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The primary purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of Speak Now, a five-day intensive CBT-based summer camp for adolescents who stutter, in improving communicative self-efficacy and reducing the impact of stuttering. It was predicted that attending Speak Now would lead to an increase in self-efficacy in communication situations as measured the Self Efficacy for Adolescents Scale (SEA-Scale) and a reduction in the impact of stuttering as measured by the Overall Assessment of Speakers Experience of Stuttering (OASES). Phenomenological analysis was performed of parent interviews regarding their child’s experience at camp to determine what themes emerged. Scores decreased in the sections of the OASES that measured general knowledge, reactions to stuttering, and overall quality of life, although subject variables and a small sample size probably contributed to a lack of statistical significance in the results. Phenomenological analysis of parent interviews revealed six themes: 1) campers benefitted from peer engagement with other children who stutter; 2) campers were anxious before starting camp; 3) parents benefitted from the experience of interacting with other parents of children who stutter; 4) parents benefitted from hearing the thoughts and feelings of other children who stutter; 5) parents observed an increase in confidence and relaxation for their children in speaking situations following camp; 6) parents learned about stuttering and how to help their child from camp. Clinical implications as well as directions for future research are discussed. / Communication Sciences

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Communication is a critical component of firm success. Modern day companies, including those from the domain of hospitality and tourism, go to great lengths to gain a competitive advantage through effective communication. It is not only communication within the organization that is important. Instead, effective corporate communication entails effective messaging and information flow across all stakeholders. This dissertation investigates three distinct types of communication that are very relevant to hospitality and tourism firms - online reviews, marketing promotions and product placements. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of corporate communication and outlines the central objectives of the research conducted as part of the dissertation. Chapter 2 uses an approach from behavioral economics to detect certain biases that afflict online reviews. Specifically, the paper uncovers the extent to which the seminal prospect theory principles of loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity afflict the sentiment expressed in online reviews. Chapter 3 of the dissertation explores the effect of marketing promotions by hotels. Promotions are frequently deployed by hospitality industry managers in an attempt to augment revenues during times when excess capacity may be anticipated. While prior research indeed finds beneficial impacts of these promotions, the present study shows that when finance-based are used to measure performance, promotions may in fact be detrimental. Relevant implications, especially for compensation design are outlined. Chapter 4 uses the event study methodology to quantify the effect of product placements by hospitality firms in film and television. This form of advertising has become increasingly common today, but not much is known about the extent to which placements help firm performance. The findings show that placements provide a significant performance boost, although variables like genre and parental advisory rating are found to influence this effect. The closing chapter, chapter 5, outlines the primary contributions of the dissertation, highlights the most important implications that follow from the research, while also acknowledging certain limitations that must be kept in mind when drawing any conclusions from this work. / Doctor of Philosophy / Communication is a critical component of firm success. Modern day companies, including those from the domain of hospitality and tourism, go to great lengths to gain a competitive advantage through effective communication. It is not only communication within the organization that is important. Instead, effective corporate communication entails effective messaging and information flow across all stakeholders. This dissertation investigates three distinct types of communication that are very relevant to hospitality and tourism firms - online reviews, marketing promotions and product placements. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of corporate communication and outlines the central objectives of the research conducted as part of the dissertation. Chapter 2 uses an approach from behavioral economics to detect certain biases that afflict online reviews. Specifically, the paper uncovers the extent to which the seminal prospect theory principles of loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity afflict the sentiment expressed in online reviews. Chapter 3 of the dissertation explores the effect of marketing promotions by hotels. Promotions are frequently deployed by hospitality industry managers in an attempt to augment revenues during times when excess capacity may be anticipated. While prior research indeed finds beneficial impacts of these promotions, the present study shows that when finance-based are used to measure performance, promotions may in fact be detrimental. Relevant implications, especially for compensation design are outlined. Chapter 4 uses the event study methodology to quantify the effect of product placements by hospitality firms in film and television. This form of advertising has become increasingly common today, but not much is known about the extent to which placements help firm performance. The findings show that placements provide a significant performance boost, although variables like genre and parental advisory rating are found to influence this effect. The closing chapter, chapter 5, outlines the primary contributions of the dissertation, highlights the most important implications that follow from the research, while also acknowledging certain limitations that must be kept in mind when drawing any conclusions from this work.

This study investigated how Christian beliefs and the perceived importance of practice at each level of the religious systems model may impact Protestant Christian beliefs about natural disasters and natural disaster responses. This study was conducted to address diverging trends in religious interpretations of and reactions to risk and crisis events. Participants answered a series of close- and open-ended questions via on online survey about religious beliefs and practices and their personal experiences with natural disasters and responses. Qualitative findings demonstrated an overarching Christian ethic underlying participants' experiences and responses. Most comments from participants mentioned individual and micro level actions they took during the natural disasters they experienced. Quantitative results supported these relationship between each level of the religious systems model and Christian beliefs about natural disasters and perceived importance of natural disaster responses (spiritual and action-oriented). The individual level significantly predicted Christian-based spiritual natural disaster responses. The micro and meso levels significantly predicted Christian beliefs about natural disasters and Christian-based spiritual natural disaster responses. The macro level significantly predicted Christian-based action-oriented natural disaster responses. This study expands Williams-Smith and McMillan's (2022) religious systems model by extending the context to natural disasters and how each system level relates to perceptions about them.