This study examined the influence of User Generated Branding (UGB) on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions by comparing it to brand generated advertising on the world’s largest social media website: Facebook (eMarketer, 2016). The research was theoretically grounded by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which helped in understanding how consumers’ attitudes toward a behavior would form their behavioral intentions. The advent of User Generated Branding on Facebook has radically changed the communication patterns between brands and consumers. Facebook, at its core, is a place for interpersonal communications. Therefore, it offers its members with emotional benefits through networking and conversations. But, as it is slowly evolving into a marketing platform (Scale, 2008), users have found many practical commercial implications in terms of information search on the platform before deciding to purchase an item. UGB refers to “the strategic and operative management of brand-related user generated content (UGC) by the brand and its consumers to achieve brand goals (Burmann & Arnhold, 2009, p. 3).” Brand-related user generated content is any type of data, information or media, voluntarily created and contributed by regular people who are consumers of a specific brand, which comes across as useful or entertaining to other consumers (Krumm et al., 2008). On the other hand, brand generated advertising is any form of media-related strategies and tactics, usually paid, deployed by a business in order to establish as well as maintain effective and ongoing communications with its customers (Stuhfaut & Davis, 2010). The current research tried to explore into this collaboration between consumers and brands as well as other consumers on Facebook (Saxena & Khanna, 2013). The present research posited that UGB, as an added consumer interaction touch point about brands on Facebook, could play a more decisive role than brand generated ads in shaping users’ perceptions, attitudes, and purchase intentions. 669 undergraduate students from a major university in Southeastern USA voluntarily participated in this research. In an online survey, the subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions, framed as either a UGB Facebook post or a brand generated ad post. Inattentive and inconsistent responses were eliminated using dummy test questions. So, the final sample size consisted of 539 participants (n = 539). The findings suggested that there was not a statistically significant difference in how these two sources of content impacted users’ attitudes and purchase intentions (p = .05). Both UGB posts and brand generated ads on Facebook were seen to play complementary roles in influencing consumers’ intentions to purchase. This research offered useful insights to marketers and advertisers in finding the right kind of content combination on Facebook that would induce favorable perceptions, attitudes and purchase intention. Practical implications showed that, on Facebook, brands should flexibly adapt their promotional strategies to users’ brand-related interactions. From an academic perspective, the present study was seen to contribute toward filling the prevailing gap in the literature in investigating consumer behavior patterns related to UGB on Facebook, considering the ever increasing popularity of the website (de Vries et al., 2012). / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts. / Summer Semester 2017. / May 24, 2017. / Attitude toward the ad, Attitude toward the brand, Consumer Behavior, Facebook Advertising, Purchase Intention, User Generated Content / Includes bibliographical references. / Juliann Cortese, Professor Directing Thesis; Sindy Chapa, Committee Member; Stephen McDowell, Committee Member.

