Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Business Administration, Marketing|Business Administration, Sports Management'

As technology development has made the world better, the benefits of such development are also increasingly related to sports activities. Many sports devices have been combined with Information Technology (IT). One great example is an IT-combined sport device called "Activity Tracker." It is a device that is worn on the body and records a user's body status such as calories burned, steps walked, or heart rates. With people's increasing attention to their health, it is expected that the popularity of the devices will increase. To aid in the sales of activity trackers in a competitive market, the manufacturers should be familiar with the impact of product cues such as brand, price, and design on consumers' perceived quality, which will influence their willingness to buy.

The study was quantitative; paper and pencil questionnaires were utilized. The instruments were derived from three existing studies. The study participants were Florida State University undergraduate and graduate students; 200 questionnaires were distributed to students enrolled in Lifetime Activity Program (LAP) courses and/or visiting a recreation center on campus. The final sample size was 144 participants. The data was analyzed using several statistical methods with PASW Statistics 20.0. From the descriptive statistics, the frequency counts and/or mean scores were computed for profiling the participants. The Cronbach's alpha scores, and item-to-total correlations were utilized to assess the internal consistency of the factors measured with the questionnaires. The assumptions of multiple regression, including as normality, linearity, homoscedasticity, and multicollinearity were assessed. Multiple regressions were utilized to gauge the extent to which price, brand, and design influence perceived quality. As the final step, a simple regression was utilized to measure the relationship between perceived quality and willingness to buy.

Examination of this data revealed several significant results regarding the relationships between product cues, perceived quality, and willingness to buy. While brand (t=6.779; p<.05; beta=.522) and design (t=5.934; p<.05; beta=.450) had a positive impact on perceived quality, price (t=-1.681; p>.05; beta=-.139) had no significant impact on perceived quality. Perceived quality (t=6.060; p<.05; beta=.453) had a positive impact on willingness to buy; however, the variance (20%) accounted for in willingness to buy was low, meaning that there may be mediating variables between perceived quality and willingness to buy.

The current funding situation for community college athletics and future funding remains unclear (Byrd & Williams, 2007). The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of athletic directors to understand the financing issues with athletic programs. Sixteen athletic directors from the state of California were interviewed until the point of data saturation on the topic. Analysis of the interview responses revealed that managing the athletic programs, the budget, and Title IX are ways athletic directors can deal with the financial issues. The results of the current research study may provide current and future business leaders with information that will facilitate making decisions about financing community college athletic programs.

This purpose of this mixed model study was to ascertain the implicit leadership theory (ILT) content held by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I baseball teams. Data were collected during the 2012 baseball season from 34 Division I programs, and 1032 coaches and players participated in the research.

As an information-processing approach to understanding leadership, ILT is concerned with the knowledge structures persons maintain and utilize when identifying and interacting with leaders. Ample ILT research has examined such structures within the business context. This study, however, is believed to be the first in-depth exploration of ILT content within the sports domain.

Leadership categorization and connectionist architecture served as the theoretical bases for the study's four research questions, which addressed: the effect that the target cues leader and coach had on ILT (RQ1); the impact that team context (RQ2) and player tenure (RQ3) had on ILT; and whether a sports ILT existed—and if so, how it differed from a business ILT (RQ4). Research was conducted in four sequential steps using qualitative and quantitative methods. Importantly, no external or explicit measures were used to collect data, as such instruments can bias implicit perceptions. The primary tools for processing quantitative data were principal components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.

A 21-item, 5-factor ILT model for NCAA Division I baseball was derived from factor analysis processes and generalized across two separate data sets. This model demonstrated the existence of a sports ILT, as it differed noticeably from models that explain ILT content within the business domain. Data also indicated that team context had some correlation with ILT differences, whereas player tenure did not. Furthermore, results showed that players do delineate between the targets leader and coach; that is, being perceived as a leader within Division I baseball may not correspond with holding an official organizational/team position.

