Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Cincinnati, 1989. / Includes abstract. Bibliography: leaves 126-135.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Cincinnati, 1989. / Includes abstract. Bibliography: leaves 126-135.

The share of online marketing activities in the marketing of companies continues to grow. But without an online marketing strategy, it is impossible to effectively coordinate activities and exploit the full potential that online marketing offers. The main objective of this thesis is to analyze the state of online marketing tools of iUcto.cz project and suggest recommendations, which will then enable the creation of meaningful and effective online marketing strategy. The various online marketing tools are described in the theoretical part of this thesis. It is followed by a brief description of the used tools, presentation of the iUcto.cz project and its competitors, and analysis of the iUcto.cz website, in the practical part. Based on this, the specific recommendations for online marketing channels, which could be interesting for the iUcto.cz project, are stated in the final part of this thesis.

The emphasis on education fluctuates with the economy. When education is encouraged, many individuals flock to colleges and universities to increase earning potential or achieve goals. Thanks to advancements in technology, distance education in the 21st century can be similar to face-to-face education. Students spend many hours sitting in front of a computer completing course work. Although still in infancy stages, online education has vastly improved. Perspectives like teaching adults (andragogy), transformative learning, and teacher immediacy all address teaching individuals from afar. In consultation with these three perspectives, several qualitative measures have been developed aid with online course design. This graduate project intends to assist faculty with setting up an online course using Andragogy, Transformative Learning Theory, and Teacher Immediacy as the backbone. In addition, the Quality Online Course Initiative, Quality Matters, and Quality Online Learning and Teaching tools are applied.

More and more parents are turning to the Internet for information about their children’s health and wellbeing. With all of the conflicting information online, how do parents decide which health websites to believe and follow? One website element the impact of which is not well understood is the readability level of content presented. An online survey was conducted with parents and university students in an attempt to isolate the relationships between website readability and credibility judgements and intentions to act. Parents and students were randomly assigned to view and evaluate one of three mock websites about Fragile X syndrome with identical content but differing readability levels. It was predicted that users would find websites that were easier to understand more credible and they would in turn then be more likely to act on the information from simple readability websites. Contrary to the author’s hypothesis, students were more likely to follow recommendations on websites written at a complex readability level, when they were engaged with the website. Results also showed that readability was less of an influence on credibility than were the parents’ pre-experiment knowledge of the disorder. / February 2017

Tese de mestrado. Multimédia. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Letras. Universidade do Porto. 2009

The intention of this thesis is to explore whether New Zealand trends in online dating parallel those identified by overseas studies, or whether patterns are emerging that are unique to New Zealand society. The Internet Windows Messenger instant messenger service (MSN) was used to interview 32 subjects about their experiences with online dating, covering areas such as motivation for using online dating; types of relationships sought; barriers to online dating; online rapport and offline chemistry; online infidelity; and managing 'difference'. Drawing on these responses, this thesis presents findings pertaining to a diverse group of New Zealanders' attitudes towards and uses of online dating. Some of the key findings show that online rapport does not guarantee offline chemistry; that there are gender differences in attitudes towards appearance, age, and receiving sexually explicit material online; and that sexual experimentation and infidelity are being facilitated through online dating. The issue of 'difference' as it relates to online dating has been largely neglected by overseas researchers, and for this reason was extensively included in this research. Key findings relating to 'difference' show that there is a clear split between those interviewees whose 'difference' impacted positively on their online dating experience (those with sexual 'difference' falling into this category), and those whose 'difference' impacted negatively (those with physical or mental 'difference'). In addition, those interviewees with a sexual 'difference' have been able to connect with other like-minded people through online dating, contributing to the 'normalization' of previously considered deviant behaviours. Based on the research presented in this thesis, it appears that New Zealand online dating activities are consistent with overseas trends, although there are indications that some behaviour may be more specific to New Zealand society, such as gender differences in relation to bisexuality, and covert same-sex encounters involving men who are either married or who state in their profiles that they are 'straight' or heterosexual.

