The cost of creating new property and casualty insurance accounts is much greater than the costs associated with sustaining current accounts. Property and casualty insurance agency managers lack strategies to retain customers, the retention of whom has been found to improve revenue. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore strategies for insurance agency managers to retain customers and improve revenue. The population used for the study was 4 insurance agency managers in the Northeastern United States. The conceptual framework was customer relationship management, which is a technological and organizational mechanism for buffering market instability by understanding customer concerns. Three data collection methods were used: semistructured interviews, documentation review, and review of physical artifacts. The approach to data analysis was general inductive to allow codes to emerge from the raw data, one with qualitative software used to condense raw data into key themes. Five themes emerged in the study: customer relationship management, employee communication, customer satisfaction, influence of strategic planning, and competition. The study may contribute to social change by offering guidance to property and casualty insurance agency managers on business sustainability, which may result in improvements to the local economy through the provision of sustainable jobs to community members, increases in employee retention, and the offering of reliable services to customers.

Business leaders lack transformational leadership strategies to promote the use of digital communication in the electricity supply industry. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore transformational leadership strategies to promote the use of digital communication to mitigate electricity-related shutdowns and other electricity-related product recalls. The conceptual framework for this study aligns with general systems theory. The participants recruited in the study were business leaders, key account electricity consumers, and electricity consumers located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The rationale for the target population was their success in implementing transformational leadership strategies to promote the use of digital communication to mitigate the risk of electricity-related shutdowns. Data collection included semistructured interviews, direct observations with 14 participants, archival records/materials, and documents. Saldana's sequence of coding and data analysis technique using thematic coding and content analysis were used to determine specific themes and patterns derived from the 3 data sources. Based on methodological triangulation, 4 emergent themes evolved: business sustainability, digital media, electricity-related product recall crisis, and leadership efficacy that would assist leaders in growing a sustainable business in the electricity supply industry. The results of this study may contribute to positive social change by providing leaders with transformational leadership strategies for embracing digital media to ensure the industry's sustainability. This in turn would encourage improved economic activity, broad-based black economic empowerment, investments in health, education, environmental issues, and business opportunities for small businesses.

The present study assesses the effect of financial services advertising on investors’ decision-making by adopting a two-sided approach: a stimulus-side analysis to document the nature and prevalence of advertising strategies and advertising disclosures being used and a response-side investigation to examine the investors’ processing of and receptiveness to financial services advertising. By performing a content analysis of recently published financial services magazine advertisements, this study provides a contemporary look at whether and how financial services companies inform, persuade, and communicate with average investors. Results from this content analysis method is also used as a foundation to help design realistic test ads in the subsequent experimental design as a response-side approach. Combined with stimulus-side data, a between-group experimental design allows an empirical test of how the interaction between investors’ exposures to different advertising practices (i.e., advertising strategies and advertising disclosures) and individual regulatory focus might affect the ways investors perceive and evaluate the advertised financial product. In this stage, the likely processing and persuasive differences between advertising strategies and advertising disclosures and the potential moderating role of investors’ regulatory focus form the basis of the response-side approach to complement the content analysis phase. Results from the content analysis show that financial services companies increased informational advertising strategies and presented more advertising information during the three-year (2007-2009) period of interest. Findings indicate that financial services companies might play a role in enhancing the role of communication, information, and advertising in the marketplace for financial literacy. However, in order to adequately evaluate the range of investor’s response to advertising strategies and advertising disclosures, this study employs a two advertising strategies (information versus transformational) x two advertising disclosures (complete disclosure versus non-disclosure) x two regulatory focus (promotion-focused versus prevention-focused) between-subject, randomized, experimental design. Findings from the experimental design reveal that investors’ financial decision-making may be affected by internal characteristics (i.e., regulatory focus) as well as external information (i.e., advertising strategies and advertising disclosures). Especially, regulatory focus was found to be function as a moderating variable that can influence the direction and strength of relationship between different financial services advertising practices and the outcome variables of financial decision-making such as risk perceptions, product attitudes, and purchase intentions. Finally, theoretical, managerial, and policy implications are discussed and opportunities for the future research are identified.

This paper looks at the impact that competitive balance has on team revenues. The hypothesis that this paper is operating under is that higher levels of competitive balance will lead to higher levels of revenue. Two different measures of competitive balance will be used and regressions will be run to investigate whether high levels of the competitive balance measure are associated with high levels of revenue. The results of the data indicated that over all three time horizons (ten year, five year, and two year), high levels of variability in playoff appearances were associated with high revenue for Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The results also indicate that over a two year time span, high standard deviation in winning percentage were associated with higher revenue in both MLB and the National Football League (NFL) and also that high standard deviation of winning percentage over a ten year period were associated with lower revenues in the NFL. The data provides consistent support for the hypothesis of a positive relationship between competitive balance and revenue in MLB and inconsistent support in the NFL. This inconsistent relationship in the NFL is hypothesized to be due to differences in time horizons. Over the short term, fans like to see high variability in winning percentage because it gives them faith that their team will be good the next season. In the long term however, fans do not like a lot of variability in their team and would rather see a consistent winner.

