<p> Building upon the Sport Experience Design (SX) framework of Funk (2017), this dissertation investigates consumer experience with activewear in different usage contexts. The intersection of user and context in the SX framework is examined by integrating the means-end chain theory of Gutman (1982) and the situation research of Belk (1975). This theoretical integration creates a conceptual approach to understand how consumers construct and evaluate the sport experience in different contexts. Three research questions were asked about what types of perceptions consumers develop with activewear, how the perceptions form the means-end chain structure, and how the structure varies across fitness and non-fitness contexts. Findings of Study 1 revealed five important attributes (i.e., fashion design, color and pattern, fit, functional design, and fabric), four consequences (i.e., physical appearance, physical comfort, social relationship, and task facilitation), and three end-state values (i.e., fun and enjoyment, self-respect, and sense of accomplishment) that connect and form the means-end chain structure. Informed by findings of Study 1, Study 2 found the direction of means-end chain structure and its specific paths vary across fitness and non-fitness contexts. Findings contribute to the SX framework by using the means-end chain theory as a theoretical approach to examine consumers&rsquo; experience with a sport product while considering the context in which the product is used. Practical implications are provided on how brands can link product attributes with consumers&rsquo; self-concepts to enhance the consumer experience.</p><p>

<p> College athletics is a complex, revenue generating industry within the United States higher education system. This commercialized segment of education generated 9 billion dollars of income in 2015 from the efforts of 482,533 student athletes (Gains, 2016; NCAA, 2015). This system creates a unique spectrum characterized on one end by the insatiable desire for winning led by coaches, athletic departments, and alumni, resulting in athletic isolation to protect the &lsquo;athlete investment.&rsquo; On the other end of the spectrum is the pursuit of a degree, academic success, and career development guided by faculty and an institution&rsquo;s academic mission and reputation to protect the &lsquo;student investment.&rsquo; Student athletes are caught between the strong pull of these two opposing pressures which requires advising to assist them in navigating this complex environment and calls for current research to better understand the student athlete advisor role, its evolution, and related impact on student athletes within this academic-athletic spectrum. </p><p> Qualitative research methods explored the lived experiences of 32 athletic academic advisors from mid-sized Division I NCAA institutions. Semi-structured interviews conducted over a two-month period explored how their role, experience, and approach influence student athletes. The study drew eight primary findings and analyzed them within three original research questions that covered: (a) the evolution of student athlete advising in higher education; (b) how student athletes engage in the broader university; and (c) the range of advising from simply maintaining athletic eligibility to optimizing academic engagement. </p><p> The findings of this study illustrate the lived experiences of athletic academic advisors and unveils a mentorship role that exceeds academic advising. The findings also highlight the increasing numbers of advisors, their backgrounds, challenges, and the evolving role of student athlete advising along the athletic-academic spectrum. The results of this study can help guide institutional leaders in structuring advising and other support systems to benefit the academic and career prospects for student athletes.</p><p>

abstract: Athletes and sports seem impervious to criticism. Sports is one of the most popular forms of entertainment within popular culture. Since popular culture is one of the dominant forms of education, it is important to analyze and recognize the ideologies present. How do the images and portrayals of professional athletes in still images and video endorsements reflect and perpetuate hegemonic ideologies of race and gender? How do these portrayals intersect with issues of justice and representation? By using a cultural studies framework with emphasis on representation of race and gender in popular culture, an analysis of the representation of seven athletes in advertising for endorsements was conducted. The seven athletes were chosen based on name-recognition, popularity, success in their sport, and a need for a diversity of races and gender. Using semiotics, the advertisements were coded and themes were presented. Several themes presented in the advertisements: Including (1) white female athletes are presented as sexualized objects, (2) black female athletes are represented using masculine traits, (3) white male athletes are normalized, and (4) black male athletes are presented as successful because of their bodies. These representations are harmful because they do little to nothing to change dominant ideologies. The representation of athletes in advertising reinforce hetero-patriarchal ideologies of race and gender. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Justice Studies 2016

