Smith, Allen E.

A robust audience profile informs advertising campaign
planning. The systematic research-in-progress
will reveal a rigorous audience profile for
FitBit-Flex 2, a wearable fitness tracking technology,
through secondary research using credible business
databases, the survey research method (e.g., consent form, questionnaire pre-test, convenience sampling,
personal distribution and pick-up), descriptive
statistics, and reliability assessment. The audience
profile will inform the campaign problem, campaign
objectives, and message strategy by revealing brand
concept elements and message tactics to convey.
Secondary research using FAU Library’s business
databases has revealed marketplace, environmental,
competitive conditions, and the audience’s
demographic, geographic, generational, and psychographic
characteristics. This basic profile will be enriched
by survey research using items extracted from
reliable and valid marketing scales. Motives, benefits,
product perceptions and preferences, relative
performance, lifestyle relevance, hedonistic pleasure,
and decision making strategies will be subjected to
measurement. Advertisements will be based on the
audience profile, persuasion theory, and creative
thinking techniques.

Competitive theory suggests market challengers
embrace either a head-to-head attack or flanking
maneuver as alternative strategies to attack the
market leader. Our research-in-progress, a threephase
systematic research plan of action, will reveal
whether Monster Energy drink should convey action
sports (head-to-head attack) or academic performance
(flanking strategy) in advertising targeting
college students to challenge Red Bull, the market
leader. Phase I, Content Analysis of Red Bull Advertising,
revealed emphasis on action sports. However,
Phase II (i.e., secondary, qualitative, and survey research)
revealed college students use energy drinks
to increase academic performance. Phase III, Experimental
Research, estimates the relative persuasive
effectiveness of action sports versus academic
themes in Monster advertisements. Ho: no different
in persuasive effectiveness among action sports, academic
performance, and neutral theme (control) on
dependent variables (likeability, relevance, intention
to buy). Ethical standards were met by using valid
scales borrowed from scholarly marketing journals,
consent form, and APA standards.

Consumer insights and persuasion theories enable
advertisers to make better message strategy decisions.
In recommending message strategy for high
technology products, existing source effects theory
appears challenged by insights into the freshman
college student market. Traditional theory posits
credible spokespersons (e.g., trained experts) be
used in advertising complex products, such as
high-technology computers. However, findings of
our experiment contested existing theory by revealing
that although newly-entering freshman believed
experts provided more cognitive information about
a high-tech computer, they questioned their ability
to understand and use expert advice in selecting
the best computer. Moreover, results indicated that
a referent - an upper-class college student - would
be more able to convey a computer’s: 1) usefulness,
2) relatedness, and 3) association with the freshmen
college experience. Finally, the referent out performed
a celebrity in source likeability. The experiment
used a manipulation check, questionnaire
pretest, a survey, chi-square method, and consent
form.

Laboratory testing has been significantly changed
by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act
(ACA) which has influenced reimbursements, patient
choice, and direct access testing policies. However,
the impact of the ACA on individual laboratory facilities
is unclear. The focus of this research initiative is to identify how this regulatory change has influenced
laboratory facilities. We hypothesize that the ACA has
had a positive impact on the healthcare system by
providing more Americans access to care which increases
patient laboratory testing services while reducing
cost. All U.S. laboratories are required to have
a Medical Director who is usually an MD, DO, or PhD.
This research will directly survey key personnel in order
to shed insight into how the ACA has directly influenced
the industry. The questionnaire has already
been deployed electronically using Qualtrics survey
software. Preliminary findings suggest that the ACA
has indeed influenced laboratory revenues, Medicare,
and Insurance reimbursement.

Product design, a product’s outward appearance, associates
with successful innovation when the design
triggers buyers to develop positive impressions. The
project assessed impressions of forty respondents
to four distinctive hoverboard designs: 1) a prototypical
design, 2) an ornate design, 3) an atypical design,
and 4) a radical design. The original research
extended extant research into design impressions of
functionality, aesthetics, and symbolism to add an assessment
of ergonomic impressions. The systematic
research method entailed a literature review, qualitative
research, manipulation check, questionnaire
pretest, convenience sample, and Chi-Square method
enabling inferences with 90% confidence. A consent
form and adherence to FAU’s academic integrity
provided an ethical foundation. Results suggest that designers of hoverboards conform to the prototypical
design to increase positive functional impressions,
avoid ornate designs, and consider buyers’ skill level
and self-expression when developing atypical designs
due to respondents’ negative impressions of
safety risks and ability to control a hoverboard.