This study's findings strengthen the idea that leadership is social-cognitive phenomenon that differs according to context. Implications for applying these findings within Division I baseball are discussed. Additionally, this research might be cause for revisiting some of the previous models of leadership within sports studies.

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to test the full-range leadership theory and measure the relationship, if any, between team captains’ leadership styles and team outcome (by winning percentage). Analyzing the relationship between team captains’ leadership styles and performance would add knowledge to the existing research on leadership development in the area of sport. A review of literature yielded few studies of athlete leadership and performance compared to coach leadership. Discovering potential relationships between athlete leadership and performance may challenge beliefs that coach leadership is more important than other types of informal leadership. The study involved the surveying of student-athletes, team captains, and coaches of collegiate athletic programs from a single Division III College located in the Midwest. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5x) was used to assess the four leadership constructs: transformational, transactional, passive-avoidant, and laissez-faire leadership of team captains. Results of the correlation indicated a significant relationship between transformational and transactional leadership mean scores and team performance via winning percentage. ANOVA regression results indicated that no significant differences existed between team captain’s mean scores that could be attributed to the survey participant’s role on their respective team. Recommendations for future research include replication with a larger sample, including more schools and various sports.

This study attempted to identify the issues confronting athletic directors at the NCAA Division I FBS membership institutions from the following athletic conferences: American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and Sun Belt Conference. These conferences are considered to be non-BCS automatic qualifying conferences. Since the literature showed a lack of research on most of the issues that impact the university athletic director, this research attempted to present an enhanced perspective of the issues that the athletic director must confront in his or her career and daily life. The researcher utilized an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design to identify and explore the issues. Twenty-two of sixty-one athletic directors responded to a thirteen item electronic survey. Follow-up interviews were administered to six of the athletic directors who indicated a willingness to participate. Athletic directors identified fundraising, managing the budget and finance issues, and student-athlete welfare as the top three issues affecting his or her career. Athletic directors identified the following as those issues that consumed most of their time: fundraising, managing his or her department's budget, and staying current on NCAA regulations. Athletic directors identified the following as their most stressful issues: fundraising, budget, decision making, personnel, the pending autonomy of the high resource conferences, and general uncertainty. Warning signs identified by the athletic directors included: national lawsuits, declining attendance (both alumni/fans and students) at sporting events, and decreasing state support. In addition, individual athletic directors identified the following issues that may impact the future: negative impact on the United States Olympic movement due to significantly increased emphasis on football and men's basketball, impact of non-practioner perspective in governance of collegiate athletics, and possible significant change in the definition of amateurism.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of smart device's interactivity on customer value co-creation in the sports industry through bridging social capital and collective efficacy. A total of 262 students participated in the study, and a structural equation modeling (SEM) was carried out to measures the relationship between variables in the conceptual model. The results revealed that interactivity consisting of user control, responsiveness, and synchronicity had a significant impact on bridging social capital. In addition, both technological interactivity and bridging social capital were positively associated with collective efficacy. Lastly, collective efficacy had a positive influence on co-creation value, but bridging social capital did not appear to directly affect co-creation value. Based on these results, this study suggests the need to take advantage of new platforms that can build value co-creation with customers in the rapidly changing marketing environment.