<p> <i><b>Context:</b></i> Evidence supports education initiatives to improve knowledge of sport-related concussion (SRC) in active children and adolescents, as well as improve attitudes towards reporting concussion events to a supervising adult with the ultimate goal of early diagnosis and management. Most evidence focuses on urban and suburban children&rsquo;s SRC knowledge and attitudes; however, little is known regarding knowledge and attitudes of children participating in sport in rural environments. Understanding current knowledge and attitudes of rural children can inform future education and health behavior strategies that encourage early reporting. <i><b> Objective:</b></i> Two objectives guided this study. First, obtain and analyze pilot data regarding current sport-concussion knowledge and attitudes from a rural youth cohort using a validated survey tool for adolescents. Secondly, make recommendations regarding the use of the tool and process to apply this method to a larger sample. <i><b>Design:</b></i> Survey Design. <i><b> Setting:</b></i> Middle and high school education setting. <i><b> Participants:</b></i> Twenty of 81 students who participated in interscholastic sport at a rural high school completed the survey for a response rate of 24.7%. More females (70%) than males (30%) completed the survey (<i>M</i>age = 15.0yrs, <i>SD</i> = 1.89; range 13&ndash;18 years). <i><b> Data Collection and Analysis:</b></i> Rosenbaum Concussion Knowledge and Attitudes Survey &ndash; Student Version (RoCKAS-ST). Main <i><b> Outcome Measure(s):</b></i> Self-reported &ldquo;likelihood to report&rdquo;, concussion knowledge index (CKI), and concussion attitude index (CAI). <i><b> Results:</b></i> Concussion knowledge (CKI) was high amongst all respondents (19.7/25) and related positively to concussion attitude towards safe environments (CAI = 60.5/75). Students also self-reported a strong likelihood to report a concussion (7.3/10). Age, sex nor participation in contact verses noncontact sports did not vary from this trend with one exception; football respondents reported the lowest likelihood to report regardless of having knowledge and a safe attitudes. <i><b>Conclusions:</b></i> Although no formal education strategy has been delivered to this small cohort, respondents demonstrated a high or acceptable level of SRC knowledge, attitude and likelihood to report. The RoCKAS-ST as well at the process for delivering the survey was generally sound, however, delivering the survey during baseline testing may improve response rate. Future research should investigate the knowledge and attitudes of a larger cohort of rural student-athletes and should include more details on where students are receiving their education. </p><p>

<p> Although the use of monetary incentives as motivational tools has been studied by previous researchers, the mechanism of the relationship between monetary incentives and behavior/performance remains poorly understood. The purpose of this quasi-experimental investigation was to explore the relationship between 3 levels of monetary incentives ($0, $3, and $10) and the athletic performance of adolescent male soccer players. The moderating effect of perceived physical self-efficacy or intrinsic motivation on the relationship between athletic performance and monetary incentives was also investigated. The framework for the study was comprised of expectancy theory, the theory of planned behavior, and self-determination theory. Study participants included a convenience sample of 16 adolescent male soccer players between the ages of 11 and 13 who played on a youth soccer league in the Midwestern United States. The independent variable was level of monetary incentive, and the dependent variable was athletic performance (time on the 50-yard dash). Intrinsic motivation was assessed using the Sport Motivation Scale. Perceived physical self-efficacy was assessed via participants&rsquo; scores on the Physical Self-Efficacy Scale for Children. Analysis, which included a repeated measures linear mixed-effects model and post-hoc pairwise comparisons, revealed that players&rsquo; athletic performance increased as monetary incentives increased. Intrinsic motivation and perceived physical self-efficacy had no statistically significant interaction effect on the relationship between athletic performance and monetary incentives. Findings shed light on the potential usefulness of monetary incentives among male adolescents, and may be used by coaches to foster a mindset of achievement and goal-orientation. </p><p>

<p> The media coverage of female athletes has been an uphill battle ever since the passing of Title IX in 1972 over 40 years ago. However, with the ever-increasing popularity of social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, this new age model of communication remains the low hanging fruit for shaping the ways in which female athletes are represented to a mass audience. Analyzing the content of the aforementioned platforms from the 2016 WNBA Playoffs and Finals seeks to answer four questions regarding the themes espnW and ESPN are communicating, how their messaging differs, the ways in which female athlete stereotypes are fed into or challenged, and the responses from espnW&rsquo;s and ESPN&rsquo;s social media following. Together, the findings relevant to each question imply a step in the right direction for how female athletes are covered today&mdash;for their athletic accomplishments and not for their sex appeal&mdash;but the overall volume of this coverage remains low. The battle continues for female athletes far and wide to find their footing and prove their relevancy in a male-dominated industry.</p><p>

