In the first two decades of twentieth-century Alaska, various groups portrayed the mining prospector as a central Alaskan figure despite the fact that the actual prospector was neither the image maker nor always part of the desired end. Political and economic interests and policies were promoted aggressively by rhetorical arguments; in Alaska, these arguments used the ideals found in the nineteenth-century prospector image as an ideological cover and a material means for early twentieth-century economic and political goals of industrial growth and regional development. The prospector was one of the most complex of Western characters, a prototype that was a product of American cultural, economic, legal and political ideals and notions about the individual and individualism. The mining industry, federal agencies overseeing Alaskan mining, and Alaskan promoters all used prospector images to entice mineral seekers to Alaska, but they also worked to direct prospectors in material ways to ultimately aid their own industrial-based goals of Alaskan growth and settlement. Actual Alaskan prospectors could not fully live up to their images. They faced many challenges in Alaska, but were able, through hard effort, to achieve a limited self-sufficiency. Prospector images were also at center-stage of ideological and rhetorical debates to determine land use policy of Alaskan coal lands, despite the simple fact that actual mineral seekers had little to do with coal mining development. Prospector images also carried political meanings in the struggle for Alaskan home rule. Using this fluid iconic figure did have material consequences, although in the end the political economy had greater influence in Alaskan development.

This dissertation on the development and promotion of Mexico's tourism industry reconstructs the making of what is today that nation's third most profitable industry. Forged by Mexico's government in late 1928 as the cornerstone of state-led modernization programs, tourism became official business by 1929 when government officials, private investors, bankers and transportation companies agreed that it offered their nation an ideal vehicle toward progress once they began to rebuild after a long history of political violence and instability, shaky relations with the United States, economic underdevelopment and social revolution. Tourism suggests another framework for examining culture, politics and economics in Mexico following the revolution and during this period of intense nation building. More than just an economic solution, tourism fit into the state's broader cultural program to both modernize and unite Mexicans after the 1910 revolution. Tourism fostered nationalism and national unity. It encouraged the formation of tourist associations whose members pooled their resources to promote their nation's beauty and to finance infrastructure for the sake of national progress, peace and prosperity. Through tourism, government and private individuals debated and defined mexicanidad, or Mexicanness. In the end, promoters packaged a holiday in Mexico to U.S. tourists as a destination that embodied a harmonious convergence of modernity and antiquity---where one could visit the pyramids by day and drink martinis by night. By analyzing the formation, membership, activities and debates of official and private tourist groups between 1928--1946, this project reveals that to develop tourism the government relied on cooperation and capital from an elaborate network of promoters in Mexico and abroad. Moreover, Mexican financiers almost exclusively funded the construction of tourist infrastructure that visibly transformed Mexico by 1946 from a provincial, undeveloped nation to an urban, modern one. Scholars have examined these transformations as a product of President Miguel Aleman, 1946--52 whose administration was marked by corruption and U.S.-directed development. This research uncovers early origins of Mexican-led progress, and demonstrates how tourist development between 1928--1946 decidedly paved the way for Mexico's economic "miracle," and its era of political and social stability after World War II.

This thesis presents the results of two field studies: a preliminary qualitative ethnographic study and an empirical field survey. The research investigated the strategies used by customer-contact workers in service industries when they experience role stress. Four strategies emerged: effort, negotiation, preempting, and avoiding. Negotiation was positively related to role conflict and role ambiguity. Job satisfaction was positively related to effort and negatively related to avoiding. Implications of the findings for service industry managers and researchers are discussed.

This dissertation considers processes of hegemony, or the construction of consent, in network television marketing practices in the 1950s. Specifically, a case study of the Today show, which premiered in 1952, examines how RCA, and subsidiary network NBC, generated consent for continuing domination of the national television airwaves. In the context of post-World War II concern about the place of the multi-national corporations and the media in American democracy, RCA/NBC constructed its company, programming, and the image of its audience within a nexus of anti-trust, good trust (or legal monopolies/public utilities), and free speech/free press regulations. To understand this regulatory context, the study begins by identifying the deep structural contradictions of liberal democratic capitalism and the political economic conditions which demand that power, privilege, and control be legitimated. These conditions shape rhetorics of common interest through which groups and individuals---empowered by the state with delegated authority---seek to establish and maintain consent. This control is constructed as an exception to the rules of free trade and free speech/press. In the end, the study suggests that processes of hegemony construct market control---and consumer free choice---as natural, preordained, and in the best interests of the public as a whole, while downplaying, denying, or discrediting any other real alternatives or possibilities. The particular findings of this deep historical and case study can inform present day broadcast reform efforts and offer core approaches for re-framing hegemonic corporate rationales.