Latinos account for 80% of all farmworkers in the United States (U.S.) (Hernandez, Gabbard, & Carroll, 2016). Based on the latest National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), there are young farmworkers ages 14 to 21 years old who account for 10% of the farmworker population. Youth who come to work in the U.S. by themselves – without their parents – are also known as emancipated migrant youth (EMY; Peoples et al., 2010). These EMY are part of a larger vulnerable community of migrant and seasonal immigrant farmworkers (Arcury & Quandt, 2009). EMY are in their great majority males (89%), lack of work authorization (70%) (NAWS, 2016) and are at great risk for negative health outcomes from agricultural work (Cooper et al., 2005). To better understand the individual and the family expectations contributing to Latino youth entrance into the agricultural workforce, and the physical and psychological consequences of that decision, the following two papers addressed the gap in the literature of emancipated migrant youth in the U.S. Paper 1 consisted of two studies; Study 1explores the contributing factors (e.g., cultural values, familial values, and needs) that were included to the decision for youth to come to the United States to perform farm work. Study 2 identifies emancipated migrant youths’ personal choice –that is the level of contribution to the decision to come to the U.S. and work as a farmworker, familism, EMY’s role as provider through financial remittances, and family dependency. Paper 1 followed an exploratory design (Plano Clark et al., 2008; QUAL→quan) whereby the first component of the study (i.e., Study 1) consisted of n = 20 in-depth interviews with emancipated migrant youth that can help understand the decision making process for these youth’s migration to the United States and entrance into the agricultural labor force. These interviews later informed the creation of the culturally appropriate quantitative questionnaire (i.e., Study 2) based on Study 1 findings. Specifically, Study 2 (n = 36) identified the associations between whether EMY contributed to the decision to migrate to the U.S. and live as a farmworkers, familism, frequency of financial remittances, and family financial dependency. Similarly, Paper 2 consisted of two studies; Study 1 explored the work-related experiences of doing farmwork and living in the U.S. by emancipated migrant youth. Study 2 identified the day-to day challenges and stressors of the farmworker lifestyle that impact emancipated migrant youth’s overall health and well-being. Paper 2 also followed an exploratory design (Plano Clark et al., 2008; QUAL→quan) whereby the first component (i.e., Study 1) consisted of in-depth interviews with emancipated migrant youth. Such interviews helped understand the work-related experiences work in the United States, and living in the U.S. without their families among emancipated migrant youth. These interviews further guided the construction of the second, quantitative component (i.e., Study 2) to identify the effects of daily challenges and stressors on emancipated migrant youth psychological and physical health. Results from Paper 1 provided an insight and better understanding of the health “realities of the field” emancipated migrant youth experience as well as the underlying forces (i.e., personal, family values, financial need) that may have impacted EMY’s decision to leave their home countries and work in agriculture abroad. Specifically, thematic analysis highlighted four major themes for Study 1. Group differences emerged by EMY’s country of origin (i.e., Guatemala, Mexico) as well as age (i.e., 15 to 17 years old and 18 to 20 years old). A total of four major themes were identified: (1) “It was the best thing I could do,” (2) “It was my decision,” (3) “Farmwork just made sense,” (4) “This is just temporary.” In addition, Study 2 results showed no associations between the decision to migrate to the U.S. and work in farmwork with EMY’s familism, frequency of financial remittances and family financial decency. Results from Paper 2 provided an insight and better understanding of the work-related experiences of working in farmwork and living in the U.S. Specifically, thematic analysis highlighted five major themes for Study 1. (1) “You have to keep pushing forward,” (2) “It feels ugly but it’s all worth it,” (3) “The sun is unbearable, but we have to keep working,” (4) “I just take some medicine and it goes away,” (5) “I have to do everything on my own.” In addition, Study 2 results showed significant associations between the EMY’s MFWSI, loneliness, social isolation, and depressive symptoms. There were no significant mean differences based on EMY’s age group (i.e., 15 to 17 years old, 18 to 20 years old). / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2018. / May 21, 2018. / Emancipated Migrant Youth, Family and Child Sciences, Farmworkers, Latino, Mixed-Methods / Includes bibliographical references. / Melinda A. Gonzales-Backen, Professor Directing Dissertation; Richard K. Wagner, University Representative; Ming Cui, Committee Member; Joseph G. Grzywacz, Committee Member.

Based on ethnography, oral history and archival research, this study examines the culture of the Accompong Maroons by focusing on the political, economic, social, religious and kinship institutions, foodways, and land history. This research demonstrates that like the South American Maroons, the Accompong Maroons differ in their ideology and symbolisms from the larger New World population. However, the Accompong Maroons have assimilated, accommodated and integrated into the state in every other aspect. As a consequence, the Accompong Maroons can only be considered maroons in name only. Today's Accompong Maroons resemble any other rural peasant community in Jamaica. Grounded in historical analysis, the study also demonstrate that social stratification in Accompong Town results from unequal access to land and other resources, lack of economic infrastructure, and constraints on food marketeers and migration. This finding does not support the concept of communalism presented in previous studies.

