players over teams. The main differences between TFS and DFS users were how each felt they were at a disadvantage, the levels of camaraderie within the sport, and their stance on gambling. TFS users felt their disadvantages came from lackluster commissioners while DFS users felt that the companies themselves were setting them at a disadvantage. TFS users placed more value on the camaraderie and social sport while DFS users placed more value on profit and excitement. TFS users felt that TFS was not gambling and that DFS was, while DFS users accepted DFS as gambling.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, declared in March of 2020, there have been many lifestyle changes which have likely influenced tobacco smoking behavior. Such lifestyle changes include lockdowns, stay at home orders, reduction in social cues related to smoking, increased stress, and boredom among other things. This study utilized a cross-sectional survey which looked into these behaviors, primarily perceived risk to COVID-19, and determined if there is an association between perceived risk and education level/race. Education level is a proxy for income and material resources, therefore making it more likely that people with lower levels of education have fewer resources and higher perceived risk to negative effects of COVID-19. Additionally, people of color are often marginalized in the medical community along with being the target of heavy advertising by tobacco companies which have likely impacted risk to COVID-19 as well.
Especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic and age of social unrest in the United States, there has been an increasing need for comfort, yet the idea of comfort is quite vague and rarely elaborated upon. To simplify the idea of comfort and communicate the ideas around it effectively, I am defining comfort as a subset of escapism in which a person escapes to reduce or alleviate feelings of grief or distress. As companies rush to comfort their customers in this current state of uncertainty, marketers are pressed to identify people’s insecurities and comfort them without coming off as insensitive or trite. Current comfort marketing focuses on inspiring nostalgia in its customers, having them recall previous positive experiences or feelings to comfort them. Nostalgic marketing techniques may ease mild grief in some cases, but using them to alleviate severe distress probably will not be as effective, and has contributed to several seemingly out-of-touch “COVID-19 era” commercials.<br/>When addressing comfort, marketers should understand the type and hierarchy of comfort that they are catering to. Not all comforts are equal, in that some comforts make us feel better than others and some do not comfort us at all. A better understanding of how and why comforts change among different individuals, and possibly being able to predict the comfort preference based on a product or service, will help marketers market their goods and services more effectively. By diversifying and specializing comfort marketing using this hierarchical method, marketers will be able to more significantly reach their customers during “uncertain times.”
COVID-19 misinformation covers a wide range of topics such as fatality rate, mask effectiveness, potential cures, vaccine development, and the idea of a "plandemic". The spread of this misinformation happens at a rapid speed with the help of social media and powerful influencers, including major political figures. This thesis is a focused case study on hydroxychloroquine, and builds a timeline of the misinformation surrounding the drug. From poorly conducted studies to the use of false experts, this study reveals how politicized misinformation garners more public attention than the actual science.
As the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm, the hotel industry struggled to remain afloat. Many resorted to innovative solutions to maintain their business and jobs. As the hotel industry grappled with ideas that could keep their business afloat, an idea called EasyHub was born. EasyHub is a hypothetical mobile device application that bridges the user and a paired SMART device or an entire ecosystem of SMART devices. While the design for EasyHub was initially intended to help hotels increase their accessibility, it soon became apparent that EasyHub could potentially be a product of much greater market value. As the idea of EasyHub became more developed, the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to subdue, and the hotel industry was on the mend. Assuming that EasyHub is found useful, it could theoretically boost demand to businesses that use them. Many hotels already utilize SMART devices to some degree making them prime targets for EasyHub. This research paper seeks to determine if EasyHub can aid hotels’ recovery from the pandemic-induced recession by increasing revenue. Surveys were conducted among hoteliers and a general audience to determine the impact of EasyHub on guests’ decisions to stay at a hotel. The results indicate that EasyHub would not be a significant factor in guests’ decision-making of hotels; however, this may be due to a lack of clarity about the product, as many respondents expressed a desire for more information. Further development and testing of EasyHub is necessary before a market analysis and its full potential can be assessed.
With recent reports indicating that there is a relatively low number of pregnant people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States (~30% per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October, 2021), this study aims to understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the pregnant population in the state of Arizona. Using a mixed-methods approach, this cross-sectional study employs both semi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 40) and a quantitative survey instrument (n = 400) to better understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant people, with data collected over the course of a few months. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression are employed to analyze the quantitative data and the semi-structured interviews are inductively coded to analyze themes across participant interviews. The results from this study are not only able to help better address disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations among pregnant people, but they also provide implications for vaccine hesitancy overall in order to develop interventions to address vaccine hesitancy. Future research is warranted to better understand regional differences in vaccine hesitancy and differences across populations.
Cosplay, or the act of dressing up as a character, is a hobby that has become increasingly popular over the last several decades. Since its conception in 1939, the practice of cosplaying has always been heavily tied to that of conventions. Until 2019 these conventions were utilized by cosplayers to showcase their outfits and creations – in a phenomenon called “masking” – but with the widespread emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, conventions were put on hold for over a year. This paper questions how convention culture has changed in a world where cosplay can no longer rely on it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through analysis, personal narrative, and a critical reflection, the authors compare Saboten Con 2019 and 2021 to discuss that despite the numerous changes to the physical culture of conventions, the social essence of conventions has remained the same.