Purpose: The aim of this Bachelor Thesis is to explore what makes an interactive viral marketing campaign effective in terms of Word-of-Mouth. Background: With the growth of Internet, a new force of marketing has developed where the consumer is more involved in the marketing process. This thesis studies the underlying emotions and motivations of consumer incentives to engage in positive Word-of-Mouth, regarding an interactive viral marketing campaign. Method: In order to fulfil the purpose of this study a case study is performed. An inductive approach is followed and qualitative research in the form of a netnography and interviews are used to collect the empirical material that is required in order to answer the given research questions. The netnography was performed on Facebook and ten respondents from the netnographical study were invited to participate in interviews. Conclusion: Based on the frame of reference, a strong relationship was expected between certain emotions and the willingness to share or discuss Tipp-ex’s campaign. However, the results indicate that other variables such as Comprehension and Personalisation might have a greater effect on Word-of-Mouth incentives. Regarding motivations, Message- involvement was found to be the motivation that triggers a consumer to engage in Word-of-Mouth.

Taiwanese Travel Behaviors and Intention of Minsu Inn Consumption Abstract Amid the lifestyle trend which increasingly emphasizes leisure and travel, the questions of ¡§what are most important underlying motivation of travel in Taiwanese consumers?¡¨ ¡§what are the characteristics in Taiwanese travelers during vacations?¡¨ and ¡§how much are their intention to try to stay in the currently popular mingsu inns?¡¨ are worthy studying. Focusing on these issues, the study has integrated theories and literature of travel behaviors, proposed a theoretical model for travel behavior study on Taiwanese people, and hereby developed a scale to assessing travel motivations of Taiwanese people and established a model for empirical study in intention of mingsu inns consumption. The mainly participants of the study include professionals and technicians in Taiwan. The sample size is 445. The main results are summarized as follows: (1) Five main factors underlying Taiwanese travel are refreshment, family fusion, knowledge extension, socialization, and self-improvement. (2) The main sources of travel information are family members, media coverage, agency promotion, friends and relatives, and non-profit organization. There is a statistically significant and positive correlation between knowledge extension and agency promotion information source. (3) Major considerations in vacation planning include board and room, transportations, activities, itinerary, Nature access, and shopping. No significant correlation was found between motivations of travel and consideration about itinerary and shopping (4) Many positive and significant correlation were found between any vacation motivations of travel and intention of minsu inns consumption. (5) Negative and significant correlation between age and length of overseas travel was found, while the relationship between age and travel length significantly positive.

Internal control plays a pivotal role in enhancing security operations and quality control in an organization. The process of evaluating internal auditors is a powerful tool for the management team. It does not only prevent frauds, but also boosts profitability. From the perspective of management, internal auditors work for ensuring effective operations and improving performance for all the management systems within the organization. They bear great responsibility and play a key role. Therefore, the study attempts to explore the personal attributes and work characteristics, to analyze job satisfactions among internal auditors and finally to finds a list of key factors effecting job satisfaction. This study is conducted in three parts. First, a preliminary conceptual framework is established via literature review. This conceptual framework goes through constant modifications before being introduced into the empirical research architecture of this study. Questionnaires are thus designed based on this architecture. In the process of questionnaire design, opinions from eight senior auditor executives serve as expert validity. Expert opinions are modified and incorporated into questionnaires to quantify the correlation of personal attributes, work characteristics and job satisfactions among internal auditors. This research selected samples of the internal auditors from domestic companies, i.e. members of the Institute of Internal Auditors, in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, and Kaohsiung. A total of 567 questionnaires are issued and 376 questionnaires are collected with responding rate of 66%. After deleting 104 invalid questionnaires, the number of valid questionnaires is 272. Statistical analysis, such as variance, correlation and regression, is conducted with SPSS software. Empirical findings are as follows: 1. Significant difference exists between the demographic variables, such as job titles, the years of work experience, disciplined personal traits of internal auditors, certain dimensions of work properties and internal and external satisfactions in terms of job satisfaction. 2. There is significance difference between the ages and the competition dimension factors of achievement motivation. 3. General auditors are found to be significantly more satisfied with work than senior auditors or entry-level auditors. It is also apparent that the more senior the positions, the more job satisfactions. 4. The demographic variables, work characteristics, achievement motivations, and job satisfactions are partially correlated. At a closer look, we find that the friendliness as a personal attribute is significantly positive correlated with job satisfaction. Neuroticism as a personal attribute is significantly negative correlated with job satisfaction. 5. Personal attributes of internal auditors impose significant impacts to achievement motivations and job satisfactions. 6. Personal attributes are affected by achievement motivations and, in turn, they affect job satisfactions. Achievement motivations have intervening effects though the effects are mild.

