Marketers are constantly striving to discover strategies that promote the greatest amount of word of mouth (WOM) from their consumers. WOM is perceived as one of the most reputable forms of marketing by consumers due to the authenticity and sincerity that is associated with the strategy. With WOM being an organic and genuine response from consumers, marketers are often faced with difficulties or failure when explicitly requesting that consumers engage in positive WOM behaviors. However, there are certain practices that firms can implement to encourage WOM behaviors from their consumers. This study examines the effectiveness of two different freebie marketing methods and the impact that each method’s presentation has on a consumer’s willingness to participate in WOM. The results of this study will be used to provide companies with guidelines and recommendations to successfully create freebie marketing strategies that drive authentic WOM surrounding their brand and products.

Since the global financial crisis of 2007-8, interest in worker-cooperatives and alternative forms of organization has surged. Mondragon, located in the Basque region of Spain, represents the largest federation of worker-cooperatives around the world, consisting of 98 cooperatives and 143 subsidiaries, which earned a total revenue of $14.5 billion in 2019. While previous attempts to establish a similar model have historically reached limited success, Mondragon has achieved a unique balance of remaining economically viable, on the one hand, and staying true to its founding principles of democratic governance, on the other. This paper sets out to analyze the democratic structure and the cooperative culture at the heart of the Mondragon model, as well as the new type of human relationship that it fosters. In particular, this relationship is one in which individual well-being is bound up with communal well-being that avoids the antagonistic clash between the capital and labor.

This paper is an exploration of numerical optimization as it applies to the consumer choice problem. Suggested algorithms are intended to compute solutions to the Marshallian problem, and some can extend to the dual given the suggested modifications. Each method seeks to either weaken the sufficient conditions for optimization, converge to a solution more efficiently, or describe additional properties of the decision space. The purpose of this paper is to explore constrained quasiconvex programming in a less complicated environment by design of Marshallian constraints.

Amid the fast-growing market of plant-based alternatives to conventional meat, there still lies uncertainty about consumers’ preferences for these new products. Through an online survey using a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism, I test the effect that environmental information provision has on consumers’ immediate and long-term willingness- to-pay for the Whopper and Impossible Whopper from Burger King. Respondents were randomly assigned to either a control group or a treatment group, and both received information on taste in an attempt to isolate the effect of environmental information. Results show that certain groups respond to the information differently. Specifically, consumers who care about climate change are affected greatly by environmental in- formation suggesting these “climate advocates” are not fully informed despite the efforts of Impossible Foods. Vegetarians and highly educated individuals have relatively stronger preferences for the plant-based burger, in line with previous studies. Results also show a lasting effect of information on WTP, suggesting little need for repeated interventions.

Using the Development Accounting methodology specified in Caselli (2004), we investigate the potential of PM2.5, a measure of pollution, as an explanation of cross-country differences in GDP using available Macroeconomic data from the Penn World Table and the WHO. We find that the addition of PM2.5 makes improvements to the model within the expectations of the literature. This adjustment shows promise for use in cooperation with other, more potent economic factors.

This paper analyzes the economic, legal, and social aspects of the legal cannabis industry in the United States. These analyses include the history, current status, and future of all three components, all with an emphasis on reforming the existing systems in place in order to achieve the most beneficial cannabis industry possible. Many reformative legal implications are made, stressing the importance of decriminalizing cannabis, releasing nonviolent and cannabis-related criminals from prison, and expunging their criminal records. The paper places a heavy emphasis on the importance of designing the legal system to be fair and equal across all racial and ethnic groups, given that people of color have been hit the hardest in terms of cannabis-related issues. Economic components such as tax design and access to proper financial institutions are also included, as well as the social implications that have both gone into and are a product of the long-standing war on drugs. While there is no comprehensive solution for how to fix every aspect of the industry, this paper highlights key aspects to be aware of in the design stages of potential federal legalization.

One of the most pressing questions in economics is “why are some countries richer than others?” One methodology designed to help answer the question is known as “Development Accounting,” a framework that organizes the determinants of income into two categories: differences in inputs and differences in efficiency. The objective of our work is to study to what extent differences in the levels of pollution can help explain income differences across countries. To do this, we adjusted a factor-only model to allow us to enter PM2.5, a measure of pollution that tracks the concentration of fine particulate matter in the air and looked to see if the model’s predictive power improved. We ultimately find that we can improve the model’s success in predicting GDP by .5 - 6%. Thus, pollution is unlikely to be a major force in understanding cross-country income differences, but it can be used with other economic factors to potentially magnify its impact with other additions in the future.

