Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1952. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 518-571).

This study investigates the use of the consumer buying club concept in the savings and loan industry. The major purposes of the study were to determine the effectiveness of savings and loan clubs as promotional tools and to reveal some broader marketing implications of the savings and loan club concept. The study's findings provided support for the following hypotheses: I. If savings and loan clubs were independent business operations in the channels of distribution for the goods and services they offer members, these clubs, based upon the marketing functions they perform, would be classified as two or more different types of distinct marketing institutions. II. Rather than being temporary promotional tools, savings and loan clubs are permanent organizational units of some savings and loan associations. III. Savings and loan clubs offer access to a large market for manufacturers and middlemen of certain goods and services. Primary data on the operations and activities of savings and loan clubs were collected in semi-structured interviews with executives of ten clubs that are believed to represent every type of club program existing in the fall of 1973. A mail survey of selected regulatory authorities provided information about the present and future regulatory environment in which clubs operate. Analyses of the data suggest that there are qualitative and quantitative differences in club programs based upon the geographic scope of a club's operation and the size of the sponsoring savings and loan association; however, the club concept appears to be an effective and relatively inexpensive promotional tool when matters of club objectives and design are carefully considered. The regulatory environment for club operations may be described as a passive one, and the findings indicate that this environment will not change in the near future. Savings and loan clubs are consumer-oriented and service-oriented promotional tools indicative of a recent marketing awareness in the savings and loan industry. Clubs both require and facilitate the planning of marketing strategies and objectives, including the use of market segmentation and product differentiation. The study's findings suggest the club concept is growing in popularity in the savings and loan industry, and the use of clubs as promotional tools will continue to grow in the future. Savings and loan clubs function as facilitating agencies in the marketing process by arranging for members to receive special discounts from established sellers of a wide variety of consumer goods and services. Some clubs function as merchant middlemen, either as retail stores or as mail order retail establishments, based upon their practices of buying merchandise to be sold to club members at cost. Savings and loan clubs are not profit-making organizations, with the exception of franchising activities by some national clubs. A functional analysis of club operations suggests that these clubs may be more effective than American consumer cooperatives have been. The savings and loan club market is a large and growing one offering manufacturers and middlemen, particularly retailers, access to an affluent market. The findings indicate that merchandise offers, involving buying and re-selling items to members, is an unpopular and unsuccessful type of club benefit. For this reason, manufacturers and wholesale middlemen derive indirect benefit from the club market through increased sales that established retailers may obtain by participating in a club's discount program.

This study examines stereotypes of fraternities and sororities in the media. Recently the media, particularly movies and television, has produced numerous portrayals of fraternal organi zations. Through thi s study a content analysis of the television show GREEK from ABC Family was conducted. The first seven episodes were analyzed answer the following questions: Were stereotypes of fratern ities and sororities pmirayed through these episodes? If so, what were the stereotypes? Five stereotypes were studied for fraternities and six for sororities. Definitions of the chosen stereotypes are identified in the literature and recorded. Tally markers were used to tabulate each portrayal of stereotypes. An average of the three viewings was then calculated to help maximize the reliability of this study. The results were further manipulated to determine the frequency of both the fraternity and sorority stereotypes individually as well as together. Stereotypes were found throughout the television series. Fraternity stereotypes were recorded more often than sorority stereotypes. This study allows us to better understand the portrayals of fraternity and sorority life as shown in GREEK.

Seven percent of the national four year college population is involved in Greek Life (Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2008, ~5) with over sixty percent on some campuses (Finkel, 201 0). An often unexamined aspect of collegiate learning pertaining to this context is students' spiritual development, yet this is a vital part of a student's life throughout college and critical to whole student learning (Love & Talbot, 2005). Students report a high level of interest in spiritual activities while struggling with existential questions on a regular basis (Higher Education Research Institute, 2003). Most social fraternities and sororities embrace Christian ideals, making the spiritual development of non-Christian students involved in Greek Life a unique challenge. Focusing on the spiritual development of Jewish students within these social organizations is important because until the mid-twentieth century, there were restrictive membership clauses barring Jewish students from becoming active members of multiple fraternities and sororities founded on Christian ideals (Callais, 2002). The purpose of this study was to examine the unique dichotomy created by students who do not participate in the systemic religious views of a majority of Greek Life organizations; specifically focusing on students of Jewish faith in primarily Christian based Greek letter organizations. The students interviewed show a richness of experiences and information finding that Jewish students (1) identification as spiritually or culturally Jewish defines college experiences, (2) find sanctuary and community with other Jewish students and in groups such as Hillel, (3) who interact with faculty and staff that identify with their heritage feel a sense of belonging on campus, (4) struggle with campus dining practices, (5) face academic penalties due to practice of faith traditions, (6) did not feel welcome or comfortable at the local places of worship, and (7) in Greek letter organizations felt · excluded or challenged because of the founding ideals.

Although first-generation college students and fratemity and sorority members have been explored and described independently within higher education research, less is known about the overlap in these two experiences and the culminating student population which provides the focus for this study. This study investigates the college experiences of six first-generation college students who are members of Greek-letter organizations at universities on the west coast. Case study methodology and community cultural wealth (Y osso, 2005) are used to analyze semistructured, in-depth interviews and provide rich descriptions, which inform an understanding of why students join Greek-letter organizations, the nature of their experience, and how their membership may influence how they experience college. Although participants did not describe their experience in college or in a Greek-letter organization as particularly unique as a result of their generational status, findings indicate a substantial gain in social and navigational capital, which they intended to utilize during and after their college years. Findings also indicate that due to the involvement in the Greek community, first-generation college students experienced college with a greater commitment to persist. By utilizing community cultural wealth to describe and explain first-generation college students in Greek-letter organizations, it emerges as a relevant framework for student affairs educators to incorporate into their practice.