Institutions of higher learning have contributed to their communities for many years. Universities were founded on the strong principles of service and have continued to embrace that commitment. Athletics Departments at the Division I level are required by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to develop community service programs for student-athletes to give back to the community while in college.The purpose of this study was to determine (1) what motivates student-athletes to participate in community service in college, (2) what values are associated with student-athletes, and (3) what is the leadership role of the Athletics Department in the student-athletes' willingness to participate in community service.Six motivation factors were identified during the analysis of the data: motivation by asking, motivation by social responsibility, motivation by being required, motivation to volunteer with intrinsic reward, motivation for career experience, and motivation through participation in a group/organization. These motivation factors were used as dependent variables and statistically significant relationships occurred when comparing socio-economic status, number of years of church service, and participation in co-curricular service.Furthermore, three value factors were identified: value of helping others, value of personal status, and values of family and friends. The value factors were used as independent variables and statistically significant relations occurred when comparing gender, father and mother volunteering, socio-economic status, number of years of church service, mandated service prior to college, service participation in college, extra-curricular service in college, co-curricular service in college and Dean mandated service in college.In addition, the role of the Athletics Departments was compared to other community service opportunities, for example, service-learning, co-curricular service, extra-curricular service, and mandated service. The Chalk Community Service Model (2007) was also used to illustrate various types of community service and to define such service clearly.Student-athletes and staff members were interviewed and several themes were identified such as the motivation to help others, the student-athletes' value of personal status, the Athletics Department's influence on their community service participation, mandatory community service, being a role model, and thanking the community were all statements made during interviews.

The main subject – the reasons of different motivations in learning process of children growing in one family. That lead me to chose the subject – children living together in one family with different learning motivation. In order to improve the child education and the family influence to the person there is a need to know that in scientific view. The main goal – to discover the peculiarities of different motivations in learning process of the children growing in one family in the secondary schools of Utena district. In order to achieve that goal I have these targets: 1. To describe the conception of motivations and theories of motivation, to highlight the connection between the demands and inner motivation; 2. To find out what influence of different motivations in the learning process of the children have micro level and the educational position of parents, the school. 3. To investigate peculiarities of different motivations in learning process of children growing in one family. In oder to go more deep in this subject of interest these methods of research were used: the study of the scientific literature; the analysis of the archival documents; questionnairing; statistical analysis. The methodology of this research is grounded on the theory of self – determination stresses inner motivation based on appropriate organizing of social environment where the person feels competent, autonomous and that helps him to keep terms with others. Research description: This research... [to full text]

The purpose of this research is to determine if a consumer’s demographics, perceived consumer effectiveness, and awareness of fair trade practices affect their level of hedonic and utilitarian motivations that ultimately influence their purchase intentions. Two separate studies were conducted: a focus group and a survey. Middle-aged and older respondents were more motivated to buy fair trade clothing by both hedonic and utilitarian motivations than younger respondents. Respondents with only some college or an Associate’s degree are more hedonically motivated than other education levels. Respondents with a high household income are more motivated by their hedonic and utilitarian motivations than respondents with a low income. Respondents with high PCE responded more to their hedonic and utilitarian motivations to buy fair trade clothing than consumers with low PCE. Respondents that see promotional campaigns for fair trade clothing are overall less motivated to buy fair trade clothing than respondents that do not. Respondents that feel that people could make fairer choices if they were aware of which companies had high ethical principles are overall more motivated than respondents that feel people could not. As a respondent’s buying intention grew, the respondent grew more motivated in both hedonic and utilitarian categories.