Government funding shortages are changing the financial landscape of collegiate athletic programs. Athletic administrators struggling to discover alternative financial sources have frequently focused their efforts on increasing home game attendance, which leads to increased concession and licensing revenues. The problem is that schools sporting programs will continue to lose funds if schools do not attract and maintain a larger fan base at athletic events. The purpose of this multiple case study is to identify and explore the factors that motivate fans attendance at NCAA Division II football games using both a survey and interviews at four universities within the Great American Conference, the Lone Star Conference, and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The research study that is employed is based on multiple case study and triangulated data collected from a small sample group at four universities: Northeastern State, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Southwestern Oklahoma State, and West Texas A & M. Data collection methods included the administration of a Sport Fan Motivation Scale survey to fans at a home game for each university, individual interviews of the sample group athletic directors, and review of online sources. Key results of the study yielded significant insight into optimal methodologies athletic administrators can employ to increase program revenues by increasing home game attendance. The findings were evaluated based upon the data collected utilizing four research questions. Economic factors were most likely to affect motivation of fans to attend home football games. Game attractiveness factors have a positive effect on fans at home football games. Demographic factors affect the motivation of fans to attend home football games. Residual factors affect the motivation of fans to attend football games. Many commonalities were found in the collected data that helped to identify themes and connect this information to previous research described in the literature review. A review of economic, team oriented, demographic, and ancillary factors yielded results indicating that integration of promotional activities, ensuring ample parking space for non-tailgaters, and a feeling of commitment or identification with the team are means to increase attendance.

This study purposely examined the types of extrinsic rewards in male youth soccer programs and measures those that are most preferred by players to influence their participation motivation. It also checked if young soccer players skew towards programs that provide more reward opportunities. For this reason, 1000 teenage soccer players were randomized in an online survey administered by a community-based organization. 800 chose programs that provided extrinsic rewards and identified fame, trophies, travel, scholarship, exposure opportunities and money as the six main rewards that influenced their decision to join soccer programs.

A Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ) was then modified using the identified factors and issued to 400 participants between ages 14-18 years, randomly selected from 20 Las Vegas soccer clubs in another survey to rank extrinsic rewards according to importance. Data was collected and entered into the SPSS 17.0 software for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation. Cronbach alpha was applied to measure internal consistencies based on the demographics and attitudes towards participation motivation. One way ANOVA sought to determine the extent to which the identified extrinsic rewards affected participation motivation, and regression analysis examined the relationships across all factors.

Results from data analysis revealed that, exposure opportunities constituted the most important extrinsic reward that influenced young male soccer players' decision to join soccer programs. Scholarship, travel, fame, money and trophies followed suit. One-way ANOVA showed that race had a significant effect on scholarship, exposure opportunities, and fame. Multivariate regressions revealed that young players that are more motivated by scholarship, fame and travel tended to have higher ability levels. These effects were held even after adjusting for grade and age.

Results from the online survey also concluded that more young players tend to be attracted to soccer programs that provide extrinsic reward opportunities. Thus, extrinsic rewards should be considered and included in programs to enhance motivation.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between Facebook usage and self-efficacy in collegiate athletes. The data for this study was provided by St. Thomas University athletes in the United States. The variables used to represent Facebook usage, Facebook frequency of use, Facebook number of friends and Facebook frequency status updates were measured using Facebook Intensity Scale (Ellison et al., 2007). The dependent variable used in this study is self-efficacy which is measured using the General Self-efficacy (GSE) developed (Jerusalem & Schwarzer, 1979). Data analyses indicated a statistically significant relationship between Facebook number of friends and self-efficacy. The data also indicated significant inverse relationship between Facebook frequency status updates and self-efficacy. The results of the correlation analysis indicated inverse relationships between frequency status updates and frequency of use, and frequency status updates and Facebook number of friends. These findings suggest that once the coaches, administrators, and professors attend to the issue of Facebook usage for collegiate athletes, it may enhance self-efficacy and psychological benefits.

The purpose of this study is to determine if a league guided sportsmanship program will have an effect on the sportsmanship behaviors of youth sports athletes. The sample will draw from 8-14 year old participants in an 8-week volleyball program in a Southern California School District's youth volleyball program. The study will assess whether there will be measurable change in the sportsmanship behaviors including: respect for the game, rules, opponents, authority, playing fair, leadership and personal conduct.

An observational study methodology will be used with a modified version of the Sportsmanship Observation Sheet. Observers will use the adapted sportsmanship observation sheet to measure the sportsmanship behaviors of the players during the first week of the season. Observations and implementation of the league guided sportsmanship curriculum will take place during the first week of the season. A second day of observations will take place the sixth week of the season and data will be collected and analyzed to examine if the sportsmanship curriculum had an effect on the sportsmanship behaviors of the players, parents, and coaches.