The purpose of this research project was to develop a reliable and valid scale to assess the perceived message sensation value (PMSV) of print messages. The goal of this project was accomplished by conducting two studies. Study one involved collecting 397 undergraduate students’ responses to one high and one low sensation value anti-smoking message, while for study two, 284 undergraduate students’ responses to one high and one low sensation value anti-crystal meth message were collected. The results of the studies highlighted that the PMSV of a print message can be assessed using three dimensions (emotional arousal, novelty, and dramatic impact) and 12 items. Additionally, the newly developed PMSV scale for print messages remained stable across sensation-seeking levels and two different sets of anti-drug messages. Analysis of the data collected also provided support for the convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of the PMSV scale for print messages. Furthermore, from the data it can be inferred that PMSV is an important element that contributes to perceived message effectiveness and attitude towards the ad. The findings associated with this research project also suggest that both high and low sensation seekers preferred high over low sensation value print messages. Lastly, the implications of the PMSV scale for print messages were addressed.

Word-of-mouth communication (WOMC) has been recognized as a powerful marketing communication medium that many consider beyond marketers' control and yet is a reliable, creditable, trustworthy information-gathering tool, especially in credence-based services (CBS). To date, the various types of WOMC messages have not yet been adequately studied in the context of CBS. Using the individual face-toface convergence interview (CI) technique as the primary data collection method of exploratory research, this study attempts to fill this gap by describing the types, the characteristics, and the significance of WOMC messages involved in a CBS information gathering process (e.g. selection of an Australian higher education service). Marketers in the higher education sector feel WOMC advertising is unfamiliar and less manageable, but powerful in practice, especially in recruiting overseas Asian students. This study took the strengths of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), N*Vivo 2, to manage qualitative transcriptions and enhance the data analysis process in organizing, linking, coding categorizing, organizing, summarizing behaviour patterns in order to explore the insightful findings and answer research questions. The study summarizes participants' motivation items and the specific information gathering steps as the foundation to discover the three types of WOMC messages (service information gathering, subjective personal experience, and personal advice) the characteristics of WOMC messages and the significance of WOMC messages in the CBS information gathering process. In theoretical terms, the findings on the role of types of WOMC messages have extended Beltramini model in the information gathering stage. In terms of the management implications, this research advances the current understanding of the types of WOMC messages, insightful WOMC characteristics and significances in behaviour patterns in the CBS information gathering process. As a result, university marketers are able to effectively cultivate various types of WOMC messages in promotion campaigns.

Autonomous, otherwise known as self-driving, vehicles represent the future of transportation. Vehicles that drive themselves offer far reaching benefits from increased leisure and productivity for individuals to significant improvements in congestion and infrastructure for governments. The autonomous car will radically change the way we look at transportation, and they are right around the corner. However, the question remains: are we ready? Are we, as a society, ready to hand over the steering the wheel and trust autonomous vehicles with our safety? This paper predicts how the autonomous car will spread through society by analyzing and applying the product qualities and consumer types described in Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Corporations, specifically Uber and Amazon, as opposed to individual consumers, will be the first to adapt, purchase and implement autonomous vehicles. Contrary to popular belief, these vehicles will not be successfully introduced as privately owned vehicles, and therefore, must be marketed towards corporations and organizations.

The advancement of digital entertainment media has given audiences the ability to skip ads that do not interest them. Consequently, brands face the challenge of creating ads that can compel audiences and finding media outlets that can effectively reach target audiences. Brands today use product placements to promote their products because movie audiences are generally attentive to ads when they are incorporated in a movie’s narrative. Marvel Cinematic Universe is a globally recognized entertainment franchise that uses product placements strategically to promote brands in their movies and TV shows. In this study, I conduct rhetorical analyses of select product placements in Marvel movies to investigate how they employ different rhetorical appeals in promoting products; and discuss how the appeals can influence audience perceptions of the products advertised. My findings suggest that product placements in Marvel movies leverage Aristotle's rhetorical appeals to draw audiences' attention and influence their opinions about products.

The tourism industry in the United States is constantly changing and being influenced by social media, specifically Instagram. Culinary brands use Instagram to advertise their restaurants and dishes in a creative, visual way. As a result, Instagram is now being used as a tool by tourists and both potential and current customers to share their dining experiences and find these locations based on the visual appeal. This study provides a content analysis of Instagram account information and photo composition within eight popular culinary tourism destinations by examining the strategies used by the accounts. 50 randomly selected photos were used from eight popular culinary tourism locations. Framing, Uses and Gratifications, and Diffusion of Innovation theories were the theoretical framework for the study. The results of this study indicated key characteristics of some of the most popular culinary tourism destinations on Instagram.

This research presents an exploratory study concerning organizations’ best practices of Web analytics for a successful performance and the factors influencing the companies’ successful adoption of Web analytics. A qualitative research methodology was used engaging a comprehension of Web analytics adoption using the Diffusion of Innovation theory (Rogers, 1995) and the theory building approach (Eisenhardt, 1989). Interviews with five companies from different industries were conducted. Findings suggest that for a successful performance, companies should consider: • Data for better decision making. • Web analytics barriers • Selecting the right KPIs and metrics based on the company’s goals. • Web analytics trends A mixed-method approach comprising other extensive methods of data collection should be conducted. Investigation of the use of specific metrics and KPIs within companies from different industries, as well as the strategies for working past the barriers that impede companies from adopting Web analytics should be considered.