Do birds of a feather really flock together? : The effects of relatability of college lifestyles in ads promoting the Starbucks brand

The development of innovations is a company’s lifeline to a successful future. However, the rate of new product failures is alarming. Companies are faced with important decisions regarding which new products should be launched. The purpose of this study is determine if a stripped down concept formulation generated different reactions from respondents that did a lifestyle embellished visual concept formulation in a concept test for an innovative lifestyle brand. Fifty participants answered questions regarding a set of t-shirts with catchy sayings, designed specifically to fit college lifestyles. The embellished version produced higher scores in how participants thought the new t-shirts reflected who they are and how the t-shirts can fit in situations similar to respondents. Our recommendation to companies is to use an embellished concept test when marketing lifestyle products. Adding more detail to the concept test can help consumers visualize how the new product will fit with their lifestyles.

This paper is an exploration of how the definition of an experience has changed over time and the impact this change has had on experiential marketing and branding. In the literature, there are numerous implications as to what this morphing definition means to businesses and how businesses should react in order to stay competitive in a society that is hyper stimulated. Research into what defines an experience and the impact this definition has on business is vital because in order for businesses to offer innovative experiences they need to understand what an experience is and the role it plays in the success of their organization. Furthermore, a deep understanding of what comprises an experience and how to manipulate those elements to create a unique and targeted experience are tools a company could use to reinvent itself, change its brand meaning, and rewrite its marketing strategy.
<br>The evolution of marketing and branding has taken an exponential leap since technology changed the way society functions. A wide breadth of literature is dedicated to virtual experiences and internet based branding and marketing advances. In addition to virtual experiences, this paper will also explore the success of experience based brands such as Disney and Lexus. The implications of this success have gone beyond name brands and into niche markets. Finally, the paper will explore the implications these findings have for managers. Our hypothesis is that marketing and delivering a complete experience is more vital in the modern business world than it used to be.
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Nonloyal consumer purchasing behavior has long been a topic of interest to marketers. A good deal of evidence unearthed suggests that many consumers do not buy the same brand time after time and may rarely remain brand loyal over the long-term. Progress in understanding nonloyal purchasing behavior is limited due, in part, to the lack of attention paid to defining the construct and its domain. The Determinants of Consumer Varied Purchasing Behavior (DCVPB) Scale developed in the study permits marketing managers and researchers to identify the facets of nonloyal purchasing behavior, termed Consumer Varied Purchasing Behavior, underlying consumer purchasing behavior for a brand or product category in question. Moreover, an Extended Taxonomy of Consumer Varied Purchasing Behavior (CVPB) is offered. It is needed to revamp and reorganize better the existing terms and add new, relevant dimensions to the structure. All forms of explicable nonloyal purchasing behavior are viewed as explicable brand switching. It is classified into four subcategories termed: (1) past purchase dissatisfaction; (2) promotion effect; (3) hybrid; and (4) CVPB. As postulated here, CVPB is defined as any explicable consumer choice that differs from its predecessor for reasons other than dissatisfaction with the past brand and/or pure promotion effect. Instead, CVPB is motivated by one of thirteen facets or determinants of consumer varied purchasing behavior (DCVPB). CVPB is marked by either exploratory behavior (i.e., absolute or relative novelty seeking) or variety seeking among known brands alternation among known brands, (i.e., alteration among known brands, switching among known brands to enjoy a simple change of pace). The study revealed thirteen facets of CVPB, which include: (1) affiliation, (2) change in constraints, (3) change in feasible set, (4) change in other environmental factors, (5) change in tastes, (6) decision uncertainty, and (7) desire for the unfamiliar. Other dimensions include: (8) desire for variation among known brands/products, (9) distinction, (10) information seeking, (11) multiple situations, (12) multiple users, and (13) physiological influences. Analysis suggests that the scale meets rigorous standards for reliability and validity. The DCVPB Scale is a diagnostic test revealing to managers the facets causing CVPB in the product/service-market of interest.