Using a network perspective, this dissertation investigates the diffusion of high-technology innovations to organizational users. The particular innovation of interest is satellite remotely sensed data, and the diffusion phenomena occur among geospatial professionals who work in local government agencies. I utilize multiple methods in the dissertation. Essay 1 looks at the impacts of structural bases of social influences on diffusion. In Essays 2 and 3, I focus the investigation on advocates, the adopters who share their adoption experiences with their professional peers. While Essay 2 investigates the structural consequences at an individual level, Essay 3 provides an overarching framework of diffusion consequences at individual, organizational and population levels. This project makes theoretical contributions to marketing, consumer behavior and management. For marketing, I investigate the origins of imitation effects of diffusion by examining the social networks of the adopters and potential adopters. For consumer behavior, I examine the underlying logic for aspiring professionals to focus their work on spreading knowledge of innovation, and I demonstrate that innovation diffusion is a means to compete for high-status positions in the professional field. For management, I look at the reciprocal relationships between innovation diffusion and career development of adopters, and show that personnel mobility is crucial for diffusion in the organizations and population. This dissertation demonstrates how news and interpretations of innovations are filtered through consumers' networks. Since users are connected with social networks, the adoption of innovation by one individual user has ramifications among those with whom he or she is connected. Similarly, adopting organizations are interconnected through their employees' participation in various interorganizational projects and professional associations. Therefore, the adoption in one organization encourages similar processes to occur in other connected organizations. By examining the nature of contacts among adopters and potential adopters, marketers can anticipate the market trajectory and hence market growth. The knowledge generated from this dissertation should sensitize public policy makers about the countervailing nature of diffusion consequences. Adopting organizations may or may not gain in technological sophistication after adoption because their advocating employees become desirable in the field and are likely to be sought out by other organizations.

Logo designs provide a quick visual shorthand for all the meaning, associations, and equity associated with a brand. Virtually all major companies utilize logos, but there is little theory-based research regarding logo design published in marketing and consumer behavior journals. Related research from psychology regarding preference for visual images has generally used special stimuli created for the laboratory that do not carry the meaning that logos acquire in the markerplace and consequently have very limited generalizability. This study seeks to begin to fill the void by examining preference for actual, familiar logo designs. An improved understanding of preference for logo designs can be a great advantage to a company considering a logo design change. The costs involved in such a change can be enormous. Beyond the cost of the services of graphic designers, a change in logo design incurs the cost of changing everything that displays the logo, and any lost sales that may result if the new design is ineffective in some way. The equity of the brand may be connected to the logo design, so a change in the design of the logo may have long-term implications. Many logos have evolved over the years through successive changes to keep the designs from becoming outdated. This study examined theoretical bases for such activity. According to adaptation-level theory (McClelland et al. 1953), individuals become adapted to an object or image due to experience with it. Slight changes to this adaptation level result in increased preference while drastic changes result in decreased preference. These effects are represented by the distinctive butterfly curve. The current study developed a technique that allows for differentiation of visual designs, indicating the degree of change. This was used to test whether adaptation-level theory applies to familiar logo designs. The results indicate a general preference for no changes in familiar logo designs. While practitioners make changes in logo designs that are consistent with adaptation-level theory, it appears that consumers react instead, in accordance with social judgment theory--they tolerate rather than prefer the changes.

This study shows the findings of a qualitative study undertaken in the homes of seven primary participants of middle school age in Tucson, Arizona, Southern California, and New York City. The purpose of the study was to determine whether mainstream media has commodified these children into saleable audiences who would consume its media products. Findings show that all participants, at all levels, were ready to buy, and wanted to buy, at least one kind of mainstream media at any time. All participants with the exception of one, who did not seem to care about one form of media over another, pursued at least one form of mainstream media, usually more, during most of his waking hours and often. During the ninety hours of observation, at least two or more mainstream media products were used consistently. All participants expressed the desire to buy more specific products and wanted to have more than one title at a time. No regionally or locally distributed media were desired by any subject, only the mainstream media on forced-choice menus. Limitations of the research included difficulty of finding parents and children willing to allow the researcher into the home. Another problem was the invasion of privacy that some subject felt during the study. These were the major two limitations. Further research should be conducted on preschoolers' use of media. This study suggests that children aged one to five may already be addicted to Disney media in ways that preclude their enjoyment of other mainstream media. This study also suggests that these children may be so affected cognitively by their constant use of mainstream media products that their placement in school must be reassessed. Another area that requires more research is the ability of students with diagnosed learning disabilities to concentrate on, and operate, interactive media and to read any manual, article or electronic text having to do with their chosen media, without any problem. The conclusion is that participants in this study are, by their desire and willingness to buy, members of a commodity audience. Thus, the commodity audience actually exists.