The power of natural disasters to significantly and drastically alter the lives of the people they touch is vast, and the response rate of the provided aid can be the difference between a successful recovery and not. This study examines the relationship between natural disasters and volunteerism. The analysis makes use of panel data measurements on volunteer rate and volunteer hours per resident as well as FEMA measurements of major natural disasters from 2005 – 2012. I find that states that experience a natural disaster in the current year experience a significant and positive increase in volunteer rate in the year following the disaster. The findings highlight the importance of policy focused on harnessing volunteer labor in the wake of natural disasters.

Culture has been demonstrated in the literature to have an effect on tourism behavior, including the way that tourists perceive their travel experience; different cultures often hold different values (LeBlanc, 2004 & Sussman and Rashcovsky, 1997). Thus, understanding visitors’ values in comparison to those of the host destination may alter how tourism businesses should relate to tourists, how a tourist may perceive their experience, as well as a tourist’s motivation to travel to a destination (Devesa, Laguna & Palacios, 2010). The combination of heritage and tourism, specifically the UNESCO world heritage site designation, has had a significant impact on tourist motivation as well through the prestige that the designation presents (Parks Canada, 2009). Current research lacks a focus on the individual in relation to the UNESCO world heritage site designation (Marcotte & Bourdeau, 2006). There is also a lack of research with a Canadian focus as well as comparisons amongst cultures (Kay, 2009). Although there has been some focus on Canada, the demographics have been skewed toward English speaking individuals; a lack of demographic information and data concerning native tongue has been collected (Gibson, McKelvie & DE MAN, 2008). The current study will take a Canadian focus by situating the research within Canada, specifically the UNESCO world heritage site of Quebec City, and compare the Anglophone and Francophone cultures. Anglophone and Francophone tourists are defined in this study as “people whose mother tongue is French (Francophone) or English (Anglophones)” (Gibson et al., 2008, p. 137). This study uses a questionnaire; which combines the questionnaires found in Lee, Lee and Wicks (2004) and Kozak (2001), in order to collect data on tourist travel motivations and satisfaction. The survey was conducted during October 2011, and involved the researcher travelling to different tourist sites, such as the Citadel and Le Musee de la Civilisation. The final data set consisted of 375 cases, and an effective response rate of 443. The objectives of this study were: 1.To examine the motivational differences between Canadian Anglophone and Francophone visitors. 2.To examine whether there are cultural differences in the travel needs of Francophone and Anglophone travelers.3.To examine whether tourism sites and businesses in Quebec City are meeting the needs and desires of tourists. To accomplish these objectives, the following research questions were asked: 1. Why do people visit heritage sites? Specifically, what motivates people to visit heritage sites? 2. Do Canadian Anglophone and Francophone cultures have different motivations for travelling? Sub-questions could include: in general, do different cultures have different motivations for travelling? For example, tourists may aim to connecting with their ancestral roots and culture. 3. Are Anglophone and Francophone tourists satisfied by their travel experience to Quebec City? In particular, are there differences in satisfaction levels between Anglophone and Francophone tourists? The computer program SPSS (version 19) was used to conduct statistical tests on, and interpret, the data that was collected. Independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVAs,Two-way ANOVAs and frequencies, modes and medians were performed in order to reach the research objectives and answer the research questions. This study provides insight into the travel motivations and satisfaction levels of Anglophone, Francophone, and bilingual visitors to Quebec City. The main implications of this study concern marketing, interpretation of sites, and service provision. The findings of this study present conflicting results surrounding the influence of family and culture on travel motivations of tourists. However, the findings of this study suggest that gender has a strong influence on tourist motivation, and marketing efforts should be targeting females as they were more significantly affected by the motivations examined in this study. There are also implications related to interpretation as there were significant differences found between Anglophone and Francophone participants on the motivation factor ‘cultural exploration experiences offered’. Finally there are implications surrounding service provision as the findings suggest that activities may be more geared towards the Anglophone travelers. This study will expand on these implications further.