Student nurse athletes may experience difficulties effectively obtaining academic success in nursing programs. Many athletes need extra support and assistance to complete a nursing degree. Some institutions provide general academic courses to enhance the athlete’s academic skills and knowledge. There is limited literature addressing success of student athletes in Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs. The purpose of this study was to identify facilitators, barriers, and motivators of student nurse athletes that attribute to academic success. A quantitative descriptive comparative study was conducted from September 8, 2014 to October 3, 2014. Data were obtained on sixty-one participants that included athlete and non-athlete nursing students. All participants completed the Demographic-Socio-Economic Questionnaire and the Facilitators/ Barriers Questionnaire. In addition, the athletes (n=18) also completed the Motivational Questionnaire. Results indicated that both groups ranked academics as requiring the highest demand of time. In second rank were athletics (athletes) and family (non-athletes). Both groups ranked time management as first and prioritization second as being critical to academic success. Student athletes identified facilitators as support with time management and prioritization. Barriers were schedule conflicts between classes and clinical days. Motivators were the needs to successfully complete academic and athletic related tasks. This study reinforced the importance of academic support services for student nurse athletes to assist in their academic success. These services can provide time management and prioritization skills which are facilitators needed to assist the student in managing the unique characteristics of being a successful student nurse athlete.

Background: Participation in college athletics comes with inherent risks. Many of these risks relate to the psychosocial safety and well-being of college athletes. These risks include depression, suicide, alcohol abuse, substance abuse, and the development of an eating disorder. This study specifically examined the current state of psychosocial needs amongst college athletes, the availability of services that address psychosocial needs, the comfort level college athletes have with seeking services, and the identification of barriers that influence whether or not a college athlete seeks necessary help.

Methods: This study used a web-based survey to gather information from a proportionate stratified random sample of both college athletic directors (N = 132) and college athletes (N = 349) across all NCAA division levels. Descriptive statistics, parametric tests, and multivariate tests were used to analyze the research questions. This study used NCAA division level and the profile of a college athlete’s sport as independent variables. The researcher created composite scores for athletic, academic, and psychosocial services to serve as dependent variables. The researcher also created a composite score for perceived barriers.

Results: There were multiple significant findings for this research study. One key finding was that Division I and Division II college athletes had significantly higher psychosocial needs than Division III college athletes. Another key finding was that Division I college athletes experienced significantly lower levels of comfort in seeking psychosocial services than Division II and Division III college athletes. Furthermore, Division I college athletes reported significantly higher levels of barriers to seeking necessary services than Division II and Division III college athletes.

Implications: These significant findings point clearly to the fact that more must be done to ensure the psychosocial safety and well-being of college athletes. This includes athletic departments more clearly understanding the needs of their college athletes, having services more readily available, finding ways to promote a college athlete’s disclosure of a psychosocial risk, and working to address current barriers that prevent college athletes from seeking help. One idea for improving the current state of services explored in this research is the interprofessional collaboration of social workers with college athletic departments.

The problem addressed is the lack of empirical research describing the delivery of individualized learning material in a secure and mobile manner. The goal was to investigate the effectiveness of deploying training materials to National Football League (NFL) players during a recent NFL season.

Over the past few seasons, NFL teams have started to deliver player training material to mobile devices. The training material is sensitive and includes planning documents for upcoming games. An effort was made to survey a representative at each of the 32 NFL teams in order to gain insight on effectiveness, security, and process. Nearly half of the league responded with 14 of the 32 franchises reporting back.

The results demonstrate that mobile devices can be an effective means to distribute educational materials to individuals in secure manner. The iPad was identified as a suitable platform for delivery of instructional material. Security elements such as encryption and using mobile security products should be strongly considered. The results are discussed in detail. A set of standards and guidelines were created based on the responses provided by club employees.