Generic advertising campaigns promote the general qualities of a product to customers thus improving the demand of all firms who market that product. Recent national campaigns of this nature include the milk advertising campaign "Got Milk?" and the advertising campaign by florists "Think Flowers." The focus of this dissertation is to study, through analytical modeling and an experimental economics perspective, the strategic issues that arise in the organization of such an advertising campaign. We investigate two mechanisms used in practice--Voluntary Contribution Mechanisms (VCMs) and Mandated Contribution Mechanisms (MCMs). In the former, industry members can decide if they want to participate and if so, how much they wish to contribute. Here, the strategic problem relates to achieving complete participation. Specifically, either "free-rider" or "cheap-rider" equilibria obtain, leading to sub-optimal advertising. In order to overcome this, we propose the Provision Point VCM where the campaign is conducted only if contributions exceed a pre-determined threshold. Here, optimal advertising is always a feasible equilibrium. We experimentally investigated the impact of these two VCMs, face-to-face communication and completeness of information on contributions. Managers with experience in such advertising also participated in our study. The findings from the forty four economic experiments were: (1) Simple VCM led to lower efficiency in comparison to Provision Point VCMs. (2) When the provision point was set at the Pareto Optimum, a high efficiency and provision percentage resulted. (3) Communication always led to gains in efficiency. A weak long-term effect was found in the Simple VCM case and a strong long-term effect was found in the Provision Point VCM case. (4) The efficiency in the complete and incomplete information cases for both Simple and Provision Point VCMs were very similar. This is a surprising result. In MCMs, the government stipulates a payment rule by legislation and all industry members must comply. Firms can reduce their share of the advertising budget only by under-stating privately held information, leading to sub-optimal advertising. We design a mechanism that overcomes this by ensuring that truthful information revelation is the dominant strategy for all firms.

This dissertation investigates Charles F. Lummis and his editorial influence, arguing that he contributed significantly to the literary and cultural construction of the American West. From 1895 to 1907, Lummis edited a Los Angeles magazine, The Land of Sunshine. Renamed Out West in 1902, the magazine served as a platform from which Lummis trumpeted his visions of the West and its literature, and helped launch various causes celebres , including restoration and preservation of Southern California's Spanish missions, establishment of a museum of the southwest, and agitation for Indian rights and education reform. I contextualize the decade of his influence within the rhetorics of realism and regional literature, both then prominent on the American literary scene, and within the emergence of mass culture at the beginning of the twentieth century. This dissertation contributes to American cultural studies because it is the first comprehensive analysis of Lummis's influence on the American literary tradition and his role in the cultural colonization of the West. Drawing upon previously unpublished material from the University of Arizona Special Collections, Colorado State University Archives, the Braun Research Library at the Southwest Museum, and the Sharlot Hall museum, it is also the first study to describe the extent of his intersections with artists, scholars, and historical figures at the turn of the twentieth century. These figures include Fred Harvey, Alex Harmer, Theodore Roosevelt, Charlotte Perkins Stetson (later Gilman), L. Maynard Dixon, Margaret Collier Graham, and many others.

<p> American Heart Association officials and other expert cardiologists recommend omega-3 (n-3) dietary supplementation for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, a prevalent health problem in the United States. Physicians' lack of understanding of possible n-3 preventive health benefits results in underprescribing n-3 dietary supplements and lower n-3 dietary supplement product sales. N-3 dietary supplement marketers do not understand physician n-3 prescribing decision criteria enough to optimize high-impact communication to physicians to increase n-3 dietary supplement product use. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to improve n-3 marketers' understanding of how physicians reach decisions to prescribe or recommend products including n-3 dietary supplements. Argyris' ladder of inference theory provided the study framework to facilitate understanding physicians' decision criteria. Rich data collected and analyzed from 20 primary care physician interviews in Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee revealed physicians use similar decision criteria for drugs and n-3s. Three essential influencers of physician decisions included clinical evidence, personal experience, and cost. Other influencers were opinions of peers, pharmaceutical representatives, samples, direct-to-consumer advertising, and knowledge of dietary supplements. Study outcomes may inform pharmaceutical marketers regarding presentation of clinical evidence, cost emphasis, and pharmaceutical representative skills and may facilitate competitive advantage for n-3 marketers. The social benefit of this study is improved physician understanding of n-3s may result in more accurate and appropriate prescribing to augment positive health outcomes. </p>