Competition and cooperation with conspecifics affect the costs and benefits of group living and the evolution of social organization and mating systems. Understanding the role of competition - specifically intrasexual competition - in determining reproductive success thus informs models explaining the diverse types of social organization seen across animal species. The research presented in this dissertation combines molecular, demographic, and social behavior data to explore patterns of reproduction in a population of blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni) in western Kenya. Blue monkeys typically live in one-male/multi-female groups and resident males are presumed to have a reproductive advantage over non-resident "bachelors." I used fecal samples from 60 resident and bachelor males and 126 offspring born in 8 study groups over a 10-year period to quantify resident siring success. Residents sired at most 61% of offspring conceived in their groups, a percentage that is less than most other mammals living in one-male groups and may be linked to blue monkeys' unusually dynamic social organization. In the study population, some groups in some years experience influxes of competitor males; these influxes are most likely to occur in years when many females are mating simultaneously. I found a significant and negative effect of female reproductive synchrony and the number of male competitors on resident siring success. These results suggest that it is difficult for a resident male to defend access to multiple sexually receptive females, which may be further complicated by the presence of many competitors trying to steal matings. Resident male blue monkeys lost a substantial proportion of reproduction (39% of infants sired) to outside males, which challenges the presumed reproductive advantage of residency. Even though rival males are, by definition, less often nearby in one-male groups than in multi-male groups, they pose a competitive threat to resident male blue monkeys. I used the paternity assignments to identify the factors affecting the siring success of extra-group males, including resident males in adjacent groups and bachelors. When a resident male was unable to monopolize reproduction in his own group, resident males in adjacent groups tended to be more likely to sire offspring than bachelors. Neither bachelor dominance rank nor time spent in a group was a significant predictor of siring success, suggesting that bachelor siring success may reflect a highly opportunistic mating tactic, which succeeds in a visually opaque habitat where estrous females, who mate rarely, are often widely dispersed. Comparing the success of alternative reproductive tactics provides a more complete understanding of the evolution of mating systems. I used rates of resident and bachelor siring success and home range overlap to compute the number of years the hypothetical average bachelor would have to pursue the bachelor tactic to sire as many offspring as the hypothetical average resident during one or two periods of tenure. In most cases, a bachelor would not live long enough to match resident siring success. If, however, a bachelor was able to reproduce at the average rate in the average number of groups for several years, he may be able to sire as many offspring as a resident male with a short period of residency, especially if that resident was in a small group. These results suggest that the resident male tactic may not always result in the highest reproductive success. The calculation used here is a simple way to estimate and compare the success of alternative reproductive tactics, which is important for understanding the evolution of social organization and mating systems. This study calls for future research that tracks individual males over the course of their lifetimes to determine how often males switch between residency and bachelorhood, to estimate the length of male reproductive lifespans, and thus to assess variance in lifetime reproductive success. Female blue monkeys face competition with other group members for access to food resources, and such competition may affect fitness. I tested the effect of two indicators of within-group competition - group size and dominance rank - on the probability that a female conceived. The probability of conception was highest for females in medium-sized groups containing about 31 individuals, suggesting the existence of an optimal group size. This optimal size may occur if individuals in small groups do not obtain the full benefits of group living, including decreased predation risk and increased foraging success, and individuals in large groups have lower quality diets or face time constraints that reduce their nutrient intake. Dominance rank had no effect on the probability of conception, which may reflect the use of behavioral tactics like spreading out during feeding and readily switching food resources to minimize within-group contest competition. A relaxed dominance hierarchy may promote group cohesion and increase success in between-group contest competition. These results emphasize the potential disconnect between behavioral proxies and reproduction; specifically, the existence of a dominance hierarchy and the absence of a relationship between group size and travel distance were not good indicators of the effect of rank and of group size on reproduction. When possible, researchers should examine the effects of rank and group size on measures of reproduction directly. The results of this dissertation emphasize the value of long-term studies of individually-identified subjects when investigating patterns of reproduction in long-lived animals. My findings indicate that intrasexual competition affects reproduction in both sexes and suggests that individuals use behavioral tactics, such as participating in multi-male influxes or using flexible feeding behavior, to maximize their reproductive success in the face of competition.

Social animals must overcome conflicts, an inherent and often detrimental consequence of gregarious life. One strategy for doing so is reconciliation, or post-conflict affiliation between former opponents. In humans and other primates, this behavior is often assumed to require a switch between opposing motivational states (e.g., anti- to pro-social). In this thesis, I argue that reconciliation is facilitated by an underlying individual tendency for movement and change between states, a motivation known as locomotion. Section one of this thesis uses a longitudinal, observational approach to establish stable individual differences in chimpanzee reconciliation while controlling for numerous relational factors known to influence the occurrence of this behavior. These individual differences are then related to several behavioral proxies of locomotion motivation. Section two of this thesis explores the relation between locomotion and conflict resolution in humans, using a range of methodological approaches and measures, including hypothetical scenarios, experimental inductions, essay studies, narrative reflections, and dyadic interactions. I conclude by emphasizing the importance of going beyond relational and other instrumental approaches to conflict resolution in order to understand more fundamental individual motivations underlying reconciliation behavior. If an individual motive to effect change and therefore resolve conflict in turn impacts one’s social relationships, it has even broader significance. Across the primate order, the influence and importance of such relationships suggest the potential role of reconciliatory motivations when it comes to individual survival, health, and overall well-being.

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Some congenital defects are known to have a genetic etiology while others are caused by environmental influences impinging directly upon the developing embryo, or indirectly by interferring with normal maternal-fetal relationships. Still others depend on an interplay of both environmental and genetic factors, since the same agent, administered to groups of animals of different genetic constitutions, can cause congenitally malformed young in one group while normal offspring result in another. [...]

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Typescript. / Bibliography: leaves [134]-148. / xi, 148 l illus., map, graphs