The success of Chinese professional athletes is attributable to the government-run elite sport system; it is seen as one of the most effective and successful systems at nurturing high-skilled athletes. However, within the Chinese professional sport system, tensions between athletes' athletic skills and overall personal development have been widely documented. Among all studies, very few have employed in-depth interviews with professional wushu athletes. In this study, the researcher utilized in-depth semi-structured interviews with professional wushu athletes from three of the 25 professional wushu teams in mainland China. The study was conducted in order to understand the potential conflicts between athletes' athletic skills development and overall personal development. Findings revealed that athletes bear the training at great cost to their future potential as self-sufficient members of Chinese society. Their academic, social, and vocational skills are subject to deep neglect that negatively impacts their post-competition careers. The system considers investment in preparation for the post-competitive lives of the athletes to be a distraction from, or even an impediment to, their success in competition. It is suggested that the Chinese sport system undertake a review and reformation of its approach to wushu training to provide athletes with the skills needed to successfully navigate a life outside of athletics.

Transitions are defined as "any event or non-event that results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles" (Goodman, Schlossberg, & Anderson, 2006, p. 33). A particular transition unique to student-athletes in comparison to other college students is the end of their collegiate athletic eligibility. The purpose of this study is to understand how female student-athletes competing in NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic programs perceive their preparedness for post-collegiate careers as they undergo transitions. Using basic interpretive qualitative research methods and interview protocol developed from Schlossberg's theory of transition, 20 female participants in NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports were asked to describe the situation surrounding the end of their collegiate sports career and their post-competition plans, the support they received to prepare for careers, the strategies they used to prepare, and their own self-assessment of their transition (Schlossberg, 1981; Goodman, Schlossberg and Anderson, 2006).

The words and descriptions the participants attributed to their own experiences of transition and career development provided insight into this phenomenon. Participants reported having sufficient resources at their institutions to be prepared for their lives post-competition, but because of their schedule demands, lacked experience they felt necessary to gain entry into their chosen professions. The lack of experiential learning opportunities and unfamiliarity with student services outside of athletic contributed to their feelings of inadequate preparation. Implications for this research are to help student affairs practitioners, athletic administrators, faculty, and coaches better understand the areas that impede student-athlete career development.

Most high school students have the opportunity to participate in athletic programs during a transformative time in their personal and academic development. Very little qualitative research examines how former high school athletes perceive these experiences after they graduate. In this descriptive, exploratory study, former athletes viewed their participation as a key experience that continues to affect them positively two to five years later. During semi-structured interviews, they spoke of having developed and maintained new capacities for leadership, greater personal accountability, and healthier overall lifestyle choices. They also learned how to relate to others, both on and off the athletic field in more authentic and caring ways, and thus how to establish and maintain lasting relationships. Many of these outcomes echo aspects of self-concept and character development as described in the literature. Although athletic coaches' behaviors were described as both positive and negative, participants were generally able to overcome the negative aspects. Especially when budget cuts threaten many non-academic and extra-curricular offerings, the results of this small and geographically limited study point to the need to further explore how high school athletics may have lasting positive effects on participants.

