The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on college recruiting trends. Before determining the future of recruiting events, a detailed outline of the logistics needed to plan a large-scale career fair event, specifically the Supply Chain Management Association (SCMA) career fair, is analyzed. SCMA is a student-run undergraduate organization at Arizona State University that hosts many professional events and opportunities for undergraduate students. Every semester, SCMA hosts a career fair that attracts desirable small and large companies across all industries. The logistics for both the in-person and virtual SCMA career fair are examined in the paper, with project scheduling, contingency planning, and benchmark data made available. Based on the comparison of both career fair formats, the strengths and weaknesses of each have been identified. Ultimately, the future of college career fairs is proposed based on survey feedback from SCMA career fair attendees, external research, and key discussion points throughout the report.

Consumers can purchase local food through intermediated marketing channels, such as grocery stores, or through direct-to-consumer marketing channels, for instance, farmers markets. While the number of farms that utilize direct-to-consumer outlets keeps increasing, the direct-to-consumer sales remain lower than intermediated sales. If consumers prefer to purchase local food through intermediated channels, then policies designed to support direct channels may be misguided. Using a variety of experiments, this dissertation investigates consumer preferences for local food and their demand differentiated by marketing channel. In the first essay, I examine the existing literature on consumer preferences for local food by applying meta-regression analysis to a set of eligible research papers. My analysis provides evidence of statistically significant willingness to pay for local food products. Moreover, I find that a methodological approach and study-specific characteristics have a significant influence on the reported estimates for local attribute. By separating the demand for local from the demand for a particular channel, the second essay attempts to disentangle consumers’ preferences for marketing channels and the local-attribute in their food purchases. Using an online choice experiment, I find that consumers are willing to pay a premium for local food. However, they are not willing to pay premiums for local food that is sold at farmers markets relative to supermarkets. Therefore, in the third essay I seek to explain the rise in intermediated local by investigating local food shopping behavior. I develop a model of channel-selection in a nested context and apply it to the primary data gathered through an online food diary. I find that, while some consumers enjoy shopping at farmers markets to meet their objectives, such as socialization with farmers, the majority of consumers buy local food from supermarkets because they offer convenient settings where a variety of products can be bought as one basket. My overall results suggest that, if the goal is to increase the sales of local food, regardless of the channel, then existing supply-chain relationships in the local food channel appear to be performing well.