As part of the promotional mix, advertising plays a significant role in a company’s or organisation’s communication with its consumers and stakeholders. In order to inform consumers about their products or services, marketers apply a variety of advertising strategies. One particular strategy is “contextual advertising”, which refers to the strategic placement of advertisements in an editorial environment whose theme is relevant for the promoted product or service (Belch & Belch, 2009, p. 492). Also in advertising research, contextual advertising received a considerable amount of attention. Scholars have investigated the effectiveness of contextual advertising in online and offline media. Researchers as well as practitioners have particularly focused on content-based relationships between advertisements and the theme of the editorial environment in which the advertisement is placed. With a focus on online media, the present study aimed to investigate this content-based relationship but also to examine what other types of relationships between the different contents on a webpage the user constructs. Advertising has also been investigated in the area of semiotics. Several scholars analysed advertisements in order to reveal their meaning-affordances. A second interest in the present study derives from semiotic studies and theories, which emphasise the individual’s significance in the meaning-making process but also exclude the individual from their analysis. A potential contradiction could be seen here and by investigating how users interpret a particular webpage, this study aimed to examine what insights an analysis can provide that is solely focused on the webpage user. In order to capture users’ interpretations of a webpage’s contents and to investigate what types of relationships between these contents users construct semi-structured interviews with six participants were conducted. The participants were invited to look at a webpage from the website www.healthyfood.co.nz. Following the interviews, the participants’ responses were transcribed, categorised and analysed. Findings from the study revealed that several participants constructed relationships between advertisements and the editorial content based on content-similarity but also on design-similarity as well as their personal knowledge about sponsorship relationships and income-investment relationships. Personal knowledge also appeared to be important for the interpretation of the webpage. The participants’ interpretation of the webpage were also guided by their personal interest in the contents, their individual contexts like socio-cultural background, experiences and beliefs as well as environmental factors such as time and the layout of the interview location. The results of the study support the significant role of the individual in the process of meaning making and further contribute to an extended understanding of contextual advertising. Practical suggestions for the advertising area and future research were also identified.

As part of the promotional mix, advertising plays a significant role in a company’s or organisation’s communication with its consumers and stakeholders. In order to inform consumers about their products or services, marketers apply a variety of advertising strategies. One particular strategy is “contextual advertising”, which refers to the strategic placement of advertisements in an editorial environment whose theme is relevant for the promoted product or service (Belch & Belch, 2009, p. 492). Also in advertising research, contextual advertising received a considerable amount of attention. Scholars have investigated the effectiveness of contextual advertising in online and offline media. Researchers as well as practitioners have particularly focused on content-based relationships between advertisements and the theme of the editorial environment in which the advertisement is placed. With a focus on online media, the present study aimed to investigate this content-based relationship but also to examine what other types of relationships between the different contents on a webpage the user constructs. Advertising has also been investigated in the area of semiotics. Several scholars analysed advertisements in order to reveal their meaning-affordances. A second interest in the present study derives from semiotic studies and theories, which emphasise the individual’s significance in the meaning-making process but also exclude the individual from their analysis. A potential contradiction could be seen here and by investigating how users interpret a particular webpage, this study aimed to examine what insights an analysis can provide that is solely focused on the webpage user. In order to capture users’ interpretations of a webpage’s contents and to investigate what types of relationships between these contents users construct semi-structured interviews with six participants were conducted. The participants were invited to look at a webpage from the website www.healthyfood.co.nz. Following the interviews, the participants’ responses were transcribed, categorised and analysed. Findings from the study revealed that several participants constructed relationships between advertisements and the editorial content based on content-similarity but also on design-similarity as well as their personal knowledge about sponsorship relationships and income-investment relationships. Personal knowledge also appeared to be important for the interpretation of the webpage. The participants’ interpretation of the webpage were also guided by their personal interest in the contents, their individual contexts like socio-cultural background, experiences and beliefs as well as environmental factors such as time and the layout of the interview location. The results of the study support the significant role of the individual in the process of meaning making and further contribute to an extended understanding of contextual advertising. Practical suggestions for the advertising area and future research were also identified.