Academic performance of collegiate student-athletes compared to non-athletes has been studied extensively. Results of these studies have been mixed in their findings of student-athletes academic performance in comparison to the nonstudent-athlete population. These conflicting results may be due to differences in level of competition or demographic characteristics of the subpopulations examined. This indicates that there is more to the relationship between athletic participation and academic performance than participation in sport alone. Based on achievement goal theories' assertion that goal oriented behaviors remain relatively consistent between the sport context and the classroom, looking at how an athlete is involved in sport rather than just if they are involved in sport may provide further insight into this relationship. Being a team leader, rather than just a team member may be one of the delimitating variables involved in this relationship. This quantitative study examined the relationships between NAIA collegiate student-athlete's leadership role in the athletic setting and their level of academic success, their task goal orientation, and their use of organizational planning and time management skills. Participants included student-athletes participating on interactive sport teams at a private liberal arts university that competes in the NAIA Midwest Collegiate Conference. Results revealed no statistically significant relationship between leadership role and GPA, p = 0.27 or in the relationship between leadership role and organizational planning and time management skills p = 0.20. There was a statistically significant relationship found between leadership role and task goal orientation p = 0.02. Although the results of this research found no significant relationship between GPA and leadership role, the findings from this study provide insight into other variables that may affect a student-athlete's academic performance. The finding that task goal orientation is significantly related to leadership role in the athletic setting may provide an important link in academic performance of student-athletes in other school settings. Future research is recommended to replicate this study at other colleges and universities where the student-athletes might have different demographics to provide further insight into these relationships.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the personal perceived stress levels of athletic coaches (n=731) in a large urban public school district in Florida in relation to win/loss records of the most recent athletic season; the study was performed utilizing the PSS-14 (Cohen, 1983). The responses to the survey queries were answered based on a 5-point Likert scale. Out of the 731 coaches who were approached with the survey, 97 participants completed the survey; however, there were four unusable surveys, leaving 93 useable surveys. The 93 surveys constituted a 13.3% portion of the population. The correlational analysis (p< .05) of the responses for High stress scores indicated that these items for the entire group (n=93) of participants were significantly correlated with the win/loss records. Females (n=29) reported more High stress scores on Questions 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, and 14. Males (n=64) reported High Stress for Questions 1, 3, and 12. Questions 1, 3, and 12 were common to both Males and Females. The findings of the research study indicated that there is a relationship between the specific subsets of PSS-14 for two of the statements and the win/loss records for the district. This correlation showed that coaches recognize and attempt to cope with the stressors that they encounter in their day to day activities with regard to their win/loss records and attempt to minimize the effects of stress and worry about anticipated events, (e.g., possible future games, playoffs, tournaments, and other associated events in the high school athletic world). Success in managing these two components of coaching would augment the other components of the PSS-14 since emotional, physical, mental and psychological factors in coaching and playing a sport are closely tied together. Continued research into the infinite possibilities of education and coaching should provide a means to improve each district's performance in the education of youth. Athletics and fitness have existed as a concomitant of education since the earliest forms of education came into existence. The two faces of education and athletics should continue to be examined to profit the individual and the community.

Increased competitive pressure for speed and innovation, global commoditization, and competition for talented workers has provided firms with greater incentives to assess and improve their human resource strategies with respect to attracting, motivating, and retaining employees. Consequently, many firms want to be perceived by employees as a great firm to work for. However, becoming perceived by employees as a great firm to work for requires a significant resource commitment. If firms are going to make this resource commitment, a relationship between being perceived by employees as a great firm to work for and firm performance should be clearly established. Extant academic studies about being a great firm to work for are generally approached from the managerial perspective. Studies that investigate being a great firm to work for from the employee perspective are more scarce. In order to develop a better understanding of the potential performance benefits of being perceived by employees as a great firm to work for, this study compares the performance of great firms to work for (as determined by employees) to their respective industry averages. Further, potential contextual factors that affect the strength of the relationship between being perceived by employees as a great firm to work for and firm performance are examined in order to identify the situations where devoting resources to being perceived by employees as a great firm to work for is more beneficial. Results support the existence of a relationship between being perceived by employees as a great firm to work for and several firm performance outcomes. In addition, some support for the moderating roles of contextual factors is found.

Loyalty programs (LPs) have become a mainstay marketing tool for many industries worldwide, with memberships often numbering in the millions. Program rewards are offered as incentives to build member loyalty, and theoretically these rewards have a perceived benefit value that generate feelings and attitudes such as satisfaction, trust, commitment and gratitude that can be antecedents of loyalty.

The question of whether loyalty programs actually generate loyalty, however, is still being debated by researchers due to conflicting data (Hallberg, 2004; Meyer-Waarden, 2006; Uncles, et al., 2003). Research indicates that focusing on premium customers may be the key to a successful loyalty program (Long & Schiffman, 2000; Yi & Jeon, 2003), but there is a lack of LP research that focuses on this top tier of customers.