New Zealand has a well-established network of accommodations, transportation, and visitor activities developed specifically for backpackers. These tourists account for almost ten percent of the country’s international visitor expenditure. To date, the majority of backpacker research has focussed on the traditional market segment of student and youth travellers, though a few quantitative studies have also researched the needs and preferences of older travellers using hostels and backpackers’ accommodations. Though more than 50 percent of New Zealand’s international visitors are over age 40, few currently stay at this type of accommodation. Using New Zealand as a case study, this thesis explores, qualitatively, the perspectives of older backpackers: their self-perceptions, their travel motivations, their needs and expectations in accommodation. In addition, it examines the points of view of the owners of small, independent backpackers’ accommodations to gain their perspectives on hosting a multi-generational clientele and on what the implications might be of expanding this market. Key findings show that older travellers who use backpackers’ accommodations technically meet all Pearce’s (1990) original definitions of “backpacker” – they prefer budget accommodations, they are socially interactive, they travel independently and flexibly, they travel for longer holidays than do most, and they choose informal and participatory activities. However, these travellers reject the self-definition of “backpacker”, an impasse that presents a lexical challenge to both scholars and tourism marketers. The final section addresses the impacts and implications of “backpacker” nomenclature on baby boomer travellers, academia, and the backpacker industry at large.

abstract: Problems with recruiting and retaining older volunteers have resulted in less than one-quarter of older adults participating in volunteer activities (BLS, 2016). Much emphasis on volunteer motivations have been placed to enhance volunteer engagement among late-midlife and older adults (e.g., Davis et al., 2003). Although career motivations have not been shown to predict late-midlife and older adults’ volunteer participation (Planalp & Trost, 2009), there is some empirical evidence supporting the relevance of career domains in later life (Greller, 2006). By reframing volunteering as a compensatory strategy, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate factors, including career-related interests, that affect volunteer satisfaction and commitment among late-midlife and older volunteers. A series of hypotheses were posited to examine contributions to volunteer satisfaction and to future volunteer commitment, including volunteer motivation and congruence between career interests of volunteers and characteristics of the volunteer activities (volunteer-activity congruence). The online survey contained measures for study variables, including the Volunteer Functional Inventory (volunteer motivations) and Personal Globe Inventory (career interests). Participants (N = 167) were recruited from community and government volunteer programs with the average age of volunteers being 68.65 years old (SD = 9.36; range 50 to 90 years). The majority of volunteers were female (54.5%), White or Caucasian (90.4%), married (58.2%), reported some college experience (96.5%) and were retired (68.9%). Results from the current study indicated that time volunteering, volunteer motivations, and volunteer-activity congruence did not significantly predict volunteer satisfaction, accounting for 9.2% of the variance. In contrast, the final model did significantly predict volunteer commitment and accounted for 13.1% of the model variance, with altruistic values remaining a significant contributor to volunteer commitment. Findings from the current study highlight inconsistencies noted in previous research regarding volunteer motivations, satisfaction, and commitment. Possible generational influences on altruistic values and volunteerism were also noted. Although volunteer-activity congruence alone was not predictive of volunteer satisfaction or of commitment, results from the study warrant additional investigations in career interests and volunteering among late-midlife and older adults. Limitations of the current study and implications for volunteer recruitment and retention were also discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 2016