Executive Casework, Inc. is a custom commercial mill working company based in San<br/>Jose, CA. Although the company originally only focused on cabinets, it has expanded to include custom reception desks and solid surface countertops to meet demand. The company founded by David and Mark Brown has humble beginnings, originally located in Mark's garage. Over the last two decades, the company has seen astronomical growth buoyed up by the fast increase in commercial real estate in Silicon Valley.<br/>However, the company is currently facing considerable uncertainty like many others in the industry. These resulting overhead costs, when paired with future uncertainty of demand created by geopolitical trends, work from home, and Covid-19, create a notable problem for Executive Casework, Inc. As such, this thesis will focus on strategic steps Executive Casework, Inc. can make to capitalize on current macrocosmic trends, as well as trends within their own industry. More specifically, it will be a strategic analysis identifying the key external forces driving the fluctuating revenues in the commercial custom mill working industry, followed by an analysis of these external forces (magnitude and longevity). We will end with a framework for capitalizing on these trends by organizationally and physically placing a company like our exemplar company, Executive Casework, in the best position to realize maximum profitability.

Young adults with type one diabetes mellitus (T1DM) face unique challenges in managing their chronic disease. While simultaneously navigating major life transitions and becoming fully responsible for their diabetes-self management behaviors (DSMB), social support can be an integral part of disease management. Many young adults enroll in college where student organizations are prevalent including diabetes related social groups on some campuses, which provide a rich source of social support for students with diabetes as they transition to greater independence in diabetes management. This study used descriptive analysis and personal network analysis (PNA) to investigate which aspects of being a part of a diabetes related social group and personal networks, in general, are pertinent to successful diabetes management, measured by a Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) among 52 young adults with T1DM. The majority of respondents indicated that since being a part of College Diabetes Network (CDN) or another diabetes-related social group, they increased time spent paying attention to, and felt more empowered to make changes to their diabetes management routine, and they were able to generally take better care of their diabetes. Half of respondents noticed their health improved since joining, and over half felt less burdened by their diabetes. Though no personal network measures were highly correlated with higher Diabetes Self-Management Scores, the degree to which health matters were discussed within their personal network was the most associated personal network measure. Our findings help contextualize the ways in which young adults’ DSMB are influenced by participation in diabetes- related social groups, as well as introduce the use of personal network analysis in gauging important aspects of social capital and support in young adults with chronic disease.

Make-A-Wish America has a world-renowned reputation as one of the best nonprofits in the world, and is widely known amongst many individuals looking to support or donate to nonprofits. Their work is not only a fundamental part of human services care within the nonprofit world, but their unique online platform and social media presence is a differentiating factor among many other nonprofits and for-profit businesses alike. The purpose of this study is to research Make-A-Wish America’s brand management and marketing strategies as a nonprofit, including secondary research on the brand itself, analyze all environmental factors that affect its marketing strategy, assess their market segmentation, targeting, and positioning, and evaluate their integrated marketing communications strategy. Additionally, I conducted interviews with Make-A-Wish America professionals working within the brand management department at the national office. The individuals were interviewed with various marketing backgrounds within the brand department to gain a deeper insight into their individual experiences and assessments of Make-A-Wish America’s brand management and marketing strategy. My specific thesis goals include utilizing my marketing recommendations to grow Make-A-Wish America’s profits, specifically in actions to increase fundraising. Also, my thesis goal is to find recommendations to outperform competition in gaining supporters and donors as well as, more recently, analyzing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and making recommendations on how they can grow despite this economic tragedy. The results suggest that there are common themes amongst my secondary research and primary research, resulting in marketing recommendations that Make-A-Wish America can utilize to better market to donors and supporters in the future, giving them competitive advantage over other nonprofits and combatting the effects of COVID-19. Recommendations for Make-A-Wish America include investing in their own research and development in terms of customer relationship management tools, online fundraising campaigns, and technology to better inform donors of their mission, vision, and values, diversifying their donor profile and targeted communities, and taking advantage of their point of parity within their social media online platform.