This research tested hypotheses derived from existing theories to examine the relationships between program rewards and loyalty for premium customers. This included testing hypotheses about the key antecedents of loyalty—satisfaction, trust, commitment and gratitude—to determine their role in driving the performance outcome.

The gaming industry was used for a sample of 1,097 premium customers in a loyalty program. The online survey had a 43% response rate. There were seven Likert-type scales with alphas ranging from .84-.93.

Rewards were categorized as being prestige, tiered or core. The loyalty construct was operationalized as being attitudinal or behavioral.

Multiple regression was used for hypotheses testing. Key findings were that premium customers value all three of the reward categories highly. The only statistically significant difference was that prestige rewards generate higher attitudinal and behavioral loyalty than core rewards. No significant differences were observed from the control variables of age and gender.

Findings from this study indicate that companies with loyalty programs cannot afford to risk losing customer loyalty by eliminating any type of reward. However, there is also evidence that soft-cost prestige rewards could effectively replace some hard-cost tangible rewards without reducing overall program value.

Each year, over 300 billion dollars of print coupons are distributed, yet the redemption rate is less than one percent. As of 2010, 93% of the U.S. population has one or more cell phones providing anytime, anywhere access. Despite the 2009 economic downturn, Americans still spend 41% of their food budget outside of the home. The specific problem to be studied is the behavioral intention of young adults, 18 to 24 years of age, attending private, non-profit universities to use mobile coupons for casual restaurant dining. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional correlation study was determining the relationship between five independent variables: (a) performance expectancy, (b) effort expectancy, (c) social influence, (d) fear of spam, and (e) opting-in; and one dependent variable: participants' behavioral intention to use mobile coupons for casual restaurant dining. The results demonstrated a strong positive correlation between all of the variables except fear of spam and the dependent variable: the behavioral intention to use mobile coupons for casual dining restaurants. There was no relationship between the fear of spam and the behavioral intention to use mobile coupons. This, in itself, was an important finding. Recommendations for using mobile coupons include coupon promotion as a component of the marketing mix, mobile coupons as a unique way of encouraging new menu items, creating an easy path to opt-in, and creative ideas for coupon face-value promotions. Mobile coupons have the potential to exceed the redemption rates of printed coupons.

Feature selection is one of the most important decisions made by product managers. This three article study investigates the concepts, tools and techniques for making trade-off decisions of introducing new features in evolving Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software products. The first article investigates the efficacy of various feature selection techniques when the trade-off is between comprehensiveness and time-to-market. The second article investigates the impact of current level of product performance when the trade-off is between providing different types of innovative features to the users. The third article investigates the impact on the ability of the COTS product to attract new users and retain existing users when the trade-off is between providing utilitarian and hedonic value through new product features.

To meet these research goals an extensive multidisciplinary study of Information Systems (IS) and Product Development literatures was conducted followed by experimental research. The experiments were conducted among youth between 19-24 years who were users of Gmail software and produced some key findings.

In the first study the Kano survey method was found to be effective in identifying those features which added value to the product and those that did not. This finding will facilitate product managers in using appropriate techniques for identifying the critical product features to be built into the COTS product thereby reducing time-to-market without sacrificing product quality. In the second study, current COTS product performance was found to significantly impact the type of innovation to be introduced into the COTS product. Basic or Core product innovations were found to have value for the users when performance is low but not when the performance is high. On the other hand, Expected or product Performance innovations and Augmented or user Excitement innovations were found to have value when the performance is high but not when the performance is low. In the third study, Hedonic value and Utilitarian value of product features were found to have distinctive impact on users. While Hedonic value impacted Word-of-Mouth, a measure of the products' capacity to attract new customers, Utilitarian value impacted User Loyalty, a measure of the products' capacity to retain existing customers.