<p> The primary purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the effect of emotions derived from the unique nature of spectator sport (e.g., intensive emotional responses, uncertainty of outcomes) on sport fans&rsquo; information processing and attitude formation regarding TV commercials presented in a sport broadcasting context. The current research advanced previous findings (e.g., Bee &amp; Madrigal, 2012; Wang &amp; Lang, 2012) related to the program-induced mood effect by making adjustments to the methodological approaches (e.g., real-time psychophysiological measures, mixed experimental designs) and by employing different theoretical approach (i.e., the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing). The affective priming paradigm (Bower, 1981, 1991) was re-conceptualized from the theoretical perspective of the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (Lang, 2006a, 2006b). </p><p> In order to test the study&rsquo;s hypotheses, a mixed method experimental design (i.e., game outcome [2] &times; uncertainty about outcome [2] &times; emotional tone of commercial [2] &times; video replication [2]) was employed. As hypothesized in this study, both the attitudinal formation and the information processing of emotional commercials by sports fans were significantly impacted by motivational systems which are activated by the outcomes (e.g., winning the game, losing the contest) and the closeness (e.g., tight game, lopsided score) of sporting events. The results of repeated measures of ANOVA indicate that the mood-inconsistent combination allocated more cognitive resource allocation to encoding. Moreover, the effects of commercials on attitudinal formations were significantly moderated by the game outcomes. </p><p> The current study provides several theoretical and managerial contributions in sport management and general motivated cognitive research. This study enriches our understanding of how sport fans process information and form attitudes relating to commercials. Furthermore, the results of this study related to the possible ways in which sport advertising influences consumers&rsquo; cognitive processing, attitudes, and so forth are of benefit to practitioners (e.g., sport team sponsors, sporting event advertisers) as well as scholars (e.g., sport marketing researchers). For example, by relying on the study&rsquo;s findings, marketing professionals in the field are able to create effective advertising strategies in order to maximize their goals (e.g., drawing attention to the commercial, increasing the memory of the viewer regarding the advertised product and brand, persuading the viewer to buy a product).</p>

M.Ed. (Education Management)

<p> Since the introduction of the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), researchers explored how resulting scores related to injury incidence, often by utilizing the sum score of all seven patterns. This study isolated the shoulder mobility screen and upper body injury incidence for collegiate Division II football athletes at a private Midwestern university. The researcher was interested in determining if pain on the screen indicated by a score of 0, too much or too little mobility, left to right asymmetry, and general score of the screen were related to upper body and/or shoulder injuries for football athletes during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 academic years. Injuries were classified as all reported and recorded and as injuries resulting in three or more days lost from practices or games. Additionally, the head football strength and conditioning coaches and head football athletic trainer were interviewed to provide information related to perceptions of effectiveness of the FMS in identification of injury and barriers to implementation of FMS results. Many significant conditions were identified in the 2014-2015 cohort related to shoulder mobility score and injury likelihood, while only one condition was identified in the 2015-2016 cohort. This lack of transferability from one academic year to the next, in conjunction with the limitations of time and resources identified by the strength and conditioning and athletic training staff, led the researcher to express concern in the utilization of the FMS shoulder mobility screen as a consistent primary tool in the identification of potential injury of the upper body and prescription of individual corrective exercise for this population.</p><p>

Successful innovations have been assumed by prior literature to ultimately be adopted by all competitors within an industry based on social explanations or economic rationale specific to the efficiency of the innovation. However, capabilities possessed by a firm can enhance or inhibit the adoption based upon their similarity to those used in the innovation. In categorizing a firm's capabilities as complementary, substitutive, or neutralizing to the innovation, this study provides an economic explanation for the role of internal capabilities in adoption decisions. Using a sample of professional football teams adopting the West Coast Offense, I find that capabilities influence the decision process in favor of adopting for organizations with complementary and substitutive capabilities. The role of knowledge from the innovator is highlighted in adopting the innovation, but fails to moderate the relationship between adoption and firm performance. I also illustrate how adopting firms with complementary capabilities outperform those organizations with similar capabilities that elect not to adopt. Finally, I demonstrate that firms with neutralizing capabilities are better off not adopting the innovation based on comparative performance of adopters and non-adopters. The overall results suggest a greater emphasis on internal capabilities of the firm in innovation adoption and reconsideration of theories stating that innovations should be adopted throughout an industry.